Rekoil is the brand new first person shooter developed by Plastic Piranha and published by 505 Games. The game offers fast action packed gameplay and comes with modding tools out of the box. Let’s find out if the game is worth playing shall we!
Rekoil is a game that players will have to adapt to. The gameplay isn’t overly different in comparison to other first person shooters so don’t let this put you off, however some mechanics take time to get used to. Instantly, when gamers get into their first server game they will realise that the gameplay is rather fast. Players won’t die as quickly as in more hardcore shooters, such as Insurgency, but movement speed and the time taken to aim down sights feels extremely fast. A few games in and the speed will feel natural making other titles seem painstakingly slow. Leaning is one of the additional mechanics which new players will have to become used to and is vital to master to be a decent player. It isn’t a hard skill to use and can easily allow you to see oncoming enemy troops without putting yourself completely in the line of fire.
Other titles will have attempted the same game speed have suffered in terms of smoothness and hitbox recognition. Thankfully for Rekoil, the hitboxes are dead on. In terms of how the game feels, think of a stripped down shooter such as Counter Strike that draws from mods, such as Call of Duty 4 Promod. The game has clearly been built with a mod background in mind with a built-in level editor coming with the game from day one. This could potentially keep fresh new content being released from the community. If the community remains large enough for players to bother.
As a first person shooter, it is rather important to have balanced weaponry and this is something that the team at Plastic Piranha and 505 Games has clearly spent a lot of time on. While it is personal opinion I like that sniper rifles one hit enemies with a body or head shot. Not everyone will agree with this, but with the balance of other guns it seems fair. A small burst from a regular rifle will easily down an enemy or interestingly two well timed melee attacks. Rekoil offers a vaguely limited yet varied selection of weapons. There isn’t dramatically less options to choose from but other FPSs do offer a bigger, not a necessarily better, range.
The general level design is perfect for the speed and nature of Rekoil. Each have multiple heights with sections designed for close quarters combat and long open spaces perfect for sniping. There aren’t many positions that could provide excessive camping spots as most areas have multiple paths leading to them so that there is constant flanking from both teams. The variety in map type is also rather decent with each map having a slightly different colour palette emphasising the unique layouts.
One thing that is both a nice feature also provides a problem. There is no progression on Rekoil. This means that all weapons and cameo options are available straight off the bat but nothing is available to unlock. While it isn’t necessary many gamers enjoy the challenges on games such as Battlefield or Call of Duty: these games let gamers earn gun attachments and cameos such as the awesome golden paint.
