Monday, 09 May 2016 00:00

Police Infinity Early Access Review

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Police Infinity is the first game released by indie developer 314 Arts.

The game is an online multiplayer first-person shooter set in various standard FPS game areas, and is currently available in Early Access on Steam. This last distinction is the caveat that the rest of this review will keep in mind: the game is nowhere near “finished” at the time of writing. However, as a product released to the consumer market, it doesn’t feel broken. The game holds its own, though it certainly won’t be breaking down any of the major FPS doors any time soon.

The game controls much like any standard multiplayer FPS, with the exception of one key component: there is no jumping. This took, admittedly, a fair amount of time to figure out that it wasn’t just mis-mapped to something other than the standard space key. However, while toying around in an empty map trying to grip with the controls, the player character suddenly jumped over a wall in front of them.

Their system is based on contextual “parkour” mechanics rather than a blanket jump key, which is an interesting idea that is incredibly broken at this time. When the mechanic works, it bounces off of the flow of a shooter incredibly, but the hitboxes for the player and the environment are simply not sophisticated enough at this time for a nod.

Oddly enough, once some time had gone down, the lack of jump actually felt like a feature rather than a bug, as it led to interesting strategies for crossing the battlefield and hiding. As far as the general fighting mechanics, there is absolutely nothing to report other than “it works.”

The visual design, much like most of the mechanics, is fairly standard for a military-based FPS.

You even have the map that’s covered in snow, with the stereotypical-sounding name ‘Coldfront.’ The game looks good, but it doesn’t have anything worthy of praising as far as the design elements – everything looks like a great model, and for early access it’s passable, but as a game which can have money spent on it, there’s nothing doing it for me.

The sound design, on the other hand, is actually very solid. It is hard to tell if the assets used are from a pack, or if they’re simply so common that it’s hard to distinguish, but the guns sound slightly more “real” than in some FPS games. The grenade explosions and the “whoosh” of the combat knife also sound great, and unlike some early access games, everything actually syncs up nicely with the player input. There are no moments of pressing a button, waiting, and then hearing the bullets fire, long after the bad guy is dead. The real winner in the sound, though, is the ambient noises. They are very minimalistic, but omnipresent, and they give the game a bit of character without distracting from the match at hand.

As an online multiplayer FPS, one of the most important aspects of the game design must be the matchmaking system, which is implemented well if designed a bit poorly.

There is nothing unexpected for an early access game, but the screen to pick a match has some text wrapping issues. Also, due to its relative unpopularity, the game doesn’t quite have the full server lists that one could expect from the Counter-Strikes or TF2’s, which helps show off the bland menu screen background. These minor determents are not wholly degrading to the game, but they are certainly jarring when compared with the passable visual and audio design.

Overall, this game functions just fine, and with some friends it could show promise as a neat little pop-in for a few matches, especially once the parkour mechanics are polished. There is, however, that looming caveat of ‘early access.

Police Infinity is a perfectly decent game, with some minor flaws which are not so glaring that they warrant a critical pan. But, just because this game ‘isn’t finished’ does not mean in the slightest that it doesn’t deserve to have some of the flaws pointed out.

6

The Verdict

The game is an enjoyable, if buggy and standard, FPS, and with the promised touches of enhanced parkour mechanics it could easily succeed in its stated goal of standing out from the hoard of FPS games. At the moment, however, it is still a game offered for $15 on a storefront, which means that this initial review will have to stand until the official updates appear with the promised content. Overall, the game is a whopping “not bad,” and it was a pretty enjoyable playing experience.

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Michael Crowley

Michael is a student living in Allston, MA, with games on his mind almost to a fault. He has been gaming for over a decade, and PC gaming for almost as long. He loves the weird, the esoteric, and the things that people don’t normally give a chance. His favorite recent game is Undertale, and his favorite classic game is Half-Life, and he is looking forward to sharing opinions on everything that comes into his head.

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