I spent most of Thursday trying out the alpha of Boss Key and Nexon’s new game LawBreakers! My friends were calling it an arena shooter which I guess accurately describes the genre. On the surface, it may remind you of Overwatch, but it has its own style. Plus, it’s completely free. After playing it for a while, I think it’s most similar to Team Fortress 2, but a more serious version. No “My Little Pony” servers here.
Upon entering the game, I was completely lost. “I’ve never played a game like this ever,” and “where the heck is the tutorial,” were the only things in my head. I played a couple of games and still learned nothing. I even considered quitting, frustrated at my extreme amount of deaths (I have 83 over about 11 games…). All I knew was that two teams existed, the laws and the breakers, and they can kill each other. After about five or six games, I finally realized what the objective was and I started having fun!
There are currently only two maps, Grandview and Promenade, and two game modes. It’s a little frustrating because it’s completely random what combination you’re going to get. I can’t wait to be able to choose.
In the “battery mode,” a point is earned by capturing a battery from the center area. You then bring it back to your base to charge to 100% over time, and let it remain in your base for a few seconds afterwards. The first team to two points wins. What’s most unique about this mode is that the charge is shared. For example, the laws can capture the battery and charge it to 20% and then the breakers could steal it and add another 20%. It’s so stressful because the battery can even get stolen at 100%!
The other game mode has the objective of capturing territories. The first team to 13 points wins. I feel like this was a lot easier to do and really showed who the better team was. I also found a lot more could be done without a synchronized team. Out of the two, I had more fun playing this game mode and wish I could pick it exclusively.
I was a little disappointed to find out there were 8 different character designs but only 4 classes for them. While streaming, someone pointed out that I was playing the same character as last game. I was confused because the name and design of the character were different. When I looked, though, all of the skills and moves were the same.
The class I ended up playing the most was Titan, the tanky electricity man. I found I could one-shot some classes with just his main gun when aiming properly. Spoilers: I couldn’t aim.
In the profile/stats menu, there is a level and total score, but they don’t seem to do anything yet. I really want to be able to unlock new skins or weapons eventually, too. I tried playing the game by myself and with friends, and I enjoyed it about the same either way.
The game is still in alpha, so there is a lot that’s still missing and things that need to be fixed. The main thing that needs to be added is some way to communicate with your own team. Right now, the only thing I could find was an all chat. On the bright side, I had a nice chat the other team’s “Obama’s Cousin.”
I’ll definitely be playing again during the next alpha weekend!