Written by Jonathan Lee, November 20, 2017, 10:00 PM. Tweet to: @Writerscube

Green bolts of death whiz overhead. Streams of hot lead tear through the air from one side of this cyber-futuristic-Asian-fusion-styled irregular arena. And there I am, grenade launcher in hand, watching someone’s Harrier-type hero soar through the air, dodging all of that fire, and landing within a half-broken globe sculpture where the objective is located. If I don’t stop that guy, he’s going to take that objective to his base, charge it up, and score for his team. If I don’t blow him up with this grenade launcher…

And then BAM! Ker-runch-splode goes my character as fifty different projectiles of death smash into me, obliterating my body into billions of bloody giblets.

Enter LawBreakers.

Developed by Boss Key Productions, helmed by Cliff Bleszinski who had worked with Epic Games for twenty years before starting Boss Key Productions, this arena shooter was initially code-named BlueStreak before being released as LawBreakers. Since its release, it has been garnering much positive praise. And some… even say it presents a breath of fresh air in a world that’s been heavily occupied by the likes of Overwatch and other eSports favorites. But can it contend with the kings of the eSports arena? Time will tell. But until then, it seems that the slow-growing fan base of LawBreakers is steadfastly holding onto the notion that this game has the potential to rock the status quo by bringing back the glory of the earlier days of FPS multiplayer shooters.

Where New Meets Classic

When you play your first three hours of this game, you’ll walk away from it nodding to yourself in nostalgic revelry (you’ll also probably die quite a few times). The reason is because while this game bears some resemblances to the likes of other Hero Shooters, it also carries a lot of inspiration from the likes of Unreal Tournament and Quake Arena. You might ask how do I figure that? And well, it’s all in the phrase of the trailer: Bring Your Skills.

Back in the day, the likes of Unreal Tournament and Quake 3 required that you exercised a high degree of precision in your targeting. Everyone had access to the same plethora of high powered firearms, what was NOT equal was the skills of the players.

In LawBreakers, while not every character has access to the same weaponry, the challenge of skilled precision returns with the introduction of the game’s innate fast-paced action. Whether the game mode is Blitzball, Uplink, Turf War, or Overcharge, it’s either you learn to move fast, aim fast, and kill fast—or you’ll be dying fast. Aside from some special abilities, there really isn’t any hold-your-hands aim assistance.

So take aim. Never hestitate. And always. Be. First to pull the trigger!

The Characters

The main cogs in this machine are the characters. You’re ready to prove yourself in a new arena, with new rules of engagement, and a pace a little faster than your current fare. We’re going to spend some time looking at the different characters you can choose from, and how to utilize them to their utmost lethal potential.

The Vanguard

Much like the name goes, this is a character you want to go charging head-first into combat. Armed with a minigun, you can turn most people into swiss cheese while taking the punishment they’re capable of dishing out. What’s more, you’ll also have cluster grenades with which to lob at your foes, adding some of that sweet DPS to the stream of hot lead you’re spraying from your main weapon.

So where’s the speed? We’re getting right to that. Every character has a form of dash-move. The Vanguard happens to get a really cool one—basically, the Vanguard gets to fly. Yep, so long as you have the boost juice to do it, you can fly around the map with guns blazing!

And that’s not all. Much like the Hero Arena Shooter genre has established, there needs to be some really cool super special ability involved. And this game is no exception. The Vanguard’s allows you to leap into the air, set your sights on a poor, unfortunate soul, and rocket-boosted ground pound them to a mushy bloody paste!

The Titan

Remember those days of Quake 3 where everyone was firing rocket launchers all over the place? Before even Halo came along, those were the days of when everyone learned the jump-shoot techniques of rocket slaying.

Well, enter the Titan. This guy’s your real rocket man. This one’s pretty self-explanatory as to what he does with that rocket launcher. But he comes with other goodies as well. Along with your trusty rocket launcher, you’ll also have proximity mines that slow down your enemies, making them sweet targets for your explosives. And if they want to try closing in on you? No problem, you’ve got a supercharged ground-pounding leap that’ll smash any in your way.

And when your special is charged up—it’s Berserk time! Imagine seeing Bane from Batman running around shooting lightning from his fingertips like Emperor Palpatine, and you’ll have a pretty good image of what it’s like seeing a Titan chasing after you so he can fry you to a crisp.

The Enforcer

One of my favorites. The Enforcer is your standard soldier type who doesn’t need any frills to make himself an indispensable part of any team. Armed with an assault rifle, you’ll have plenty of chances to hit your targets, but they won’t keep their distance. They’re going to come for you.

Facing off against the formidable Wraith or Assassin? Use your Electromag grenade to disrupt their special abilities, and then take them out. Need a quick escape? Try your distortion field, which gives you a movement boost (but also increases your rate of fire and reload speed—Yeah! More bullets!)

And finally, the coup de grace—when your opponent has the Blitzball and you absolutely need to stop them, it’s time to release the hounds. With the Enforcer’s Bloodhound Launcher special ability, you can lock on to an enemy and destroy them with a trio of homing missiles. An excellent way to put a stop to an enemy team’s plans to score a goal in Blitzball or Uplink.

The Juggernaut

I love robots. They’re cool looking, and they usually can do even cooler things! So I had to try the Juggernaut first when I had first gotten this game. And I got absolutely thrashed.

The Juggernaut is arguably a support character. Which makes his name slightly misleading. For sure, he’s extremely deadly (I’ve been getting the most kills with this guy), but only if you know how to use him right. He looks like he’s just meant to kill everything and everyone, your everyday murder robot. But while he’s armed with a powerful shotgun and a retractable bayonet (which does some major damage), you’ll want to actually play him supportively. He works well in tandem with teammates because he has a shield wall ability that compliments everyone, especially during capture and hold matches like Turf War. When you need time to reload your weapon, and block off a choke point to your objective, deploying that shield can save you and your team some damage, as well as provide some breathing room.

Need to get somewhere quick? The Juggernaut’s dash ability gives him the momentum to make far-reaching leaps as well as

Even better, the Juggernaut can also boost his own defenses with his special ability, which gives him an extra layer of armor, reducing damage, and keeping you alive for a little longer while you wade into enemy lines alongside your teammates. Oh, and your rate of fire gets a slight boost too. But get caught alone, and you’ll often get overwhelmed.

The Harrier

The Harrier is another one of those mixed-role characters, equipped with a laser rifle that requires absolute precision. But with jet-powered boots, you can zoom around the arena while harassing opponents with your rifle, knocking their health down as you go. As the name might suggest, your job is to whittle away at your targets until your special ability is ready.

Aside from being a light-attack character, the Harrier also acts as a pseudo-medic by being able to deploy a single health pack every so often. Great when you spot a teammate in trouble while you’re doing your zip-zoom-bzap thing.

And then comes the special ability. Once charged, your laser attack becomes something akin to Iron Man’s chest beam: whatever’s in the way is done for! Great for racking up multi-kills too in a crowded room. Save this for when targets are all clustered up trying to steal an uplink or capture a control point in Turf War, you won’t regret it.

The Gunslinger

It’s no space cowboy, but the Gunslinger is exactly what you’d imagine. Armed with two pistols, Alpha and Omega, this death-obsessed character has two ways for you to deal out death from a distance. First is Alpha, a rapid-fire burst pistol that will be your main form of attacking your targets. Then comes Omega, the charge pistol. With Omega, it’ll be more like firing a railgun in Quake 3. Like the Harrier, Omega requires absolute precision to hit its mark, but the reward is a high-damage impact that’ll usually finish off any weakened opponent.

But that’s not all. The Gunslinger also has a warp ability to speed himself across the map, as well as a way to combo that with his guns. Fire Alpha upon exiting warp and you’ll fire both guns in a series of devastating attacks, giving you the element of surprise and hopefully as quick execution.

With the Gunslinger’s handy tactical knife, you can not only stick a target with it, but it generates a sonar that reveals enemy positions within a certain radius. Great for hunting!

And last but not least, when you’ve had enough of your opponents’ shenanigans, it’s time to use the Equalizer special ability—by overcharging your guns, you unleash a torrent of high-damage energy bullets that can mow down a crowd if they’re so unlucky to be in your way.

The Medic

I’ve always been a sucker for healer classes. Whether it’s a hero shooter or a MMO, I enjoy being that guy that keeps everyone else alive. And this game was no exception. My best character and top favorite role ended up being the Medic. But it wasn’t just for the healing. This character could also dish out some pain once you get used to the grenade launcher’s firing arc.

The Medic’s offensive capabilities are limited, but not ineffective. With a grenade launcher that can fire both explosive and timed grenades, there are ways a Medic can hold a choke point on their own (especially cramped hallways in certain maps). But when a grenade launcher isn’t too effective for a situation, there is also a burst energy pistol that the Medic can fall back on. You’ll generally want to stick around your teammates and use your grenade launcher for mainly supportive action. One-on-One combat is usually not recommended, unless you’re in an enclosed map with a lot of small halls (in which case, you can go from a healer to a killing machine).

The Medic’s main job is to use his/her healing drones to restore up to two players at a time. As a character trait, the Medic also heals over time while doing this, eliminating the need to rush for medical packs or healing stations. And wherever there’s a teammate in need, the Medic’s hover boots allow for a speedy arrival.

The Medic’s special ability is a healing bubble that not only restores the health of the Medic and teammates, but also serves as a defensive shield against incoming fire. When it comes to making sure your team makes it to the finish line, the Medic is what you want!

The Assassin

Speedy, agile, and deadly—everything you expect the Assassin to be. Armed with taser machetes as her main weapon of choice, your job is to get in close and finish your opponent off quick. With a light grappler, you’ll find it easy to navigate maps and get to where you need to be to do just that. And with the ability to quickly dash, you can traverse maps swiftly and with ease—all to get that sweet kill in.

As a secondary weapon, the Assassin has an energy shotgun that has a burst and charged fire mode. If you’re dealing with an opponent that’s able to match your mobility, this weapon is handy in ensuring you have a way to fight.

The Assassin also has flux grenades, which generate a field that displaces enemy projectiles as well as the enemies themselves. Think of it as a defensive concussion grenade.

Then comes the Assassin’s special ability—Frenzy. The Assassin’s attacks not only deal increased damage, but they also gain life steal, allowing you to fight longer, and fight harder!

The Wraith

Like the Assassin, the Wraith is about speed, closing in with the enemy, and taking out your opponent before they have a chance to do anything. The Wraith works a little different, however.

The first weapon in the Wraith’s arsenal is an auto-machine pistol. Now don’t let the “pistol” part fool you, this weapon is quite effective when used in combination with the Wraith’s mobility. With the ability to leap, slide-dash, and rebound off of surfaces, the Wraith is able to dart around an enemy position while unleashing a barrage of bullets.

The second weapon is where the real fun is. Best used when the enemy is softened up by the machine pistol, the Wraith can use a dash-attack with his short sword. With its high damage profile, this attack usually finishes off most opponents if you’ve done enough with your pistol.

A little fun skill is also the Stinger dagger. When thrown, it can do damage to an opponent, but whether it sticks an opponent or an inanimate surface, the dagger will explode when shot causing great damage. This is handy if your opponent is trying to act all cool and thinks he/she can dodge you forever. You’re not going to let that happen!

Last but not least, the Wraith’s special ability is the ability to slow down your enemies. The last thing an enemy wants to be is slow when facing off against a Wraith. Once slowed, your targets are just begging to die, waiting for you to move in and stab them in the face!

Final Thoughts

LawBreakers had a bit of a slow start, and its player base has dropped significantly since it’s opening. But BossKey has been very proactive in their patching up of issues, as well as adding on improvements. When I had first started, I couldn’t check out my stash drops without having to opt out of Matchmaking. Now, I can check my stash drops while waiting for the next match to begin. The character progression isn’t too slow either. As the game’s trailer motto goes, this game rewards skill, and the better you play, the quicker your player progression will be. But even as you’re learning the game, leveling up isn’t too slow as to prevent you from enjoying some goodies along the way. Fun rewards while still remaining accessible, I believe this will be a great selling point for new FPS players, while FPS veterans of both the Quake/Unreal scene and those of Overwatch will find this game to be entertaining and refreshing. Also for those familiar with the Tribes game franchise, you’ll find the crazy mobility in this game to be welcoming.

The game modes aren’t anything new, but it is the map design that makes the game modes so much fun. Currently, the map variety is small (they’re making more!), but that’s because of how much labor has been put into creating them. There are so many ways to approach an objective. So many twisting halls, thematic sets, and cool aesthetics that double as means to get around the map and kick your opponent’s teeth in. Then there’s the neat little anti-gravity nodes that litter the maps that allow you to hover and zip around in the air, giving you an advantageous position to attack while also giving you some unpredictable mobility to throw your enemies off—that’s something I’ve never seen in any FPS game, arena shooter or otherwise.

LawBreakers offers itself as an homage to the classic shooters, and offers a competitive taste to today’s shooters, it also wants to push the envelope and introduce something new.

Does this game really pose a challenge to the current leader Overwatch? That’s still pending. And despite the player drops, there is a loyal fan base that’s holding out and trying to grow. Currently on Steam, LawBreakers has a “Very Positive” All rating and a “Mixed” Recent rating. I personally think it’s a blast, and Boss Key is taking steps to continually improve and update it, as well as giving new content for free. But is it a Buy? If you’re looking to support a new arena shooter, then I’d say yes! But if you’re looking to get your bang for your buck, presently it may be best to wait for a Steam sale. Me? I’m hoping Lawbreakers will find its way into the mainstream, and I’ll keep playing it while I wait for it to happen.