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Looking at the current scenario, it’s rather difficult to stand out in the mobile gaming scene, but I genuinely think that Arena Breakout has exactly what it takes to do that. While I'm personally not into hardcore shooters like Escape from Tarkov, I had a blast playing this alongside a few other members of the press and several FPS influencers/content creators.
In general, it was a smart move by Tencent to not focus on making it a game with lots of mass appeal, but instead focus on what gamers in this competitive genre want. It’s a serious, realistic military shooter title with high-quality physics and solid gameplay. I think that Arena Breakout is going to be a hit with the hardcore PVP crowd.
What exactly is Arena Breakout?
I recently traveled to Los Angeles to participate in a brief but fun preview session of Arena Breakout. Produced by MoreFun Games and published by Tencent Games, this shooter title's already available in China. The game is still being worked on for a global audience, and they seem rather keen to listen to what their audience is looking for.
This is a hardcore shooter that can either be played solo or in groups. Players must bring a variety of guns, ammo, and healing items with them onto the game's map. Each map is different, but the aim is the same: Loot and Shoot. You want to leave the map with as much loot as possible to amass a fortune. This can then be used to build a collection of weapons, ammo, and defensive gear.
Anything that's brought with you to a match is essentially being gambled. If you die before extracting, anything that was on your body is lost and can be looted by other players. This particular concept forces players to take risks on what they want to bring into a match. Considering the fact that you can loot NPCs and other players as well, with luck and timing, you can go into a match with very little and come out fully loaded.
Essentially, you have to think tactically while playing this game. You'll need to take cover, peek around corners, and communicate with your squadmates (if you're playing with a team). It was exciting to see players who really knew what they were doing to work together and smash through other groups.
This isn't really a game for players who aren’t looking for a hardcore PVP experience. That’s exactly what Arena Breakout is. Thankfully, the game has a solid matchmaking system, so people who spend money to buy more/better gear won't be thrown in with new/weak players.
In this test, we had plenty of cash and weapons, so I got a good feel for Arena Breakout and how the overall gameplay was supposed to work. Unfortunately, I’m terrible at hardcore shooters, so I was grateful to team up with some other players that knew the game better.
The name of the game is simple: drop into an area, loot everything you can, shoot anyone you come across, and then extract safely before anyone gets the drop on you.
How does the gear/loot system work? Is it pay-to-win?
Arena Breakout features a tier system of gear, with each progressive tier costing more money or being rarer to find in the field. Furthermore, some NPCs can have good gear, including the rare boss enemies that show up. As this is still a realistic shooter, the NPCs are going to be smarter than usual.
You can loot a wide variety of treasures in the world, as well as weapons and armor, from either other players' corpses or in the world. That’s part of where I think the excitement for games like this comes from. The thrill of defeating someone and stealing all of their hard work and claiming it as your own can be quite the adrenaline rush.
You can spend the dollars that you've earned from a successful extraction to purchase ammunition and items of that nature, or you can use real money if that’s what you wish to do. I spent some time thinking about this question - is it pay to win? It’s definitely pay-to-go-faster, but that doesn’t really make you better at the game itself.
None of the gear or ammo in the world can save you from a bullet to the face. The game is fairly realistic, so it only takes a few shots to take someone down. Additionally, you can one-shot Arena Breakout players thanks to the power of headshots.
Since Arena Breakout’s matchmaking is focused on the gear that you have on you, you won’t be placed against players that have spent tons of money and have incredibly high-tier gear. That’s exactly why I don't feel like it's pay-to-win right now.
The visuals and audio are impressive, but there’s also a “lite” version coming
One of Arena Breakout's major selling points outside of the realistic physics and tactical gameplay is the visuals and audio. When guns are fired and feet shuffle through the grass, you can see audio cues on your screen, as long as they're close enough to hear. This is excellent for people like me who are hard of hearing, so I have a good idea of where gunshots are coming from.
Visually, it’s certainly a treat for a mobile game. Arena Breakout is gorgeous and boasts advanced graphical features such as ray tracing, which did make me worry that only top-tier mobile phones could play the game. Thankfully, we have learned that a “lite” version of the game is arriving as well, so everyone can enjoy this shooter without worrying about their phone being unable to handle it.
Final thoughts so far
As such, there’s still a long way to go with Arena Breakout, but I think Tencent is definitely on the right track. It’s genuinely enjoyable to play, even for people like me that aren’t really great at these games. I worry that players will hit a point where they run out of funds and gear, and just have to go into battles naked and hope for the best. However, I think even skilled players can make something out of that.
It’s certainly not a game for casual players looking for an online shooter. Targeted at and developed for a specific niche of online gamers, I think they’re really going to find what they’re looking for. Hopefully, it will arrive for consoles and PCs as well, where it could certainly become a real competitor to Escape from Tarkov.
