Resistance: Fall of Man to feature 40 Player Multiplayer

[bapenguin]

According to The S-Times (http://www.sony-ps3.ca/07182006/07/ps3_report_resistance_fom_features_40_players_onli ne), Resistance Fall of Man on the PS3 will feature 40 player online multiplayer.Never before in the history of console gaming (or as long as we can remember, anyhow) has there been a FPS game that allowed 40 players to go crazy on a virtual battlefield. Until the PS3 came along, that is. A report from PSM says that Resistance: Fall Of Man will feature 40-player online capability, which is even more than the previously announced number of 32.

Of course...Perfect Dark 0 touted 50 player multiplayer 3 months before launch and ended up with 32. Only time will tell, but I don't see this happening.

[Zawath]

Actually Delta Force for Xbox had 50 player multiplayer.

[Varsity]

Welcome to the party, consolers.

[Salesmunn]

Actually Delta Force for Xbox had 50 player multiplayer.

Details, smetails. :-D Since when does a console manufacturer-funded press release rely on "facts".

You're being way too critical. ;)

[Kamalot]

Does it really matter how many other people are on the map? Is there a vast gameplay difference between having 32 players and having 40 players? Do 8 more people make the game that much better?

*will 40 people buy the PS3* ;-)

[Wyrm]

"Resistance: Fall Of Man will feature 40-player online capability, which is even more than the previously announced number of 32."

OMG, thanks for letting me know that 40 is more than 32. I don't know how I'd have gotten through the rest of my day.

[markster3000]

Welcome to the party, consolers.
QFT

Frankly, I don't see why this even makes a difference. Now you can have 20 people per side instead of 16? Not terribly different.

Anyhow, I've always found maps to be overcrowded at the 32 player mark. It takes something like BF1942 sized levels to properly support much more.

[easi]

I doubt 40 people will buy this game. It looks terrible and the premise is stupid.

[Wyrm]

The premise is actually the only thing about it that looks good. The video of it I saw from E3 looked really shitty.

[SexualChoc]

They've set themselves a small target, and seeing as how it's next gen, how hard can implementing another 8 people be?

[torrefaction]

Good luck with your network architecture Sony.

Your going to need it.

[Morratut]

Mmmm only when I see it would I believe it. I've never seen anything more than 16 players in a console game. Especially if the console is hosting.

If you want massive multiplayer battles then buy a PC and play Battlefield.

[Mike Jones]

From PSM It got dumbed down to 30 FPS For MP :( . Look like they stole ideas form Unreal 2004 and BF2

"We put in some serious time playing various maps and modes in multiplayer, and despite our constant deaths at the hands of Insomniac's seasoned testers we had a blast. Resistance should offer PS3's Flagship online Multiplayer experience at launch. Of course, you can also play with friends offline via split-screen deathmatch,or partner up and play, co-op through the entire single player game(this can only be done offline).

Online matches are where the real action is, though where as many as 40 players can pack the battlefield(a recent eight-player improvement over the 32-player support announced at E3) We tried standard deathmatch in a small, hilly ice area, and massive 40-player "MELTDOWN" campaigns in a huge jungle-type enviroment with wooden bridges and platforms in the trees, "Ewok Village"- style.

Meltdown is an extension of another mode called "Node," in which two teams race to take over as many nodes as possible. Nodes are large chambers that contain several cylinders, you can re-configure the nodes for your team. Once you control a node, you can choose to re-spawn there after you die, adding strategy to the order in which your team goes after them. Meltdowns adds the twist that these nodes are actually coolants for each team's base, so by taking them over, you're overheating the enemy's headquaters. At certain heat levels a base's defenses will temporarily go down, allowing the opposing team to get inside and deal major damage. "

You can Play as either a human or a Chimeran Hybrid (the nasty fellow on this issue's cover), and each has its own advantages: double-tapping the L2 button will make a human sprint, or send a Hybrid into Rage mode, making his attacks more damaging, there is a trade-off for raging, however: you're constantantly heating up, and if you overheat, your life will start to drain. Furthermore, while a human will regain full health if he can avoid taking damage for a short time, Hybrids can't heal until their Rage meter has completely recharges.

Flat, circular fans are embedded in the ground in various places, and walking over one will launch you up to a higher area, one fun strategy we found was to balance ourselves at the top of the column of air, hovering there while firing down at enemies below; the up-and-down bobbing motion can make you a hard target.

Another nice new touch is that the weapon-spawn pods are circled by a series of lights that count down to the time a weapon will reappear. The radar in the upper-right corner of the screen shows all nearby enemies and allies unless they are slowly crouch-walking or standing still without firing. there is jumping in the game, but on a smaller, more realistic scale(it's nothing like those floating Halo-style leaps).

As an FPS fan would expect melee attacks are very powerful-two will drop an enemy to zero health, and just one hit will do it from behind. Also, the game will support full voice chat through the PS3's standard network chat function(no word yet if a headset will come bundled with the hardware). The game will have a full-featured online ranking system but Insomniac is keeping the details secret for now. they did stress that a big focus is being put on smart matchmaking, so that a new player who buys Resistance a year after launch will be able to play without having to get torn apart by the guys who bought the game on day one.

There will also be the option tp play unranked matches where the player will be able to configure the game however he wants by tweaking areas such as hit points, weapon sets, and much more. Popular player-created configurations may even be made into official new modes by Insomniac and offered as downloads. Conversely, ranked matches will have very limited configurations to keep the playing field level and fair for everone.

A couple of other notes to mention before we move on; map knowledge isn't as important in Resistance as it usually is in an FPS. This is because a lot of work has been put into designing the levels so that there isn't that typical one spot that everone rushes towards to grab the best weapon. Also, the game will run locked at 30 frames-per-second online and off, no matter how much action is going on. 60fps had been the plan, but the developers decided to add much more environmental destruction and special effects, so the tradeoff was made. Even in it's work-in-progress stage, we found that the game ran plenty smooth enough. "

[JazGalaxy]

I've yet to play a game with more than 10 players that's been anywhere near as fun as Goldeneye with 4 players or Duke Nuken with 2.

[Mike Jones]

I've yet to play a game with more than 10 players that's been anywhere near as fun as Goldeneye with 4 players or Duke Nuken with 2.

I have..perfect dark with a friend and bots. Using sentury guns and proximity mines in the temple map...oh what fun that was :D

[Ozymandias]

It'll be interesting to see whether they host the 40 players off a single box (and hit memory issues), or set up some dedicated servers. I actually do think it's possible to get 40+ players hosted on a single box, but I also know it's pretty hard to do. This feels like something that gets reduced before launch (or they invest in servers).

[Magnanimous Gnome]

There sure is a lot of obsession in the console realm with how many players are going to be available in head-to-head online modes. Reminds me of the PC market....about 10 years ago. ;)

[Zechs01]

wonder if lag will be bad lke ironforge before linked auction houses