A Beginner's Impressions For Beginners
Hi all, I hope my first post here is acceptable and helpful. I'm a newcomer to Holdfast on Xbox Series X, having literally only heard of the game for the first time on Friday and been playing it for the last three days. Here are my first impressions and tips for any fellow newcomers.
First, this game is phenomenal! As an avid military history enthusiast, I really don't know how I never came across this game before. Anybody still considering buying should know that this is not a gritty, hardcore war simulator, and it certainly is not a Battlefield game. The learning curve is a little steep, but it has been a long time since I had so much fun overcoming the initial challenges that plague any newcomer to a game on this scale. One thing that may come as a surprise is how difficult it is to successfully shoot anybody, given that this is a shooter. Each kill provides real satisfaction and your first few matches will depend upon sheer dumb luck. It's difficult to explain how to shoot in this game, this is something that only experience can teach and after a few hours, you should have a pretty solid instinct for it. One tip I can offer is that the game has a subtle, but effective, aim-assist and whenever you feel it grabbing your musket, let it.
As I stated, this is not a gritty game. It's a bright, farcical romp that has made me grin a lot more than I usually would over three short days. I really admire the fact that maps are not locked behind DLCs or editions, which contain only cosmetics. If money is tight, for £16 you can buy the full game and most (but not all) of the in-game cosmetics can be bought for in-game shillings, which you can earn through combat challenges of your choosing. The sheer variety of maps is one of my favourite things about this game, especially given the Napoleonic / American Revolutionary setting is so novel for such a large shooter.
I do, however, have one complaint, which is that the uniforms are not faction locked. I understand how integral cosmetic freedom is to the game, but this is so plainly open to abuse that I think reasonable restrictions would absolutely be justified. Standing in a line of blue-coated Americans, only to be bayoneted along with several others by a British player dressed like an American whom we all walked right past, really put me off at first because this was a recurring theme throughout my early games. Outside spawnkilling (another issue) and actual hacking, I have never witnessed such dirty tactics in a game and for one, brief moment, I almost didn't bother coming back.
But I'm glad I did come back, and I keep coming back for more. Holdfast is a really great game and the players are very funny people whose heads I very much look forward to blowing off as a rifleman, which has been my favourite class so far.
Hopefully this will be informative, and I'll gladly take any questions. Thanks.