Managed to finish Diablo 3 Act 2, the boss fight was much better it actually took me 2 takes to do, which was fine because at least I had some decent challenge. I jumped immediately to Act 3 however I stopped because the amount of mobs I faced was getting over whelming to do it from my bed. So my demon hunter is back on break until I am in the mood to continue to aoe down mobs. Onto the next topic, while watching a Machinima Livestream, I noticed that they were playing a new game called Blacklight Retribution, which is a new free-to-play first person shooter. So what the hell I installed a bazillion games on the pc might as well install another one. So here are my first impressions about the game.

Give it some time.

Give the game some time to understand what the hell is going on, I am not saying this because the game is difficult but it has its own unique features. Also it would serve you well to do the training part of the game, I personally did not do but that because I am the type of person who learn by mistakes, and complain throughout the process.

Concept of the game

Well the game has the same features as other FPS, the usual game modes (team deathmatch, domination style, capture the flag, etc.). Some cool features of this game are the following

HRV (Hyper Reality Visor)

This tool is very effective if used well during the game, basically this tool will let you see through walls, locate opponents, team mates, weapon depots and show you weak points in a hard suit. This may sound very over powered however you cannot shoot while using the HRV which takes away the over powered part. Also remember that everyone has one of these so it comes down how effective can you use your tool. At first I found it hard to use, because I ended up using it try to get an idea where the opponents are located and I ended up a sitting duck in the map. So the most effective way is to use it for a second just to get an idea where everyone is around you, sort of like a glorified UAV. Also always assume that the enemy know where you are, so it comes down to who ever can time their attack the better.

Weapon Depots

The weapon depots are located around the map that will help you refill your ammo, health and get upgrades. These items are not free, you will need combat points to buy any of the mentioned items. Combat points are earned during the match, and can be used during the match only.

Hardsuit

The hardsuit is basically your own Ironman suit, you buy it with combo points during the match. You have to use the laser designator bought from the weapon depot aim it at the floor where you want the suit. Be aware that if you die enemies can steal the suit, so make sure that there is no enemies nearby. Hardsuits are armed with a minigun and a rail gun which makes the player very powerful. The best way to takeout a player in a hardsuit is by using the flamethrower. Note always use the HRV to spot weak spots in the hardsuit, if you fire the hardsuit in the weakspot, it will take 10 times more damage. This suit may sound over powered and my experience will tend to agree but it is mainly because no one actually tries to take it out in the first place.

Customizations

Since it is a free to play game, do not expect to have every weapon available for free, as other F2P games, you can unlock weapons using Zen Points (you buy Zen points using real money) or by GP which are earned by playing the game. The weapon customizations are quite high you can modify the weapon however you like, you can buy the standard weapon and then customize it how ever you want. While this is awesome, a lot of trial and error will take place, to get an idea of what is best. However there is also premade weapons that you can buy, however not every weapons can fit your need.

What I suggest is since you can only have one loadout (custom classes in other fps) I would not bother with sniper rifles. I would go for a sub-machine gun because its a very good weapon for most of the maps. Remember that until you get to level 5 you will not unlock the next loadout, hence leave you with one weapon during the whole match and you cannot change.

Conclusions

I think the way Blacklight Retribution is made, gives gamers a good solid game, make sure that you can turn the graphics a bit high since players blend a lot with the environment and you need to tune the graphics a bit to see clearly. Also do not give up on the game if you find it hard, once you get used to the mechanics it is pretty fun. Also do not get discourage with all the customizations, try to keep it simple especially at the beginning. One thing I need to figure out is why certain upgrades I buy have a time limit, example I bought a weapon upgrade which expired in 2 days, and i had to pay some GP to keep the upgrade. This is a bit frustrating but on the other hand, it is free!!

Game can be downloaded from here