Last week, I attended a preview event for Warface in San Francisco, and the room was set up with a line of couches and PS4 consoles for members of the press. I dutifully took my seat, and immediately I found myself in the midst of an intense team deathmatch battle. The other publicists sitting nearby soon started shouting directions and warnings to one another, as we quickly found out that teamwork was the main deciding factor. Whether it was capture the flag of disarm the bomb, the side that coordinated and covered for each other always came out on top. I must admit, it was fun being so social with other team members—one time I was the last man standing and I had to shoot my way to the enemy’s bomb location, and everyone was cheering me on; I haven’t had that much support in a game since my track relay race in high school! Teamwork is definitely not the focus of all first-person shooter games, and it was refreshing to play something that highlighted it so much.
After a few team rounds, it was time for a round of free-for-all, and all of a sudden the bonds of camaraderie vanished. Now everyone was playing for themselves, and the ease of controls became extremely evident. The movement and attack modes were very intuitive, which allowed for quick decision making and rapid reflexes. Additionally, the map was very large and heavily populated with shelters and hide-outs, so the possibilities for hide-and-seek-shoot were endless. In the center was a tall shack that overlooked the entire layout and had multiple windows to survey and shoot the people below, and that quickly became the bloodiest area as several players fought over it. I definitely enjoyed myself for most of the match and loved the fast-paced action of the game, but towards the middle I felt a new feeling: boredom. Of course, a long free-for-all round will no doubt be repetitive, but it was not just that—I had the feeling that I had played games that premise and map similar to this one many times over. Too many times, in fact, and I was getting tired of it. Which brings me to my biggest concern with Warface: how will it differentiate itself from the competition, and how will it rise above the great first-person shooter games that came before it?
I will admit, it is hard to come up with new first-person shooter ideas. These days, it seems like every map and weapon has already been created, and there are only so many types of team games. In other words, you can only reinvent capture the flag so many ways before it becomes redundant. We have also enjoyed several amazing video games that are hard to follow up: Call of Duty, Black Ops, etc. But in order to be truly great, a game has to bring something new to the mix, something we have never seen before. If it just imitates those that came before it, it will not sell or be remembered for long. I think Warface needs to focus on innovation and creativity more than anything else, and then it will be able to rise to the top of the ranks. If I had to rate it at this point, I’d give it 8/10.
Check Out the Warface Console Announce Trailer:
From the moment I first played Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy on the original Xbox, I have always had an avid curiosity and enthusiasm for video games. I admire their ability to immerse us in completely different worlds, and I am always eager to see how they integrate the newest breakthroughs in digital technology to make virtual reality feel real. I am currently a senior at UC Berkeley, but when I'm not studying I always make time to play Xbox One with my younger brother.
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