In the video game industry today, we look for a game with the best graphics and the best gameplay. There are some major contenders who bring home the bacon with a combination of both but there are many companies who are lacking it all. Nexon America, a sister company to Nexon Korea, has released their latest game called Combat Arms. With many free games on their list, how can a small company who makes their money with item shops possibly make a game where it combines depth, action, and sheer fluidity to a game and still be free? No one knows the answer, nor is it ever asked and it shouldn't. Combat Arms definitely does deliver what all FPS gamers need and shows potential with where it can go.
You start the game with a basic setup. You choose how your soldier looks and then name him. Where it gets tricky is the weapons you start with. They consider the M16A1 Automatic rifle to be the weakest by today's standards and therefore offer it as its "free" weapon. You also start with standard military issue camo and a combat knife as well as some basic frag grenades. As for now, customization is very limited but the developers have stated that you will be able to "purchase" looks in the future, which leads me to the best part. EVERY gun, grenade, armor vest, helmet, uniform, or anything else that can be used to punish your enemies will never EVER cost you any real life money. Thats right. You can be just as powerful as the highest killer on the servers and never have spent a penny. The ingame money, known as GP, is what you use to buy your gear with and is only earned by winning matches. Depending on how many kills you get determines what place you come in on the leaderboards for that match and thus, determines how much experience and GP you earn.
Experience? Why is there experience points in an FPS? Actually, this is nothing new. In the Battlefield games, your soldier earned experience to unlock weapons and to earn rank. The same is true in Combat Arms. You earn rank to unlock certain weapons and gear. You also have to be a certain rank to join a clan and start one. This leaves an incentive to playing the game and really pushes the player to rank up instead of creating multiple accounts. There is also a KDR (Kill/Death Ratio) which is available for all players to see. Naturally, the higher your KDR is, the better you look to other players, and believe it or not, determines whether opposing clans will fight you in clan matches or even play in the same match with you in normal matches. Rank does not determine how good a player is however. Rank is merely an indication on how much that player has played and there are definitely some people on there with a rank so high that it looks as if they have no life. Which is probably true.
So how is the gameplay? The gameplay is the next best thing about Combat Arms. The gameplay feels a lot like Counterstrike meets Unreal Tournament. There is blood and lots of it as well as tactical espionage action. There is four gameplay modes and each are unique in their own way.
Elimination: Players are put on two teams: Alpha and Bravo and are pitted against each other in a deathmatch. The team with the most kills wins.
One Man Army: Exactly as it sounds. You are your own team in the ultimate of deathmatches.
Search and Destroy: Players are again placed into two teams: Alpha and Bravo. Each member of Alpha has control of a bomb and must reach locations A or B (Marked by Chevron's on the HUD) and must plant the bomb. Bravo team must either destroy all of Alpha teams members or disarm the planted bomb. Players have one minute from the time the bomb is planted to disarm it.
Capture the Flag: Ah, ye olde Capture the Flag. Probably the most common of game modes for any FPS on the market. Capture the Flag consists of yet again, two teams. Alpha and Bravo. The rest is pretty self explanatory, each team must try to capture the opposing teams' flag.
One of the major concepts about Combat Arms that makes its gameplay unique, is the sense of "reward" you get from killing your enemies. For every kill you get, it flashes how many kills you have in front of your face. And it is even more rewarding if you can kill two to three players in less than five seconds. It boldy states "Double Kill!" or "Multi Kill!". And it is also seen by other players. Very rewarding indeed.
There are some flaws to this game however. (Which games doesn't have flaws?) The game is really laggy during peak times, no matter which server you choose. There is also an ever increasing amount of hackers, and the game has several glitches. Like falling into the world and and knifing everyone. But all in all, it is a very good game with montly updates/fixes that will be sure to have you playing more and more as time goes by. For more detailed information on Combat Arms you can visit their site directly at combatarms.nexon.net. If you can read Korean or are Korean, combatarms.nexon.com.
Get in there and blow your enemies away...FOR FREE!
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