Rating
LawBreakers
Beat gravity into submission in LawBreakers, an exhilarating new first-person shooter where even the laws of physics can be shattered, creating unprecedented gravity-based combat across a bloody rebuilt American landscape.
Details
- Released
- August 8, 2017
- Developer
- Boss Key Productions
- Publisher
- Nexon Co. Ltd.
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LawBreakers Reviews
Professional reviews from gaming critics
In recent years the world has witnessed the valiant return of FPS classics in Doom and Quake Champions, signifying that arena shooters are back, and potentially better than ever. LawBreakers joins the club of fast-paced competitive multiplayer action and manages to carve out a space of its own within a genre brimming with wildly popular shooters including Titanfall, Battlefield 1, and Call of Duty. In fact, Boss Key Productions’ debut title is one of the most mesmerizing and infatuating shooters I’ve played this generation.
Lawbreakers is a great game, both in terms of its construction and its gameplay. Defying gravity and utilizing 9 different classes opens up a ton of fun new options for gameplay. The skill curve is intimidating and the content can feel used up after a moderate amount of time, but Lawbreakers is incredibly rewarding for those who can master its fast-paced mechanics.
An arena shooter in the same vein as Quake and Overwatch, but with its own gameplay and mechanics, Lawbreakers seeks to throw some punches at the competition. Low gravity portions of the map mean verticality like few have done before it means you'll find a great amount of competition in the community as it looks forward to growth and excitement.
Despite my problems with LawBreakers, at the end of the day, the most important thing I can say about this game is that it is fun. Very, very fun. When I open the game, join a match and start playing, I have an amazing time. The raw energy behind the movement, the weight behind the weapons, the satisfaction of landing hits and bouncing off walls. It all comes together to create a unique, memorable FPS experience, and I look forward to seeing what Boss Key Productions does to expand it in the future.
In its best game modes, LawBreakers manages to make simply moving around feel amazing. Learning how to fall with style in the most deadly way possible is a thrilling challenge. Getting stuck playing a weak mode and map thanks to the grab-bag matchmaking can be frustrating, but it doesn’t ruin an otherwise fast and tense shooter that lets you gleefully propel yourself through low-gravity with rocket boots and miniguns.
We tell you, it’s a good game! It’s not average! It might have some problems here and there, but you have to admit it is a “Good” game.
LawBreakers has a lot of room for growth, particularly given that the objective-based modes start to feel old and limited over time. In fact, the game design that rewards individual skill above all else makes the lack of any kind of Deathmatch mode feel like a head-scratcher. However, while Boss Key doesn't quite have an instant classic on its hands, there are enough cool ideas like anti-gravity combat in place that there's a sense of a foundation for something truly great. It's debatable whether it's the "Dark Souls of competitive first-person shooters," but it definitely stands out as a game...
LawBreakers attempts to reconcile the hero shooter genre with the arena shooter genre and somewhat succeeds. However, for as fun as it can be, it needs more than nifty movement and fast action for the long run.
A handful of the ideas in LawBreakers seem like concepts that are past their sell-by date, from the dubstep soundtrack to the cyber soldier aesthetic. That’s a genuine shame because beneath all that, is a mechanically exciting game. The aerial combat feels fresh, and the twists on standard shooter game modes are solid attempts at flipping the script. But LawBreakers’ confusing hero design, poor tutorial system and unbalanced maps all sabotage an otherwise good game.
Team based hero shooters aren’t anything new. In 2007 the most recognisable and long lasting addition to the range Team Fortress 2 was top dog, and for close to 9 years there was nobody else to play with in the playground. However in the last year if you were to throw a rock in the playground you’d have no trouble hitting a hero shooter — but why would you do that? Who throws a rock in a playground? Get help, but before you do that welcome to LawBreakers.
That would be a real shame, because LawBreakers is more than good enough to foster a large community. Its zero gravity segments offer something that no other FPS can, and everywhere else it’s a solid, polished shooter. If you like the sound of it then I’d jump in now and build up some experience. That way, when ranked play launches, you’re ready to blast off.