When I play video games, it's usually of the hack 'n' slash, dungeons, dragons, swords and sorcery variety - although I do also have a penchant for zombie extermination and super heroics, as well.
What can I say? I'm just well balanced that way, I guess.
Although I have played those first-person-shooter (FPS) military games, they don't hold my interest as much, basically because I spent time in the Canadian Forces myself.
See, in most of the military shooter games, you usually play an unbeatable one-man army/supersoldier who rushes through a single-person campaign racking up a body count like you were a cross between Rambo and James Bond.
But not once do you, say, peel potatoes, dig a latrine, do pushups or get called "maggot" by big guys in green.
So while it is initially fun to shoot computer-controlled enemies and blow stuff up, it feels wholly unrealistic compared to things I actually trained to do in the military. And for my gaming time and money, if it's going to be unrealistic, you may as well throw a dragon or zombie in there and make me an elf.
Then I discovered something called Planetside 2 a couple weeks ago, and my ever-patient wife has been rolling her eyes at the back of my head and sighing loudly ever since.
Planetside 2 is a free-to-play game from Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) that takes place on some alien world somewhere. But don't let "alien world somewhere" throw you off. This is actually the most epic and ambitious military-type shooter out there, and it does quite a decent job of replicating the feeling of being in an all-out, balls-to-the-wall battle with whole squads of other soldiers.
The massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) revolves around three factions - The Terran Republic, New Conglomerate and Vanu Sovereignty - all vying for control of the planet's three massive continents.
You get to choose which of the three factions you want to fight for, and also which class - light infantry, heavy infantry, medic, engineer, etc., suits your play style. Once in the game, you're free to join thousands of other players from around the world who are waging this 24/7 digital war. The game features integrated voice, so when you join up with a squad it's easy to confer about tactics, battle plans and favourite Monty Python quotes. You can forget about those other games where you can join up with four or even six other players, Planetside 2 can have hectic battles where there are literally hundreds of people on either side, manning tanks, artillery and air support while infantry runs helter-skelter to capture a particularly useful base or control point. I spent an evening with about 60 people in a platoon, split up into five squads, all working together with our faction's massive army to completely dominate and take over the desert continent of Indar. Sure, about two hours later after putting the kids to bed, the battle lines had been completely redrawn and my faction was now relegated to one measly, albeit heavily fortified, base in the south... but this is war, damn it, and there's always tomorrow.
So, if you've been hankering for a real military shooter where warfare is on an epic scale and you've got to use teamwork and real battle tactics to survive and succeed, give the free-to-play Planetside 2 a try. No potato peeling or pushups required.
