Familiar Feel
When it comes to first person shooters, we’re in an age that’s dominated with e-sport type titles, with big studios responsible for some of the biggest names out there. Think Counter Strike, Overwatch and now the battle royale giants like Fortnite and PUBG. Are the traditional shooters a thing of the past? Not entirely, and there’s a still a few games out there that’s currently flying under the radar which offers some really good MMOFPS experiences. One such game is Warface, which I got to play this week.
Warface was developed by Crytek, the same studios that gave us games like Far Cry and Crysis. Since being moved to My.com, the game has been getting more players due to being free, but that also means that microtransactions do play a big part in keeping the servers alive and free. So is Warface worth playing in 2018? Here are some quick thoughts.
Fresh Ideas for an FPS
Warface utilizes plenty of familiar mechanics that other FPS games do. But don’t count it out just yet. It brings fresh ideas to the table especially when it comes to things like Special Movements. In matches, your character can vault over objects, slide under obstacles and the coolest part is the team assist mechanics. You can help a buddy up a high wall, and it comes complete with animations and everything. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in an FPS and it definitely adds more flavor while taking nothing away from that core shoot-em-up experience.
Elsewhere, weapon loadouts are also slightly different. Warface lets you attach upgrades within a match itself by hitting the C key. Every weapon has a few attachments available, but it’s up to you to play the game and unlock them. This let’s players customize their weapons on the go which is pretty refreshing.
Interesting Class Dynamics
But perhaps the real star of the show here in Warface are the four unique classes. There’s the Rifleman, Engineer, Sniper and Medic, and each comes with their own specialized set of weapons and skills. Think of it as a lite version of what Battlefield 1 offers with their class systems. In Warface, the Medic heals, the Rifleman can replenish ammo and the Sniper well, snipes. Much of what this does to the matches is gives players a reason to work together in ways that other games of this genre wouldn’t. It also makes both the PvE co-op mode and PvP modes more enjoyable due to the heavy reliance on teamwork and coordination.
New players don’t get access to all the classes immediately though, and must earn more experience points via playing matches to level up. The first class unlocked will be the Medic, which I must say plays the best support role in the game. Again, the comparisons with Battlefield 1 will be brought up, but both do what they do well for their respective games.
Pay To Progress Optional
For the most part, the entirety of your experience will come down to progression on two fronts, first for your level and second, for the gear. All the currency your earn are for getting better equipment, which you rent, and not buy outright. That simply means micro-transactions come into the picture here, and thus sells you permanent weapons which can be a deal breaker. The plethora of game modes for both PvE and PvP somewhat makes up for it though.
The real whacky part will probably be the slow progression of XP gains, and that largely comes down to how much time you spend in game. Playing like a champ and getting all the top marks in matches is your best bet to climb the rank ladder faster, which also means earning better gear faster. Alas, that isn’t the preferred route for many of the player base. When it comes to PvP matchmaking, balance in the early levels is promising, but there will still be games where people are way ahead of you, due to spending money on a better gun, or better equipment that doesn’t expire from the cash shop. Evil, yes, but necessary? Perhaps. It’s probably the one thing that’s keeping the servers free and alive.
Good Graphics
When it comes to presentation, Warface is a looker. The design of the weapons and character models are pretty good, and more importantly weapons feel authentic in design and aesthetic. Environments for maps on the other, could be better as simple things like ground, foliage and rocks look bland and aren’t optimized for high textures. On a high-end computer, it does makes a great difference though, as the smoothness of combat comes through nicely.
Accessible
Ultimately, Warface is a free to play title that offers a lot of very little in terms of price up front. There are plenty of shooter games on the market right now that’s operating as F2P, and Warface is definitely one of the better ones out there.
