Bet on Soldier

All bets are off--Bet on Soldier's addictive mercenary combat looks like a winner.

A completely unknown French developer Kylotonn has emerged from the shadows and blessed us with the preview build of Bet On Soldier, a riveting FPS that combines the fury of Unreal Tournament and the strategizing of Counter-Strike.

Like the movie Blade Runner or the arcade classic Smash T.V., money rules the world in Bet on Soldier. Set in a parallel reality where World War II never ended, you take on the persona of Nolan Davenport, who like other embittered protagonists, lead a peaceful life as a family guy until "Champions" killed his wife (and dog). Out for revenge, Nolan fights on the front lines, earning cash as he kills opposing soldiers and "Champions."

Champions are the bosses scattered in each level, and before missions starts you can select which boss to fight. The more difficult ones give you more cash, but are much trickier to defeat. Usually encased in metal exoskeleton armor that looks like something straight out of Warhammer 40,000, the Champions each have their own quirks and weaknesses. Some bosses have energy fields that repel you, forcing players to go all out with ranged weaponry, while others suck you into close-range, forcing you to whip out the scyth blade. Others are equipped with nearly impermeable defenses and can only be hit from behind. Location damage has never played more a pivotal role.

On the surface, the Counter-Strike-like cash earning element seems trivial--but it provides one of the most compelling game twists. Go out guns blazing and recklessly reloading (reload a clip and the last clip's ammo is gone) and you'll find yourself out of money in a span of 20 minutes.

Before each battle, you have a briefing menu which also allows you to decide what weapons to choose from. You have four weapon slots which each can only be loaded with specific weapons. Following basic FPS conventions, the first slot is melee, the second is pistol/shotgun, the third is automatics/sniper rifles, and the third is heavy weaponry (missile launchers, mini-guns, acid guns and other fantastic behemoths). Over 40 weapons will be available, so the load out possibilities are vast. You can also choose from a selection of armor, including the tank-like exoskeletons, traditional soldier armor, and lightweight armor for better mobility. You can even wield a shield, though you'll only able to hold a pistol while using it.

Profitability is the key to success, and players will be finding themselves trying to maximize killing efficiency at every possible moment. Missile launchers are obviously the most devastating and make for easy kills, but the high ammo costs means you'll only want to use them against clusters of enemies. Contrast that to the sniper rifle, which is the miser's dream for its devastating stopping power. Melee is obviously the most economical, but throwing yourself into harms way means pricey armor repair costs. And unlike other FPS titles, health is not recoverable--so armor is your lifeblood.

The battles themselves are fast-paced, though more sophisticated than the frantic strafe-fests of UT 2004. Like most FPS titles, crouching and zooming provides the best accuracy, so players won't want to constantly be frantically bunny-hopping and shooting. In the midst of constant frags and armor-ripping explosives, players need to be mindful of costs and weaponry economy--it sounds tedious in theory, but works out beautifully when actually playing the game.

Unlike UT or Counter-Strike, both the single-player and multiplayer feel robust. On the single-player side, you progress through a series of objective-based campaigns, employing the help of paid-mercenaries along the way. In multiplayer, teams up to 16 players on each side control zones that have ticket terminals. The terminals can be hacked to get betting tickets, which then can be used for BOS duels. While two players duke it out, others can place bets to increase their overall winnings.

Bet On Soldier's visuals are on the cutting edge, featuring all the latest bells and whistles. Textures are crisp on high-end rigs, and the simple sounds such as your character's heavy breathing when running give a heightened sense of realism. While most screenshots show gritty industrial ghettos and grimy deathtrap trenches, the levels are actually quite diverse, ranging from old country estates in Cuba, to Alaska's foreboding frozen wastelands.

Slated for release in September, the game has kept getting better since when we first checked it out in the months before E3. Looking this good so far, it's no gamble to say that Bet On Soldier will take the saturated FPS genre by storm.

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