 |
|
| Combat Arms Military Online FPS Game |
|
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Cost |
Free, unless using NX for the Black Market |
| Popularity |
Over a million users and counting.... |
| Features |
First-Person Shooter style gameplay, dozens of Weapons and Items to choose from, unique Game Modes, and much more. |
Combat Arms EU is a free-to-play multiplayer first-person shooter developed by South Korea based developer Doobic Studios and published by Nexon. It incorporates the anti-cheat program HackShield made by AhnLab.
History
- August 8, 2008: Nexon announced that a Combat Arms service shall be started by Nexon Europe, for European Players.
- October 28, 2008: Closed Beta of Combat Arms EU started; ended at November 11, 2008.
- December 16, 2008: Nexon Europe launched Combat Arms EU Open-Beta exclusively through Euogamer.
- February 17, 2009:The Offical Launch started for EU players, and is currently played by many countries in Europe.
Gameplay
Combat Arms is massive online FPS; solely a multiplayer game, with no single-player mode.
Currently, there are 8 playable Game Modes: Elimination, One Man Army, Spy Hunt, Fireteam, Quarantine, Capture the Flag, and Search and Destroy mode (see Game Modes link for more modes). The following modes are unreleased: Elimination Pro and Last Man Standing. As of now, the game consists of 17 maps: Operations: Warhead, Pump Jack, Snow Valley, Gray Hammer, Junk Flea, Cold Seed, Two Towers, Brushwood, Waverider, Sand Hog, Death Room, Rattle Snake, Showdown, Desert Thunder, Overdose, Power Surge, and Cabin Fever.
All the maps vary in terrain; some of which can change to suit the game mode. For example, in Quarantine, currently existing maps are given a more eerie feel than they normally would have. While in CTF, flags are now present at either base.
Joining a Game
Once logged in, users can join various servers (all of which suit to their needs and ranks). From there, they can join rooms and start a match.
Players who start a room, known as the Room Master (those who have the elite moderator are displayed as Elites), are able to choose the map, game mode; while settting the score, and setting restrictions on which weapons other players can wield (for example, "Melee Only" or "No Sniper Rifles"). They can also allow other players to join mid-combat, and enable or disable Friendly Fire. If the Room Master has purchased Elite Moderator status from the Black Market, the Room Master can kick other players during gameplay and in the room lobby regardless of whether or not they are a teammate. Elite Moderators also do not need a reason to kick other players.
Players are also able to obtain in-game money known as Gear Points (GP) and experience (EXP) after a match, allowing them to rank up and buy and unlock new weapons and equipment, such as armor, uniforms, and backpacks, for their characters.
However, as opposed to most first-person shooters, the GP system does not allow for permanent weapon purchase. Players may instead rent the weapons for a set period of time (although default weapon changes may be achieved through the Black Market. The rental periods are 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, and 90 days, with each rental period costing more in-game money but being a better deal. This rental period has caused much criticism to the game as players are upset that they cannot own weapons that they buy forever and that they have to keep playing to make up for the GP they used to purchase weapons and gear. This game design was based on a game known as Heat Project, a game made in Korea.
The game also uses a weapon-customization system where players can buy silencers, larger or faster-loading magazines, and different types of scopes to improve the modified weapon's capabilities.
A look at the customization screen.
History
During its first year, there have been drastic changes to the game. The game has been expanded massively, adding content such as the Black Market, Female characters, Voting and reporting system, and popular game modes and items. Other changes included loading screen changes, layouts of the menus and lobbies, and even the theme music (which didn't change until the end of September 2009).
Among all these gaming perks, there are also many disadvantages. The Combat Arms game engine has been criticized for the rather inaccurate statistics of the weapons, as well as the extremely strict profanity filter. For example, if a player wishes to say "sniper", it will show up as s**er, filtering the "nip" out of the word (any profanity, no matter how many letters, shows up as **).
Looks like somebody didn't follow the rules
The population of the EU Combat Arms is currently increasing.