Forgotten Free-to-Play Shooter Warface Seeks a Second Chance on Console

By Sam Quirke,
Despite having 48 million registered players worldwide and a burgeoning esports scene, a lot of us will have never heard of Warface. Some of you may remember it from its short-lived run on the previous generation, when the game's servers were taken down less than a year after the game's launch back in 2014. It was a Crytek production but even that company's formidable engine could not save it from an overwhelming barrage of bugs and poor server connectivity, eventually driving most players away.

Warface


Yet in the intervening years Warface has been quietly iterated on and improved over on Steam under the wing of publisher my.com, earning it a positive rating on the platform. The biggest prevailing problem in the reviews is a simple one: while Eastern servers remain populated, there simply aren't enough players to go around on the North American and European servers. With an announcement today that the new and improved Warface is headed back to consoles — where free-to-play has since evolved from a curiosity into a lucrative market — this could be an opportunity for the game to expand its reach.



We got hands on with an early build of the rebooted console port on PlayStation 4 this week, and naturally four years of industry evolution has meant that the game looks and feels better than it appeared back in 2014. It still can't go toe-to-toe with Call of Duty or Battlefield in terms of presentation, but in 2018 it doesn't have to; with free-to-play now dominating the console conversation its direct competitors range from the complex sci-fi epic Warframe (PS4) to the conspicuously ragged-looking PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds and the goofy, cartoonish Fortnite (PS4). It's entirely possible that this new and improved Warface could fit into a comfortable niche, providing an entirely free experience with a dash of technical competence in a traditional FPS setting.

Images are from the upcoming PlayStation 4 port.



The game shines most prominently in its co-operative modes, which remain a satisfying if familiar blend of Rainbow Six tactics and Call of Duty gunplay. The most complex of these co-op missions are the Special Operations, which are extended multi-faceted raids with a narrative through-line. We played the opening sections of two of these Special Operations, failing spectacularly on more than one occasion. They're tough as nails even on lower difficulties and communication is absolutely crucial. What's more, you need to be balanced in the classes that you bring to the fight — forgetting to assign a medic brought our first attempt to a premature end.

The game's basic classes are Rifleman, Medic, Sniper and Engineer — instantly familiar from a whole host of modern shooters, which means it's likely that you'll fall into a natural groove with whichever classes suit your normal play style. Within those classes are a whole bunch of customisations through which you can tailor your experience. This isn't just between matches and while waiting for a respawn. You can actively modify your weapon at any point during the action, picking from a variety of scopes, barrel and grip mods through a pretty intuitive mid-action interface. You can easily adjust your setup during even brief pauses in gunfire, which opens up fresh tactical opportunities mid-game. The amount of realistic detail in the game's 100+ guns and various customisations helps to immerse you into the role of a combat specialist. It's not all about realism, though; during our play through we saw future-tech automated turrets, mechanised soldiers and zombie-like mutants born from inhuman experiments. This variety keeps you on your toes as you assess each gunfight, and gives each class a moment to shine depending on what you are facing.

Warface


For a free-to-play title, Warface launches with a significant variety of game modes, both co-operative and competitive. Four multi-strand Special Operations will launch on release with four more to be added later. The game will ship with several PvE lobbies including Counter Strike-like "Plant the Bomb" and "Storm", Warface's version of the staple control-the-points mode. It'll also release with familiar Team Deathmatch, Free For All and Capture The Flag modes across 14 maps. We played the majority of our competitive games on the Wide Street map, which is satisfyingly tight while having plenty of verticality. Unfortunately we only got to see Free for All in action, but that did give us plenty of time to appreciate the core shooting and traversal mechanics. I came away with some concerns about the game's exaggerated drift when aiming through sights which hopefully will be tweaked before launch.

Another issue is the game's heads-up display — the layout just isn't in keeping enough with the conventions of console shooters. The health bar in particular is far too discreet for a game with no regeneration and where every shot can deal significant damage. Happily the project lead Alex Shimov was on hand to tell me that configuring the HUD for console players is a top priority for the team ahead of release. The game's unique feature allowing you to slide into cover was often reported to be temperamental in the previous iteration of the game, but in this preview I found the action to be fluid and intuitive. Hopefully this is another sign that the team are smoothing out a few known cracks in the console experience.

Warface


One mode we didn't get to see is the inevitable Battle Royale variant. At the moment Warface on Steam has a rapid 8-player version of the mode — by the time the console versions launch that player count will be increased to 32. Warface hopes to separate itself from the average Royale clone through its speed and tactical resource management. A round should only last five to seven minutes, and while there will be more than 70 different weapon models potentially available on the map they will only ever contain a single magazine, meaning that skilful shooting remains as crucial in Royale as it does in other competitive modes. The trade-off between patient planning and a rapidly shrinking circle of play could make for a uniquely tense take on the oft-cloned game mode.

Three more modes — "Blitz", "Domination" and "Hunt" — should make an appearance some time after launch while the number of maps available will increase to 30. The developers assured me that in the long-term the console versions will reach parity with the PC version, receiving the same updates at the same time. It's worth noting that cross-play between console and PC versions is not currently being considered.

Warface


Our hands-on preview couldn't show us how this will all play out in the final release with open servers. We know that the original console port suffered from enough server issues to eventually sink the project altogether, and while this version played perfectly fine with a small private group we have no idea how the new port will handle matchmaking.

Another aspect we couldn't really test in our limited demo is the ways in which this free-to-play game attempts to make money. Warface is thankfully generous with its content — no maps, modes or missions appear to be locked behind premium paywalls or extreme progression grinds. That said, a major criticism of the first port attempt was the play-to-win aspect that players saw in the game. Most notorious were the micro-transactions that allowed players to "rent" unique high-powered weapons for a limited time and gain an advantage in PvP. I couldn't see any significant overhauls in any of the currencies or progression systems while looking through the game's interface, so it's likely that everything will work as it did before. This may still be a problem for competitive PvP players who prefer their own skill to matter more than their opponent's bank account. Hopefully the developers will review the internal economy's balance while they have a fresh new audience to test their model on.

Warface


If you're more into the PvE side of the game it's entirely possible that you can get away with ignoring those paid incentives. You will gradually gain experience and unlocks as you work through the co-operative content, meaning you'll get a chance to rank up without having to face down overpowered players with too much cash on their hands. The game rewards skill and flair with currency bonuses, so as long as you're willing to improve and hone your skills you can end up with better payouts without opening your wallet.

There is another way that co-op might still tempt players to part with their cash though. Resurrection coins are used to return to life should you fall between checkpoints — you can get more of these in rewards and through consecutive daily logins, but otherwise you will have to pay for them. In my experience the medic's resuscitation mechanic was quite temperamental, meaning that I was often forced to spend a token unfairly. Far too often I used my token only to be immediately shot by the same enemy that took me out in the first place, with no time to react. Hopefully the developers take some time to rework this whole aspect, perhaps shifting the player to a position of cover when respawning. Otherwise these coins will feel like an expensive way to buy half a second's extra progress before dying again.

Warface


Hopefully the significant bulk of content available in Warface at launch will entice players to give the game a try, and give the developers a chance to tweak the balance of the console experience as needed. It remains to be seen whether this new port can claim a stronger stake in the free-to-play market than its unfortunate predecessor.

Warface does not have a firm release date but should be arriving in the autumn. A closed beta for PlayStation 4 is being advertised on the game's official site, due to take place in the summer.
Sam Quirke
Written by Sam Quirke
Sam has been a Newshound since 2016 and is now the Editor for both TrueAchievements and TrueTrophies. He loves gaming on all devices and in all genres. He remains a stubborn Assassin's Creed and Pokémon fan.
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