Because of the aforementioned connection issues I never did get to finish a match, but whatever points I had earned were mine to keep anyway. I visited the store to see if there were any worthwhile upgrades or weapons. The store itself is very slick. Rolling your mouse over an item will compare it to what you already have equipped, highlighting the improvements and detractions appropriately.
Ultimately, though, I didn’t spend any points, and for two reasons: 1. everything I saw was only available to rent for 24 hours, which is such a waste of hard-earned points, and 2. only a certain selection of weapons can be upgraded. The default pistol and rifles - by far the most interesting of everything that was available - could not be upgraded. In essence, paying for a weapon and getting it up to full upgrade specs would grant you use for 24 hours...that’s not customization, that’s a trial.
So far it seems like Ghost Recon Online is going to be a fun game that won’t be able to motivate me to stay interested. But I hear there’s another closed beta coming up before the end of the year...so I’ll pop in to see if there are any improvements.
Like, you know...being able to play one full match.
Ghost Recon Online is going to be a good title to check out while waiting for Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. The third-person perspective is slightly less obtrusive than it was in the Advanced Warfighter games, and it simplifies gameplay without sacrificing the natural feel that Ubi has injected into the Tom Clancy franchise.
Battlefield 3, on the other hand, is going to cause at least as much controversy as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Whereas everyone expects par for the course with Modern Warfare, Battlefield 3 has been construed by DICE as the PC-centric, be-all, end-all of tactical warfare games. And I think it has just enough changes to irritate fans of Bad Company but not enough to placate the hardcore PC crowd. It’s one to watch, for sure.