Reviewer’s note: I pounded this out (heh) in a relatively short amount of time and my review is probably about as mediocre as the game. I spend a lot of time talking about loot, because what gamer doesn’t like the acquisition of new shiny things?
Also, I didn’t notice that Lala posted about this on June 1 until after I posted. Go me!
I mentioned Project Argo in Discord. GHSTWLKRS asked for a review. Here we go.
“Meh.”
Oh, you wanted more? I guess I can oblige.
I went into this really wanting to like the game. I’m a big fan of Arma 3 (I’m not milsim - I mostly play Exile like a filthy casual) and anything that gets me into a match faster is a good thing. What I played could be enjoyable if done right. Unfortunately, it’s not.
Equipment
You start with a handful of guns - four assault rifles in the 5.xx mm range, one .45 SMG and three 9mm, and six different pistols I don’t care about because they never see use. Most people use the Vermin SMG, however (unless they’ve unlocked a gun you can’t use yet) - it seems to push the most bullets in the shortest amount of time and comes with nine 30-round mags instead of the four you get with an assault rifle.
How do you get new equipment? You gain levels. Once you reach some number of level points, you spend them to unlock the ability to spend money on things. The initial level I started with went to unlocking the ability to use smoke grenades. I still can’t use them, however, as I have no cash. I finished one match before that and didn’t receive any because of the events of my first match (described a bit later).
Let’s say you want to be a sniper. You have your heart set on one of the upper tier DMRs. I had a whole funny story written out about someone trying to purchase one but decided to scrap it and do math instead.
Actually, you know what? I’m lazy. Look at this picture instead.
Keep in mind that, in order to buy your DMR, you need to buy the things connected to it. You’re looking at six total points in order to get your first gun of that category. At that point, you qualify to be able to unlock the attachments for that gun category on the right.
Other games just give you the shitty version of each weapon type. No, here you’ve got to work for your mediocre weapon.
What you do best (dying)
You die easily. That’s to be expected, however - it’s basically Arma. What you wouldn’t expect is for the enemies to not die as easily as you do. I’ve unloaded most of a clip in the direction of the enemy, scored ten hits or so, then died in one or two shots. I’ve been shot through a solid concrete wall. I was killed by someone hiding in a hedge who could not see me (and I know this because the kill cam showed his location).
Some of this might be down to the fact that you don’t start with any armor. Repeat after me: This is basically Arma. Armor doesn’t usually do much unless you get lucky. What if you want armor anyway? Well, you’re not going to be seeing any of that until you gather up six level points (or 12 if you prefer paper to plastic). How do you gain levels? Kill people and win matches, I guess. I can’t verify - my team won the very first match I played but I accidentally killed a friendly in addition to two enemies so I ended with -360 experience and -720 money.
Why kill enemies when friends are much easier
“Kaulesh is a dirty teamkiller”, I hear you vigorously typing. Sadly it was true for that match. In my defense, the game makes it super easy. Every match is a game of sleeves vs. no sleeves and no one is wearing a name tag so you better keep your eyes peeled for those elbows. There’s a minimap that shows a colored arrow for your teammates’ positions but it helpfully goes away when aiming, precisely when you might want to determine if that head you see poking out of a bush is friend or foe.
My second match involved me dying repeatedly to the same guy, most of the time with no visual contact, so I like to think that made up for it.
In short
Want a game where you can just hop into a game of capture-the-macguffin and be on a roughly even keel with everyone else? Play TF2, the crappy Ghost in the Shell game, Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade, or basically any other team-based shooter.
Want a game with lots of equipment choices but most of your experience will be having them used against you? Here you go.