Behind the Curtain

Ubisoft has something to show you: While it might not completely revolutionize FPS multiplayer, it might be worth the dime to see what they have behind the curtain. You see, they have taken the Unreal engine, built a fairly decent multiplayer FPS and imprinted some nuances that will be heralded as truly original. All for ten bucks.

Cell Factor: Psychokinetic Wars is a new breed amongst the downloadable game debris that clutters both the PSN and XBOX Live. It is a FPS Multiplayer arena that takes what worked previously in every good Unreal FPS and added things you’d never expect, some of which are awesome, others…not so much. Instead of building just another run-and-gun Unreal based game, Ubisoft and Timeline Interactive have integrated elements of games and geek lore like “Half-Life 2”, “BioShock”, “Halo”, “The Terminator”, “I, Robot” and even “G.I. Joe” to succeed where many expensive games’ multiplayer incarnations have failed.  Despite their tech demo showing last year that heralded Cell Factor as reinventing the wheel, this small offering shows great promise in the Unreal Engine. Their effort to balance a futuristic landscape with murderous robots and psychic powered humans seems sincere. The only question is: “Will anyone play it?”.

The Maps and the Mechanics

CellFactor’s maps are your standard Unreal fare, complete with humming electronics, large industrial machinery, futuristic platforms with alien landscapes in the distance all beautifully rendered. The majority of the 7 maps are linear and symmetrical, allowing for relative ease of orientation for the player at first. However, I found myself turned around and confused by repetitive scenery on more than one occasion during team games. (And the radar isn’t always a help, as it is transparent and occasionally gets lost in the background.) Fortunately, Ubisoft was clever by creating a color-coding system for all weapons and pick ups, allowing immediate recognition of ammo, weapons and health packs. This is something that immediately struck me as very simple, yet extremely effective, since all 3 player-types use different variations of the same themed armament. Seeing a green glow and knowing its a machine gun is so much easier than remembering the shape of said weapon. It also prevents confusion when you switch classes. The same color scheme is integrated into the on screen menu so that when you switch weapon types all you see is the color of ammo. By pressing left or right on the d-pad, you can cycle through the five weapon types (assuming you’ve picked ‘em up): Pistol, Shotgun, Machine Gun, Grenade Launcher, and Sniper Rife. Like Doom, if you run over a better weapon, it will be equipped, furthering the pace of the game.

Contestant Number One, Come on Down!

The player may choose one of 3 character classes, all of which have entirely different gameplay mechanics. There is the Bishop, a voluptuous, bolts-for-nipples chick android, which looks like a hybrid of a reject from a Heavy Metal magazine cover and the antagonists of “ I, Robot.” The Bishop is fun but proved to be the most difficult character to adapt to in the FPS world due to its specialized moves. First off, the Bishop can fly, albeit briefly. This means that your knowledge of the maps and the distances between deathly hallows are key when playing as the psychic android. Unfortunately, the cost of flight is weak weaponry, with 2 telekinesis moves and a hand energy blast as your arsenal. The hand blast proves to be powerful yet dangerously inaccurate. Telekinesis seemed to be the way to go, with the simple way being summoning environmental elements and throwing them quickly or by charging a massive amount of debris and simply pulverizing your enemy in one fell swoop. There is, of course, the matter of your energy consumption factoring exactly how many times you can do that, but them’s the breaks. The Bishop is also the only character that can flash others, a skill granted by an item pick-up of irritating flares. Assuming that is, you can get the other character types to stand still, which leads us to the next contestant, The Black Ops.

Anybody Seen Stormshadow?

This runner-up for worst “Snake-eyes”/ ”Saboteur”/ “Master Chief” hybrid shops at all the stereotypical equipment stores but certainly has some abilities that keep him as the most balanced class in the game. A combination between a spy and a soldier, the Black Ops has everything available at his disposal. He can teleport (through walls too!), plant land mines when you’re not looking and… he has the Force. Yes, like The Bishop, Black Ops can rip pipes and floor grates from the surroundings and pummel his enemy with them like Vader. As if that weren’t enough, he carries all the guns too, with hard shell ammo firing out of his right hand while he urges the nearest bulkhead to meet your chest cavity. The “Nightcrawler” teleporting skills Black Ops possess alone cause other players to spin aimlessly in frustation. In my countless matches online, Black Ops was always the one to watch out for, no matter how strong you are. Strong like….The Guardian.

Take My Robot, Please.

Imagine the Terminator T-1000: Now replace his hands with guns and give him supersonic bursts of speed that make mincemeat out of any poor sucker in his way and you have The Guardian, the last and final player in the Cell Factor: Psychokinetic Wars universe. Basically an exoskeleton of death, the appeal of The Guardian falls to those who want simple mechanics and brute strength. It can run at alarming speeds in short bursts, which is alarming due the length of the maniacal laughter that accompanies each jogging related kill. It can jump really, really high, serving as a flyswatter for the lofty Bishops. It has not one, but two guns. Both of which can be switched and reloaded separately with a few clever button punches. What is not to like? Not much, except that you cant shoot and speed run, thus making you very susceptible to grenade launchers, guns and floor grating. But still, being a mechanized harbinger of doom just feels right in the sci-fi realm, doesn’t it? You better believe it.

You Have Two Choices: Kill, or Be Killed.

And thats about it. From the menu there are two very limited options for gameplay: Single Player Challenges and Multiplayer. By completing 10 challenges for each class, you not only unlock armors for each type and color palettes, but you also reap literal benefits. When you set up your virtual action figure for multiplayer, you have 2 augmentation slots to utilize. The variations are the same for each, but player preference dictates the combination. These include slowing down energy consumption, increased fire power, enhanced teleportation, invisible to radar, etc. You get the idea. Between these rewards and the inherent abilities of the player classes, Cell Factor: Psychokinetic Wars resembles a game of Unreal Tournament in which EVERYONE IS CHEATING. Which, in this humble reviewer’s opinion, makes it totally awesome.

But….Can It Go The Distance?

The only foreseeable problem facing Cell Factor is player commitment. This review was delayed due to my belief that after two weeks, more people would be playing the little game that could. (Being on PSN for this review, I  have been having issues with lack of players as well as LOTS of server drops (or quitters, both which equally suck. Whether the story is different on XBOX Live is another article…) Bottom line is Cell Factor: PW is a wonderfully clichéd sci-fi frag fest that is only held back by people’s unjustified fear of cheap games.