Mobile Forces Preview

The good ol' boys and gals at Rage Software have furnished us with a new BETA of their upcoming team-based multiplayer shooter, Mobile Forces. For anyone who may have missed our coverage on the previous demo version of Mobile Forces you can go here, to check what we had to say about it. In this BETA build, the developers have spiced things up with 11 new maps, corrected AI, and a few details that will improve the gemaplay. Although not fully functional in this version, some of the game modes can be really exciting to play, especially if you create a server for 16 trigger-happy gamers. Also, the efficiency of the weapons were tweaked and the vehicles are easier to maneuver, which I guess means the shootout can start.

Look at that shell fly!

Hey, get your mitts of that nuke!

Basically, we tested all of the new maps that were added to this version, and they all look quite promising. I guess the most commendable detail here is that all of the levels are reasonably large, so there's a lot of room for you to experiment both with your vehicles and weapons. This means that there will be vast outdoor battlefields for you and your mates to butcher yourselves in. Some of the new maps include the Airport and Polar Research, which were both designed to enhance your basic multiplayer fun. For instance the Airport, features airplanes parked across a huge cargo area with extremely high control towers. This particular area is pretty foggy, so you're gonna have to watch your every step, or you can easily be run over or even sniped without ever knowing what hit ya. The Polar Research features icy and slippery terrain where you have to be cautious when driving or you can lose control and end up God-knows-where, while the opponent will use that to blast you out of site. Here, we found a nice addition to the background - a truck caught in the ice and frozen bodies lying around it. Anyhow, both maps look great and are challenging to play.

Thanks to the efforts of the development team, the in-game physics have been adjusted and now driving vehicles will appear a lot more realistic. You will find that each of them has unique controls and reacts differently to the terrain - the way a vehicle handles itself on the field depends mostly on its bulkiness and endurance against enemy fire. Currently, there are four types of vehicles that you can ride in, but the developers have reassured us that there will be more of them when the final version hits the shelves.

Even though the choice of weapons in Mobile Forces is somewhat restricted, that honestly doesn't come as a drawback in battle. That's of course because every weapon has a well-balanced secondary function, which leaves room for various improvisations during combat (let's not forget that cool knife-throwing ;)). To sum up the bit about the weapons: they are easy to handle and definitely more effective than in the demo (better aiming, truthful recoiling when you fire your weapon etc.).

As some of you may recall the demo version featured bots that had a satisfying AI, but they were sometimes easy to deal with. Now, the developers have improved the AI, making the bots a greater challenge. Anyways, I've tested all the maps and missions in single-player and you can expect it to be almost as fun when playing with human-controlled opponents. In short, the AI of the bots shouldn't be underestimated, and they can really be tough opponents to handle.

Burn, baby burn!

This is what happens when you drink and drive.

With the help of the UT engine, Mobile Forces treated us to some pretty cool visual effects. Some new maps feature realistic looking fog as well as some smooth and tasty lighting effects - this can easily be noticed when objects get in the way of the glow coming from street lights and lampposts. Furthermore, you will witness tons of explosions on the way, and that especially looks good when a huge number of players gets together and starts annihilating each other with more destructive weaponry like grenades or rocket launchers (BTW, the rocket launcher physics rock). Also, the game's entire performance has been boosted so it's running a lot smoother than before and the appearance of some of the weapons was enriched with more detailed textures.

In any case, like the demo version, the best facet of Mobile Forces is its high replay value, and that's largely thanks to well-composed missions and maps. The crew at Rage told us that the Single Player mode needs tweaking, but when it's done it will allow 88 challenges for gamers to complete. Everything else functions beautifully. The expanded maps display the powers of the Unreal Tournament engine well, the AI of the bots is enough for anybody to tangle with, and the missions can be extremely fun...

Oh yeah, and one more factor that was supplemented in this version, which also enhances the flow of gameplay, is the inclusion of the Team Identification; making it easier for you to discern your teammates from your enemies. All things considered, we are impatiently waiting for the full version to be out. We'll keep ya posted on any details about the development progress of Mobile Forces, so stay tuned.