PlanetSide 2 PC
Metascore
84 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 42 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 42
  3. Negative: 0 out of 42
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  1. Gamereactor Sweden
    Jan 14, 2013
    80
    It's hard to believe that Planetside 2 is completely free with so much content and a huge world to explore. This excellent game will for sure set standards for this new sub genre.
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 21, 2012
    80
    Free-to-play online shooters have a new player in the field. If you prefer large scale battles PlanetSide 2 offers great potential. [Christmas 2012]
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  3. Eurogamer Germany
    Dec 19, 2012
    80
    Hiding behind walls and corners with 40 other dudes, while in the thickest of crossfires, helping each other out with health and ammunition, providing covering fire and fighting for every inch of this vast battleground is just unbelievably compelling. And then there's even a case to be made for this game as a metaphor for the pointlessness of war. Planetside 2 is meaningful on so many more levels than other typical free-to-play titles.
  4. Metro GameCentral
    Dec 11, 2012
    80
    One of the most interesting things to happen to both massively multiplayer online games and shooters in years, and already a hugely enjoyable game in its own right.
  5. The Escapist
    Dec 6, 2012
    80
    It might take a while to figure out how its various mechanics work and its pacing may be too slow for some, but PlanetSide 2 is a solid shooter that does a very good job of merging the social aspects of an MMO with the action-heavy game play of an FPS.
  6. Armchair Empire
    May 10, 2013
    75
    The shooter fundamentals are all there. The visuals are great but the progression just doesn't seem to deliver any payoff for players outside of the hardcore. It's not quite as much of a shameless cash grab as something out of Zynga, but it definitely sours the experience.
  7. Polygon
    Dec 15, 2012
    75
    You should play it because its most exciting moments don't occur when you turn the corner and paint a target in your sights. They occur when you're sitting in a troop transport, rolling towards an opposing force, and wondering how the battle will unfold - even if those battles aren't always perfect.
  8. Destructoid
    Dec 7, 2012
    75
    Being a part of huge battles, the likes of which games like Battlefield 3 only dream of, is not to be understated. If there's a better free-to-play game to have a short-term fling with, I have yet to play it. Just don't expect any sort of meaningful commitment.
  9. DarkStation
    Dec 6, 2012
    70
    PlanetSide 2 is a hard game to sum up. It's a beautiful, solidly built shooter that presents large-scale conflict like nobody else in the business. The rest of the game's enjoyment, however, is entirely up to you. If you can dedicate the time to learning the systems, decoding the cumbersome UI, and finding a group of people that you like playing with, PlanetSide 2 will be a blast.
  10. Game Revolution
    Nov 26, 2012
    70
    PlanetSide 2's uneven execution makes it fall short of what it aspires to be: the well-rounded MMOFPS many have been craving. It's fun to squad up with friends and make an impact on the game world with class synergy and the potency of vehicles behind you. However, sequences of enthusiastic, large-scale combat are marred by lag and frustrating bugs. It gets the FPS part right, but misses the mark with its shallow MMO qualities. If nothing else, PlanetSide 2 is a free-to-play game that can spark moments of excitement, but just don't set your expectations too high.
  11. Gamer.nl
    Nov 26, 2012
    70
    The ambitious PlanetSide 2 tries to make a massive and chaotic shooting game more alluring, in which it hasn't succeeded completely. It's a never ending, somewhat brainless deathmatch that is quite entertaining thanks to is firm and well balanced fundamentals. If the development continues on this path, PlanetSide 2 can only get better.
  12. Gameblog.fr
    Nov 19, 2012
    70
    SoE had a clear goal in mind with Planetside 2: the same game with prettier graphics and more accessibility. In both regards, it's a success. The massive war atmosphere is there. Let's hope that it will evolve in order to trump a possible weariness of the basic war mechanics with new stuff and a storytelling element that writer Marv Wolfman could contribute.
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.8 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 832 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 191 out of 347
  2. Mixed: 50 out of 347
  3. Negative: 106 out of 347
  1. bi0mech81
    2
    Frustrating and not fun describes my initial reaction to this game. First and foremost is the learning curve. from the start you spawn in the middle of a fight with nothing telling you what your objectives are, or even where your teammates are. Should you be unfortunate enough to spawn in the middle of a tank fight (as was my first experience) you feel helpless as you die, respawn, and die again as soon as you respawn. An in-game "Newbie" area, some kind of zone where you go only when you first start a character would be greatly appreciated as throughout my first hour of gameplay I was consistantly pitted against players of level 38 or higher. The extremely large playing area makes snipers and tanks gods on the ground. I have not been able to fly any of the aircraft, yet because everytime I spawn an air vehicle it is destroyed immediately. I'm not an avid FPS player by any stretch of the means- I grew up on Doom, Quake, and UT, and I manage about a 1:1 Kill to death ratio in CoD, and tend to play support roles in TF2. On average I have 2 kills and over 50 deaths in planet side due to spawn camping. spawning at a point that is distant from the battle just means I get to run for 10 minutes to die from a sniper that I can't see. Playing a supporting role in PS2 is down right rage-inducing. Healing a friendly player may or may not reward XP, and unlike TF2, you cannot heal a heavy to keep them up while they sustain gunfire. Reviving fallen players is fairly pointless unless they died less than 2 seconds in front of you. The Engineer's turret is too inaccurate for the distances at which forces are regularly engaged in. The tanks are done well- and in many cases are over-powered. many of the bases are designed so you can just snipe away at the enemy generator with your tank and destroy it without worry of being engaged by the defenders. Running over your own teammates results in a suicide for them, and no penalty for yourself- great if you just want to troll your own team, as is often the case. What this game direly needs is level segregation of some form- whether it's designated levels for zones where as you out level the zone you do less damage, or you cannot respawn into a zone you are out leveled for, something needs to give a new player some fudge-factor to learn how the game works besides dropping you straight into a fight that you are grossly under leveled for.… Full Review »
  2. OhRly
    3
    This game is massively overrated, this game is rushed as hell, giving the devs less time to weave out the massive imbalances and bugs. The RPGs are equivalent to Nerf Water guns, the Max is unfair to play as and against, players are complete **** it's just a mess. Though the maps are nice, and what is does well, it does really well, not to mention it's a guilty pleasure.… Full Review »
  3. Tumbl3r
    4
    This is a game with a lot of unrealised promise, which suffers at the hands of a new community.
    I love big, class based FPS games, I even lov    ed MAG, but its pretty difficult to love PS2. Its scale is awesome, but you are unlikely to see most of the map given the spawns and hotpoints tend to be at small locations many Km apart. Its gunplay is pretty poor, guns are uninspiring and bland with no impactful feel.

    There are youtube guides out there that state that the most important aspect of this game is logistics. This is true, the most useful people are usually the ones flying mobile spawn points but they are far above the action. As such, people rarely fly the mobile spawn points because the most useful part of the game is also incredibly boring.

    The other problem this game suffers from is that there is no sense of achievement, even when you capture an entire region of the map.

    The community at the minute is still adjusting, so while it may get better in the future at the minute the 10% of people that arent playing snipers are running round wildly with LMGs.

    The game is incredibly demanding on PCs due to its scale, and still has a lot of lag and bugs in the EU servers. The concept behind the game is excellent, the execution at the moment is just incredibly bland. In addition, for a game with this much stuff and scale, there is no real tutorial to speak of. A few notes exist in the in the pause/map screen but at the start of the game you are pretty much dropped in a warzone and told 'GO!' leaving you puzzled asking "go where? do what?" until you die.    … Full Review »
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