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2012/10/29 16:27:23
Subject: "Frontline Tactics" - turn-based & free to play
An important difference from how this one plays in comparison to the X-Com remake would probably be that combat is not neatly divided into player and enemy turns, but rather counts each soldier individually, all of whom have an Initiative score modified by their equipment and/or training - P&P RPG veterans may feel right at home. Basically, the game generates a list on who gets to do stuff after whom, which seems to depend partially on said Initiative score as well as partially on some random bonus. What this means is that soldiers in heavy armour toting around a machine gun are absolute killers when they're in position, but it takes them quite a while to do so. Better keep this in mind when planning your moves. I've even seen people move and shoot twice in a row, simply because they carried nothing but a pistol.
As for the cash itself, there's a plethora of ways to spend it. For instance, a completely fresh soldier has no proficiencies or equipment. Using the ingame currency, you can give him up to two proficiencies which are basically class mods such as "Small Arms", "Machine Guns", "Medic" or "Close Combat", which essentially defines the soldier's specialisation. Each proficiency then comes with its basic equipment, such as a pistol for Small Arms or a first aid kit for the Medic, but of course you can upgrade this stuff with better weapons and tools. Also available are sidegrades such as scopes, laser pointers, a field defibrillator or armour-piercing rounds. Lastly, there's body armour and skills, the latter ranging from basic bonuses to damage right up to special abilities such as Overwatch or Headshot.
The Swedish studio that made the game hopes for people to buy some ingame cash for real monies so that they have a return for the time spent on the project, although this is by no means necessary - you can just as easily spend time to farm cash just by playing the game, and $200.000 (the lowest offer in their shop, for 3.99 real dollars) can be attained within just 6-7 successful missions, each of which take about 10-15 minutes to complete. That being said, personally I *did* purchase their Medic DLC as it was a pretty good offer (a new soldier with a proficiency worth $160.000 plus another $100.000 to spend on equipment for just 4.99 real dollars) and I felt like I should "give back" after already having enjoyed the game for 2-3 hours, finding it surprisingly fun and addictive for such a simple product. Since the missions do not take long, it's a neat game for in-between.
In the cover of night, a squad is assaulting an insurgent hideout.
Oh, and the best thing? This game has multiplayer - versus and co-op. Currently, there's a server overload issue causing turns (which are atm unfortunately only transmitted once a player's round has ended, rather than actions happening simultaneously for both players) to take 20-30 seconds to get send to another player, dragging out the game with both players waiting for stuff to happen. Still a lot of fun, especially when coordinating or commenting via Skype etc.
Spoiler:
After encountering heavy resistance at the bridge, fireteams Alpha and Bravo are advancing to secure the base entrance.
