[GRAW2 MP Demo due June 7th]

I think they actually did it right this time. They did a beta of it, twice. THEN, they took the time to fix what they could (not say there won't be bugs of course). Now we get a demo that's based on a cleaner final version of the game which gives us a better idea of whether or not the game is worth our money. Sure you gotta wait longer, but patience is a virtue.

This of course is instead of releasing a buggy demo that turns people off, then you're forced to release a half-baked game that's essentially still in beta stages, and then wait for months while the dev team scrambles to fix bugs and add features that they shoulda had in the initial release.

I kinda like the new strategy.

[have unfair AI advantages been neutralized?]

If they fixed that, I think it would be a first in video games. Even games where stealth is a key element, the AI pretty much just relies on heuristics to "fake" limited omniscience until it finally takes the gloves off and turns on God mode. For example, in Splinter Cell, you can be sneaking around a pitch black room and nobody hears or sees you. Then you knock over a can or whatever and the baddies instantly have you zeroed and are dead-on-balls accurate in the dark with no night vision. In GRAW it was the same way. In firefights, once you cross the scene trigger, EVERYBODY knows exactly where you are all at the same time. The enemy soldiers don't figure out where you are one-by-one or via communication. I guess snipers too don't really have a "fake it" heuristic, and just skip straight to the God mode. BUT, it'd be cool if the snipers did have a few more heuristics built in this time around. They definately made RPGhard's maps frustrating.

[Reserve your GRAW2 Demo now]

It's not a big deal. If you just wait a few hours, everybody and their mother with be mirroring it, and on better servers for free. You won't have to pay for anything!

[Is this an actual in-game image ?]

I really like the datalinking feature of GRAW. It doesn't necessarily make situational awareness "easy" as it does drastically speed it up. I think that really the only way it could be considered lame is if the battles were on a larger scale and there were lots of friendlies and civilians in the area and it kept track of EVERYTHING at all times. At least in GRAW1, that wasn't the case in the least bit. I think it just provides the "heads-up" that no real soldier could ever refuse.

[Can Co-op Games be saved?]

I don't see what's so bad about savegames? You can still have all your hardcore aspects, except then you can have an actual life. With GRAW, I hated that coop levels were so freakin drawn out. Sometimes one of my friends had leave the game to go tend to his kid. That pretty much ended the game right there. We coulda just saved the game, he coulda taken care of his family, and then we coulda picked up where we left off later. I don't see how that ruins the experience?

[GRAW 1 & NOW 2 Sniper rifle]

Sniper rifles aren't JUST about range, they're also about power. In RL they also use sniper rifles in the anti-equipment role. They also use the tactical advantage that a large cartridge could provide. It'd be nice to have the capability to say, use the drone to tag someone hiding behind a wall and then have the sniper to shoot that person through the wall. Of course I think this usage all depends on how the maps turn out and whether they allow for such an advantage.

[graw1 pc & graw2 pc difference ?]

Indeed, I believe there will be an all-new box as well.

[GRAW2 gun list?]

If you're asking the beta testers, I think they're gonna be a bit tight-lipped. Probably gonna have to wait for something from one of the official guys.

["What do you think of Ubisoft as a brand/company? "]

Well I'd assume that being the Frag Dolls' site, that'd be the console audience sounding off. If so, then I could understand. Also, I'd imagine that's a semi-official Ubi site, so maybe instead of the padlocks, they hit the delete button. But the Ubi console games are great. I love the Splinter Cell games on Xbox, but the PC ports of CT and DA haven't impressed me.

Take a shot in the dark here, but I think the discourse would be a TAD different if they asked that same question on a PC forum.

[Where is our media!]

I personally think that next month, we'll see a flood of media. I think Ubi's plan was to put the 360 version on a pedestal and let it have March all to itself. Of course I think that plan backfired because the complaints started rolling in, and then C&C3 basically dominated the media and rained on Ubi's parade.

But hey, I'd rather have them spend their time puttin some more love into the game rather than telling us how cool their new half-baked product is.

[graw2 pc release date]

Well I found something here at CVG. Looks like June 30th

[GRAW, like Falcon 4.0, can be revived and then some]

Oh yeah, don't forget all the developer flame fests on the Frugal's board

Anyway, I'm REALLY hoping that they patch it up enough and give the community enough tools for the game to run its course, so we don't have to go through all the Falcon BS. I know some folks like their conspiracies, but it would benefit all parties involved to maximize the GRAW market. Another flashback... When AF was released, it flew off the shelves (no pun intended), leaving Lead-Pursuit no doubt that our little niche market was there was more than willing to throw down some cash for a product we liked. I'd figured AF was more of a test bed than a franchise unto itself. Sure enough, Lead-Pursuit almost immediately announced the green light for a sequel and an expansion to hold us over until the sequel. So, yeah I still agree that we'll enjoy a mod community like Falcon and GR1. Just sit tight.

[GRAW, like Falcon 4.0, can be revived and then some]

Exactly Doc, I'm just trying to keep a cool discussion going is all. I definately think that GRAW is a great game engine overall, it's just that multiplay is severly neglected. I'm with Dewey though. Just have a little patience and let Grin finish what they started. I bought GRAW the weekend it came out and I'd prefer to stay optimistic about this MP patch. They're hearing the clamoring, it's just that what the hardcores want will take more time. Of course, I do think that once the table is set for all this, the multiplayer should skyrocket, just like the F4 community did when AF came out.

[GRAW, like Falcon 4.0, can be revived and then some]

I'm an active member of the F4 community. Most of my clan actually started off in AF. I agree with your similarities, but I think you're missing a few differences. The original F4 was impossible to play in multiplayer. The community modded version basically took about 15 minutes JUST to get everyone logged in. With all the mods and everything available, everyone had to have the EXACT same setup to play. This forced people join online groups because basically two noobs couldn't connect. While buggy for sure, GRAW, I don't believe is in such a predicament. Second, there was "The Dance" where you'd have to install several compatible updates in the proper order just to have the latest and greatest. Depending on your PC, it could take 2 hours just to install the darn game. This obviously frustrated many noobs, but us hardcores needed our crack so we just dealt with it. But there is no learning curve for the GRAW installation.

So when AF came along, it got rid of the Dance and installed just like any other game out there. And like you said, it cracked the MP world wide open, and we had a MASSIVE influx of noobs to revitalize the community. And the old guys got everything we'd been clamoring about for ages.

Also, I don't believe GRAW is dead yet. They aren't done patching the game yet, so we haven't seen max potential. Also, this is a mass-market game. If it's sold enough copies, expect an expansion pack which will no doubt have the stuff we wanted in the first release.