The world of free first-person shooters is more crowded than ever and each newcomer, in order not to drown, must present itself to the public with a strong identity and solid gameplay. This is not the case of World War 3 which, in both categories, fails to achieve the objectives of its competitors due to some technical problems, but above all to a general lack of originality.
Developed by the Poles from The 51 Farm, The Third World War has a very strong Slavic iconography in the customizations, in the weapons, in the soldiers and especially in the maps that reconstruct, in some cases very well, some iconic places in Eastern Europe and Russia. However, when you pick up the weapons of World War III, it doesn't take much to notice the many little things that don't work in the game.
Its premise is simple: try to combine Call of Duty and Battlefield to create an experience as fluid as Activision's shooter and as modular as the one developed by DICE. The problem is that, as things currently stand, the game doesn't aim to create anything new or innovative, but simply copies features and modes from one to another.
However, being a free game and exploiting elements of games that can cost tens of euros even months after their launch, The Farm 51's work could gain a foothold among enthusiasts and with it Review of World War III You will be able to understand if it is a suitable experience for you.
There is no shortage of weapons
World War III can feature a good number of weapons, all with a large number of accessories that can be unlocked with use. If you are aware of the gunsmith system of Call of Duty, you will immediately orient yourself with that of World War III. Each weapon has a series of levels, upon completing which new sights, magazines, ammunition types, stocks, grips and more become available. More powerful and advanced weapons are unlocked as the player's level increases through the usual experience point system at the end of the match. Given how unnecessarily complex the process of unlocking new weapons has become in the CoD universe, returning to the simplicity of World War III was a breath of fresh air.
If the game is going well in terms of quantity and variety, the same cannot be said for the feeling that all these weapons give when using them. The best possible comparison is with the state of Battlefield 2042 at launch: there doesn't seem to be a direct connection between the bullets coming out of the barrel of your rifle and the impact they have on enemy soldiers. The effort towards realism is there, but the developers have chosen one camino incompatible with the style they gave to their product. No one would fire an assault rifle in full-auto mode on a real battlefield: most soldiers use M4s and AK47s in single-shot mode to be accurate and not waste ammo. There are games that have perfectly replicated this type of guerrilla warfare and WW3 would like to do the same, but its game modes are fast and frenetic, rarely tactical. The result is an arsenal that is difficult to control in the middle of a confusing firefight.
Well thought out equipment
Where World War III does well on a conceptual level is in load management, that is, everything that a soldier carries with him when he is on the battlefield. In addition to the classic primary and secondary weapons, each World War III operator carries with him an explosive (fragmentation grenade, Claymore, anti-tank mine, C3, etc.) and a device of his choice, including a first aid kit, which completely recharges the health. of two soldiers, an ammo pack, and an equipment kit that supplies armor and grenades. Then there are 4 types of armor that offer increasing protection: Kevlar, ceramic and steel. But be careful with the weight: each weapon and each piece of armor has an impact on the character's mobility. This means a slower run, a shorter glide, and reduced speed when crossing obstacles.
This intelligent and balanced way of managing what your character brings with him presupposes a more thoughtful gameplay, Battlefield style, where the objective is to coordinate the advance of a team instead of a group of CoD-style lone wolves. Here World War III once again collides with its identity crisis: it wants to be tactical, but also fast, precise but also explosive and, unfortunately, the end result is more like a Call of Duty with large maps and vehicles than a Battlefield refined and lively. . This can also be seen in the the system does not reappear, which is borrowed heavily from Battlefield (along with the team management system) but DICE lacks an intelligent readout of what's going on around a teammate. We often found ourselves out in the open in a line of fire (and not behind the cover our ally was using) or appeared inside a wall, unable to move, because there wasn't enough space in a closet or on the stairs. for our body.
Vehicle disaster
However, where World War III disappointed us most is in the vehicle management. They are wooden in their interactions with the playing surface and have a serious lag problem for those looking at them from the outside, especially the smaller and more agile ones. This problem reached such extremes that some light tanks, from our perspective, would teleport 3 or 4 meters forward or backward when we tried to hit them with a rocket launcher. Even the audio management of some means of transport is full of errors. Helicopter and bombing sound effects, for example, have a problem with the difference in volume between when you're inside a building and when you're outdoors. The change in volume when leaving through a door was such, at times, that it forced us to quickly remove the headphones.
In addition, heavy tanks have a very low engine sound, so it is difficult, while running alongside them, to distinguish a working enemy vehicle from those used as a stage. The only positive note about vehicle management in World War III is that, unlike Battlefield, the vehicle repair tool is available to everyone: to use it, simply approach a damaged vehicle and you will be offered to equip it to repair your tank. armed. There is also a problem with the lines of dialogue from the operators, which were provided to us sometimes in English, sometimes in Russian or sometimes in Chinese. Nice, however, is the idea that the character counts the seconds in which he is "cooking" a grenade or when, having removed the fuse, he holds it in his hand to anticipate the explosion once launched.
Conclusions
Tested version PC with Windows digital delivery Steam Holygamerz.com 5.5 Readers (22) 7.5 your voteWorld War III can boast a series of useful innovations that are unfortunately lost among the inaccuracies committed in some fundamental elements of every first-person shooter. The game has, for example, an objective mode in which a team accumulates points only if it conquers and maintains two nearby objectives; a great way to encourage more tactical play. The laser pointers located on the sides of the weapons can be used as replacement sights, expanding the field of view. The weapons and classes available to those who start as a free to play user, however, are very few (an assault rifle, a machine gun and a machine gun), the connection is not stable and the developers speak little or nothing with the community. , so there are no certainties about how the development will unfold. All the problems described so far overshadow the good ideas of World War III and result in an unconvincing product. The only cartridge that World War 3 can count on at the moment, unfortunately, is being Free to Play.
PRO
- Good equipment management.
- Small creative innovations that you don't expect from an fps
AGAINST
- Weapons that are difficult to control.
- Vehicles to remake
- Audio management
