Loadout is like a 1980s big budget action movie transformed into a multiplayer third person shooter (TPS). The free-to-play game combines big weapons, big explosions, and big deaths into an addictive and fun experience.
Edge of Reality is developing Loadout for a Summer 2012 release. Whether that is mainly in a beta form or close to a final build remains to be seen, but my hands-on demo of Loadout has me convinced that the developers have something special on their hands.
The game focuses on two things: weapon crafting and great gameplay.
The preview build I played was the same as the one that Edge of Reality showed off at GDC 2012. I was told that that particular build had millions of weapon combinations, but a newer build of the game increased that to billions. While I’m not going to test that claim, from my experience there are going to be a lot of similar but different weapons.
Weapon Crafting
Building your customized weapon is one of the big features in Loadout. Every part of your weapon can be customized and switched for a different part. Each part of your weapon changes the attributes of how it shoots, reload speed, and precise aiming.
In my first game, I used a standard rocket launcher. While it wasn’t the most accurate, a general hit to an opponent would obliterate him. When I customized a rocket launcher with an explosion of flak and shrapnel, it became much more difficult to blow up enemies because I needed precise aim. That new launcher also slowed down my reload speed a lot, so the tradeoff between a stronger, more accurate gun and a regular rocket launcher were very obvious.
Apart from rocket launchers, there are standard guns that can also be customized. It’s even possible to modify a gun so that it heals your teammates. There weren’t too many options available during the demo, but enough so that different customizations could be experienced.
In this way, you create your own character class through weapon crafting. While during the gameplay preview, most players were using something like a “tank” class, it’s easy to see how using a rifle could easily create an assault or even sniper class.
Gameplay
Loadout supports both keyboard/mouse and joystick. Depending on preference, both work equally well. My personal preference is a joystick and it takes almost no time to get used to the controls and start blasting away.
It’s a great mix of action and objective-based combat. In my demo, the objective was to collect crystals and the team that collected thirty won the round. So while trying to kill each other, it was important to find the “collector” and take them out so the other team couldn’t get any more crystals.
Small little details in Loadout make the game shine. Damage shows on your character. So getting grazed by a rocket might peel the skin off your arm or foot. But taking a rocket straight in the face may split you in two with your legs running.
The gameplay changes depending on the weapon you use and sometimes it’s better to go around with a machine gun rather than rocket launcher. The couple matches I played had slightly unbalanced gameplay and Edge of Reality said they’re working on more maps and game modes to help balance the weapons.
Their plan is to listen to the community and design the game according to some of the feedback they get.
Microtransactions
Edge of Reality didn’t disclose a lot of the details about the microtransaction part of the game. I did learn that it will be possible to earn all the different weapon parts by grinding the game, but it is possible to spend money and purchase weapon parts. When I asked about weapon balance, I was told that there would be a tradeoff with different weapon combinations and that no weapon would really overpower another.
During my gameplay, I did experience that so I am convinced that weapon balance is on the right path. I am curious to see the different weapon parts and how Edge of Reality is going to price each part.
Loadout, in the five month old build, was a great experience. The game will have more characters, maps, and game modes when it launches. I think Edge of Reality will have a great game, if they can present the microtransaction side of the game intelligently.
