Online game "Point Blank"

As you know, one of the first and most popular network action games is the well-known Counter Strike or simply "Contra". Naturally, this game almost immediately had followers and imitators. South Korean action Point Blank - perhaps the coolest of them. And it is difficult to call this project a copycat - it has a lot of its own interesting features. Released in 2008 Point Blank quickly became popular, has spread around the world and became a cyber sports discipline, which holds large tournaments. It exists and is still popular today. Why? Let's tell in our review.

As in Counter Strike, the basis of Point Blank gameplay is a confrontation between two teams of players, "red" and "blue". Only in this case it is not about terrorists and special forces, but about "rebels" and "peacekeepers". According to the story, it takes place in the fictional country of Koroga, whose government, due to the reduction of the local population and in order to develop the economy, decided to open the borders for immigrants. As a result, after a while tensions emerged between locals and newcomers, which led to a confrontation between two groups - the CT-Force ("blue") advocates maintaining public order and preserving the interests of locals, while the Free Rebels ("red") want to change the situation.

The battle between them (and not only) unfolds in a variety of modes. Their abundance and variety is one of the main advantages of Point Blank, which distinguishes the game against the background of Counter Strike. The main modes can be called two. First is the classic team deathmatch, where the "red" and "blue" are fighting each other, trying to kill more opponents in the allotted time (or reach the kill limit). Second is "Bombing", again a classic mode where one team (in this case the "Rebels") lays a bomb at a site and the other must clear it.

Extermination mode is similar to team combat with the only difference being that there is a limit on the number of lives - that is, if you are killed once, you are out until the end of the match. There are several other variations on team combat. In "Thug" you can kill only with a headshot; in "Hardcore" any hit sends your opponent to the virtual sky; in "Antigrav" all the players fly (no gravity) and collect randomly falling out equipment from the crates. In "Arsenal", on the contrary, everyone is given strictly defined equipment in advance.

In "Duel" mode, which is already clear from the name, two players fight each other. And in "Destruction", each team defends its strategically important object and simultaneously tries to destroy the enemy. There is also a counterpart to Capture the Flag, only in this case the "rebels" must seize and deliver to their base a suitcase of uranium rods, which is in the "peacekeepers".

Finally, Point Blank stands out for its exotic modes - here you can even fight with dinosaurs, which, according to the story, escaped from the laboratories where they were experimented with. So, in "Escape", one team of players acts as humans trying to get to the evacuation point, and the other as dinosaurs trying to eat as many humans as possible. Then they switch places - and so on for two rounds. And in the "Slaughterhouse" there is nowhere to run, so the players as the people have to shoot back furiously from the advancing from all sides of the hordes. And also note the mode "Madness", where the scene already come out the local zombies - namely, the "rebels" are protected from the infected "peacekeepers", which affected the substance, again, produced in secret laboratories.

Such a variety of game modes corresponds to a large number of very different and almost always interestingly designed maps. Firefights take place not only in the usual warehouses, outposts, airports and power plants, but also in the library, subway station, nature reserve, laboratories, on board a cargo ship, in business and shopping malls, and even in a cemetery. There are maps dedicated to World War II or, for example, Desert Storm. All of them are interestingly designed - there are almost no dull corridor battles.

Point Blank also stands out for its unique character development system for online shooters. For all the successes we get various rewards - badges, award ribbons, medals, points and experience. They are earned in different ways, including the execution of special missions, which make their own features in the usual tactics and require an individual approach to their execution - somewhere you just need to kill the enemies, and somewhere it is necessary to do it in a special way (for example, a headshot). The first tutorial missions, consisting of four tasks each, are available for free, and the rest of the sets must be purchased for the points earned.

The experience gained allows the character to grow in ranks, going from cadet to senior lieutenant. But it's not just new stars on straps - the ranks increase various characteristics, increasing the rate of fire, the percentage of hits, allow you to move faster, provide access to new weapons and so on.

In addition, the game has a system of ranks. The first four we can pump up for the reward ribbons, which are issued for the completion of training missions, and then to get new ranks we need just to grow in the ranks. All ranks give certain effects, which affect some classes of weapons, as well as on the gameplay in general. There are both positive and negative effects (there are less of them) - for example, when reducing recoil also falls down and distance damage. So you have to choose wisely.

All ranks allow you to develop in one of the three specialties - stormtrooper, sniper and raider. Then in each branch there are new branches - the stormtrooper added saboteur, sniper - machine gunner, and the raider open two subspecies - engineer and bomber. In each rank you go from novice to elite specialist, and then you can get the coolest super titles - because every true saboteur likes to be called "silent killer".

Of course, Point Blank stands out not only by the abundance of modes, maps and its unique system of development of fighters. We should also note the frantic dynamics - dagger explosive battles are even faster than in Counter Strike. This, however, does not mean that there is no tactics, and everything turns into a solid "mess" - you still need to know the features of maps and work in a team, coordinating and helping friends through the voice chat. Note the accessibility of Point Blank - this applies to both clear rules of the game, as well as democratic system requirements with a pleasant enough picture.

Pleases and abundance of all kinds of weapons, which is divided into primary and secondary. And it's all real weapons. Want to run with Desert Eagles pistol or Dragunov sniper rifle? In the in-game store Point Blank can find everything. Some we buy for points earned in the missions, some - only for cash converted to in-game currency, but almost all of the guns must first be opened by reaching the appropriate rank. Weapons can also be equipped with accessories, which give different bonuses - for example, the ability to see how much health is left after hitting the enemy.

In general, you will spend a lot of time in the Point Blank in-game store - there is also a huge selection of "skins" for the characters, which can look exotic, stylish and bright. Some of the "skins" also provide various bonuses. Add the fact that weapons can also be distinguished by bright colors, and you can see why Point Blank is considered one of the most colorful online shooters.

Well, of course, the game attracts many developed eSports component. By Point Blank many times held the largest international tournaments with large prizes, as well as cups and championships in Russia. Individual tournaments held in the game itself, and experienced users are combined into clans to compete on clan servers - this pumps and player, and his group. The best of the best eventually join the League of Heroes - so called the separate fighting season, broken down over several weeks, during which players gain rating and rise from one league all the way up to the next.

Of course, not everything in Point Blank is perfect. Someone complains about too high prices in the store and dependence on the notorious "donation", someone grumbles about cheaters - it's generally common and a big problem for all online shooters. The authors assure you that the cheaters are constantly fighting and now in the game in this sense, all is safe. As for microtransactions and the opportunity to receive game benefits for real money, in fact, now the developers are fighting for new users and sprinkle them with free rewards in every way. In addition, there is a developed system of daily tests), the completion of which also gives all sorts of bonuses. And for this you do not need to do anything special - you just play, win, destroy opponents and progress in such trials, then receiving a well-deserved reward.

Point Blank has been around since 2008 (since 2009 in Russia) and is still afloat, attracting players with its dynamics, accessibility, abundance of modes and equipment, as well as the opportunity to become a professional cyber athlete and earn from his hobby. Yes, now there are not so many players, as it was at the peak of the project development, but it's just the reason to try the game now - new users are welcome here with open arms.

Zarium, April 2022