Warside

Written by Nathan Carter on 6/8/2015 for PC  

I really didn't know what to expect when I started playing Warside, but as of writing this, I am pleasantly surprised--and pretty impressed. I love 2D shooters but I never expected someone to take the concept of those games and turn it into an online shooter. If more games like this exist, I'd really like to know about them; and if they don't exist, they really should because this is a winning formula. Anyways, I got a chance to play around with the early access build of Warside, and though the current build is limited, I'm still having a ton of fun. 

As you would expect with most online games, when you first start Warside, you create a character. There are four character types to choose from. The Huntress, The Mercenary, The Guardian and The Faceless. Each one has different stats from health, attack and speed. You then get to choose what class they are, but this seems like it just means what weapons you want the characters to start with. The classes are: Defender, Assault, Infiltrator, Destroyer and Medic.

One of them, however, seems to be a bit overpowered, and that is the medic. They can basically just stand behind teammates and constantly heal them during fights which makes them unstoppable killing machines. If you don't pick the medic, you get some starting weapons, but you can choose to swap out those weapons for different ones as you earn currency. You can also customize the look of each character after you are finished, but the customization options are pretty limited. Still, it's nice that they are there, and you do get different clothing options which act as armor as you gain levels. 

After this you will be taken to the main screen where you can queue for matches, update your character, buy items from the shop, visit the trade market or chat with other players. Your character screen is where you can assign different items of clothing to your character which will upgrade your stats. In terms of items you have a helmet, breastplate, gloves, belt, shoulder guards, shoes, and armbands. You can also create different loadouts with your weapons. The game uses a grid system for for your inventory so you can only fit so much into your loadout. For instance, a shotgun might use a 3x3 grid, so you need to make sure you have that available in your loadout. Soon after I started playing, I discovered that my inventory was filling up rather quickly. Be prepared to check the stats of your guns and armor because you are going to need to sell or delete a lot of it constantly. Luckily, the game seems to be pretty generous in terms of how much money you make, so you wont have to grind for useless items to sell for cash. 

As of now, there are four different game modes you can play: Team Deathmatch, Domination, Siege or Missions. Team Deathmatch and Domination are pretty self-explanatory, but they work extremely well and are pretty fun with the 2D gameplay. WASD controls your character and you aim and shoot with the mouse. Like I said before, I never knew I wanted a game like this until I started playing Warside. The combat is extremely satisfying. Both of these game modes, however, usually have both teams meeting in one spot of the map and then firing off everything they have like crazy until one person manages to survive. Siege, on the other hand, plays as a hoard mode where you have to protect your base from waves of enemies. This game mode is extremely difficult. Even with a full team, the enemy easily decimates your defenses and can make it into your base within a minute or so. The first game I played ended in about 30 seconds, and no one on our team had any idea what happened. The second time I played, I managed to make it to wave two, but enemies were coming from every conceivable direction. They would show up faster than we could destroy them. 

Missions, however, are pretty fun. Imagine a 2D side-scrolling shooter, but you have six or so other people playing with you. It seems like there is only one mission in the game, because every time I queued up for a mission, I got the same one every time. There isn't really any store given, but the mission involved all of us making our way through the level, taking out enemies and turrets along the way. You need to be extremely careful because the enemies will just start firing relentlessly as soon as you are in their field of vision. You also need to be careful because your team has a pool of lives, and once they are gone, it's game over.

You also need to pay attention to your lives because you will need them once you reach the bosses in the level. The bosses will absolutely shred your team to pieces, so you need to be firing at them nonstop. If your entire team is killed, you all start at the last checkpoint and need to gather your team before you can continue. The door to the boss will always be locked until your entire team groups up and once you pass through to the boss, he regains all his health. A major problem that I see right now isn't really a problem with the game itself--it's with the players. You are really at the mercy of your team on missions. If one of your teammates is away-from-keyboard, then you cannot progress through the level. Like I said before, some doors, like boss doors, can only be opened once the entire team has gathered together. If your teammates are screwing around or AFK, you cannot progress. I understand why this was done, as you really need the entire team to beat bosses, but it's also incredibly annoying. I even had a troll on my team once that purposefully wouldn't group with the team and purposefully kept dying just to waste our lives. Aside from those issues, the mission is really fun. I just hope that I eventually find some new ones. The game is in early access at this point so I assume that more will be added in. 

There isn't a lot to offer with the game right now, as there seems to be only one mission and only three or four maps for Team Deathmatch, but the game is in Early Access and I am having a ton of fun with it so far. I look forward to seeing what they add over time, and this is a game that I will absolutely continue playing over the next few months.