Squad up — Warface review

First person shooters have been extremely popular over the years, and they show no sign of slowing down. Some games have flashy gimmicks, while others stick to more generic gameplay. Just because a game doesn’t go all out and attempt to try something crazy, doesn’t mean that it can’t succeed. For example, Warface was originally released on PC back in 2013, but it finally made its way to PS4 this month. After all these years, it seems like Warface can prove that it’s still in the game, even on consoles.

Warface is a gritty looking first person shooter that focuses primarily on online multiplayer. It doesn’t feature abilities like wall running, jetpacks, or special attacks, but that doesn’t hurt the game. It takes on the more realistic, boots on the ground type of gameplay. Warface does have one unique feature I found interesting: assisted climbing. There are some sections that require two players to work together in order to climb them. If you walk to the designated area and press square, you get into position to boost a teammate up. Whoever walks over and presses square will be lifted up to the ledge, and they will quickly reach out and pull you up there with them. It’s a fun little “I help you, you help me” moment that adds to the overall teamwork oriented gameplay.

When playing, you can choose between four different classes, each with their own weapons and tools. The rifleman uses an assault rifle and carries ammo cases, the medic uses a shotgun and carries a medkit that can heal or revive teammates, the engineer uses a smg and carries an armor bag, and the sniper uses a sniper rifle. When you pull out the tool, you can use it on yourself by holding L2 or use it on a teammate by aiming at them and holding R2. From what I’ve seen, there doesn’t seem to be any limit to the tool usage. This was extremely helpful when I played as the medic because I was able to heal my team as much as possible without worry. The medic became my favorite because I could not only heal, but decimate enemies at close range with one shotgun blast. It felt a bit too powerful at times, but it felt incredibly satisfying to ruin enemies with the shotgun.

There are a ton of weapons and accessories to unlock, and the unlocking system is fascinating. The game shows you your next three potential unlocks; these typically are a weapon, character gear, and weapon attachment. You choose which one of the three you want to unlock next, and once you’ve earned enough experience, the selected item is unlocked. It feels odd being flipped from the usual “earn experience and then choose what to unlock” system, but not in a bad way. With all the options, it will take a good while before you unlock everything.

Warface has four different modes to enjoy: Co-op missions, versus, ranked versus, and special operations. The co-op missions give you the chance to take on some challenges with your friends or random online players. Depending on the level, you’ll be making your way through various enemies as you work towards a designated goal. For example, one mission has you fighting through a compound in order to destroy some equipment before escaping. Special operations follow the same idea that the co-op missions do, but they are longer and more plot oriented. They also cost tokens in order to play them, which is a bit of a bummer honestly. Thankfully, I started with 10 tokens, so I could try them out right away. They are pretty fun, especially since you’re working together with other players in order to complete your mission. You can choose any of the four classes to play as, and there’s no limit to the number of each class that can be on the team.

Versus modes puts you against other players in a variety of modes, including team deathmatch, free for all, storm, warhead, and more. Team deathmatch follows the typical team vs team gameplay where the first team to a set amount of kills wins. The same thing applies to free for all, except everyone is on their own. The other modes are a mixture of fan favorites and slight adjustments to their formulas. For example, storm revolves around one team trying to push forward and capture three points while the other team is defending. Unlike some other games, this happens only one point at a time; the second point doesn’t appear until the first one is captured, and the third won’t appear until the second is obtained. Warhead works like capture the flag, but there’s only one team attempting a capture, while the other is defending. The attacking team is trying to obtain a deadly warhead from the defenders, and once collected, they must make it back to the evacuation point. Unlike other game modes like team deathmatch and storm, there are no respawns in this mode. If a team is wiped out, that team loses the round. Game modes like this are perfect for those wanting to knock out some quick games, but the downside is having to watch from the sidelines once you get killed. I personally like being able to respawn and rush back out into the action, which other modes in Warface happily provide. You don’t need to be the best fps player to succeed in Warface, and that appeals to someone like me who isn’t necessarily the most skilled in this genre.

The loading and respawn times are pretty quick and don’t leave you waiting for long, which let me happily sprint into action in an attempt to wipe out my foes. Moving and shooting felt fast and fluid, especially when running and sliding on the ground to pull off a sliding shot. I normally can’t pull off moves like that, but Warface has made it relatively easy to pull off, letting more gamers show their stuff. The levels themselves are pretty diverse and provide some fun and interesting locales to start firefights in. You could be inside a mansion, running through a desert town, or even a large factory. Depending on the location I was in, I would switch up the class I was using. Speaking of, you can swap classes mid-game upon respawning. It isn’t anything new, but it’s a feature that is important in games like this.

Since Warface is a game that’s around five years old, the question is “does it hold up?” I unfortunately never played the original, but from what I’ve seen in this port, the answer is yes. It isn’t the most ground-breaking or unique first person shooter, but it’s still fun nonetheless. The fact that it’s free to play is a huge plus as well. Given that Warface has been available for years on PC, but has now made its way to consoles, I have to say that it’s worth checking out if you’ve never gotten a chance to play it before. If you like it, you’ve found a new fun game to play, but if not, you’re not out any money since it’s free. So check out the gameplay above, and if Warface looks like something you’d be into, then hop onto the online store and start your download. Lock and load, then work as a team to wipe out your foes and succeed in your missions in Warface.

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