Our review-in-progress for SOE's newly released MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2, continues today with part three. In this latest installment, we focus on the game's air vehicle experience.

PlanetSide 2 takes the possibilities imagined for air combat in other big war shooters like Battlefield to a whole other level. Forget a chopper or two and a pair of jets, in PlanetSide 2, players can have their own air vehicles. There are a decent variety to choose from, each with extremely important roles on the battlefield.

Read more of Michael Bitton's PlanetSide 2: Review in Progress - Part 3: Air.

"What do you think of the air vehicle experience in PlanetSide 2? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!"

As soon as you learn to fly decently it's easy as hell to "farm ground" as ESF pilot with rocket pods, it's "the farm" for XP and certs currently in the game and needs some serious balance. There are AA options for ground like the dedicated Skyguard lightning tank, but it fails miserably to even scratch the paintjob of air planes.

Also the AA missiles are bad, they are homing, but they can be effortlessly avoided with flares or simply good piloting.

Currently the only viable AA option from ground is the dual burster MAX which can drive away air units or even kill them if the pilots are bad and wont thrust away in time.

There's a big AA-buff patch coming next week so we'll see how things turn out, I agree that air is hard to balance and buffs to AA might turn the game upside down but the current OPness of ESF's is just too much considering the fun-factor in the game.

It would be nice to see units like the Skyguard, which has NO ROLE AT ALL currently in the game to get to decent level, it's not fun when ESF pilots get 100 certs per hour who can attack land and air and be good in both, vs. a dedicated AA-Skyguard who simply cannot make any XP or certs at all, ever.

Anyway, lets hope for a reasonable balance for both and lets hope everyone in the game can make XP and certs in their chosen roles sometime soon :)

Originally posted by TweFoju
pftt, if there is 1 thing i suck at a game, it's the airship control, i havent been able to kill a single thing while on an aircraft and the only thing im good at is suiciding 

You and me too mate. Can't fly for diddly!.. I'm like a dumb fire missle.. as soon as I get hit bad I just aim and dive for the opposing crowd of troops :) .  I love bombing from a Liberator (Underside rear gun) but often get booted from the gunseat as soon as I board a random ship.. No one wants me ..   :(

Eli

Originally posted by Elijarh

Originally posted by TweFoju
pftt, if there is 1 thing i suck at a game, it's the airship control, i havent been able to kill a single thing while on an aircraft and the only thing im good at is suiciding 

You and me too mate. Can't fly for diddly!.. I'm like a dumb fire missle.. as soon as I get hit bad I just aim and dive for the opposing crowd of troops :) .  I love bombing from a Liberator (Underside rear gun) but often get booted from the gunseat as soon as I board a random ship.. No one wants me ..   :(

 

Eli

Same as me! Flying? Hell no! Im like a Suicide Missile!!! XD

Originally posted by bcbully

Practice, Practice, Practice. 

 

I've been flying a tricked out Lib. It aint easy. When that magical run comes, there is nothing like it. Most the time your heart is racing trying to dodge the ESFs and the ground flak.

 

Some of those ESf pilots have hundreds of hours flying. I recomend you first 200 hundred certs for any aircraft should be spent on lowering the cooldown. This will give you more time to practice, because when you first start you will be shot down early and often.

 

I have heard of the balance patch as mentioned above, but it's not going to go down well as people have paid real cash for these advanced ground-farmers, if suddenly they are the ones being farmed, it's a huge waste of money.

PS1 was the same, rocket farming was easy-mode and now with the entire game being base-choke-points with zero strategic fighting over things like towers and bridges, it's the rocket-spammers paradise.

Flight controls in all battle games are terrible unless you use a proper joystick like this:

http://brain.pan.e-merchant.com/4/0/02110004/g_02110004.jpg

Have something like that at the side for when you need it and you'll love aircraft combat.

i am absolutely horrible at flying, in pretty much any game. coudn't fly worth shit in Warhawk, BF3, or any other game i've played, so i'm really not surprised i can't fly worth jack in PS2.

however, i have notice that it's incredibly easier to fly while in 3rd person mode.....it's just impossible to shot at anything......still.....I CAN FLY AND NOT SUICIDE :D

Though the controls are far from intuitive I have, through some practice, actually managed to stay in the air for several consecutive minutes and even scored some cert points. Progress in baby steps, I guess, but PS2 sure is good fun.

Originally posted by mCalvert
Flying with a joystick in PS2 is horrible as you cant properly map controls and sensitivty is messed up.

All that can be changed using an external program if needed. Bit of a pain in the ass to set up at first but once it's done, it's done.

Personally I have never had an easier time flying as I have with the ESF, i find the controls fantastic, and very very quickly became capable of flying well. This review can hardly state that the controls are difficult because one reviewer found it hard to click with it.

Praising the worst part, the utter rape of a liberator and calling out the fantastic controls of the ESF boggles the mind.

Wait what the flynig controls are as simple as they can get and work really well..

I really cant see why people are having an issue with them..