Online game "World War 3"

World War 3 is an attempt by the Polish studio The Farm 51 to make its own Battlefield, with large-scale infantry battles, maneuvers of various vehicles and detailed elaboration of everything related to shooting. The game is conditionally free, so you can find and download it without any problems. However, the reviews about it are contradictory. Some users like the entourage - where else will they be given to fight on Red Square, the main streets of Warsaw and the border of North Korea? Others are delighted with the upgrade of cannons, but dissatisfied with the management of tanks. Others have questions to the software part, including network code and optimization. In short, the public has no unanimous opinion. Since the shooter has gained some popularity, let's sort out its strengths and weaknesses on our own.

Despite the title, the developers decided not to go into detail. Players are simply shown a world engulfed in a global war. Battles take place in the streets of Berlin and Smolensk, in the demilitarized zone between the two Koreas and in the Gobi Desert on the border of Mongolia, as well as in Moscow and the Polar City, which will please many with its native "panels" with Soviet murals. The teams are also a mess: an Englishman, a Belorussian, and a Greek can play on one side, and the same international can play on the other.

Moreover, you can stand out from the start. Immediately after the installation World War 3 will ask you to configure something. For starters - choose a nickname, country of origin and appearance of your character. Here you can be an American soldier, a Korean or a Polish - there is no difference on the battlefield. But the appearance of the heroes is different, because the editor allows you to change the face and style of equipment.

There are two modes available in the menu: "Battle" and "Team Fighting". In the first, two teams of 20 people fight for control of points on the map, using all available means - from small arms and grenade launchers to armored vehicles, drones and aerial bombardment. It's all given half an hour, and the side that first gets 5,000 points wins. The second mode also involves a couple of squads, but half as many. During the three rounds it's necessary to destroy the enemies - the fight is limited to 50 points and 7 minutes of duration. There are also some battles with a limited duration - for example, "Domination", available from January 25 to February 8, 2023. It has 30 players fighting for control of three zones in four locations.

Each mode comes with a set of maps - before the battle, you need to tick the one that interests you. In principle, nothing prevents you from choosing all at once to find the match faster. With this, by the way, World War 3 has a problem: search gamers for teams can occur immediately after clicking "Play" or last very long, up to an hour. Users complain about the low quality of the network code, but in practice this difficulty is overcome simply - just log out and go into the action movie several times to "bring it to life". Not the most convenient solution, but effective. Fortunately, The Farm 51 regularly releases patches for its project - let's hope that sooner or later all the technical difficulties will come to naught.

The next difficulty arises on the battlefield. The fact is that the game makes high demands on your personal skills, and to the characteristics of your computer, and to the speed of the Internet connection. The action is dynamic, approximately on the level of Call of Duty multiplayer, it is necessary to move on the map, shoot accurately and use the different loopholes - like underpasses and bypass corridors. In addition, it is worth considering that the weapon behaves realistically: the barrel twitches from the recoil, there is a scatter and account for the damage from hitting different points on the body of the enemy. To avoid a number of difficulties during the fight, you should be trained in advance, which shows the basic tricks and basics of handling the gun, and at the same time adjust the sensitivity of the mouse - to do such things in a firefight will have no time.

Six maps are available in each mode: Berlin, Moscow, Warsaw, Polar, Smolensk, and the Demilitarized Zone, with battles for checkpoints on the Korean border. You can also fight in the Gobi Desert among the Buddhist pagodas, but to do this you must select "Team Fighting". Locations in the game are smaller in size than the already mentioned Battlefield, but they are all diverse and unique in some way. In Polarny, for example, some of the houses are open - nothing prevents the sniper to go up and sit near the window in an empty apartment. And an assault rifleman can sneak through basements from one high-rise to another to deliver a surprise blow to enemies.

But running through the yards between the buildings is a false idea as a bullet to the forehead is guaranteed in such a case. On the other hand, armored vehicles are effective in the open terrain. One large-caliber round is enough to silence any SWAT team. One thing is bad: different vehicles feel the same way - the Poles obviously did not bother to work out the physical models.

On the streets of Moscow and Warsaw, on the other hand, tanks are uncomfortable, and the main firefights take place indoors. "The Demilitarized Zone, on the other hand, offers great height difference: you can operate in a high-rise building near a checkpoint or climb a mountain to monitor enemy movements and aim fire from there. In other words, every map has some feature that easily becomes a tactical advantage if you know exactly what to do. But to do this, you must learn the location - play a dozen matches on it, run through the corridors, look at the shelters and teammates' actions, remember the locations of the control points. Success in World War 3 depends not only on personal skills, but also on knowledge of the area where the match takes place.

Starts the battle with a choice of class. Novice available assault rifleman, grenade launcher and support fighter, and then open up the other specialties. The first on the list of soldiers carries a machine gun, first aid kit and has a high running speed. The second, as it is easy to guess, destroys tanks, APCs, buggies, drones, helicopters and other equipment. And support is represented by the clumsy machine gunner, who in case of need is ready to share ammo with partners. Then, during the fight, you can change weapons by picking up the barrel of the killed character, but it is dangerous to be distracted by searching bodies in such a dynamic shooter. The chosen class also depends on the tactics: the same machine gunner, having found a successful laying, can long cover the advancing squad, but its reloading is monstrously long - for this procedure it is necessary to leave the position and hide somewhere.

The developers have applied mechanics to their game that are not often found in online shooters. For example, the squad members are assigned commanders - usually the most experienced gamers. They can tell where to move the group and what place to seize. In addition, any soldier, after the death can be revived next to his commander, not only on the control point, as usual in the genre. But caution is required here: suddenly the leader of the squad is caught in a jam, and there is a good chance that you will be caught together with him. As the battle progresses and points accumulate, users have different support options. Some call in armored vehicles and helicopters to their base, others send in drones for reconnaissance, and still others select targets for artillery and air strikes. When the battle is in full swing, it really is a war: a downed tank is on fire, explosions and screams are all around, and you have to go to your target and complete the task.

And now let's talk about the main difficulty of the newcomer - the balance. The fact is that the game sends fighters of different levels on the same mission, and the rookies lose to veterans in most situations. Not because of their own clumsiness, but because experienced users have wider choice of classes and guns, there are many modifications for weapons and more powerful means of support. Get all this goodness allows you to grow in levels - for experience points gained on the battlefield. The task is not difficult, because experience is given for solving tactical problems, as well as just for participation.

Even if you suddenly decide to leave your squad and go to the lobby in the middle of a battle, you will still get some points, although it's better not to do so, of course. However, levels are added gradually - one per match or a few fights, depending on how many points you manage to capture and how many enemies you eliminate.

Over time, character development becomes a separate entertainment. Yesterday you played as an assault rifleman, and today you play as a sniper with a different outfit. You can go into the arsenal and simulate a unique rifle, paint it as you like, attach the most convenient sight, try different grips, muzzle brakes and flame arrestors. In short, rest between firing fights. Also in World War 3 there is an internal currency - silver and gold, or UNC. The first you can spend on all sorts of jewelry like camouflages and business cards, as well as on activities such as changing nicknames in the profile. Yes, this is a paid option. Gold, in turn, is spent on more valuable items: guns and modifications to them, experience boosters and premium equipment sets. This is essentially the equivalent of real money. Through such purchases you can support the developers, and before the battle to get equipped.

The Farm 51 employees have a lot of development experience - just remember Deadfall Adventures, Painkiller: Hell & Damnation and Chernobylite. But World War 3 can be considered a sample of the studio's pen in the online shooter genre - hence some of the rough edges of the action game, which the Poles have been making since 2015. The game is ruthless to newcomers, demanding to the characteristics of the computer and optimized not the best way. But it is a free analogue of Battlefield - with the same large-scale battles of different types of troops. Entourage, especially the scenery of Moscow and Polar Regions, is a bright advantage. Therefore, World War 3 also has plenty of advantages, and it has gained an audience for a reason.

Zarium. March 2023