Hands-On Firefall Preview

As I weaved my way through the overcrowded hallways and intersections at PAX Prime, I couldn't help but pick-up on two points regarding Firefall:

1. No one had heard of the game prior to PAX and now it dominated the halls, bathrooms and escalators.
2. Those that had waited for their turn with the game were IMPRESSED.

By mid-afternoon on Saturday, I knew I couldn't miss my first hands-on time with this upcoming free-to-play MMOFPS. Firefall, for those that haven't been following the game closely, was originally announced at PAX Prime in September 2010 and was playable for the first time at PAX East in March. Red 5 Studios has been working on pushing out their first title since 2007, so this isn't a game that's coming to the world half-baked. With several years of development time and polish, this PAX Prime public demonstration was a long time coming; and even though expectations weren't high going into the show, attendees were definitely intrigued by the massive amounts of marketing dollars on display throughout the halls.

Taking my place at a demo station, I was flanked by the founder of Red 5 Studios, Mark Kern, who quickly began to lead me through what was going on in the mission. I had jumped into the PvE version of their demo midway into the session (which had been set on a time limit for showcase at the conference) and the players in the game were being waylaid by hordes of alien Aranhas and battleframe-laden humans. Think of battleframes as classes in Firefall.

Rather than run the mission being pushed upon me through the in-game tracker (similar to what you might find in any modern MMO), I raced toward one of three areas that needed defending from the oncoming onslaught. With my assault battleframe loaded with a plasma gun and machine gun (both with normal and alt-fire), I set off to hunt some bugs and bugkeepers.



The controls were simple enough for an FPS and MMO hybrid; everything was set up just like a standard FPS with a few exceptions. Hitting the spacebar caused you to jump, but if you hit the button again in mid-air your jetpack (which is on all battleframes) would blast off, allowing you to reach new locations or rain fire down upon your foes. Additionally, pressing the numeric keys on your keyboard would unleash one of the special abilities loaded into the battleframe you were wearing.

For example, when I began my first mission I had two special abilities. One allowed me to drop like a 20-ton load of bricks upon my enemies, causing damage in an area around me that would increase the higher I was when I used the ability. The other was a rushing assault tactic that would launch me toward my foe where I could bludgeon him to death with my meatier, more muscular arms.

However, the moment I finished my first mission I was given a new piece of loot, which happened to be a new module that I could add to my battleframe. This module gave me an “overcharge†ability that drove up the damage of my weapon for a short length of time, which was definitely useful against the larger enemies that needed a bit more “oomph†to take down.



With my new piece of loot added to my collection, Kern urged me to try my hand at a PvP match. Even though I'm a causal FPSer, it was still very easy to tell that these PvP matches were exactly what you might find in any modern day first-person shooter. Players from the other team (my own team was slaughtered frequently), did an excellent job using team tactics sending their assaults to draw out the opposing team then allowing their recon battleframes to snipe them down from afar. Medics would stand in the back healing up the assault battleframe that got shot up, and thus very quickly the tides were turned and my team was annihilated.

However, it was easy to see just how complex PvP matches could become. With the addition of different abilities to each battleframe, especially those that altered the movement of a character, some very different strategies were readily apparent. My assault battleframe was definitely trying his best to get as high as possible in the PvP map just so he would one shot a lonely recon battleframe who happened to be ignoring things dropping on him from above. The ability to fly adds so much depth to the game beyond what you'd see in a traditional FPS title that it could truly bring a novelty to the game that attracts a horde of FPS gamers.



Other things of note that I saw in my hands-on time with the game.

Resource gathering will be a major activity in PvE, but will include a ton of monster fighting.

Players are able to switch out battleframes at any time as long as they're near an appropriate terminal.

Each battleframe will level up independently and have its own gear that you swap in/out.

Players hold two weapons at a time that are easily switched between.

Snipers are still obnoxious, especially good ones.

Players start with relatively basic (but brightly colored) battleframe but can buy more complex patterns/outfits.

Team play is definitely a good thing to have in PvP matches.

Crafting is a part of the game with lots of crafting items dropping that are usable.

Looks fantastic and definitely has a “crisp†feel.


Without a doubt, this was one of the most surprising and satisfying games I played at the show. Fans of both MMOs and FPS games will find things they love in this title, and – if all goes accordingly – neither will have many complaints about the “newness†that the other genre brings to the traditional gameplay modes.
Cody "Micajah" Bye, Director of Content