I won't comment about CTDs and connection probs, as the version we're playing is only beta.
What I like is unbelievably short loading times. 1/5 of ones in BF2 for sure.
After 2 days of playing the game non-stop, I can say the following:
The weapons are not much fun to use. They make farting sounds and most of them are neither accurate nor powerful (it's twenty second century, hello!). Sniper rifles were nerfed so badly they are mostly useless now.
When I first heard about the number of unlocks I couldn't really believe, but DICE went the easy way. They simply cut the number of the kits, turned most of the equipment into unlocks and made the kits kinda empty. I mean, what is this: Assault class only gets a rifle, a pistol and a knife?! Where are grenades? Where is the t00b? Is that called balance when a high-ranked player walks around packing tons of stuff and has a sprint boost? Support is ablosutely unused. You scream for ammo, but nobody ever comes, as people understand that all support guns are even less useful than M249 in BF2.
The vehicles are some fun, mostly because they are new. But they have some flaws too. Flying now takes 0 skill. In BF2 you actually had to learn how to fly both helicopters and jets, and learn even harder to fly well and combat other jets, but in 2142 even a monkey can fly those things. The tanks are a joke. One tank is flying above the ground - and it's okay, and even fun to drive. The only thing it lacks is a rotating turret. EU tank seemed total shit for me: I have to drive slowly using roads, and the first stone I gently hit or a little pit on the way takes me down to 70% of health. I really can't believe they make such fragile tanks in the 22nd century! It's even a problem to drive it to the enemy's location sometimes as it has about 45% hp and a first hit with PAC tank's round finishes it off!
The idea of fighting inside Titans was stolen from SW: Battlegrounds. The action inside Titans is rather interesting, as it is the only place the small arms are actually effective.
The score I give to this beta is 3/5.
I will check out the demo of Quake Wars as soon as it comes out and then I will decide which of these two games will end up on my hard drive.
