Not sure why we haven’t set up a thread for this yet, but I’m ready to discuss this now that the devs have completely overhauled character animations and added the Carentan map that mixes the rural outskirts with an urban area.
It’s pretty damn good now.
I watched video of this last Friday… it’s certainly something unique.
I wouldn’t call it a BF alternative. This game, like Squad and Post Scriptum, lies more in the middle between BF and ArmA. So, unlike BF, you can’t just hop in for a few rounds. In that regard, I think COD’s Ground War is much more closer to BF than this game.
What does it mean that you can’t just hop in for a few rounds? What stops you from doing this?
I meant in a casual way. Of course literally you can get into a few rounds in games like Hell Let Loose, though it does take some extra work in that you have to find a server, get into a squad, wait for the game to start, hope you don’t get kicked because you’re new to the game, and then there’s a chance you’ll be seeing little action depending on what the commander and squad leader decides on what to do.
I’m not necessarily saying these are bad things, it’s after all some of the reasons people like these kinds of games above games like Battlefield. But it’s not the kind of game you can just hop into.
Personally, of recent games I think World War 3 is probably the best Battlefield alternative out there. It’s early access so it’s not super polished, but it’s still good and has a lot of potential. Of older games that’s still supported (and don’t have Battlefield in the title), I’d go for Rising Storm 2: Vietnam. The latter is a bit more hardcore than BF, but nowhere near as much as something like Hell Let Loose.
Edit: I haven’t played WW3 in a while, but I see the Steam numbers are miserable so I guess that’s not a good alternative until they maybe re-release it.
Thanks Brakara - I was a bit mystified what you meant, but that makes perfect sense.
In theory I should like these games, but I find most people online obnoxious and have little interest in interacting with them verbally for the same reason so its probably still not for me!
As a veteran of WWII (WWII Online, that is!), in its first incarnation, I can attest to the allure of this formula. I can also attest to the utter madness of actually trying to do this sort of thing. At least Hell Let Loose has a much better focus and limited aspirations. WWII Online is still alive, believe it or not. Cornered Rad Software is still plugging along.
I remember an E3 where I attended their presentation when the game was still in development. It was wildly optimistic. I remember playing it when it launched in like 2001; it was maddeningly frustrating. Modern games seem to have learned a bit about limiting scope, pacing, and what not…If you visit the WWII Online site, the images are not that much different than they were twenty years ago, and the philosophy seems pretty much the same. I guess there is a hard core of the hardcore that really wants this stuff…
In a game like Squad, a good, intense round lasts more than an hour and leaves you mentally drained by the end. I’ve had nights which were basically three or four rounds of Squad. Basically eats up 4 or 5 hours. I was wiped out. There are types of games where a mic isn’t optional; it’s required. You’re not using Discord or Teamspeak; these games come with their own, custom voice systems that let you talk to local, squad, and command. It’s non-stop talking and coordinating in addition to playing.
If you try to lone-wolf, you may have a little fun, but you will get absolutely steamrolled by enemy squads. The better servers have platoon-wide organization on both sides, so the squad leaders are juggling two or three conversations constantly, while coordinating attacks and defense and logistics, all while being in combat.
Nano has some of the funnier Hell Let Loose videos
That was pretty funny. I love the people wearing snow gear in the summertime.
“Did I call your mom fat?! What the f–k?!”
Good stuff, brings a tear to my eye. Gonna have to fire it up again.
Piping hot fresh on YouTube. Also, you can buy Hell Let Loose for 25% off on Humble Bundle. Affiliate link in the video.
Hell Let Loose is finally at v1.0. Good timing since Battlefield 2042 will definitely steal some of their players soon. $39.99
Anyone here playing? I’m likely to jump in.
It looks so tempting, but man, I have a bajillion of these multiplayer shooters laying around in backlogs, some I’ve played, others I haven’t.
The biggest negative for me right now is the timing. It’s summer so I play less than I normally would. By the time I’ll really want to get into it, 2042 will be here and I’m sure I’m going to be playing a lot of that.
That said… I’m still looking at it. $40 is a good price IMO.
I’ve got a little over 300 hours in at this point. I like it that much at least. When you get a good group playing its fun. When you get morons who don’t play the objective and try to lonewolf to a better kdr, it is less so. Good leaders are important, but good squaddies are important too. Player base overall has been fairly mature for an online game. I’ve been playing War of Rights with my brother lately and the player base there is appalling.
Some of the clan servers tend to be lopsided newbie stomps, but there are some that run a decent game, and the official servers are generally free from stacking to the degree clan servers can exhibit.
Its been the best WWII shooter I’ve played in a while, leans more ARMA than COD.
I like it better than Post Scriptum, but that’s just my take. I think the sight pictures are better in HLL than in Post Scriptum, though bad sight pictures seem to be way too common in shooters anymore. I find HLL’s more subdued graphics better than PS as well, where I found it much harder to spot at a distance due to the “shiny” graphics effect (not sure what its called but a lot of games suffer from it).
I was dubious about them adding more vehicles, I find the number of tanks that were already available a bit ridiculous in a game with 40 a side, both from a historical perspective as well as a gameplay perspective. There was already a problem with small groups going way behind the lines and back-capping etc due to the size of the maps vs the number of players, and I feared adding transport vehicles would only exacerbate that, but it didn’t seem as bad in actual practice. That said I stopped playing right around that time due to other games stealing my focus.
Will probably drop in soon to check out the East Front stuff. It is definitely worth picking up when its on sale, or full price if WWII is your thing. I certainly have had my money’s worth and then some.
Does not surprise me, with a game whose very title embraces a sort of “Lost Cause” moonlight & magnolia southern apologist vibe.
Is anyone still playing this in 2022?
I think it’s currently the best ‘tactical’ multiplayer game on the market. I much prefer it to Post Scriptum or Squad, even though there are a few elements of both I think it should steal.
I played a ton of squad. I want to play this game, but on my new pc it seems I can’t get into a game due to the anti-cheat they are using.
I haven’t had the time to futz around and figure out why this isn’t working, so I haven’t played.