Here is the preview I wrote for my website, I just thought I would share it with you all. Thanks for reading
There are a couple of images missing and PixelTwitch’s youtube video, but they are all present on my site successfullypatched.com
Dirty Bomb is the latest game from splash damage, a studio with a history of creating quality first person shooters. There is a lot of expectation resting on the shoulders of Dirty Bomb right now. Fans of previous games, Enemy Territory and Brink are hoping that this latest offering will fill the gap that other games in the genre just haven’t. Dirty Bomb is a completely different experience to what games like Call of Duty and Battlefield offer, and that’s no bad thing.
The setup is quite simple, two teams either attack or defend various objectives and players are allowed to select from a wide range of classes (mercs) in order to help them succeed. Like all good games that have come before it Dirty Bomb is simple to pick up, but rewards those who take the time to master the intricacies which aren’t always obvious on the surface.
Dirty Bomb is a shooter at heart, firefights occur regularly and are rarely one sided. Players will find the amount of health and damage you can take refreshing when compared with other games in the genre. Shooting players in the head will not result in an instant kill. This results in meaningful fights where you never feel cheated when you die, if anything it leads to a greater respect because you know the person who has just killed you has had to work hard to do so. Combine this with a fast paced movement system and fights become a dance weaving, strafing and bullets.
Dirty Bomb is fast paced. Even the slowest classes will feel remarkably quick when compared with other games. It’s not so fast as to make you feel like you are not in control, in fact everything about Dirty Bomb is about control. Tracking a target whilst you are both trying to strafe in and out of the line of fire can be quite the challenge. Again players who master the moving and shooting system will be most rewarded.
There is Parkour. One of those subtleties I mentioned before is the trick jump system. Players can chain together a series of wall jumps that allow them to reach otherwise inaccessible places. This can lead to a huge tactical advantage, often bypassing defending enemies completely. The jumps themselves can be difficult to pull of in the heat of a battle but its all about risk vs reward. There is awesome guide to just how effective the jumping can be by PixelTwitch
Maps are centered around various parts of London after nuclear fallout. The maps we have seen so far offer enough variety without overwhelming new players with too much to learn. Objectives are clearly explained at the start of each round and players are given various paths to help them attack or defend. Secondary objectives offer distinct advantages to the attacking side in particular, securing these can be the difference between victory or defeat. The art direction of the maps is particularly pleasing as there is a decent amount of colour for a genre that thinks the world is one of several shades of grey.
What kind of splash damage game would it be if we didn’t have classes? OK so Dirty Bomb refers to them as Mercs but they are one and the same. Mercs sit in that middle ground between brink and Wolfenstein:Enemy Territory, whilst not directly called Medic or Engineer players will easily be able to identify who does what and also benefit from unique character models that we saw in brink. Further customisation is available in the form of load out cards which slightly tweak a mercs arsenal and abilities. These cards are randomly dropped and if you were fortunate enough to take part in the recent closed beta test, you will already have some cards on launch. Although no specific details have been released I expect that you will be able to buy custom cosmetic items for your favourite merc.
I am cautiously optimistic about Dirty Bomb, I have a lot of time and respect for splash damage and I have loved all their games right from Wolfenstein:Enemy Territory through to Brink. The game is great fun and extremely rewarding, when played right. Throw into the mix the ability to customise your merc for a real sense of ownership and you have a free to play shooter which has all the right elements to be a competitor, on both the casual and the competitive scene.
Dirty Bomb is in closed beta testing and is currently offline whilst they sift through the data of a recent test. I am hoping it will be back online sooner rather than later and hopefully we will have some more keys available.