Posted on: August 7, 2015
rampancy
Verified ownerGames: Reviews: 15
Only FPS Afficionados Need Apply?
From the same people who brought us S.T.A.L.K.E.R, FireStarter is a game in the same vein as Serious Sam, or Painkiller. You're in a large level, given a set of genre-typical weapons, and told to kill everything that moves. And that's pretty much it. The levels that I've encountered so far are rather bland, using a brown-grey color palette with Quake/Quake II-esque Gothic-Industrial designs, but they are vast and expansive, with multiple zones which open up to you as you kill more enemies. Gameplay is standard run-and-gun, with an interesting optional "Bullet Time" system that engages every time you get attacked. Added to the mix are special powers which you can activate in combat at will (fueled by the requisite energy bar), and passive perks which you can gain and level up. The first two main problems with this game are it's inconsistent difficulty level from level to level (or even from zone to zone), and it's "Artefact" system. Artefacts are spawned on the map in various locations on a set timer (about 45 seconds or so). Collect them and you gain a checkpoint save (which you can use only a limited amount of times, and only when you die). Fail to collect it in time, and you *automatically lose the level*. (!?) Seriously, who thought that was a good idea? The third main problem is that the game itself doesn't really hold up after very long without any meaningful plot or mission objectives. In contrast, games like UT99 had at least some semblance of a meaningful single-player campaign, even if you all you were really doing was just offline MP with bots. Painkiller had its interesting diversity of enemies and weapons to hold it up; Serious Sam had its unique humor. FireStarter has neither of these. I don't regret buying this game as I've had a decent amount of fun with it, and I'm an enthusiast for the genre with an interest in obscure/classic FPS games. If this sounds like you, FireStarter may be a good buy. For anyone else, I'd recommend waiting for a sale.
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