14 DAY TRIAL // Battlecry, the new free-to-play title created by Battlecry Studios and published by Bethesda, initially seems like the kind of game that is just riding the wave of popularity linked to the genre while aiming to be a little familiar and slightly innovative.
During E3 2014, the team allows gamers to engage in team-based multiplayer battles, using two of the factions that will be part of the final title: the Royal Marines and the Cossacks, each with different styles but with similar gameplay.
The classes available are: The Enforcer, the Duelist and the Tech Archer, three of the five that the company is aiming to create before launch.
Battlecry is certainly fast, and the development team says that it is also aiming for fluency and fun, although it is far too early to tell whether they will be able to deliver on those.
The player chooses a class and he is then thrown into the game world to chase and battle his enemies, using an interesting adrenaline system that can enhance his attacks and some special abilities.
Death usually comes quick, even for a good player who understands his class and the tactics associated with it, but the game is frenetic enough to make it seem unimportant.
Teamwork can be important, although lone wolves also perform well, and the developers are trying to create a positive community by inviting gamers to congratulate the best performers after a match is over, which gives them extra resources to spend on their character.
Bethesda says that the experience will be entirely free-to-play, with real-world money only used for cosmetic changes.
Battlecry also has an interesting fiction, about a world that banned gunpowder and created special areas for nations to resolve their differences through combat, which will justify any larger meta-game.
The art style of Battlecry is certainly influenced by the look of Team Fortress 2, at first sight, but after playing the game a little, the better proxy seems to be Dishonored, another title that was published by Bethesda.
There's certainly enough quality here to attract gamers at first, but it will be interesting to see whether the title manages to deliver enough personality and unique elements to remain attractive to gamers in the long term.
At the moment, the team working on Battlecry aims to deliver an open beta stage for the title at some point in early 2015, with a wider variety of modes and choices for the player to make about his character.