Review: CounterBlast by SilentSwords

CounterBlast is certainly one of the more interesting takes on the shooter "genre" on ROBLOX, inspired by Counter-Strike, CounterBlast makes an attempt to be somewhat different, but does it succeed? Let's find out.

Gameplay

There are two teams, the Shocktroopers and Mercenaries. The goal of the Shocktroopers is to either kill all of the Mercenaries, or prevent the bomb from being planted at one of the points around the maps. The Mercenaries on the other hand, must get the bomb to one of the points around the map, plant it, and successfully defend it to win the match. At the start of a match, both teams start out with a pistol, and a knife. You have $1000 at the start to spend on whatever you need, a pistol upgrade, flashbang, etc. Yes, there is a shop, there isn't too much gun diversity in the game, but there's a decent amount. Each team has unique weapons in their shops.

There are a few interesting things to note;

• When you have your knife out, you move faster.
• Jumping will bring you to a snails pace, so bunnyhopping won't help you at all.
• There are actually grenades, but you kind of just toss them out, instead of throwing.
• You cannot crouch, nor scope in, except on sniper rifles.
• There is no radar, you must rely on sound and sight alone.

The gunplay is quite simple, if your gun has a huge spread, just burst fire. Aiming for the head is most effective, too bad most shooters don't do this. Also remember, most guns behave differently, so try them all out and stick with what you like. Grenades can be useful, but you can only hold 2, although thankfully there are is a good amount of variety with them.

Maps

Since this game is in progress, there are only 2 maps at the moment, and they do the job.

Blaze is your generic "starter" map, which features a good amount of opposite paths, flanks, and 2 points for the Mercenary team to lay out the bomb, point B especially can be stressful to deal with, since they like to come out in one big group. I'd especially recommend you stick with your team because it's likely if you go out on your own you'll have a pretty good chance of being mowed down.

Holdfast is the map I prefer, since it's a decent size, and all of the action takes place inside the house. On each side are ramps for each team to take the top path straight to the bomb point on the roof, or they can go onto the first floor and get some quick first kills. While the map is a bit cramped, there is opportunity for some particularly fun firefights, also be sure to bring grenades.


Building

Both of the current maps are nicely built, they have a simple style but work with the rest of the game's "simplistic" look.
The guns and grenades are all meshes, while work nicely enough.

Creativity

The idea of a "Counter-Strike" game isn't exactly original, but this is the first time I would say it was done "right".

Overall

CounterBlast is a surprisingly fun shooter; I didn't notice that many balance problems with the guns, and the maps look nice. There is a possibility for a really fun game when this is finished, even if it is just in progress.

Although, like all games, CounterBlast isn't perfect, the main two issues I have encountered are;
Unbalanced teams are possible
This could be easily fixed with some sort of "autobalance" if the game detects teams that aren't balanced, since I don't think anyone likes to play 3v9 especially in a game like this.
Grenade ranges are wonky
If you attempt to throw a grenade downwards in a cramped doorway, it's likely going to hit a wall and affect you, this could be solved with some sort of "choice" system that allows you to either toss or throw grenades around corners, just to make things more precise really.

Other than those "cracks in the glass" so to speak, CounterBlast, while far from perfect, is a good timewaster and I recommend it if you're looking for a more "original" shooter.

Now, next up is Mystery City, a game I've been holding off on for a while since there's something special I'll be doing for this review, so expect it sometime late this week or early next week.