Squad

[jomni]

Everyone keeps saying that you have to use teamwork in this game to succeed without offering any specific details. Why is that so anymore in this game than say Insurgency? Or ARMA3? Or Project Reality? What makes Squad so different that it is so realistic you just have to have your $hit together as a team in order to win? It just seems like any other shooter to me. What makes it different?

I'm not focusing on anyone in particular here, I see the above ambiguous statements across the board on several forums, but with a complete lack of detail to support it.

Jarhead is right.  It's all the same.  Good team with treamwork and communication, better results.  No matter what game.  In Squad, once you get a poorly functioning team, it's just like any other game.  I have had experiences where it was totally pointless to play.

Maybe what makes Squad better at enforcing team work (and special) is that there's no levelling up and weapons customization. So you have to play your role.  It scares the typical "Battlefield" twitch fans away and hopefully you get a more mature player base.  Only a few roles have scopes.  You don't gain anything from grinding and accumulating kills, doing stunts, etc.  ARMA doesn't have ranks but has weapons customization so everybody turns into snipers which are suitable for the large maps.  Insurgency gives you money in between rounds to buy goodies and perks.

It's actually plays very much like ARMA regarding the map size, slow movement minus the fancy vehicles and weapons.  Insurgency is pretty twitchy since it's using the Counterstrike engine and maps are very small.

I wish there was a coop mode since that is where I experience the most satisfying teamwork in shooters.

[Apocalypse 31]

It scares the typical "Battlefield" twitch fans away and hopefully you get a more mature player base.  Only a few roles have scopes.

It's actually plays very much like ARMA regarding the map size, slow movement minus the fancy vehicles and weapons.  Insurgency is pretty twitchy since it's using the Counterstrike engine and maps are very small.

I wish there was a coop mode since that is where I experience the most satisfying teamwork in shooters.

Ironic, because the game started as a mod for Battlefield, which then had no leveling up for equipment.

I wish there was a coop mode since that is where I experience the most satisfying teamwork in shooters.

Agree'd. There's still lots to be developed.

[jomni]

I have no experience with Project Reality

[Nefaro]

Objectives are opened/closed in sequence. There is usually a front line established -once that front line is penetrated, new objectives open and the old ones are no longer able to be captured.

Maybe what makes Squad better at enforcing team work (and special) is that there's no levelling up and weapons customization. So you have to play your role.  It scares the typical "Battlefield" twitch fans away and hopefully you get a more mature player base.  Only a few roles have scopes.  You don't gain anything from grinding and accumulating kills, doing stunts, etc.  ARMA doesn't have ranks but has weapons customization so everybody turns into snipers which are suitable for the large maps.  Insurgency gives you money in between rounds to buy goodies and perks.

It's actually plays very much like ARMA regarding the map size, slow movement minus the fancy vehicles and weapons.  Insurgency is pretty twitchy since it's using the Counterstrike engine and maps are very small.

Sounds more like the kind of FPS gameplay I've been waiting for every time I see more details, with more focused team vs team & role restrictions.  Encourages sticking with your squad, less hot-dogging, no vehicle rush contest, and no teams full of snipers?  Want.

[Apocalypse 31]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/12/21/squad-review-early-access/

Good article. The author sheds light on one of the biggest downfalls of a game that focuses on squad-based gameplay.

What happens when your squad doesn't want to play as a Squad. Or the Squad Leader isn't a leader at all? There's not much you can do, but leave that squad.

Recommendation: Play this game with friends, or learn the game well enough to lead an in-game squad.

[Toonces]

I am really thinking hard about picking this up.

Some of the best gaming moments I've had is when playing RO2/Rising Storm on a decent team with good communications and teamwork.  I'm drawn to a game like this that emphasises those types of gameplay mechanics.

[Apocalypse 31]

I am really thinking hard about picking this up.

Some of the best gaming moments I've had is when playing RO2/Rising Storm on a decent team with good communications and teamwork.  I'm drawn to a game like this that emphasises those types of gameplay mechanics.

Firefights in Squad have been intense, thusfar.

Squad also has similar weapons damage model as RO. One or two rounds of 5.56 will drop a person.

[Skoop]

There is a buzz about this game, but I don't get why all this can't be done with arma3.  It kinda seems like your paying 40 bucks to play a version of a reinvented wheel.

[Jarhead0331]

There is a buzz about this game, but I don't get why all this can't be done with arma3.  It kinda seems like your paying 40 bucks to play a version of a reinvented wheel.

This. Exactly this. Its what I've been trying to say throughout this thread. Why not find serious players who enjoy team based play in any other shooter, including ARMA3? I get it, Squad makes it much more likely that you will be matched in random games with those kinds of players, and it will prevent players from spamming a class or weapon type, but other than that, I don't see this one offering anything new.

[Apocalypse 31]

There is a buzz about this game, but I don't get why all this can't be done with arma3.  It kinda seems like your paying 40 bucks to play a version of a reinvented wheel.

This. Exactly this. Its what I've been trying to say throughout this thread. Why not find serious players who enjoy team based play in any other shooter, including ARMA3? I get it, Squad makes it much more likely that you will be matched in random games with those kinds of players, and it will prevent players from spamming a class or weapon type, but other than that, I don't see this one offering anything new.

A difference for me is that, even on my gaming rig, ArmA runs poorly in largely populated servers. Add to the fact that ArmA physically cannot handle the amount of addons/scripts that the servers are using.

When ArmA gets optimized to run smoother then maybe this argument would have more weight. Apparently, there's a patch in the works. However, I'm not holding my breath. ArmA has been plagued by poor MP performance for years. I doubt that BI has found a magical solution.

Edit - I will admit, I enjoy played ArmA in a cooperative capacity. Invade & Annex and Insurgency are great cooperative game modes, and I've seen some great cooperation (with total strangers) on some of the servers. If only Squad had some sort of cooperative gameplay mode.

[Skoop]

^Are you talking Arma 2 or 3 or just the franchise in general ?  I know 2 was a resource hog, but 3 was suppose to run better for people.  I get what your saying though Arma can seem a behemoth of a game at times, sometimes simpler / streamlined is better.

[Apocalypse 31]

^Are you talking Arma 2 or 3 or just the franchise in general ?  I know 2 was a resource hog, but 3 was suppose to run better for people.  I get what your saying though Arma can seem a behemoth of a game at times, sometimes simpler / streamlined is better.

ArmA 3 multiplayer still runs horribly. I experience a 20-30 FPS drop in any multiplayer game that has over 15 players in it. It ruins the experience for me. Squad is a nice bridge between Insurgency and ArmA.

[Father Ted]

There is a buzz about this game, but I don't get why all this can't be done with arma3.  It kinda seems like your paying 40 bucks to play a version of a reinvented wheel.

This. Exactly this. Its what I've been trying to say throughout this thread. Why not find serious players who enjoy team based play in any other shooter, including ARMA3? I get it, Squad makes it much more likely that you will be matched in random games with those kinds of players, and it will prevent players from spamming a class or weapon type, but other than that, I don't see this one offering anything new.

Well, this is where it's at.  It's set up from the get-go to facilitate cooperative squad play in all servers.  You can do this in Arma/RO2/Insurgency, but those games require people to make more of an effort to adopt the ethos.

In the end it's only another game - there's been enough exposure in this thread to let you know whether it's for you or not.

[Toonces]

@ JH- I think the difference is this.  I do browse ARMA3 MP servers pretty regularly.  The most populated servers are always the King of the Hill and the Altis Life RPG-type servers.  I've never tried the RPG servers so I can't comment on them except to say I don't think they're even close to Rising Storm/KotH.  For KotH, it is fun, and teamwork is helpful, but there isn't anything that really forces you to work as a team...no mechanism.  And, as mentioned, you skill up, upgrades, perks, etc.  These have a normalizing influence on the game so I get it, but it's not teamwork building.

Squad sounds like RO2/Rising Storm, except that it implements mechanisms through the spawn points that influence players to work as a team.  You see this somewhat in RO2 where you can join a squad and if your squad leader is decent you can get advantages by working with your team in the sense of using smoke, calling arty, etc.  But I think Squad takes this a step farther, and it is also set in a modern era unlike RO2.

So to answer your question, I think you can get much of this through ARMA if you join a clan or otherwise join a team-centric group.  But, that requires you to either be joined up with a group (hassle) or play on the group's schedule (hassle).  Squad sounds like a drop in/drop out game, more like RO2.

I can perceive the difference.  I don't know that it's worth $40 for me just now, but I certainly like the idea.

Edit: Father Ted posted while I was typing this...said the same thing in far fewer words.  Brevity is godliness.   O:-)

[Father Ted]

Edit: Father Ted posted while I was typing this...said the same thing in far fewer words.  Brevity is godliness.   O:-)

You're a kind man :)