Global Ops Demo Released

Hey, I like this game. Will definitely be buying it. Lots of positives:
+ Cool ballistics and sounds
+ Realistic movement speeds (and no bunny hopping)
+ Balanced weaponry (especially compared to CS)
+ Nice map. Maybe a little dark, but definitely has that Barking Dog touch
+ Hostage AI that actually works (even if the guy is a little slow)
+ Muzzle flashes = mucho cool. Also makes silencers/flash supressors useful for once!
+ Classes are nicely balanced and add plenty of variety to gameplay
+ Canadian terrorists wearing hockey jerseys! How cool is that?

And a few negatives (90% of which are due to the lithtech engine):
- Framerates drop down the pooper when more than 5 walls are visible
- Lighting blows ass. There's pretty much two light levels available: dark and murky
- Merely decent texturing. Maybe I've been ruined by Halo, but bump-mapping would really help the look of the game
- Extremely hard for newbies to get into. Mission explanations are severly lacking, there's no in-game help (waypoints would be nice). Hopefully they make up for this with a really good manual.
- Netcode is kinda flaky. Better than most games, but definitely nowhere near as good as Half-Life (or even UT or Q3)
- Extremely high requirements for servers will probably translate into a shortage of public servers

Overall, it feels like it takes the best parts of CS and Rainbow 6, and strips away all the parts that make those games really annoying, and tosses in some Wolfenstein multiplayer to make things interesting. Certainly not a revolutionary game, but more of a refinement of a bunch of different games, all thrown into one package. Can't wait to see if they pull off single player decently. Just wish they pulled their heads out of their asses and licensed a different engine, because Lithtech runs like shit. I mean, if half-life is now 3 years behind the curve, it seems like Lithtech is about 6 or 7 years behind. Then again, technology certainly doesn't make the game, and everything else about it is friggin' sweet.

I actually very much like Global Ops so far... here's a few positives and negatives:

Good things:

- nice weapon model detail, effects, and general detail over CS
- on a good server, no lag problems! Renegade this is not
- great sound effects, which seem more authentic
- the variety of weapons to choose from (as well as add-ons)
- the demo map seems decent enough, and it's even set in Quebec!

Bad things:

- trying to get into a server is difficult when most servers are either A) full or B) on another continent
- environment is a bit plain
- it's pretty hard to get Goran (the VIP) to the goal zone
- if you're used to CS, you'll have to adjust a bit; menus are different, and it's a slower-paced game

It's worth it if you have a decent connection and the patience to try it out when there's a lack of servers, basically