Don't expect to enjoy a silenced Desert Eagle and a FAL with all the bells and whistles. The standard classes are mostly what anyone would suspect: Rifleman has the standard infantry options, Marksman enjoys high-powered sniper rifles, Gunner plays with machine guns, and so on.īarring a few class-specific examples, every weapon, attachment, and equipment piece comes with a cost to your allotted points bank. Melding the sensibilities of hero shooters and CounterStrike's loadout model, each class has certain weapon and equipment presets. Being spoiled for choice comes with a cost. Rules Of Engagement Kill ConfirmedĪs with any military shooter worth its salt, the toys are a core component. Even though they're paper cuts, by comparison, each of these annoyances has cost me a life. Lastly, vaulting over certain obstacles can sometimes be a coin toss. Even if you don't want it to be as snappy as Rainbow Six: Siege, there's no need to make it so distracting either. Moving while leaning isn't this obstructive affair where every time you stop your weapon artificially bobs to the side. For a shooter trying to emphasize the realism of modern warfare, I also don't understand why leaning acts so finicky. For some reason, it demands you stand up first before getting into either position. As of now, you literally can't select between standing, crouching, and then prone in one fluid motion. Not all mechanics are created equal, however. There's a different kind of expectation when stepping into these shoes.
You read that last one correctly: don't expect automatically refilled clips just for reloading. It's the little things that set it apart early: the deliberate slowness of movement a la Killzone 2, the incredibly quick TTK (time-to-kill) that'll often make you unsure where the shot ever came from until viewing the kill cam, drawn-out respawn timers, and speed reloads (double-tapping X button) which tosses away the entire ammo clip. Once you've left boot camp and stepped into combat, you'll better understand the interesting dynamics at play. The humdrum tutorial may go over the default button layout, but it doesn't contextualize the immediacy of the action. I'll admit this: I initially thought "sloppy" was the proper adjective to use here. There's a tangible heft to your player-character lugging around so much gear that permeates each engagement. The basics of movement, shooting, recoil, aiming, and so on are deliberately slower though. Most of Sandstorm's controls follow other shooters to the letter.