Combat Arms (by Nexon) is another one of those free MMOFPS. There have been a number of other games in this genre (Warrock, Soldier Front), however, I don't think any of the others have pulled it off quite as well. Warrock, for example, was plagued with bugs and lag. The balancing was bad, and the hackers were rampant (more on that later). Combat Arms on the other hand is nicely balanced, free of glitches and bugs (for the most part) and the hackers are at a minimum.
Of course there is a paying element to the game. To play it you need not worry about opening your wallet at all. However, to get some of the other perks the game offers you will have to spend a little cash. New character models, special guns, and other unique items are yours for NX points. NX points work in much the same way as Microsoft points. You buy the points and spend them on equipment.
There is a wide variety of guns and weapons to the game. Shotguns, sniper rifles, etc... All of these real world weapons yanked from one army or another and slapped in. There are some balancing issues to the weapons of course. Shotguns are a bit overpowered, submachine guns can have ridiculous range and the heartbeat sensor can be akin to "Haxploits". Aside from just guns you can buy other equipment. Armor and clothing for your character to increase your armor, or a gas mask to make you immune to poison gas grenades.
Another interesting game element is the ability to add modifications to your weapons. You can put on a different scope, expand the ammo clip, add a silencer. These things are not without their cons however. Silencers decrease range and damage, and expanded ammo clips slow down reload speed.
The basic game play is fairly standard stuff, WASD to move, Ctrl to crouch, click to shoot, numbers to select different weapons etc... There is a surprisingly large number of different game variants, ranging from capture the flag and deathmatch, to spy hunt in which players must collect all 5 pieces of intel, they then become the "super spy" and must upload the intel. The game play is nothing innovative, however, the maps have different layouts and skins. The maps are all usually built in the same way. Two spawn points facing each other with cover or a large building or something in between.
Depending on how well you and your team did in each match you get a certain amount of XP and GP. You can level up in Combat Arms which gives you a GP bonus and unlocks new equipment for you to buy. GP is the in game currency with which you buy your equipment. Fairly standard system used in Warrock and Soldier Front, and like both those games your guns expire after a set period of time, depending on how much time you bought. Apparently you are not able to actually buy guns so you have to rent them from your local gun store.
The player base. This is where the game really goes downhill. When I play this game I find myself simply ignoring the chat. There is no team strategy aspect to this game, its all about getting the most kills to earn the most GP and XP. If you are at all decent at this game, or even get a lucky kill there is an immediate accusation of "HACKER" and a threat of report if you don't stop "hacking". When playing Combat Arms I find this truly irritating and the poor sportsmanship of both my opponents and my teammates is one of the things that keeps me from fully enjoying the game.
All in all its a fairly good game, it doesn't try anything new, however, what it does do it does well. The player base is awful and some things don't work quite right, but for a free game it works pretty well.
This is my first review so any constructive criticism is welcome, thanks.
Of course there is a paying element to the game. To play it you need not worry about opening your wallet at all. However, to get some of the other perks the game offers you will have to spend a little cash. New character models, special guns, and other unique items are yours for NX points. NX points work in much the same way as Microsoft points. You buy the points and spend them on equipment.
There is a wide variety of guns and weapons to the game. Shotguns, sniper rifles, etc... All of these real world weapons yanked from one army or another and slapped in. There are some balancing issues to the weapons of course. Shotguns are a bit overpowered, submachine guns can have ridiculous range and the heartbeat sensor can be akin to "Haxploits". Aside from just guns you can buy other equipment. Armor and clothing for your character to increase your armor, or a gas mask to make you immune to poison gas grenades.
Another interesting game element is the ability to add modifications to your weapons. You can put on a different scope, expand the ammo clip, add a silencer. These things are not without their cons however. Silencers decrease range and damage, and expanded ammo clips slow down reload speed.
The basic game play is fairly standard stuff, WASD to move, Ctrl to crouch, click to shoot, numbers to select different weapons etc... There is a surprisingly large number of different game variants, ranging from capture the flag and deathmatch, to spy hunt in which players must collect all 5 pieces of intel, they then become the "super spy" and must upload the intel. The game play is nothing innovative, however, the maps have different layouts and skins. The maps are all usually built in the same way. Two spawn points facing each other with cover or a large building or something in between.
Depending on how well you and your team did in each match you get a certain amount of XP and GP. You can level up in Combat Arms which gives you a GP bonus and unlocks new equipment for you to buy. GP is the in game currency with which you buy your equipment. Fairly standard system used in Warrock and Soldier Front, and like both those games your guns expire after a set period of time, depending on how much time you bought. Apparently you are not able to actually buy guns so you have to rent them from your local gun store.
The player base. This is where the game really goes downhill. When I play this game I find myself simply ignoring the chat. There is no team strategy aspect to this game, its all about getting the most kills to earn the most GP and XP. If you are at all decent at this game, or even get a lucky kill there is an immediate accusation of "HACKER" and a threat of report if you don't stop "hacking". When playing Combat Arms I find this truly irritating and the poor sportsmanship of both my opponents and my teammates is one of the things that keeps me from fully enjoying the game.
All in all its a fairly good game, it doesn't try anything new, however, what it does do it does well. The player base is awful and some things don't work quite right, but for a free game it works pretty well.
This is my first review so any constructive criticism is welcome, thanks.
