Warsow (Or War§ow) is a deathmatch FPS which first began development in late 2004 with competitive 1v1 and TDM play in mind. The game is based off an updated Quake2 engine called Qfusion which is capable of rendering graphics greater then that of Quake2’s own sequel, QuakeIIIArena. The game is also noted for, at least in some parts of the world, bridging the gap in the competitive gaming scene that was left by the poorly performing Quake4; for many the current standard for competitive 1v1 play is Warsow. However while I will say it’s better than quite a few fast paced FPS games being played today, it is by no means the most popular… The fact that it’s free does mean it has a fairly big player base though! It’s also notable for it’s interesting graphics style, a mix of bright neon glow cartoon like cel-shading.

Get air sickness? Maybe this game isn’t for you…

For starters, there’s one thing that is easy to say about this game… It’s your standard deathmatch FPS; every weapon that has been considered many stay in a DM game since Quake2 is here and generally speaking most of your maps are tight knit labyrinths with multiple rooms, floors, halls and routs. On that note the actual game play is also the same in a sense depending on your preferred game mode of course; CTF for capture the flag, TDM for team games, FFA for killing whatever moves and… 1v1 for killing whatever moves, . So it is easy to take a look at this game, but pass it off as being just another mindless FPS; well they would be wrong…

Whats special about Warsow is it’s unique movement system which is often referred to as a mixture of Quake and Unreal Tournament. On one side of the spectrum you have Quake’s strafe jumping, the technique used to carry momentum through jumps to constantly increase speed and on the other Unreal Tournaments double jump/wall jump which can be used to get to high, usually unreachable places. These combined can make for some interesting trick jumping and methods of escaping attacks from opponents. As of the newest version, there is also the addition of the style of movement from Painkiller which is referred to as +forward; it’s a good addition for newer players as it means you can jump at a decent speed without having to learn strafe jumping.

Rave kids rejoice!

Let’s face it, the game is not and will never look like Crysis, but that doesn’t mean the team have done a damn good job of taking an engine built in 1997 and made it look damn pretty! The graphics are a blend of cel-shaded (THEY DID IT BEFORE TF2!) cartoon style animation with funkadelic neon lighting and glow effects. The models all suit the games cyberpunk feel, both player and weapon wise which blends well with most if not all of the maps. The only thing I don’t really like about it all is that at times it can feel a little repetitive, as a lot of the maps look the same and do use the same textures. For a new game on an old engine though; it does look pretty sweet!

One could argue that sound isn’t the games strong point, but like most if not all competitive FPS games players aren’t looking for an epic OST to go with there game. So music, for the most part, is a big no; besides the menu the game contains no music at all. The real thing to look for in this case is the in game sound, player jumping, footsteps, directional sound for gunfire… There all spot on to the point were in my opinion there better then Quake3. There’s also your usual line up of DM sounds; explosions for rocket launchers and grenade launchers, odd plasma blippy sounds and a whole array of other weapons.

As a free FPS Warsow stands out above the rest, I would even go as far to say the game is better then Wolf:ET… Which most people will argue is one of the best free games ever made. Were I do draw the line though, is when comparing it to other retail Deathmatch releases such as Quake3 and UT2k4; it’s good, but it just might not be big developer company good. However with that said I think anyone who has never played a good DM FPS or even veterans of the genre who have just never played this before will get a good kick out of it. Fast, fun, free and defiantly addictive.