"Authority" Early BETA Review

Authority

Version Reviewed: v0.19

Genre: FPS

Link: http://bit.ly/RtQNcn

DISCLAIMER: This is a review for a game currently in BETA, meaning everything in the game is subject to change, including, but not limited to, balance, content, thumbnail, concept, graphics, and availability. This review may no longer be valid later on and is accurate as of October 21, 2012.

I am probably the only person right now writing content for something other than Halloween Catalog content (I still love you guys Catalog team... maybe). Anyways, let me get started on talking about a game I took a look at before in Rapid Fire Reviews, "Authority," by Spookyfox and Logitech101, currently under a very early stage of open BETA.

Improvements, Polish, and Change

As we all know, constant positive change for the better is the name of the game. The shooter genre on Roblox hasn't had a successful new game in a while, and "Authority" could be the next big one.

If you've developed a game, written a novel, or created any "original content," you know that there needs to be an inspiration and not everything is truly original. And this goes for this game too, it doesn't provide much original ideas or innovative scripts because it bases most of its concepts on Call of Duty games. It doesn't mean its bad though, because it combines the awesome things from already popular games to make an even better game.

It's All About The Guns

It's a shooting game, it has guns, and they need to feel and fire nicely. If it doesn't, the whole game could fall apart quickly, like in Call of Robloxia 5 - Roblox At War. And let me tell you, the guns here feel pretty nice. 


The bullet holes left behind by the bullet impacts grants the user the feeling of excitement, whether shooting or being shot at. The sheer amount of firepower behind the guns are also expressed in the sound the gun makes. The thumps, bangs, and pews all please the ears and allows you to feel immersed and excited to fire the gun.

When fired, the guns have a good amount of kick but can feel floaty at times, like they are made of plastic. The random recoil pattern of the weapons means that when you know one gun, you know them all. I can see this as a real problem in gun variety, since the only thing you can mess with is some stats.

There is another complaint here however, even though it is most likely just unimplemented due to being in a development stage, the muzzle flare and tracer rounds from the guns simply do not exist. This presents some gameplay problems for the players. The muzzle flares serve as a feedback to pulling the trigger (for the shooter and the target), and the absence of them means that players with muted sound are not able to determine when the gun fires and will not be able to adjust their aim accordingly. Tracer rounds allow your opponent to identify the direction of fire as well as for you to see your aim, without them, it's the "whoever shoots first wins" game.


It's in beta so I'm not going to comment too much on balance right now, but I can say the maps allow many different types of weapons to be utilized; they achieve this by containing long, open, coverless areas alongside close quarter areas with blind corners. Although, I would have liked for the maps to be bigger, small maps result in spawn camping pretty quickly, killing the fun completely for one team.

Attention to Detail

The makers have obviously spent much time to make the game as cool as possible. From grenade pins flying off, to masks of dead bodies dropping off to create an unique aesthetic, the game is just really visually pleasing. You can tell the asset qualities in the game are really high, the GUIs, thumbnails, and gun models are all of high detail and also contribute to the beauty of the game.

One thing most creators and players overlook in a game is the sound effects, even though it is arguably the most important thing besides graphics and gameplay. The good thing is, this game has a plethora of quality sounds placed in proper places, which add up to give the game it's atmosphere and immersion. What I would like to see though is ambient sounds, such as car engine noise or plane engine sounds from overhead jets' passing by.

Combinations of Awesomeness

The game also features a metric ton of customization and progression. Guns can be outfitted with attachments and camos, players can be equipped with 3 different perks and 3 other perks to be unlocked as killstreak awards.

Attachments and camos are unlocked on a gun-by-gun basis, meaning it requires you to start over on every gun, something I'm not sure I like. There is a pretty good variety on weapons, attachments, camos, and perks to ensure you are always able to find a combination you enjoy playing with.

The progression system also seems to contain a level based system, possibly used for unlocking different grenades and weapons. This concept is well accepted in the Modern Military Shooter genre and is fine as long as weapons are unlocked fairly quickly (since they each also contain a progression curve).

 Verdict: 
7.5/10 Overall
A MUST TRY!
Just needs some polish and it has potential to be a great game.