Welcome to the first installment of FPS Fridays! I'm planning on doing these at least twice a month to help give the site a better schedule for content. The basic idea is that I will be highlighting certain first-person shooters each week and giving my opinion on them. I think the FPS genre gets a somewhat deserved bad reputation nowadays, but there are some real gems out there. So without further ado, here is this week's game: Fistful of Frags.
Pass the Whiskey!
Pass the Whiskey!
Out of all the themes for first-person shooters, westerns are surprisingly sparse. Fistful of Frags makes me wonder why there haven't been more western themed shooters. The game started as a mod for Half-Life 2 and is now available for free on Steam. There are a variety of modes, though none of them really break new ground. You have your standard free-for-all deathmatch as well as 2 and 4 team deathmatches. The most interesting modes are Teamplay and Break Bad. Teamplay takes a page from Team Fortress 2 and has two teams fighting for control points and pushing mine carts, towards the enemy base. The fast pace between rounds means it's always exciting while still encouraging players to work together. Break Bad is probably my favorite mode because it feels the most balanced. Each kill awards you money which you use to buy weapons when you spawn. It rewards you for doing well by giving you more money, but you have to manage it well otherwise you'll be stuck with nothing but your fists. Even the basic deathmatches have a twist to them in the form or the notoriety system. You gain notoriety for each kill, but better weapons give you less while the weapons that are harder to kill with give you more. Killstreaks are also rewarded, multiplying your notoriety when you get a chain of kills without dying. This adds just enough of a strategic element to make the game that much more interesting while still being simple enough to cater to newcomers.
Of course one of the most important elements in any FPS is the gunplay and Fistful of Frags nails the source material. All of the weapons are what you would expect to see in the old west. From more primitive weapons like the bow or the hatchet to more advanced guns like the Colt Peacemaker and Pump Shotgun, everything feels great to use. Most of the weapons are rather inaccurate so you'll have to stand still if you want a good chance to hit anything. It sounds like a rather frustrating system, but in practice it makes the gameplay rather unique compared to other shooters. Upon spawning you can choose from a small variety of weapons to choose from as well as right handed, left handed, or ambidextrous modes. Choosing your dominant hand grants you an accuracy bonus when using a weapons in that hand. It doesn't affect the gameplay that much, but it is nice to have the extra element of choice. Do you pick left handed to have the best accuracy or do you want to be ambidextrous for more precise dual-wielding? The way you get better weapons is also fairly unique. Each map has a certain number of treasure chests that allow you to choose a weapon upon opening them. Blue chests give you starting weapons, red chests give you more powerful guns, and the gold chest gives you the best weapons in the game. Each chest has a cool-down period after being opened, so it takes around a minute for it to become usable again. Even with the most powerful guns death can come quickly, so no player is invincible.
Of course one of the most important elements in any FPS is the gunplay and Fistful of Frags nails the source material. All of the weapons are what you would expect to see in the old west. From more primitive weapons like the bow or the hatchet to more advanced guns like the Colt Peacemaker and Pump Shotgun, everything feels great to use. Most of the weapons are rather inaccurate so you'll have to stand still if you want a good chance to hit anything. It sounds like a rather frustrating system, but in practice it makes the gameplay rather unique compared to other shooters. Upon spawning you can choose from a small variety of weapons to choose from as well as right handed, left handed, or ambidextrous modes. Choosing your dominant hand grants you an accuracy bonus when using a weapons in that hand. It doesn't affect the gameplay that much, but it is nice to have the extra element of choice. Do you pick left handed to have the best accuracy or do you want to be ambidextrous for more precise dual-wielding? The way you get better weapons is also fairly unique. Each map has a certain number of treasure chests that allow you to choose a weapon upon opening them. Blue chests give you starting weapons, red chests give you more powerful guns, and the gold chest gives you the best weapons in the game. Each chest has a cool-down period after being opened, so it takes around a minute for it to become usable again. Even with the most powerful guns death can come quickly, so no player is invincible.
Overall, Fistful of Frags is a simple, but incredibly fun and addicting multiplayer experience. The western cowboy feel is quite charming and allows the use of some really neat guns from that era. For a free release it's very polished, not to mention the lack of microtransactions. If you have a Steam account, I encourage you to give Fistful of Frags a try, especially if you can bring a few friends along as well.
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