Supertyke - Uberstrike Review

   Uberstrike is a browser-based FPS game developed and hosted by CMUNE. You will soon be able to play this game anywhere since it is working to be available on almost every platform and is receiving an oddly high amount of financing and support. It is currently available to play on the website, on Facebook, on iPad, or downloaded as a separate application.

   In this game, you pick up a gun and you shoot things. That's it. It is not a complicated game in the least, and most people should be able to get into it fairly easily. There is a short tutorial to get you started, combined with some temporary starter gear. After that, you are let loose to frag all the noobs you please. With that out of the way, let's discuss what matters...


   RIGHT
   Customization: Available
   The shop has a very high selection of different clothes and weapons to outfit yourself with, and in-game currency, also known as "Points", is gained fairly fast at a rate of 10 Points for every kill. While that may seem slow at first, people die very easily. You should be able to buy at least one good weapon and one good shirt every day, which means around 200 kills a day. Again, this isn't as hard as it sounds, and I will tell you why further down the page.

   Gameplay: It Works
   When entering a fight, you can carry up to four weapons (one melee and three guns) and you can freely change your loadout every time you die. When you see someone, you shoot them. Preferably in the face. To aid you in shooting people in the face there are various ammo, health, armor, and occasional weapon pickups scattered throughout the map. Of course, unless you are already using an amazing weapon, your best bet is to pick up the weapon of another player. When any player dies, they drop whatever they were holding, which enables you to walk over it and then switch to it using the 5 key. This enables you to use someone else's weapon for 10 seconds, during which you will hopefully go on a killing spree.

That gun was amazing. Thanks for lending it to me.

   With this system in place, you should be able to do reasonably well even if you are carrying nothing but the machine gun they start you with. For extra fun, try actually doing that. There is a certain degree of satisfaction when you get all of your kills using only the weapons of other people.

   Blue Box: Great In the Long Term
   Uberstrike is open to let the community create maps for them, calling it the Blue Box. If you are into that kind of thing, help them out. They could really use the creativity.

   WRONG
   Pay-to-Win Status: Positive
   This game is very heavily pay-to-win. For every thing in the shop, there are at least three more things that are better than it, but only available with cash. Weapons can get very overpowered very fast and without the ten second time limit stated before, your killing spree simply does not end. This also extends over to armor. All of the best armor in the game can only be acquired via cash, including all of the best looking suits.

Yeah, I can't afford this. I can dream, though.

   This isn't to say that Points can't get you anywhere. You can definitely survive using just Points. It's just that the available selection for Points-only players is very small. You will often both look the same and be using the same weapons as every other Points-only player, which takes away a lot of the feeling of uniqueness. This is all combined with the fact that everything is restricted by rank unless you pay cash. In short, you will be at a significant disadvantage unless you open your pocketbook. That said, you will actually still be able to win, though for a very stupid reason.

   Community: Disappointing
   At the time of writing this article, the Uberstrike community is very bad. I do understand this may be more of a subjective point. There is a disproportionate amount of people that play in servers that are the wrong nationality for them, making it hard to communicate with English in the US server sometimes. My biggest problem with the community here, however, is the unnaturally low skill level of the players. This is primarily what makes this game so easy. Gratuitous bunny-hopping is practiced by most of the community, but no one seems to be able to aim. If you have any skill in shooting games at all, please play this game. You will have an extremely easy time and everyone else will enjoy the challenge.

   Final Score: 2.5 out of 5

   Despite its shortcomings, Uberstrike can actually be fun at times. It's just loaded down with too much greed. At this time, it's relying almost entirely on addiction rather than making the game fair and fun for everyone. It only caters to those who pay real money and forgets everyone else. Because of this, I honestly don't understand where they are getting their vast amount of players from. Are Facebook users really that loose with their cash?

Bonus screenie! Can someone explain to me what ethnicity this guy is? I really can't tell.

   Extra Things to Know
   - Uberstrike doesn't require a lot of CPU power. Anyone should be able to play this easily.
   - You get one free prize every day, which usually just gives some Points.
   - If you leave a match early, you get no exp or Points.
   - Only three game modes at this time. DM, TDM, and Team Elimination.
   - You get 1 exp every time you die. Ha ha.
   - There is no reloading. Just keep firing until you run out.
   - You can make a clan, but only if you pay cash.
   - There are items in the shop that can give you a high-jump or refill your ammo, health, or armor. Use them with the E key (scrolling with R), or the 6, 7, and 8 keys.
   - There is an Explore mode that let's you check out maps without worrying about fighting.
   - Health and Armor deteriorate as long as they are above normal levels ("normal levels" for Armor are equal to the armor level of your clothes).
   - There is an unusually long timer for multikills. Take your time on completing that megakill.
   - Teammates can block your bullets.