Online game "Caliber"

As you know, one of the most popular online action games is Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege. The MMO action game "Caliber" from 1C Game Studios and Wargaming.net is to some extent if not a direct competitor to it (budgets are different), then at least a game that can give approximately the same gameplay experience and feelings - because it is also a tactical action about special forces. What other arguments Caliber has up its sleeve and whether it is worth playing now (and the project went into public beta in 2019) - find out in our review.

So, as the authors promised, "Caliber" is a game that "is not embarrassing to discuss loudly in a bar with grown men who are ready to talk about fighters, weapons, and tactics, not fairies with glowing wings. It's also a game about teamwork and friendship. In other words, it's a pretty tough, hardcore and realistic tactical action game designed for teamwork and smart role selection.

Therefore, there is no plot - playing as representatives of special forces and anti-terrorist units from around the world, we perform the appropriate tasks and fight criminals in different modes, approximately as it happens in the same Rainbow Six Siege or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Choose one of the four classes of operatives (more about them later), primary and secondary weapons, special equipment, as well as auxiliary expendables - first aid kit, a set of ammo or armor plates, as well as a shot of adrenaline, which will return to the battle dropped comrade. So, let's go and fight.

The main modes available initially are Sweep and Clash. In the first, four players in a team fight against four terrorist bots, which are controlled by the computer. In Clash, it's the same, but without bots: two teams of players fight each other. It is "Sweep" that can be called the easiest way to quickly earn experience and credits.

"Onslaught" is a more interesting and versatile mode. Here, a squad of players, fighting against computer opponents, consistently performs various tasks - defense, demining a bomb manually or with the help of a robot, which must be escorted to the explosives, interception (to take the case with chemicals to the delivery zone), hacking and data transfer, destruction of particularly strong enemies and evacuation. As you can see, there are a lot of tasks, and there is also an enhanced (or rather more complicated) version of the mode - "Onslaught: Veterans".

To help, you can get for eliminating enemies during the defense and use the so-called "field reinforcements" - and they allow you to demoralize enemies, short-circuit and even order artillery fire. In addition, you can get "supporting reinforcements", and in fact additional consumables - medical kit, weapon modifiers, adrenaline syringe, and so on. The most difficult version of the battle against the bots is the "Special Operation" mode, which is not opened immediately. Here, too, you must perform various tasks one after another, but the level of resistance is higher

And then there is a very interesting mode "Front", where you have to fight against computer bots, and against a team of enemy players. To win, one of the sides must be the first to score the required number of points, which are awarded for capturing control points and documents of varying importance, for moving the "front line" towards the enemy and for killing particularly strong computer bots.

In all of these modes, as we have said, there are fighters in four basic classes. Stormtroopers with submachine guns, as usual, are designed to always be on the cutting edge of the attack, showing themselves best at medium and short range. But the snipers, on the contrary, are ineffective at close range, but can destroy the enemy with one accurate shot to the head from a long distance with some "Dragunov rifle".

Armed with heavy machine guns and grenades support fighters have the most health and armor, although they are the slowest in the game. Their task is to divert fire on themselves, covering the same storm troopers, suppress enemies, and so on. Finally, none of them can survive without a medic - he is the most ineffective in the firefights (his arsenal - submachine guns and shotguns), but only a medic can so often resuscitate and heal companions. That's why it's very important to have a competent medic on the team who knows how to play this class correctly.

But the situation is not limited to the choice of class. We play specific operatives who belong to one of the four specializations, but also serve in special units of different countries - Russia (Alpha, Vympel, 22nd Independent Guard Special Forces Brigade and others), USA (SEAL), Germany (KSK), Poland (GROM), Britain (TFB), Israel (NESHER) and many other units are represented. All of them have their own call sign and biography, and most importantly, they differ from each other in characteristics, weapons used, and set of abilities.

Each has its own branch of upgrades, which open as you gain experience and levels. They give different performance boosts, different weapons accessories (silencers, scopes, enlarged magazines, and so on), and different unique abilities. One knows how to put markings on the enemies, which opens their location to the allies, the other, on the contrary, becomes invisible for a while, the third imposes the bleeding effect even on those who are sitting far away behind the shelter.

So the same kind of snipers, medics, storm troopers and support fighters, but from different special services and with different callsigns differ from each other - they have different abilities, different rates of walking/running speed, the amount of stamina and its consumption, they do different damage and withstand different levels of damage. And operatives also have different special traits.

For example, a sniper with the call sign "Shadow" from the Russian special unit 22 SPN (the already mentioned 22nd Independent Guard Special Forces Brigade) before dying from a finish-off imposes a bleeding effect on the enemy, and a sniper "Stilet" from the Polish GROM has immunity to the "Tag" effect during the jerk effect. Therefore, there are guides on the web, explaining which, for example, medics are more effective at different stages of the game and in different combat situations. You can even compare operatives of the same class in a special program and see which one of them will "fall" first, i.e. die faster.

You can buy operatives for the usual in-game credits or for special coins, which are invested in the living money. Development of all fighters is divided into several stages - a fighter (0-14th level), the elite (from 15th to 18th) and the master (from the 19th level). At the last level special unique skills are unlocked. In addition, at the expert level 5% and at the elite level - 10% of the experience gained is converted into the free experience, which can be additionally used for the development of the character. This free experience and boosters for its accumulation can also be bought for coins (i.e. for real money). In addition to the levels of specific operatives, the level of the account itself is also upgraded, which also opens up new possibilities.

In general, the conditionally free model of monetization in "Caliber" is quite standard. There is an analogue of the combat pass with daily and weekly tasks (win so many matches in the right mode, kill so many players, and so on), periodically issued various nice rewards like crates, which can be as materials and drawings needed for some improvements, and new operatives (you are free to collect them and play different, with each pumped separately). But if you buy a premium account, there will be more rewards. Premium increases experience and credits per battle not only for you, but also for your allies in the squad.

Also allow to buy different "cosmetics" - stripes, badges, emblems. And the coolest and most legendary of them also give different bonuses. But still decisive importance is still your personal skill. And medals, which also give bonuses, are earned in the usual way - they are not issued for money, but for an enumeration of battle ribbons that mark your successes in battles.

Yes, Caliber values skill and skill, reaction, marksmanship of the player himself, not just the operative he plays as. As we have already said, it is a pretty tough action game, especially in battles with other users. Although computer bots, with all the predictability of their behavior in some enhanced modes give you a kick due to the serious increase in characteristics and firepower.

The game has a lot of realistic moments. Ammunition is not infinite, and you should always check how much is left by replenishing the ammunition in the special boxes. Armor-clad soldiers can not run too fast, and all the acceleration is spent stamina, which is recovered slowly. So it's important not to waste it in vain.

In addition, the weapons are made under licenses from arms concerns "Kalashnikov" and Lobaev Arms, so all these AK-74N, AK-74U, PKP-M, Vepr-12 "Molot", RPK-203, AK-12, "Saiga" and other models are quite authentic - they feel different and authentic, including the sound and scatter of bullets.

And the implementation of the high-explosive grenades is generally one of the best in the genre. Although in general the ballistics are simplified, there is a difference in the caliber used. The smaller it is, the shorter the kill range and the higher the rate of fire. But the weapon does not overheat or jam. The same is with the destructibility of the environment at the levels - it is there, but not everywhere. That is, the authors maintain a balance between realism and accessibility.

Well, and in general, "Caliber" has a fairly low threshold of entry, including through easy training and very clear demonstrations of the various mechanics. But to succeed you need to know how to play correctly - to know the peculiarities of the maps, to cover each other, to correctly take positions, shelters and heights, to interact with allies, for which voice chat and the ability to indicate targets are implemented, to use all tactical options, not neglecting, for example, smoke screens.

Of course, not everything in the game is perfect. Someone complains that it is impossible to change the weapon at the operatives, some maps do not seem too diverse, and the system of selecting players is not always fair - often, it gathers in one match of players cardinally different levels. But "Caliber" is a young game that is constantly evolving. The authors are trying something, adding, changing, responding flexibly to user feedback.

The situation with the "Special Operations" mode is indicative here - during the alpha and beta-testing the battles with bots there were very complicated, after the release - on the contrary, they became much easier. Then the authors began to finalize the AI, to improve its characteristics, which honestly reported to the players, especially emphasizing that "Caliber" is an evolving game, and it has a lot of changes, upgrades and revolutionary innovations. During some events, new modes even appear - so in the event "Victory Day 2022" there is a mode "Defense" with unique consumables, which are issued only for the completion of daily tasks.

Of course, Caliber is hardly a full-fledged replacement for Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six. But if for some reason it is not available to you or it seems that the entry threshold there is too high, then welcome to "Caliber" - here you will also find quite challenging and realistic battles, rich in tactical opportunities and tools. However, it is unlikely that the authors set out to replace anyone there - they made quite a self-sufficient game, which had its own, quite adequate and quite mature audience of serious men who like to talk about fighters, weapons and tactics, not about fairies with glowing wings.

Zarium. September 2022