A while back, Kotaku ran a brief piece on Combat Arms, and I vowed to give it a try for three reasons: a) it’s free, b) it’s a first person shooter, and c) three million people can’t be wrong, right? So I did. Hit the jump for some thoughts, screenshots, and a video.
First, a disclaimer: I’ve only played about an hour of Counter-Strike in my whole life, so I can’t really comment on how this relates to that quintessential FPS experience. However, I can pretty safely say I had a decent time with Combat Arms. It plays on the more realistic side of things; shooting while moving produces a wide spray of ineffectual fire, and your accuracy hits its peak after about a half second of standing still. You can’t take much damage at all; next to you Gordon Freeman might as well be an armored tank, and it’s a harsh jump from Halo 3: ODST, which I’ve been playing for review purposes (and fun), to Combat Arms. Nevertheless, the action is fun, and the aiming mechanics make scoring kills and headshots in particular very rewarding. There seemed to be a bit of lag in the most recent match I played (where the video below came from), but the first few games were smooth, and the only thing getting me killed was me; exactly the way a good multiplayer FPS should be. Now enjoy a (very) brief clip of me getting toasted.
The gameplay mechanics are solid. Headshots, multikills, and Revenge kills (killing someone who’s killed you more than four times) are announced and a small animation overlays the action to let you know how much you rock. It’s a nice touch, without getting in the way of the actual action. The game allows you adjust your loadout before each match, allowing you to choose your weapon and tweak it with scopes, silencers, and extended magazines. This, however is where the free-to-play piece of Combat Arms comes in; you can earn most these items by storing up points you earn for kills and winning games, but you can just as easily spend a few bucks and buy that nice sniper rifle. Worse, it appears that some items are only available by paying real money.
I’m not saying it’s all doom and gloom. The big balance here is that a better gun won’t necessarily make you a better player. Kill the guy who paid for his weapon and it’s yours until you’re out of ammo. You can also use your points racked up from playing well (GP) to purchase upgrades and new weapons for a limited time, so skill is not thrown by the wayside.
If you’re into the first person gaming space, I’d heartily recommend giving this a try; what have you got to lose? In the meantime, enjoy these screens.
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