Introduction
As gamers get
more prepared for virtual warring worlds where anything goes we look for
substitutes until our ultimate desires are met. This is where Firearms comes
in. The team working on this ongoing project has put in a lot of effort
and hard work to give us gamers a product to enjoy that mimics war. As soon
as you enter a game you realize this isn't your average mod, its much, much
better. The action is intense, the guns realistic, and the death is oh so
painful!
Background
You start off
in the game already hearing the sounds of a fight ensuing. You have a choice,
between the red, or blue team. Your second choice comes in what you want
to have when you get into the thick of battle. Firearms provides you with
numerous choices from heavy armor (which isn't as expensive as light armor,
but can weigh you down). Not long after you have chosen your armor you get
into the meat of the options of equipment. This includes grenades, claymore
mines, handguns, rifles, machine guns, sub-machine guns, and a grenade launcher!
Now as much as you may want, you can't carry them all, because you don't
have enough money to buy them all. So you must pick and choose carefully.
And if you are a newcomer to the Firearms series they have preset configurations
to choose a balanced "class" of a character. One thing that provides a sense
of uniqueness about this mod is after you choose your weapons, you have
a choice to choose a skill. Things such as improved battle commands, and
artillery are at your disposal to choose.
Graphics
The graphics
are about as good as the Half-Life engine can get. And although that isn't
saying much, its saying a lot at the same time. The explosions and character
models in Half-Life were always nice. The lighting limited by the aged quake
2 engine, still provided a sense of atmosphere. They're quite a few death
animations for the characters. The only thing I miss (being that I am an
old school Counterstrike player) is animation for when the enemy gets hit,
maybe I am missing it through the action, but animation for the player being
hit would be nice. I wouldn't have minded a choice for different models
when you are on your team as a way to provide a little sense of individuality.
But then again, the only thing that differentiated soldiers in a real war
was their face, and their rank. Otherwise they pretty much all look the
same. I believe the FA team chose a good route when they decided to leave
everything uniform.
Sound
The sound throughout
the game is what makes this game so engrossing. Most maps you not only hear
the fire of your comrades in arms in the distance or next to you, but you
will also hear gunfire from abroad as if this battle was more than just
what is happening near you. Not only is the gunfire realistic and immersing,
but so is the sounds of your allies. Sometimes you can hear the limping
soldier that you are jogging past yelling for a medic. Or the loud battle
cry of a brave comrade running into the fray. You can yell for cover, or
to get down. And if you choose the skill for extra commands, even more are
at your disposable. If I ever imagine what war would sound like, it was
this.
Maps
If you have
a multiplayer only game such as FA, you have to have a lot of maps, and
boy does it! The maps are very different from each other. Some maps require
parachuting into the jungles from a helicopter above, both sides intent
on capturing the flags that spot the map at strategic locations. Other times
it pits he two teams equal distance from each other on similar looking urban
terrain. Not to be confused with capture the flag, this game follows the
ideas of capturing and holding strategic points on the map. You then have
a certain number of "reinforcements". When all your reinforcements have
been depleted the last team standing is the winner.
Bugs
Fortunately
there aren't many bugs in terms of the code written for the game. But I
believe on a few maps there can be some adjustments to make it a little
more fun to play. Some guns like the shotgun will knock you back. In particular
there is a level where you must grab a parachute and jump out of a helicopter.
Some mindless individuals seem to believe its fun to sit in the helicopter
and shoot people out without a parachute, plummeting them to their death.
It was funny the first time, but when they continue, it gets frustrating,
but there are tactics one can learn to avoid these guys. Other than a few
minute suggestions there really isn't much I can complain about in regards
to this mod, and look forward to their next releases to see what new goodies
they have in store for us.
Conclusion
This mod shows
off the amazing potential of the Half-Life engine, and displays to gamers
how much fun user created mods can be. I am looking forward to their next
releases, as I know they have more in store for us and suggest anyone interested
in online FPS to take a look at it. This game provides amazing gameplay,
intense action, and although a somewhat dated engine it still looks pretty
good. The sound is awesome and intensifies the engrossing quality of this
mod! I applaud the FA team for a great job and their great fans for supporting
this superb mod and a great job.
-Review by
Ckaoz
