On the bright side, the graphics aren’t half bad. The minimum specs are forgiving, so I was surprised to see the level of detail they managed to cram in there. None of the maps really stood out from a design standpoint, but there’s enough variety in each map to keep all classes busy. Some of the close quarter maps had a couple “too good” spots for snipers, where it’s hard to lob a grenade just right to take them out, however.
The sound is rather blah. There’s nothing really wrong with it, it’s just generally under whelming. When you fire a heavy machine gun in other games, you get a satisfying roar that feels somewhat real. In War Rock, it’s like getting a growl from a Chihuahua.
Speaking of shortfalls, let’s grab the bull by horns and get the complaints out of the way. Now, since the game is still in Beta there’s still a chance the vehicle balancing issues will be resolved. I also hope they rethink the key-mapping issue. As in, make it possible at all rather than the current fixed setup. BF received plenty of flak over this so I’m surprised these guys don’t make it a given.
There is a fair deal of clipping, especially in the observer mode where you can jump between surviving teammates, and I once saw a humvee make a wildly unrealistic jump up on top of a bridge span. More Beta bugs? If so, I certainly hope they fix it, and while they’re at it, I also hope they include a squad-feature for the final release.
