Combat Arms (PC) Preview
Posted by Ramon Aranda on 08.21.2008
Hands-on: We check out Nexon's latest title with guns in hand.
With a laundry list of FPS games available for the PC, it's tough to not only keep up with them all, but to keep up with the growing system requirements and complexities. Now Nexon has entered the field with Combat Arms, a free to play online FPS that's as easy to setup as it is to play.
Unlike many FPS games out there, Combat Arms focuses on smaller maps and only 16-player online matches to make things fast paced and less strategic – not that there isn't any strategy but the point is to jump into a game and start killing immediately. Once you're in-game, it's your standard shooter but it's the features and overall scheme of the game that seem to set it apart.
For starters, as mentioned already, the game is free to play but the weapons and other accessories work in a rental structure. As you play the game, you begin accumulating Gear Points and with these points, you can jump into the game's store so to speak and rent new guns, attachments or gear for the day, week, month etc. When the time expires, you no longer have the item. Though it may sound like a pain, it's really not. Maybe you just want to use a specific gun for one day and not deal with it for a while, whatever the case is, you can buy whatever you want and use it whenever you want. Just keep playing to earn more and more points.
The developers want gamers to have as many options to customize their character so that everyone can look unique. There are different body types as well as outfits and you'll be able to equip your character with any type and combinations of weapons you can think of. Girl gamers need not worry as there will be female bodies available as well. Also as you build up your skill level and unlock new rankings, you'll eventually be able to create a clan and organizing a clan can be done in-game.
So how does the game play? Well I've spent quite a bit of time playing in some of the various maps and I can tell you that the game runs pretty smooth. If you're an avid online FPS gamer, then you'll feel right at home with the controls and the gameplay mechanics. One thing though is as I mentioned before, the game is fast meaning once you jump into a game, expect to get shot at within 30 seconds or less. Though the game is a beta version right now, I didn't experience any major hiccups when playing on both a lower end PC and my high-end one at home. I was told that the game is being developed to be playable comfortably on low-end PCs, and that's precisely what I experienced. If you feel the need to play on high settings on a better PC, then you'll see that the game looks pretty good but won't hog up too much of your resources.
While playing, it won't take a ton of shots to kill you so you have to be pretty careful where you walk and you'll quickly learn that the sprint button will be your friend. You'll want to move in and out of positions quickly or end up face down in a puddle of your own blood (not literally but still). The map sizes vary but you can play anywhere from 4 on 4 battles to 8 on 8. Either way you go, you'll be glad to know that the load times are kept pretty short so there won't be any waiting for minutes at a time to get in. Combat Arms is a great game that works well in either short spurts if you're limited on time or for long sessions which reward you with Gear Points and new rankings. The game, which launched on July 10th, though has not yet been commercialized, is already the 11th ranked game on XFire, so there's no shortage of players to battle right now.
Awesome review! We've been playing Combat Arms for a while now, and have to agree with you - it's one of the best free-to-plays out there right now. The microtransactions ingame don't do anything to upset the combat balance. All in all...well done Nexon!
Posted By: fatfoogoo (Registered) on September 02, 2008 at 10:42 AM
For starters, as mentioned already, the game is free to play but the weapons and other accessories work in a rental structure. As you play the game, you begin accumulating Gear Points and with these points, you can jump into the game's store so to speak and rent new guns, attachments or gear for the day, week, month etc. When the time expires, you no longer have the item. Though it may sound like a pain, it's really not. Maybe you just want to use a specific gun for one day and not deal with it for a while, whatever the case is, you can buy whatever you want and use it whenever you want. Just keep playing to earn more and more points. 
So how does the game play? Well I've spent quite a bit of time playing in some of the various maps and I can tell you that the game runs pretty smooth. If you're an avid online FPS gamer, then you'll feel right at home with the controls and the gameplay mechanics. One thing though is as I mentioned before, the game is fast meaning once you jump into a game, expect to get shot at within 30 seconds or less. Though the game is a beta version right now, I didn't experience any major hiccups when playing on both a lower end PC and my high-end one at home. I was told that the game is being developed to be playable comfortably on low-end PCs, and that's precisely what I experienced. If you feel the need to play on high settings on a better PC, then you'll see that the game looks pretty good but won't hog up too much of your resources.
