When this game was first launched under Steam's "free to play" category, AVA was exceptional in and for that purpose - it was free to play. But that was a very short period of time and now that other games, like Team Fortress 2, are also available free, you might as well not waste your time.
I rate this game poorly for several reasons: most of all because, for a first person shooter,When this game was first launched under Steam's "free to play" category, AVA was exceptional in and for that purpose - it was free to play. But that was a very short period of time and now that other games, like Team Fortress 2, are also available free, you might as well not waste your time.
I rate this game poorly for several reasons: most of all because, for a first person shooter, it is not a very fun to play after you have passed the stage where the game is still new. That is, once you've learned the basics there is really nothing left to learn. Once you've realized that the best tactic (if you don't use an aim bot or implement various other cheats that very easily bypass many if not most of the servers) is not to really aim, but to charge in and fire in a basic area of a person's head then then you will very frequently get to the top of the score lists until you meet other people who are using this very same stupid yet somehow very effective tactic. Of course there is practically nothing to this: no strategy, nothing original, and in real warfare it would be the most idiotic thing to rush into a horde of enemies and try to gun them down without really aiming.
When you begin the game, you will at first be brought in by the Euro and item acquisition system and the "authentic" feel of the weapons... however, the well which you have as a newb to the game will quickly run dry. And if you are a veteran of the game that does not feel the desire to spend real-world money on items, then you will find that any advancement is extremely slow in coming. WOW (which is now also free to play) is actually faster, if you will believe it, once the initial spurt of gaining money at a modest rate ends.
There is also to mention the bonuses that "contributors" aka "legal cheaters" are able to acquire if they are willing to pay for it, in addition to those who are willing to pay for items because acquiring money through gathering enough "supply points" is taking too long. The point down to all of this is that people who look at this game as a "free" game will be put at a serious disadvantage from those who pay, and even those who pay and play legally will often run into hackers who use aimbots, making it difficult to say whether you actually just got beaten by a "good" player. So therefore be forewarned of the imbalance of this game.
As for common complaints: there are no medics, no healing, which means that there are few real tactics in the game. Most weapons are also the same, even though they have minute differences and heavy machineguns, light machineguns, tanks, and rocket launchers are all map-specific and do not have full useability as they would in real combat (tanks are not pilotable and their main gun is never used, for instance). Elements of weather, lighting, and water are basically non-existent and the maps are very constrained, making the number of strategies very limited. Furthermore, weapon condition, though present, does not seem to really affect the weapon's effectiveness and certain weapons are deemed "temporary" or "expendable" and so are not affected by their condition at all until their meter or number of days runs out and the weapon simply disappears and the player is in the barrel.
And besides all of these things, perhaps foremost, customer support and service is basically nonexistant. Any complaints will be filtered through, take many days to have a response, and the response will always be to the effect of "it's in our policy not to help you; we are glad that you are happy with your service." AVA's Ijji.com is apparently run by comedians. Point and case: if you can't solve the problem yourself, don't expect anyone to help you.
The "good" about this game may be the "variety" of weapons, except that all the weapons are all basically the same and this game will make you question why we even where body armor or helmets, being that a BB in this game would probably kill you in one hit. Also the "realistic" combat... which is questionable as I pointed out several times above. And then there is the final thing: the fact that this game is "free." Well, leave it there if you want but as I pointed out you'll never match up to paying players if you are completely free. TF2 is a far more balanced game by comparison, even if you are a completely free player with features such as trading disabled.
Try the game yourself if you want, it is not terrible, but it does come close to living up to the standards of games that are a half-decade older and now free.… Expand
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