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War Rock
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Graphics & Sound:
Though the beta went on for a good year, I have been watching War Rock grow since I saw it for the first time at the Austin Game Conference in '05. I waited patiently until they released their beta through www.gamengame.com in '06. I have seen the ups and downs with bugs and hackers over a long road, and now they have come to the end and have officially released, and I say "BRAVO!" It feels like a well done title by any standards, and oh yea, did I mention that it is a free game to play?
The best part about the graphics is that you are not locked into a resource hog that forces you to sell your kidney to go and get the next best video card. The game was purposely designed to handle many different varieties of system specs and video capabilities in order to make the game as accessible as possible. All of the available modes provide a good visual experience. With the right explosions or shots, the rag-doll physics are just plain fun to watch.
Sound is a hard thing to pin down and describe on a shooter. Shotguns sound like shotguns, and explosions are explosions. There is a little music in the Load Screens and Menu. The best part of the music is that is doesn't deter from the game in anyway. Now, hearing the exact same death sounds over and over can get a little old, but they have a cure for that too, don't die. |
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Gameplay:
There are three modes of gameplay in War Rock. There are also five distinctive classes of soldier you can assume the persona of, thus dictating the way you play the game. I know how cliche it is to say that there is something for everyone, but I will be darned if there isn't.
Let's start off with CQC or Close Quarters Combat. This game plays very much like a fast-paced game of Rainbow 6 or Counterstrike. You start off in either assault or defense, and it is your job to plant or defuse the bomb. Strategy is key here, because once your enemy picks you off, you just get to sit and watch until 1) one team is totally wiped out, 2) you have successfully planted and detonated the bomb, or 3) You succeed in defusing all of the planted bombs. Take care of your teammates back and move as a group, or your enemies will fill the streets with your dead.
Next you have Urban Ops. Just like the name implies, you move through an area taking and retaking key control points on the map. You will have a normal respawn after a few seconds, so you are always in on the action. You have access to some vehicles, but not like what lies ahead.
Battle Group is where all of the big toys are. Jets, tanks, helicopters, mobile AA, and mounted positions are all over these huge maps for your destructive pleasures. Do not get into this game expecting or even beginning to argue that they do not fly like real world planes, or that one vehicle or gun should be more powerful, because from the word go, they have designed everything to be fun first and real second.
You advance your character's rank by taking out the enemy. Taking out the enemy also results in earning "Dinar", War Rock's in-game currency. With Dinar, you can open new weapons slots so that you can carry more toys. You can pick from a growing inventory of rifles, sub-machine guns, and other toys to add to your arsenal. Many weapons have to be earned, in that you can't just go buy them and be better. You have to earn the rank to appropriate the weapon.
There are tons of maps to play. This has been a problem with many other games, but not here. You will not be looking at the same places all of the time. Go explore! Meet new and interesting people from different cultures, and then throw grenades at them. |
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Difficulty:
It's "Mano e Mano" in War Rock, sports fans. You against the world, and I mean that literally it is you and the rest of the world playing. This is by no means a geocentric game. This poses awesome ability to get on with many other players at all times of the day or night, but it may at times pose a small language barrier. This isn't a huge problem, but it can just catch you offguard sometimes. Expand your horizons and learn a new language. I think that there a quite a few words shared in common, because no matter where I play, I will still see the telltale "PWNED", and I have seen that "Fragged" needs to be added to the UN dictionary of international words. The biggest difficulty is just staying alive with so many players and toys at their disposal to deal with.
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Game Mechanics:
So the biggest mechanic of War Rock, and the one everyone is dying to have explained to them, is "Free 2 Play". So if there is a box at GameStop and the game is free to play, then what am I paying for, you ask? Well truth is as international as the game is, everyone has to eat. There are four account levels.
First there is FREE, and everyone loves free. You pay nothing. You earn rank, and Dinar just like everyone else. You can purchase weapons and use them.
The next is BRONZE for $5.95 a month. You get a 20% bonus to all of the XP you earn allowing you to level faster, and you get a little walking around money of a +21,000 Dinar bonus. You can play in any map that is up on the servers, provided it isn't private. And, with all three levels up from here, you have Clan Benefits to start forming your own teams.
Then SILVER which is $9.95 a month. This gives you a 30% XP bonus and +40,5000 Dinar allowance. The difference between Silver and Bronze is that you can create private game rooms.
And last, GOLD for $14.95 a month. You earn XP 50% faster and have the bank roll of a small militant nation of +55,500 to play with. Not only can you create private game rooms, you get to name them whatever you want and you automatically have the fifth weapon slot without constantly renewing it for Dinar.
NOTHING keeps you from playing the game. The subscription levels just let you have a little more funding and experience for your time. You still have to earn the experience, and it doesn't matter what your rank is if you can't hit anything.
Well, enough of all of this, I have Dinar to earn. Come get in and play with the rest of the world. Go ahead and pick up a gold subscription and check it out for a while. This game will grow on you. What better way to get all of your friends into one game, then when they don't have to pay to play with you. There you go. I am claiming that I coined the phrase "War Rock on" as I wrote it many months ago and I have now seen it in their ads. With that being said then, War Rock on and see you on the battlefield. |
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-WUMPUSJAGGER, GameVortex Communications AKA Bryon Lloyd |
Minimum System Requirements:
Minimum
CPU Pentium 3, 800 Mhz, RAM 512 MB or better
Graphics Radeon 8500LE, Geforce MX400
or better, OS Windows ME / 2000 / XP, ISP DSL, Network Card 10 Mbps, Hard Drive 900 MB
Recommended
CPU Pentium 4, 2.0 Ghz, RAM 512 MB or better, Graphics FX5700 / ATI 9200 or better, OS Windows 2000 / XP, ISP Cable / T1, Network Card 100 Mbps / 1000 Mbps, Preferred: Killer NIC,Hard Drive 900 MB |
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Test System:
Windows XP Pro, 3.2 GHz P4HT CPU, 2 GB Ram, 512 PCIE 16 ATI X1600XT |
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