This game is a giddy little pleasure.  It holds your attention for its quirkiness and the thrill of running through maps finding people to shoot.  You don’t really have an overall moral or intricate theme.  It’s just fun and gun. 

Like most Steam online multiplayer only games, it is a first person shooter that is heavy on action.  Unlike other Steam online multiplayer games, it is completely free.  How they do it?  I’m not sure, but I think that a few people pretty much pay for the rest of us buying funny in-game hats.

I’m not that concerned because we get to play a cool game.  I think part of its fun is its quirkiness. The art is quite a bit different than what you have seen in most well developed shooters.  It doesn’t try to be overly realistic or go over the top with effects.  The art is stylistic and comical.  Peoples’ torsos can stretch twice as long as their legs.  Outfits are colorful as teams are bright blue or red.  The scenery is more out of a comic book (or strip) than out of any war scene. 

The colorful (in more way than one) characters are an interesting creation.  They are varied enough that they are unique.  You can be a healer, sniper, heavy, close combat, whatever.  At first they look very unbalanced.  In fact, they probably are.  You would think that would lead to everyone piling in one type of unit.  However, that usually does not happen.

There seems to be a yearning or even a need for a difference of people.  You really don’t need to balance teams, as they end up balancing themselves.  If every one on the other team comes out as a heavy and you might get shredded.  However, then you can just respawn and choose spy.  Then you can backstab the heavies.  They never see it coming.  Units may not match up to other ones but they can all fit into a us on a team.

It also seems a little un-fun to be a certain unit for too long.  It’s like eating the same dessert over and over again, day after day.  It’s just mundane after a while.  Why not try out that flamethrower?

Is it flawed?  Yes.  I guess most games are.  However, there are some things that get in the way of being a five-star.  The missions are fun and varied.  They can be capture the flag, push the cart to the end, etc.  However, they can also be a little confusing.  When I started playing, I was unsure if I was defending or capturing a waypoint.  I would even go to the wrong points.  There doesn’t seem to be any obvious indicators, especially for noobs.

They do have an option where you can shadow someone playing to learn how to do it.  I tried that when I started.  There was no one there.  Even when I found someone, it still wasn’t obvious. It just takes some trial and error.

The missions can be lopsided as well.  Sometimes it is much easier to defend than attack or vice versa.  That makes for terrible games.  Even when you change sides, you may just go from always losing to always winning.  There’s no challenge in that.

There are some smaller weaknesses.  You obviously need Steam.  However, it’s free, so not a big complaint there.  But as with all Steam, you get many updates.  Many a night did I find myself waiting 15-30 minutes to play.  That is with a decent internet connection. 

All that said, let’s not throw the baby out.  It’s a fun romp that is even more fun to play with friends.  If everyone gets a different unit, who knows what will happen?   You can play for hours and just enjoy.  You many not find yourself totally immersed, but that’s not so bad either.  Is it?

Recommended: Yes