Games Reviews - Expert and user reviews

Combat Arms Review

Publisher: Nexon
Category: Action
Release Dates
Intl - 02/26/2009
Online - 07/10/2008
Official Game Website
Official International Game Website

When people mention the competence of first-person shooters, games like Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3 and the Battlefield series come to mind. Who would have thought that Nexon, developers of free-to-casual games like MMO Mabinogi, or the cute-PopTag Bomberman style, has something for all those FPS fans out there looking for a fast, competitive online action? This game is combat arms.

Combat Arms does not waste time with training missions, or missions for that matter. The game literally takes you to a foyer, and in minutes, a party is ready to begin. I noticed that a fairly large amount of people play combat arms, it is absolutely essential because the game is based on strictly multiplayer matches. The game employs a lot of mechanics that can be seen in other FPS retail as leveling up to unlock equipment, and weapons, and the ranks of income. Rows are important because they determine what weapons and gear to unlock and more important (for the hardcore FPS players) when you are ready to join a clan or start one.

The game also follows the relationship between death Kill closely. This allows other people to see exactly how good (or bad) they are. If the kill / death rate is low, it means they are dying more than killing people, which in turn does not look great in applications clan. Naturally, you want to hold up not only wants to be considered for a clan, but also players prefer to play with you at parties. The game supports voice chat, so if you have a spare headset around, definitely helps during the games.

Combat Arms offers a huge nine different ways, which is impressive for a country free for the game. The nine modes are Elimination, Elimination Pro, Search and Destroy, Fireteam, One Man Army, Capture the Flag, Spy Hunt, Regen Quarantine, and Last Man Standing. Elimination is a standard team deathmatch, while one man army is a free for all, all the players battle each other to death. Elimination of Pro on the other hand gives each player one life, and each team must completely eliminate the other team before time runs out. Capture the Flag has two teams trying to steal the opposing teams flag and bring him back across the map. Search and Destroy takes the same mechanics of Counter Strike, where a team tries to plant a bomb at a particular site, and the other team tries to avoid it.

Fireteam is a cooperative mode with eight players trying to save the hostages through a computer-controlled stage infested with terrorists. Spy Hunt is another very interesting way, where players are initially all in the same team, until someone picks up a case of Intel and, in turn becomes a spy, and then everyone tries to give chase. Last Man Standing is a combination of elimination Pro and One Man Army, since it is a free for all, where all players have only one life and fight for his life while trying to be literally the last man. The last mode, called Regen Quarantine was the most interesting, but takes elements from left4dead. When the round, a couple of players are selected for the infected and their goal is to infect the rest of the players, while humans try to survive. All these modes are cleverly varied, and ensure that all the time you spend leveling your character, does not feel repetitive.

As mentioned earlier, the leveling gear and weapons unlocked. Unlike PopTag!, All weapons and equipment be accessible through leveling up, and not be bought with real money, but rather cash game won by the parties. This ensures that the game is fair and not allow players to master store bought weapons. The modifications of weapons can also be purchased with money from gambling, although there are some changes that are only available for real money. These changes would not ruin the game because it does not make the gun up, but offer benefits such as larger size of the clip, which also makes the slowest recharge, different types of sights and suppressors. Also worth mentioning that the changes are not permanent, but are more like rentals. They can be purchased for a day, seven days, thirty days and ninety days.

One thing to note is that although a lot of players, many of them are bad losers. I’ve been called a noob, hacker and a cheater dozen times. This is unfortunate because it may put off new players who just want to have fun, but you have to listen to insult people, because they’re losing. I will also add that I am not very good shooters, and this game is full of experienced players, so be prepared to bring your A-game.

Although not entirely original in some of its nine different game modes, they are all diverse enough to satisfy any craving for FPS fans headshots. Fireteam is a cooperative mode which is a pretty big contrast to feel the competition of the game in general, Spy Hunt is a great way another player can be his teammate for a minute, and his enemy the next. The inspired left4dead quarantine mode also adds a layer of Nice game that contrasts with the rest of focusing less on military-style gameplay, but rather a kind of terror and survival, although not nearly as frantic as you can get L4D . All this in a great package that is absolutely free is theft. Although there are other, more popular games to retail that are dominating when playing online, Combat Arms definitely not be overlooked. You may not have the graphics of Modern Warfare, but its gameplay more than makes up for it.

Review Scoring Details for Combat Arms

Gameplay: 9.0
Although some borrowers game play styles in a couple of different modes, they are all very fun and competitive.

Graphics: 7.0
Although not quite large, they are definitely one step ahead of Counter Strike 1.6.

Sound: 8.0
Guns sound great, and the music is orchestrated in the menus properly.

Difficulty: Med / Hard

Multiplayer: 9.0
Many media players low waiting times in the lobby, which means more time telling shots to the head.

Concept: 8.0
Leveling up your characters to unlock weapons and gear is a blast, and modes of cooperation and Fireteam are a nice contrast to the competitive.

Total: 9.0
Combat Arms is fun. Simple as that. If you can overlook the angry players, so anyone looking for a shooter competition line should look no further. This is free to play FPS at its best.