The FPS MMO market is currently quite great. This FPS madness was originally started with id's DOOM and Quake, then moved to Unreal Tournament and Quake III Arena, then it flooded in especially with Counter-Strike, then was again popularized by Halo, and Call of Duty. While these games helped FPS games reign supreme in the multiplayer marketplace, there's one quiet little place outside of these full-retail legendary juggernauts that I like to call "F2P FPS Awesomeville". It is, as I said, a generally quiet little town, but new neighbors enter in year after year. Today, I'm going to reveal to you one of the cooler ones in town, Combat Arms.
I'm going to go ahead and say it: this game has hackers. Even when you get a match without hackers, there's a chance you can get kicked out when you go on a killing spree. They then justify their kicking by saying you were hacking when you were, in fact, not. Other than that, finding a match with great teammates proves to be great fun.
But forget about that for a moment and let's get to the source of this review. The game is billed as a modern tactical-shooter, though "tactical" isn't he word I'd use to describe it. While it doesn't try to be as crazy as something like Unreal Tournament, it really doesn't require much wit to the length of something like MAG. Basically, the only real strategy you need is "plant mine at door entrance, run around and flank. And that's it. Granted, it's a good strategy and it works for all of the modes except for the co-op mode, Fireteam. You have your standard modes: Elimination and Elimination Pro (Team Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch with 1 life respectively), One Man Army and Last Man Standing (Free-For-All Deathmatch and FFA Deathmatch with one life), Capture the Flag, and Search and Destroy (Team A plants bomb, Team B tries to defend). It also has it's fair share of more original game modes: Seize and Secure (Think Halo's King of the Hill, but team-based and you need to get your team's flag at the designated point for 2 consecutive minutes.), Spy Hunt (grab all of the intel, then go up against your enemies and former teammates to upload data to HQ as the Super Spy. The big dude.), Bombing Run (similar to S&D, but both sides can plant the bomb), Quarantine Regen (20 seconds into each round, anyone from 1-3 players turns into an Infected, depending on the match's player count. Similar to L4D's competitive mode, the humans must defeat the Infected or stay alive until the time runs out. The Infected tries to turn all other players to their side and can kill with 1 hit. However, they get knocked back by bullets which helps the humans survive), and the most addicting mode called Fireteam.
Fireteam currently has 3 maps. The first, called Desert Strike, is simply going through the level shooting AI-controlled terrorists. The second, called Cabin Fever, is the one everyone plays the most. This mode is very similar to Treyarch's Nazi Zombies mode in both World at War and Black Ops. Despite having 4 more buddies than that game, this is a much more heart-pounding experience as there are no defenses aside from you. There are big entryways into this cabin and with a flood of regular zombies, terrorist zombies, tough bitches that die and send out exploding brains (I think), big blue fuckers that take more rounds than an elephant, and then you mix it all together... all I can say is wow. The map also restricts you from going barely a yard away from the cabin as the infection will sink in, killing you until the next round. Also, it is very much worth nothing that you run out of ammo. FAST. The third map is a newer one just placed it not too long ago called Black Lung. This one is close to Cabin Fever in design, but is far more objective based and doesn't last as long. These 3 maps will drain away many hours of your playtime in Combat Arms and I have yet to see a mode that is so entertaining in an F2P MMO such as this.
But back to PvP-based combat. For the most part, you'll see Elimination. This is great because it is both a nice way for n00bs to enter the game and gain experience as well as see the good amount of maps in this one mode (around 15-20). Ranking up is similar to that of many other FPS games these days, but the XP rate is slightly slower, meaning you'll have to be dedicated to rank up. Each rank unlocks new items in the store, which can be bought from periods of a day, a week, a month, or 3 months. There is also quite a few weapons that you'll fork out real money for, but these are totally unneeded to experience this game. In fact, I think I only ever saw around 10 players having bought a gun in the store, usually a G36E Valkyrie for some mysterious reason. Also, you can modify your weapon with a sight, special magazine type, and a muzzle. Not quite up to Alliance of Valiant Arms' weapon customization level, but it has a lot of guns to modify, as well over 30 guns can be purchased as you progress through the ranks. There's also some player customization, but having a good weapon is more of a key to survival than having a heavy vest.
As every match is fun, you'll have one big problem plaguing this game and I urge you to finish reading this paragraph before you skip this game. The big problem is hackers. There has actually been a recorded history of this game's war with hackers and the players' (and Nexon's) attempts at repelling these evil pricks with a tug-of-war kind of success. But this "hacker problem" has extended into chaos in which every PvP match I've played to date has had someone accuse me of aimboting, healthing, or any other kind of hack when I do halfway decent. To tell you the honest truth, I don't know how to hack and as someone who appreciates games for what they are, I believe any kind of hacking or cheating is stupid and shows bad sportsmanship. By "Cheating", I mean spawn killing, camping, etc (I'm looking at you, War Rock).
In terms of presentation, the game is done well. The graphics, while not the pinnacle of current F2P MMOFPS gaming, is still one of the best looking games in it's sub-genre. All weapons, environments, and character models are fantastic to look at for a game that's free and the UI seems a bit better than it was before the recent patch to alter the look of it. The sound is just as well polished as each weapon sounds different and has a deeper feel to it (much like an actual firearm). The voice-over commands are still damn good and the ambiance in Cabin Fever and Black Lung are unmatched for F2P FPS games these days.
If you're looking for a good FPS to last you off my weeks and perhaps months at a time, this a great game to check out. The community can be a bit bitchy at times and you can trust few people, but it has a ton of modes and maps to hold you off for a long while. If community is the definitive factor to you for a MMOFPS, I'd try Cross Fire, but this is one of the best, if not the best F2P MMOFPS game out to date and any fan of the genre owes it to themselves, their family, and the entire world to register right now and dig in. While being a trainee sucks (fucking M16A3 sucks ass), dedication is deeply rewarding to create a great feel for many players. With around 3.75 million active users (one of the largest player pools in an MMO), what's holding you back from registering and meeting a few friends right now? Absolutely nothing.
Score: 9.25
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Combat Arms' latest update brings a new map to the game, and more.
Popular free-to-play shooter Combat Arms has received a new update that adds a brand new mode.
