EMPULSE is already fantastic, even in early access

Surprises arrive often in gaming. Whether it's a hidden gem or a shocking announcement, we get the unexpected on the regular. Somehow, certain games manage to astonish us even when it makes sense that they should, and that happened to me recently with EMPULSE. I loved what I tried out at Summer Game Fest, but wondered if it would translate once I was in regular online matches. Not only does it work, it impresses me immensely. You should buy EMPULSE now, but I’ll take the time to tell you why as you log onto your digital marketplace.

EMPULSE is a movement shooter in the vein of Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, with a dash of Titanfall 2 and Halo. That last piece shouldn't come as a surprise if you've played 1047 Games breakout hit, Splitgate. It shares a lot of similarities with Halo, just like this new shooter finds itself mimicking BO3 and Titanfall 2. Their experience has certainly assisted them in building EMPULSE, providing a stable foundation to begin their efforts.

Where Splitgate and EMPULSE part ways is the movement. Sure, Splitgate had its moments, but the pacing of that game was more akin to Halo. EMPULSE wants you to FLY, but instead of just starting off that way, the focus is momentum. From your initial sprint, you’re going to be disappointed if you don’t use the tools at hand. When it clicks, however, you feel like a god, soaring with abandon at speeds that shouldn’t be possible. The good news is that it's all intuitive; I never felt like I was missing something and was able to engage with the movement systems almost immediately.

These are unlocked by several methods, and it’s up to you to find the best ways to chain them to build up momentum. From the grappling hook, to wall-running, to sliding, and more, you have a lot of options to reach your flow state. Once you get moving, EMPULSE is at its best, with a cadence of movement that is incredibly satisfying. As someone who has played a ton of different shooters over the years, I can easily designate this as an amazing feat – movement that is ridiculously fast yet doesn’t break the game. Even better, you feel like you can stop on a dime; I’ve been wall-running while being chased before instantly turning, hitting the Destiny-like jetpack jump, and hovering before blasting them into oblivion.

This movement system works because you always feel in control, and the tight gunplay complements the pace superbly. Snappy aiming allows you to track the enemies dashing over and past. The time-to-kill feels fair, not too fast but not too slow. There isn’t any aiming down sights currently (until tomorrow, more on that in a moment), but it still feels smooth. I think I’m most surprised that I don’t feel at a disadvantage when opponents are at their max speeds or height. It’s the mark of a team that understands what they’re designing; you aren’t immortal due to a good movement, you have to be able to shoot back.

Backing up the gameplay are several, fantastic maps. These are somehow perfectly large enough to get the full breadth of movement, while not becoming excessive playgrounds where you feel like you die, spawn, and have to trudge back to where you were. Again, the design is well thought out; verticality is extensive to let you gain height along with speed, and the space necessary to gain momentum is available. You still always feel in the middle of the action, but with the capacity to build your speed before the next engagement. Occasionally I’ve felt spawn trapped, but it takes a highly-skilled team for it to be a problem. I will say that the maps look a bit samey, with similar pastel colors and layouts, but they’re fun to traverse, which is what matters most. My favorite one has to be Refinery, with a lot of wall-running possibilities on the map.

All of the tools EMPULSE gives you are great because there aren’t too many of them. Think of Black Ops 2’s Pick 10 system –  simplistic but effective. You only get a primary weapon in EMPULSE, with a sledgehammer as a secondary. There are a handful of guns to pick from currently, but there are promises of more ahead as the game advances through early access. The good news is that every category is covered – three different styles of assault rifles and two submachine guns are joined by a sniper, battle rifle, carbine, lightmachine gun, shotgun, and deagle. While these can get a bit boring after constant use, upcoming meta shifts and added weapons should mitigate that issue.

Like Splitgate before it, you only have two perks on a weapon, forcing you to make serious choices on how you plan to play with that gun. The grappling hook comes standard, although the perks system can give you an extra charge to the cooldown. There are three available perk slots, and I love that one of them is tied to mechs, not allowing you to go overboard with soldier buffs.

P.A.I.N.T. (Plasma Activated Infusion of Nano-Tech) bombs are area of effect grenades offering a splash of a specific buff or nerf that can aid you in a time of need, and are also on a cooldown. I’ve managed to get a winning score on Upload because I had a Speed bomb handy, boosting my slide around a corner to evade the bullet spray behind me (above). Others, like Sticky P.A.I.N.T. or Explosive P.A.I.N.T. let you slow down a foe, or take them out. It’s fun to mix it up, even if Speed P.A.I.N.T. is certainly my favorite.

Mechs are the most interesting conundrum of EMPULSE. There are two spawn points on each map for them on opposite sides of the map, and on timers to keep them from being too readily available. They can do a lot of damage, but they’re hardly the ultimate weapon Titans were in Titanfall. Think of them as power weapons from Halo – they pack a punch, but they’re only as good as the person handling them. This makes them much more balanced than I originally thought, especially as their health can be focused down if a team locks in. Something else that’s fun, they aren’t locked to a specific team; first come, first served. Two mechs on the field sometimes can shift an entire match in your favor, but it can also be your undoing given they’re slow and can’t participate in every objective mode.

Speaking of modes, EMPULSE has quite a few for something in early access. There are seven, and each has their own feel. Team Deathmatch is a great place to start learning the systems, and as you get deeper into the modes, you’ll need that familiarity to make the game-winning play. Upload is a variation of Uplink from Call of Duty, down to the dunking for two and throwing for a single point. Control is, you guessed it, Control from Call of Duty, and is also the only limited life mode in the game currently. One of the more unique modes is Capture the Mech, which does away with flags and forces you to pilot your way to victory. This can get hairy, as you have to keep your mech stationary while scoring, but it’s an intense fight over powerful yet fragile scoring conditions. This might be the first time you could destroy the flag getting away from you, right? Overall, there’s enough here in the modes to keep players busy.

That’s without even mentioning the team doing mode updates. EMPULSE has only been out for over two weeks, and as of tomorrow (as of my writing) we’ll have seen three additional playlists where the developers are trying things out. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Mech versus Mech mode they tried, but that’s the beauty of early access. We’ll be able to try aiming down sights in the upcoming update, along with a new map being tested as well. This is exactly how I was hoping 1047 would approach this game, letting early access be their opportunity to try new things, but also to quickly implement community feedback. I’ve not even touched the balancing and more they’re working on. They’ve got their head on straight for this one, that’s for sure.

As I’ve not tested Ranked Play, I won’t be touching that in my early access impressions here, outside of a few details. When speaking with co-founder and CEO of 1047 Games Ian Proulx, he said they weren’t looking to go overboard and ban a bunch of stuff from their Ranked mode. Instead, the community and incoming data would give them that information to work by. So far, the only thing that is different from the main game is 4v4 players, and the latest update removing mechs for the time being. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a community-built Ranked mode, and I’m here for it.

To finish things up, let’s talk about performance. It’s impeccable. In a game where everything moves at the speed of light, any imperfection is going to be noticed. I have yet to see a frame drop or a stutter. Graphically, the game isn’t anything insane, but as someone who engages with competitive intent, that’s fine with me. Give me the best frame rate and I’ll be happy. I’m also thrilled at the install size, barely clocking in at 6.50GBs. I’ve had Call of Duty updates with more meat on their bones, this makes it an easy install and and even easier to justify leaving installed.

BONUS YAP: There are no micro-transactions in EMPULSE. Everything is earnable, with a battle pass-esque celebration event going on right now that’s free to all. They don’t plan on adding anything purchasable to the game either, the more you play, the more you can get. I am intrigued by the loot box nature of the skins (seems like you eventually get them all, but it’s randomized), and the serialized skins they’re distributing (it’s not really an NFT if you can’t sell or give it away, right?). Giving players a reason to stick around and grind isn’t a bad thing, but I’m not sure I like either of these ideas… at least yet. But, at least they aren’t charging anyone for the privilege. I do like that.

If I were rating EMPULSE right now, it’d be an easy 85-90. The movement is phenomenal, the gunplay is tight, there are plenty of modes to engage with, and the constant updates are encouraging. Where EMPULSE goes from here is anyone’s guess – I’m hoping what you’ve read here will inspire your confidence in what the team has created. In my personal opinion, you’ll rarely make a bad game purchase when it’s $20 or less, and at $19.99, EMPULSE is a no-brainer. As long as 1047 Games keeps investing in EMPULSE, I’ll be investing my time into it.