a90skid.com
  • Shop
  • Reviews
  • Shop
  • Reviews
0
A 90s Kid
  • Shop
  • Reviews

LawBreakers offers a few cheap thrills, but lacks longevity.

LawBreakers

LawBreakers is not Overwatch. Got it? Good. With that out of the way, we have to understand that because of the incredible, ongoing success of Overwatch, pretty much ever class-based first-person shooter that comes out within the next year or two is going to be compared to Blizzard’s masterpiece in some ways (or in every way). Experienced gamers will have no trouble at all recognizing that the games look, feel, and play very differently, but comparisons are still inevitable because all we really want to know is, “Is this good enough to draw me away from Overwatch?”

That’s what I was wondering as I booted up LawBreakers earlier today. The game is still in development, and Boss Key kicked off alpha testing this weekend with a larger pool of participants. Keys were fairly easy to obtain if you wanted one, so I figured I’d give it a go and see what the big deal is. After all, Boss Key was founded by Cliff Bleszinski who obviously has a solid history of working on solid shooters. So is LawBreakers shaping up to be an Overwatch killer? So far, the answer is no.

 

I can’t really put my finger on what’s missing in LawBreakers. Certainly a lot of its issues are due to the fact that it’s still in early development: weapons and classes don’t seem very well balanced, performance was really spotty, standard game-types were layered arbitrarily with extra mechanics that detracted from the fun, and my game froze a few times. I can deal with all of that because I’m sure when the game actually releases that it will all be resolved. What really bothered me was the fact that the game felt completely soulless.

Lawbreakers 2

Games like Overwatch and even Battleborn draw you in with their larger-than-life characters who all have these big personalities. Every character in LawBreakers was totally forgettable. Boss Key is trying to pull off a “more mature,” “grittier” shooter, but that just translates to blood spurting out of your toons with they die and characters dropping F bombs every now and then as the banter. It felt very high school, you know? Like that guy who feels like he can impress his older sister’s friends by using a lot of cuss words and acting really edgy. It’s annoying in real life, and it was annoying in LawBreakers.

Aside from weapons and skills being somewhat unbalanced, none of them felt very exciting. They’re all very standard weapons: an assault rifle, a Gatling gun, short swords, a rocket launcher, grenades and mines… (*yawn*) If Boss Key wants their shooter to stand out and for people to take notice, they’re going to have to deliver characters that we care about, and weapons that we can’t find anywhere else. Otherwise we’re just left with something that kind of looks like Overwatch and kind of plays like Quake, but without the charm or polish of either.

If you’d like to check out some footage, I’ll embed a stream of my alpha gameplay below. I have no idea why the game sound didn’t make it into the stream, unfortunately. My capture card has been working against me lately.

[fvplayer src=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSTKScKg-rM” width=”560″ height=”315″]

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Related Topics
  • LawBreakers
  • PC
Matthew Hayes

Matthew loves colorful, grindy, Japanese RPGs and esoteric philosophy - if you want to buy him something for his birthday and need inspiration, that's all you need to know. He is a full-time writer, lover of dogs, and book hoarder. While typically quiet and kind, Matthew does get aggressively competitive in online multiplayer games (sometimes he cusses). Favorite games include: Persona 4 Golden, Final Fantasy VII / Tactics Advance, Dark Souls, Rainbow Six Siege, Soul Calibur 4, Jet Grind Radio, and SaGa Frontier. For corrections, tips, or leads, you can reach out to Matthew at [email protected]

You May Also Like
Creepy Fortune Teller from The Quarry
View Post
  • 5 min
  • PlayStation
  • Review
  • Xbox
  • Xbox Series X

The Quarry Review – Summer of Blood

  • Matthew Owen
  • June 22, 2022
View Post
  • 3 min
  • Opinion
  • PC
  • PlayStation
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5

Death Stranding – You Are Needed

  • Jonas B.
  • April 20, 2022
Approaching Castle Stormveil
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Opinion
  • PC
  • PlayStation 5
  • Review
  • Xbox Series X

Elden Ring Review – The Best Souls Game Yet?

  • Matthew Owen
  • March 19, 2022
Dying Light 2 Protagonist
View Post
  • 6 min
  • Opinion
  • PC
  • PlayStation 4
  • PlayStation 5
  • Review
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X

Dying Light 2 Stay Human Review – The Infected Return

  • Matthew Owen
  • February 25, 2022
Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem
View Post
  • 4 min
  • Review

Serious Sam 4: Siberian Mayhem Review

  • Lachlan Cosgrove
  • January 26, 2022
Halo Infinite Zeta Halo
View Post
  • 7 min
  • PC
  • Review
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X

Halo Infinite Review – Back in the Ring

  • Matthew Owen
  • December 30, 2021
Grand Theft Auto Box Art Girls
View Post
  • 7 min
  • Nintendo
  • Opinion
  • PC
  • PlayStation
  • Review
  • Xbox

Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition Review

  • Matthew Owen
  • December 12, 2021
Racing a Plane in Forza Horizon 5
View Post
  • 8 min
  • Opinion
  • PC
  • Review
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X

Forza Horizon 5 Review – Celebrate the Race

  • Matthew Owen
  • December 7, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

A90KID.COM

VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY & ENTERTAINMENT

A 90s Kid is an active website and media channel, dedicated to providing you information and entertainment related to the video games industry

Navigation
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund and Returns Policy
Recent Articles
  • Retro Game Speedruns Spice Up SGDQ 2022 (Day 2 Recap) June 28, 2022
  • SGDQ 2022 Starts With $130,000 Success (Day 1 Recap) June 27, 2022
  • The Quarry Review – Summer of Blood June 22, 2022
  • The SGDQ 2022 Schedule – What Speedruns to Watch June 20, 2022
  • The Nostalgia Kick: Revisiting The Goonies Video Games May 30, 2022
A 90s Kid
© 2022

Input your search keywords and press Enter.