Lawbreakers is a game that pays homage to the classic arena style shooters of Unreal Tournament and Quake with hero shooter elements. Add a spice of zero g movement and combat, and you have a really good layout to get your players to move around fast and be aggressive on each other. There is a feel to the combat and speed that I really like, and while I think the characters don't haveLawbreakers is a game that pays homage to the classic arena style shooters of Unreal Tournament and Quake with hero shooter elements. Add a spice of zero g movement and combat, and you have a really good layout to get your players to move around fast and be aggressive on each other. There is a feel to the combat and speed that I really like, and while I think the characters don't have depth or interesting designs to them and the maps lack imagination the devil's in the details on making gameplay far more important than pretty visuals. It's also very difficult in learning and the lack of a tutorial in the PS4 version makes the learning curve really immense for newcomers to jump into.
Now I did not play the beta or alpha to it, only the current final product that it was intended and I really enjoy it. Alot. I like moving through zero-g and having that constant frantic speed that never ends for matches. The game modes all add to that feel and have varying degrees of success. While the modes are not new per se, the creativity of making them appealing is there. Blitzball is by far the best mode, where you run to a talking ball that you take to your opponents goal post to score and cap off at 8. What ensues is a desperate game of shooter rugby, where defenders are flanking you and doing their best to kill the runner while the team going for gold keep them at bay. Despite the size of the maps, the lengths of these standoffs is surprisingly long and really hammers away how easy it is to get wrecked and effectively create a no mans land in objectives.
Microtransactions are apart of this game. I usually and still do think that microtransactions in fully priced games deserves no respect or love and to see Lawbreakers have this on top of loot boxes is really disappointing...if it was a fully priced game. But it's not. It's only 30 dollars and even the special version is 40 bucks. For only one time will I accept this microtransaction system and tolerate it, but still believe the progression system is hindered still as a result. It makes me upset that games have become more and more willing to just jumble someone's hard work into meaningless slot machine chances for skins that they will get too much of and don't want or want one never get. I don't like that in other shooters, I don't like it in Lawbreakers. The classes all play fairly well together where it balances solo and team tactics that makes all classes independent of fighting each other on a 1 on 1 engagement, but is absolutely critical to play as a team to succeed at the goal.
The music has some good tracks in that I like, the jargon of the characters leave alot to be desired and despite the Blitzball being voiced by Morty in Rick and Morty that I find a bit annoying, the audio design is still very well done. The weapons have their own flair and punch that feels satisfying. The characters feel particular balanced, but as all shooter online games patches and community feedback to what needs tweaked is always a must. The technical side is unfortunately hard to address because it DOES matter what type of PS4 you have when playing this. Play on a Pro version, and the game stays at a fairly consistent 60 fps and performance quite solid and good. Play on the the regular version and you have massive frame drops when large amounts of action is on the screen, and considering its fast, frantic action thats only spelling for backfire. It's a shame that this was released in this state because unless you play PC or have a PS4 Pro, you will largely struggle with players that perform better than you and get a huge advantage that can win or lose a match in the blink of an eye. There was even an issue that the PS4 version in general had stuttering that made matches sometimes hard to play through. which really kills the joy of the game quickly. Considering this is an underground type, it needs all the help it can get if it wants to shine like popular shooters currently.
Lawbreakers has some fun and enjoyable moments to be had, especially with friends, but the high skill ceiling and issues that I have mentioned really hold back it from embracing true greatness at the moment. Since the game has a low (but very active low) playerbase, it needs all the help it can get from buyers to try to play and find some value in it. Having a tutorial system really helps go a long way and this game does deserve your time to play it. I would give the base version a 6/10 and it's pro version an 8/10, so as a compromise I would put it as a whole as a 7/10. It is a good game that needs more love from not just the devs but also the onlookers that are looking at this game with a negative feeling. Despite its generic surface, underneath is a deep and wildly engrossing game that demands your skills and time.… Expand
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