Run.
It’s all quite screwed up, which helps add to the unique feel of Bet on Soldier. Betting on your fights is a big part of the game, as you will literally go nowhere without it. At the outset at each mission, you will be able to select what equipment to buy – and you must choose wisely, as you will be stuck with those guns for the remainder of the mission. As well as that, you can also buy the combat expertise of other mercenaries for the harder missions, upgraded armour (absolutely essential). You can also decide on your big opponent match beforehand, keeping in mind that the weaker enemies don’t have as big a payday. Deranged you say? Quite.
The basic structure of the game, in additional to the money system, is also different. Rather than following a straight narrative, Bet on Soldier lets the player decide which order they would like to tackle the game’s various missions in. As well as giving the game a much more open feel, it also results in multiple game endings, which are always a good thing. By the same token, it can hurt the storyline – but there weren’t any real hints at story progression in our early version, so it wouldn’t be fair to judge it at this point.
A friendly mercenary for hire.
One of the most impressive things about Bet on Soldier is the game engine. Once correctly set up, the game runs silky smooth, while looking absolutely gorgeous – and on moderate hardware, too. Apparently, Kylotonn have been working on this totally new engine for six years now, and it shows. Be it a narrow trench with half a dozen characters on screen, or a wide-open quarry with mercenaries and exo-suits running around, the game doesn’t stutter – remarkable when you consider it isn’t yet optimised.
One of the aspects that needed obvious attention was the artificial intelligence, as usual. Both your allies and your enemies aren’t anywhere near as smart as they should be. On many occasions we saw our own team mates try to throw a grenade – only for it to hit the wall right in front of them and bounce back over their head. Enemies are mostly better, though. They find cover, fire quite accurately and try to team up where possible. The problem here is that their reaction times are often hopeless, usually when there are minor obstacles in their path, such as crates, debris, and so on. You can lay waste to several enemies if don’t entirely enter a room, edging in slowly, rather than running in jumping.
However, the actual ‘televised’ Bet on Soldier matches are more interesting. Most of your opponents have some sort of unique weakness, be it a weak piece of armour, a total lack of armour and so on. Some require some lateral thinking, which is incredibly odd for a FPS. Our version didn’t show much of these battles unfortunately, but our hopes remain high for many different, intense battles for the finished version.
Shoot him before he gets you.
The version we play-tested still needs a fair bit of spit and polish, as most of the game modes were inaccessible, most notably the multiplayer element. The cash system could be a real mixed bag in multiplayer – it’s certainly different, but whether it will be a positive or a negative remains to be seen. The weapon sound effects at this stage were incredibly weak – the assault rifles and shotguns in particular were weedy and lacking of any oomph.
The game is scheduled for an early September release worldwide. We will keep you updated on the progress of this unique entry to the vast FPS genre.
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