Warface Battle Royale (PS4) Review

Battle Royale is one of the most popular videogame genres of the last 2-3 years and it's popularity seems to constantly be rising. Fortnite, Apex Legends, H1Z1, PUBG, Blackout and Firestorm are just some of the most popular BR-Games, but there are also a lot of lesser known games, that may be worth a look.

Warface for example is a free-to-play FPS, that includes a Battle Royale Mode. And that is what we are looking at today. I have only been playing the PS4-Version and my impressions are therefore solely based on this Port and not on the PC-Version, which was released much earlier and which usually gets content-updates much faster than the console versions.

As I just indicated Battle Royale is only one of many PVP-Modes in Warfare and it shows in the way, that the presentation of the game is rather basic. (Warface was originally released in 2013 and therefore the game can look pretty dated in the young BR-genre) The player starts in a match together with a maximum of 32 other players at the edge of the map circle. So there are no planes and no parachutes to start with and the map circle begins after just a few seconds to slowly close in. Players start with melee weapons only and have to search for fire weapons, which usually have very limited ammo. Players can also only carry one heavy weapon in addition to a pistol and the melee weapon at the same time. 

There are two different maps with Mojave Desert and Prypjat City in Map Rotation. I have to say I like them both. Prypjat creates the atmosphere of an abandoned russian Ghost City and Mojave is a cool and bright desert map. Both maps offer you a lot of cover possibilities to sneak between buildings or environments. The maps, the lack of ammunition and the smaller player count create a real survival atmosphere, which is one of Warface Battle Royale's biggest strengths.

Warface BR is less focused on Collecting Loot than other BR-Games since there are simply fewer weapons available and the ever closing circle keeps you on edge most of the time. Getting one of the better weapons is naturally still import, if you want to compete for the win. Nonetheless I like that you actually have to consider when you spot another player, if you attack him, which could waste your precious ammo or go in another direction instead. You are also of course forced to aim better since every bullet can count.

One of the bigger disadvantages of Warface Battle Royale is that there are no Duo or Squad-Modes. Every game is Solo only. Some people won't mind this, for others it might be a real dealbreaker. There are also no Battle Royale statistics in the game, that tell you how often you have won or how many Kills per game you achieved and so on. These are just some of the other signs of the simpler presentation. You are not going to get the same amount of polish as in other games, which exclusively focus on a Battle Royale mode.

The visual presentation of the game is also rather basic and could in the best case be described as average. Warface is not among the very worst looking, but also certainly not among the best looking games either. You can clearly see that Warface is actually an older F2P (Free to play) game.

Even though theoretically 32 Players can engage in a match, I have most of the time been playing with 20 to 24 Players, occasionally dropping to even lower numbers than that. Therefore Warface BR is without doubt one of the smallest BR-Games and some people have already been comparing it to simple free for all game modes. Despite the smaller playerbase I would still definitely classify this as a BR-Mode.  

The pacing of the game is, despite the sneaking possibilities, relatively fast and the matches are over pretty quickly. Rarely does a round take longer than 5-10 minutes. A nice addition to the game is the ability to practice on a shooting range during matchmaking. It is feature, that is also present in all other game modes of Warface, but it certainly helps to reduce loading times or at least let them pass by faster.

Another major weak point are the Pay-to-Win Elements of Warface. I will be talking much more about this in the general Warface Review, but unfortunately it also affects the Battle Royale Mode. The effects are a little smaller than in some of the other PVP-Modes, where paying players can straight out buy better weapons, but an unfair balance is still being created in Battle Royale. I, for example, got a free VIP-Pass from the Playstation Network and therefore I can start every BR Match with a Katana, while all standard Players only get a Knife in the beginning. The Kantanas do more damage than the knifes, which is just unfair. Sure as fast as players find a fire weapon, it doesn't really matter anymore, but it is definitely disturbing that an element like this is included in the Battle Royale Mode.

It also seems to be possible to buy premium armour for real life currencies and therefore to significantly improve the chances of paying players. In the games I played, I didn't really notice much of this and was still able to win some games despite playing without spending any money. Nonetheless the armour issue is even more annoying than the unbalance of the starting weapons.

Pro:

-Serious survival atmosphere

-Lack of Ammunition encourages strategy

Contra:

-Solo only

-P2W elements

Neutral:

-Visuals are okay

-Fast pace of the matches

Result:

Warface Battle Royale is a mixed bag. Despite its simple presentation I really like the smaller Battle Royale Mode and it's more serious survival atmosphere. It generally would be a decent alternative to the bigger BR-Games for some short gaming sessions. I didn't really notice them too much, but the P2W Elements unfortunately really hold this game back. I would rate the pure gameplay fun about 6/10. Warface Battle Royale might still be worth a look for some players, but I can only advise to approach with caution.

6/10