Hardcore Tactical Shooter Fans Get Behind Takedown

[Andy Chalk]

Hardcore Tactical Shooter Fans Get Behind Takedown

Against all odds, the Takedown Kickstarter has achieved its funding goals.

The odds weren't good for the Takedown Kickstarter. It was aimed at a very niche audience, as evidenced by its name change [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116356-The-Kickstarter-Fun-Continues-With-Crowdsourced-Hardcore-Tactical-Shooter], which came with just five days left in the project, it hadn't achieved even half of its $200,000 goal. But something funny happened on the way to dismal failure.

What exactly that "something" is remains a bit of a mystery but things turned around in a hurry over those last five days, as Takedown Kicking It Forward [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/355932838/crowdsourced-hardcore-tactical-shooter]" campaign, pledging five percent of the profits from the finished game to support other Kickstarter efforts.

Don't be expecting to be tactically shooting hardcores anytime soon, however. The 200 large will pay for an alpha build of the game which will then be used to convince private investors of its viability as a "real" game. That's a different approach than most Kickstarters and one that's rubbed a few people the wrong way, but Takedown, despite its very particular target demographic, makes some big promises. If all goes as planned, the game will ultimately offer a single-player campaign featuring a variety of "real" scenarios, like hostage rescue, asset recovery and target elimination, plus co-op and competitive multiplayer action. The game will launch on PC first, with console versions to follow as well as possible Mac and Linux translations, and is currently expected to be out in one version or another in July 2013.

A final Kickstarter status update, which will hopefully include a more detailed look at plans for the game, will be posted tonight.


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[Meight08]

The reason is totalbiscuit supported it on his twitter

 

[Something Amyss]

So they're not asking for funding for a full game, but rather to fund the demonstrative in hopes of snagging real support?

And here I was worried this whole thing would get silly.

 

[Albino Boo]

Why would private investors put up money when the kickerstarter committed them to providing 1000s of free copies and giving away drm free versions. What happens to peoples money if no one picks up the alpha? The risk is all sitting on the consumer, the devs get paid for how long it takes to build the alpha, if stops there, they lose nothing. However the consumers lose everything. This the problem with the kickstarter model.

 

[dyre]

I feel kindof bad for feeling this way, but a "hardcore tactical shooter" doesn't really seem that interesting. I'm simply unable to imagine how amazing a bunch of hostage rescue missions could possibly be. I'm also a bit skeptical on how well the "elaborate planning / perfect execution" sort of gameplay will translate to multiplayer...having a hard time imagining a bunch of random FPS players coming up (impromptu?) with the requisite planning and teamwork for that sort of thing. As for the singleplayer, there doesn't seem to be any indication of an engaging story :/

 

[Rednog]

The reason is totalbiscuit supported it on his twitter

One of the incredibly rare times I've disagreed with TotalBiscuit.
I really don't think this game should have made its funding. The project seems to be a mess, they stole someone's photos and used them as concept art, and unlike other kickstarters promising only an alpha is pretty skeezy. I mean what happens when he doesn't get investors, he isn't obligated to produce anything more than that. Who knows he could be like oh well no investors and drop the game there.
If this goes south I really hope TB will say something about it.

 

[Meight08]

The reason is totalbiscuit supported it on his twitter

One of the incredibly rare times I've disagreed with TotalBiscuit.
I really don't think this game should have made its funding. The project seems to be a mess, they stole someone's photos and used them as concept art, and unlike other kickstarters promising only an alpha is pretty skeezy. I mean what happens when he doesn't get investors, he isn't obligated to produce anything more than that. Who knows he could be like oh well no investors and drop the game there.
If this goes south I really hope TB will say something about it.

He will probably just release the alpha and scream.
"MODDERS GET TO IT!"

 

[dyre]

I feel kindof bad for feeling this way, but a "hardcore tactical shooter" doesn't really seem that interesting. I'm simply unable to imagine how amazing a bunch of hostage rescue missions could possibly be. I'm also a bit skeptical on how well the "elaborate planning / perfect execution" sort of gameplay will translate to multiplayer...having a hard time imagining a bunch of random FPS players coming up (impromptu?) with the requisite planning and teamwork for that sort of thing. As for the singleplayer, there doesn't seem to be any indication of an engaging story :/

multiplayer i agree with you i have no idea how they would pull that off.

as for single player thats an entirely different matter. the original rainbow 6 game and r6:rogue spear pulled it off very well not to mention SWAT 3 and 4. hostage rescue missions when done well are very tension filled much more than a straight shoot out.

if its anything like the rainbow 6 style you''ll have to plan out your entre teams assault before the mission.

while its something ill definitely get. im wary of this particular kickstarter and didnt fund it

hmm, now I'm curious. The only Rainbow Six game I've played was Vegas 2, and imo even though it was a good game, there wasn't a huge amount of planning involved. I mean, you picked a few gadgets that made life easier, but it's not like a lack of planning would make the missions impossible. I've never tried the SWAT games. What would you say is the best example of a well-made tactical shooter? (basically just tell me one game that I should play to get a feel of tactical shooters at their best)

I agree, it sounds like the sort of thing that I'd buy if it came out, but not really appealing enough to fund its alpha in the hopes that an investor might pick it up. Plus, I really wish he'd release more details about the gameplay...pretty much all we're told is that it'll be tactical.

 

[RA92]

What would you say is the best example of a well-made tactical shooter?.

I made the same question and a user was kind enough to give me some good direction. I'll just go ahead and quote him.

As far as Rainbow 6 games go, get Raven Shield or anything earlier. After that UBI casualized the series.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/19830

It has alot of custom content too. http://www.rvsgaming.com/index.php

You also have Ghost Recon 1 which also has alot of custom content too. http://www.ghostrecon.net/files2/index.php?act=view&id=1279 (again the GR series got casualized by those dumbfucks at UBI after the original)

And you have the legendary Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and it's excellent expansion Resistance. Play it on the hardest difficulty for the true 'Flashpoint experience'. What that does is remove the on screen helpers like the direction of fire indicators and such. When you go to you map, it doesn't even show your position so you really have to use your navigational skills ! (landmark recognition & compass)

Taken straight from the manual..." The Operation Flashpoint engine is critically acclaimed for it's realistic simulation of military conflict to the extent where it has been adopted by the US Marine Corps, US National Guard, Australian Defense Forces and many other military organizations around the world for use as a special combat training application called VBS1".

Yea, this game is the real deal. The devs Bohemia have since made Arma and Arma2, but as far as the campaign goes, OFP has the best one by far. If you intend on only playing MP, I would check out Arma2 though.

Here's a link to their forums. http://forums.bistudio.com/

Happy hunting. And remember, the saying goes..Once you see the muzzle flash (if you even do) It's already too late !

Be on your toes though, all these games have deadlier enemy AI than SWAT 4.

If your PC can handle ArmA 2, go with it. It's the best military shooter out there, period.


<youtube=khG8pVEmzO4>

 

[dyre]

What would you say is the best example of a well-made tactical shooter?.

I made the same question and a user was kind enough to give me some good direction. I'll just go ahead and quote him.

As far as Rainbow 6 games go, get Raven Shield or anything earlier. After that UBI casualized the series.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/19830

It has alot of custom content too. http://www.rvsgaming.com/index.php

You also have Ghost Recon 1 which also has alot of custom content too. http://www.ghostrecon.net/files2/index.php?act=view&id=1279 (again the GR series got casualized by those dumbfucks at UBI after the original)

And you have the legendary Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis and it's excellent expansion Resistance. Play it on the hardest difficulty for the true 'Flashpoint experience'. What that does is remove the on screen helpers like the direction of fire indicators and such. When you go to you map, it doesn't even show your position so you really have to use your navigational skills ! (landmark recognition & compass)

Taken straight from the manual..." The Operation Flashpoint engine is critically acclaimed for it's realistic simulation of military conflict to the extent where it has been adopted by the US Marine Corps, US National Guard, Australian Defense Forces and many other military organizations around the world for use as a special combat training application called VBS1".

Yea, this game is the real deal. The devs Bohemia have since made Arma and Arma2, but as far as the campaign goes, OFP has the best one by far. If you intend on only playing MP, I would check out Arma2 though.

Here's a link to their forums. http://forums.bistudio.com/

Happy hunting. And remember, the saying goes..Once you see the muzzle flash (if you even do) It's already too late !

Be on your toes though, all these games have deadlier enemy AI than SWAT 4.

If your PC can handle ArmA 2, go with it. It's the best military shooter out there, period.


<youtube=khG8pVEmzO4>

Oh, sweet. Thanks for the info. I'll get Raven Shield as my next game.

 

[dyre]

I feel kindof bad for feeling this way, but a "hardcore tactical shooter" doesn't really seem that interesting. I'm simply unable to imagine how amazing a bunch of hostage rescue missions could possibly be. I'm also a bit skeptical on how well the "elaborate planning / perfect execution" sort of gameplay will translate to multiplayer...having a hard time imagining a bunch of random FPS players coming up (impromptu?) with the requisite planning and teamwork for that sort of thing. As for the singleplayer, there doesn't seem to be any indication of an engaging story :/

Have you never played Rainbow Six? Oo

Yeah, scroll down a bit. I played Vegas 2 (pretty fun game, but not very difficult, not too much planning required), but following the recommendation of some other Escapists, I'm going to try Raven Shield to see what an ideal tactical shooter is.

 

[GoAwayVifs]

other words

Yeah, scroll down a bit. I played Vegas 2 (pretty fun game, but not very difficult, not too much planning required), but following the recommendation of some other Escapists, I'm going to try Raven Shield to see what an ideal tactical shooter is.

Vegas 2, is really not much like the other Rainbow 6 games. The Vegas series is a more 'mainstream shooter' R6 game, then a tactical shooter. I would highly recommend you try swat 4, it should be pretty cheap now, and will run on just about anything remotely modern.

 

[dyre]

other words

Yeah, scroll down a bit. I played Vegas 2 (pretty fun game, but not very difficult, not too much planning required), but following the recommendation of some other Escapists, I'm going to try Raven Shield to see what an ideal tactical shooter is.

Vegas 2, is really not much like the other Rainbow 6 games. The Vegas series is a more 'mainstream' R6 game, then a tactical shooter. I would highly recommend you try swat 4, it should be pretty cheap now, and will run on just about anything remotely modern.

Well, ok, I can try that after Raven Shield. It'll be interesting to play a shooter in which difficulty isn't solely derived from the AI having good aimbots and me having low health.

Also, nice avatar. My roommate has a shirt with the same thing, took me awhile to get it when he showed it to me.

 

[Krantos]

Why would private investors put up money when the kickerstarter committed them to providing 1000s of free copies and giving away drm free versions. What happens to peoples money if no one picks up the alpha? The risk is all sitting on the consumer, the devs get paid for how long it takes to build the alpha, if stops there, they lose nothing. However the consumers lose everything. This the problem with the kickstarter model.

Pretty much this.

Since when did consumers start being private investors? The worst part is, real investors can take a company to court if they fail to deliver. Kickstarters can't.

I like the idea behind this new kick starter trend, as it enables game to be made that big name publishers would never green light. However, there need to be some checks in place in case the devs fail to deliver a product. Not quite sure how that would work but someone needs to figure it out before I'd ever be willing to donate to one of these things.

 

[CCountZero]

I would highly recommend you try swat 4, it should be pretty cheap now, and will run on just about anything remotely modern.

Well, ok, I can try that after Raven Shield. It'll be interesting to play a shooter in which difficulty isn't solely derived from the AI having good aimbots and me having low health.

I've heard some say that SWAT4 was a step down from SWAT3 in terms of gameplay, but I still found it to be much, much harder than any Rainbow game.

First of all, you're supposed to try your best to take the hostiles alive, and if you shoot without "proper cause", then you get penalized in your score. You can't just shoot on sight, like you would in Rainbow Six.

Add to that, hostiles have a tendency to try to run away from you and stage an ambush, and if they do, you're not allowed to just shoot them in the back.

In some of the later levels, you risk having to backtrack quite a lot because there's just far too many places for them to hide.

Oh, and of course, if you get shot down, you're starting all over from the start of the level, as it should be.

Checkpoints have made people lazy. "Modern" shooters have put people in a mindset that they can just "wing it" and if all goes south, they'll just reload from the last checkpoint.

This. Must. End.

 

[Something Amyss]

Why would private investors put up money when the kickerstarter committed them to providing 1000s of free copies and giving away drm free versions. What happens to peoples money if no one picks up the alpha? The risk is all sitting on the consumer, the devs get paid for how long it takes to build the alpha, if stops there, they lose nothing. However the consumers lose everything. This the problem with the kickstarter model.

It is the problem with the Kickstarter model, sadly. Too bad they cranked it up to 11 with this one.

I feel kindof bad for feeling this way, but a "hardcore tactical shooter" doesn't really seem that interesting.

It also sounds incredibly douchey and pretentious.

This shouldn't have made it and I'm pretty sure it won't manifest to anything and a lot of people lost a lot of money and will be pissed, but it is bound to happen at some point... might as well have been now...

What worries me is that this might hurt legit attempts at putting out a real game (Not just an alpha) in the future. I'm not really on the Kickstarter bandwagon, but it seems a potentially solid way of getting a game you want made to actually be made.

On the one hand, this could lead to a critical look at Kikcstarter. On the other, it could lead to a "thanks for ruining this for everyone, jerks!" Moment.