PlanetSide 2 Interview

PlanetSide 2’s factions, development stage, class system, and weapons are the topics of conversation in this interview with SOE’s Matt Higby on Rock, Paper, Shotgun. A sampling:

RPS: What stage are you at with Planetside 2 then?

Higby: We’re playing it internally, doing a lot of iteration on combat right now, trying out different class abilities. The class system will allow us to do things with PS2 we couldn’t with PS1. One of the things we’re concerned about is classes in PS2 not feeling very Planetside; but by having these distinctive gameplay roles, not only can we make it so you can recognise them at a distance, but we also make it so that each of these roles has these abilities. Like a dude with a sniper rifle AND jump jets, who can now get to a place where no-one can take him out; that’s too strong. It really will allow us to create more avenues for people to try out. So, the light assault class is more than just a cycler and exosuit, he has a lot of other stuff to unlock.

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RPS: Any close combat stuff? I know it isn’t very Planetside.

Higby: We have a bunch of melee weapons still, and certain classes can take better advantage of those than others. Infiltrators who also used them because of the Melee boost. We have mechanics around that, locational damage for knives, so hitting someone from behind with a knife does more damage.