Community Transmission - Capital Supremacy Update

Haven't yet tested the changes to hero combat - only played two rounds of Supremacy, and let's face it, the Infiltrator is way too much fun to pass up on. The ARC trooper easily became my favourite unit right away, even though I've only played as ARCs for one round, without any active cards. The droid is also a good and useful unit (killed Anakin Sky-overpowered-walker himself with the vibroblade), but the dual pistols and the shock grenade fit my playstyle more.

The game mode is good as well. I like control point based modes in most of my shooter games, though it will also cause frustration for people playing alone - without proper communication and coordination, sometimes it is just you yelling "wtf are y'all doing" at your screen. We managed to lose while at first we had 37 reinforcements against the Republic's 14... Don't even know how it happened.

However, I also gotta keep it real: this is a case of "too little, too late". Yes, I cannot deny that it is a fun mode with great new units, and finally no cross-era - it all just feels right. The layout is also good for combat in both the ground map and the capital ship (only seen the CIS one though).

But: this new mode was teased in June, then it got delayed and delayed and delayed... And then it turned out that it is rather a "new map" than a "new mode". Even this one fact caused dissatisfaction among many players - after all, almost nine months have passed since they announced it for a "Fall release". I didn't mind it at first, but I have to be honest: this map does not contain enough content that would justify such a long development time.

The ground combat map is way too small, and the CP system also feels crippled. These two problems are intertwined in my opinion. I know that you have to find a balance so that footmobiles don't have to walk around for ages - but these are Command Posts. You're supposed to have the ability to spawn on them (and I didn't see an option for that, my bad if it is actually there). CP spawn does not only solve many of the "trekking problems", but grants a tactical advantage - you want to keep that command post, and the game dropping you wherever if not choosing a squad member (who are also wherever) does not help with that. Nor does this current spawn system grant the ability to attack the nearest hostile CP from your newly captured one in case you got killed in the process.

And the map itself is a bit... bland, I guess? Sure, it's Geonosis, can't do much with that wasteland. But maybe choosing a wasteland to introduce this mode wasn't the best idea in itself.

Then we cut to the capital ship right away, through a some-seconds-long (and quite graphically glitched) cutscene - it is really disheartening. You have a great Starfighter system in your game, it is literally the best and most polished part of BF2, you just have to include it...

Again, the capital ship is well designed, it is fun to fight in a more closed environment - yet it is also really small. Having only two phases felt really rushed - I thought there would be at least one after destroying the two choke points.

To sum it up, and to leave on a more positive note: it is a good experience. If this was in the game in this form at launch (with at least 1 map / era...), you would not see me complaining in such a detail - I guess I'd just have mentioned that CP spawn should be integrated later. My complaints are caused rather by the circumstances, not the overall quality.