Heroes & Generals (+Gameplay Video)

It seems free-to-play shooters are popping up more and more. After already taking a look at titles like Bullet Run and Planetside 2 from Sony, we now have Heroes & Generals (H&G) from Square Enix. This game is a lot lighter on the strain of PCs, with a browser supported application that doesn’t require several Gb of download space for a presentable experience. However, the traditional first person shooter (FPS) with control points team play doesn’t add much to the genre, despite a strategy element tacked on to it. Perhaps it’s the current unstable build in Beta that does it, but it might just be that this has been done a few times before. In any case, the still competent shooter could perhaps be an alternative for more modest rigs. It’s a thought.

The setting of H&G takes us back to World War II, pitting Axis versus Allies in a huge series of battlefields. Players log in and can manage their characters, upgrade or purchase weapons, earn new abilities and more in the known free-to-play model. This means that players will need to grind games from a barebones unit to gain more by spending credits. There is also a section to purchase new troops that can be added to the map and sent out for reinforcements. This makes the strategic portion of the game. Commanders rally troops towards battle zones and then have players fill the slots. Each assault team receives a set amount of tickets, which are spent if players die. It’s not really a new mechanic, but it serves a purpose. In particular, there is a feeling of grandeur that comes from the huge scope in battles, with many zones on the map between the Western European regions being playable. All these fights take place in real-time and populate expansive maps filled with open fields, bridges and buildings. For that alone, this game deserves some praise. There is a ton of content available, at least when it comes to battlegrounds. More so, a handy ping prompt shows players their latency before entering a map, which warns them if they could be expecting lag issues if they proceed.

However, battles aren’t that extraordinary. Players spawn on a given point and move towards the enemy where they take in other points to take over the map, viewable on a layout. However, it does implement a few quirks, such as bicycles scattered around the map or periodic crates with health or weaponry inside. Vehicles can also be brought into play through the commander options that shift their artillery or air forces to a given battle. It adds variety to the game, but it can also feel like a crushing disadvantage to anyone not lucky enough to be a part of that team. As players need to unlock certain rifles and so forth, there isn’t an adaptable class to rely on from the get go when faced with these vehicles taking charge of the combat zone. This is another free title that shows the reliance of paying to win a game or to bypass the thorough grind needed to get into it.

More frustrating than a generic experience with pitfalls are the current technical glitches and oddities put into the game. Shooting with iron sights requires holding in the zoom button, with no toggle alternative. Players can toggle their crosshair on or off in the settings, but turning it off doesn’t yield additional bragging rights, so it’s just a way to play with a handicap. Décors stutter and have difficulties contrasting players from their environment, even on the highest settings. Vehicles mysteriously disappear into the floor and more; the list of these programmed inconsistencies is virtually endless at this point and that’s without key mappings and credits being reset several times in a row.

The redeeming factor in H&G is that it brings a somewhat realistic experience otherwise. Players have limited resources and just a few shots mean certain death. Maps are spread out to have many dangerous open fields, which means that positioning and sprinting to more cover can be a lifesaver. In town maps, there are a large amount of closed up houses available that make for a claustrophobic experience when trying to figure out in what direction fire is drawn.

Dedicated fans of titles like Red Orchestra might get a kick of this shooter, certainly if it will add more objectives in its game later on, as their page states. However, the appeal of Heroes & Generals is directly related to how invested players are in this genre, as there is little that stands out beside some realism and a non-engaging strategy element within a skewed free-to-play model. If “adequate” is a good enough word to proceed playing a title, then have at it.

Daav Valentaten, NoobFeed. (@Daavpuke)