Planetside: Core Combat Expansion Pack

List Price: $29.95 Discount Price: $6.98

Features:

• Uncover vast caverns and alien technology that will give your empire a victorious edge
• 6 new massive underground war zones; unique alien complexes to explore and conquer
• New underground environments from volcanic lava flows to ice caverns
• New ancient-technology vehicles and weapons which can be used by all Empires
• Head-to-head urban-style combat in subterranean cities

Accessories:

PC Gamer (1-year)

Customer Reviews:

Good idea, poor implementation, horrible community [Posted on 2004-03-15]
Whenever getting into any SOE game, beware. The community is the low point by far. SOE forums are known for laughing over the deaths of pets and even players. Recently when a player of planetside had a brain hemmorage and died, the customers thought it the funniest thing in the world. You would be horrified to hear their position on the death of a pet.

And that is usually the problem with SOE products. Although they have the technology and the financial resources to back up creation of top of the line products, they continue to fall far short in customer service and community management. In all internet forums there are jerks, the difference is that other forums (such as Atari's Unreal Tournament forum) actually get rid of the filth and manage the forums. The only things that disappear from SOE forums are posts that decrease sales of the product through exposing weaknesses in them.

As for the game itself, it is a great idea and poorly implements. Client side hit detection in the game is a hacker's paradise. Furthermore, the company seems more interested in slowing down the achievement of players than making an enjoyable experience. Their recent expansion, Core Combat, was yet another example of their incompetence.

There are many players in the MMOG industry. The days of the EQ monopoly are over and I suggest you check out their compeditors instead.

Buy it at Outpost.com for $10 [Posted on 2004-06-30]
Find the cheap addition on Outpost.com (Fry's Electronics)

A year on and still no improvement [Posted on 2004-07-27]
I first started playing Planetside about a year ago, deciding that after reading all the marketing blurb that this was the game for me! - great graphics (and they are great graphics), the lure of huge online battles and lots and lots of vehicles to throw around and do some damage with - oh yes!!

However, I soon tired when the huge battles failed to materialise and any major battles you did manage to find to get involved with was decided simply by who managed to turn up in the most numbers on the day. No amount of skill or tatics on your part part could make a difference - its all down to numbers.

Now if this was a game with some sort of goal, a common target which you and your allies were all aiming for and once achieved, was rewared in some way; then this wouldn't seem so bad. But Planetside is perpetual war; you join battle, kill and get killed, gain some experience points, respawn, start again and never really get anywhere. Just logon, join in with what ever struggle happens to be going on at the moment and then logoff, thats the game. And you pay for this too - yes, a monthly subscription applies.

With the lack of anything comparable (except Tribes2) I'm disappointed to come back after a nearly a year to find that even with an expansion pack, nothing has been improved. It still looks great, but is still a totallay unsatisfying experience.

Most Oustanding on-line experience [Posted on 2006-01-04]
PlanetSide is one of the most player-team based on-line game i have played to date. You log into the Planet Side world,in your
sancturay. You join up with a couple of friends to set out to accomplish a mission. You are a engineer with advance hacking abilities(or you could be 1 of the many other roles),while one friend is a BFR (battle frame robotic) specialist and the other is sniper. You take a Galaxy (large transportation flying vehicle) through a Warpgate (interplanetary high speed transportation device).

The captain of the galaxy plots the ship course to Planet Cyssor,where you and others on the galaxy will raid,and take control of a huge enemy bases. As the ship approaches the enemy base,radar shows that only a few enemies are manning the base.

Several members of the squad,have stealth capabilities,and they drop out of the galaxy onto the roof top of the base,hack the base door,kill the few solders and the mass exodus of the galaxy begins. The bases's Control Panel hacking clock starts.The squad you are in over-whelm the bases's defense systems,but in
the process trigger sensory alarms. These alarms alert commanders and others, that a base is being attacked or hacked.

The opposing team now alereted that the base is being attacked,launches counter-measures,using a satellite in space,the commander sends a powerful blue lazer that kills some of the squads in the base courtyard,and the vechicles.

The commanders of the opposing team,sends galaxies over to defend the base. Some come over in space ships with missle capabilites,some come in power Hoover Tanks,there are many different battle machines that arrive for war.

This is only the beginning..this battle may rage for hours or days. The players in theses battle are real people not bots. You battle for control of the various planets. With the Core expansion set,you have access to power ancient weapons and huge underground chambers.Control certain resources on the each indiviual planet can give your empire many advantages.


This is just one of my experiences playing PlanetSide Core expansion and now the new AfterShock expansion (with Battle Frame Robot vechicles).

Great fun but subscription required [Posted on 2007-05-13]
This game is fantastic, great graphics, great gameplay, great players! but it does require a subscription to play it, monthly, tri-monthly, etc.. it is about $15 a month to play this game, but it is well worth it. If you are into the games that are based on TeamPlay and base captures, this is your game.

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