Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Fantasy Earth Zero: broken targeting kills game

As I mentioned in my last Fantasy Earth Zero (FEZ) post, it has a sloppy FPS-esque point-and-shoot system. Having such a targeting system makes the game sensitive to a variety of issues. Most important of all: lag. In FEZ, I constantly feel like I'm shooting at ghosts of the past. I shoot at my targets, expecting them to be where they appear to be, but in reality that's only where they USED to be. I often see my attack animations pass right through my targets' bodies. I can probably snipe a rabbit in Global Agenda (with its bullet travel delay) or even in America's Army (with its pseudo-realistic breathing cycles and rifle/bullet physics) more easily than trying to hit a group of people with a ranged AOE in FEZ.

Trying to hit targets in FEZ is like trying to play wack-a-mole with a soggy and crooked stick. Observe how the server blatantly ignores my attacks even though my game client clearly shows them hitting my targets (I'm firing an AOE snare "web"):



For completeness, I'll post the videos I made for how to get into PVP. First video shows the elements involved in a PVP battle:



Second video shows that getting into a battle is as easy has opening the map and selecting a territory to fight for:



And finally, my girlfriend shows me the huge boobs the game gave her toon:



I will no longer be playing FEZ. I cannot tolerate the broken "FPS-wannabe" targeting/lag issue when there's the fast-paced, action-packed, super-slick and polished Global Agenda as an alternative. It's simply unacceptable for a 4-year old game. What's ironic to me is that FEZ's differentiating aim-and-shoot system is the keystone of its failure.

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