Alliance of Valiant Arms Review
Alliance of Valiant Arms Review
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Genre: Free to play
I’ve been playing an awful lot of Counter-Strike lately. With Global Offensive on the horizon and decent prices on the bundle, it seemed like a no brainer to choose this time to get into it. Where Counter-Strike was a titan of the modding scene and, later, a major string in Valve’s bow, Global Offensive hopes to update and polish, adding modern graphics and a more accessible structure. For the most part it’s worked and Global Offensive is an excellent, if familiar game. It’s also quite expensive, which is why I was happy to come across Alliance of Valiant Arms, the latest Aeria-run shooter, and a Counter-Strike clone if I’ve ever seen one. Does it live up to its predecessor? We played to find out.
Alliance of Valiant Arms - Video Review
Positives
Working as a Team - One of the greatest things about this sort of game is the way it forces you to work as a team. It’s very rare to come across somebody who can take down the whole enemy team by themselves and it takes the sort of skill and dedication that most people will never be able to have. So it goes without saying that relying on others is the norm and it adds a real sense of camaraderie that you won’t find anywhere else.
Simple to Learn, Impossible to Master – You’ll probably never been an Alliance of Valiant Arms expert. No matter how good you think you are, there will always be somebody better than you and you’ll always have games where you end up looking like a joke. With that said, aside from the two minute tutorial, it’ll take a few games on each map for you to get your bearings and then you’ll at least be able to hold your own. In that regard, I’d say that the balance here for new players is a little better than Counter-Strike, which can be quite an intensive learning process.
It’s also worth noting that you don’t necessarily have to worry about buying new weapons all the time – the three basic classes tend to work fine and you can swap them between rounds.
Active Community – This positive was at one point called “Friendly Community,” but that isn’t quite true. The community in AVA is absolutely fantastic, there’s always conversation going on, always people chatting and offering tactical advice, but they’re not exactly friendly. Start camping or not doing as you’re told (whether it was a good suggestion or not) and you’ll see the darker side of this community. Still, definitely one of the nicest, accessible groups I’ve come across in the last few years.
Different Game Modes – There’s a lot to do in Alliance of Valiant Arms, lots of maps to explore and different game modes to master. It’ll take you an awful long time to get through absolutely everything on offer and when you’re finished you’ll want to do everything all over again. It’s really that addictive and part of that is down to the developers building everything up so well.
Price – I tend not to put price into these reviews (it doesn’t matter if a game is free, it still has to be good) but sometimes I make an exception. In this case I’m mentioning a price because we all know how crazy Steam sales can be and we all know that you’ll be able to pick up Counter-Strike: Global Offensive for a fiver (or less) come Christmas. If you don’t want to pay full price on Valve’s latest, Alliance of Valiant Arms is different enough from Counter-Strike Source to make it a fresh new experience and fun enough to keep you going until the Steam Sales role back round. Definitely a plus in my column.
Neutrals
Graphics – The graphics in Alliance of Valiant Arms are better than other Aeria shooters we’ve played – I’m thinking Wolf Team here – but they still lack a certain polish that would make them really stand out. There’s nothing wrong with them though, they’re good enough that the game is still playable, but those of you dedicated to playing only games with the best graphics will probably be disappointed here.
Server Issues – It’s not unusual to come across a match in Alliance of Valiant Arms that isn’t everything it could be in terms of lag and server quality. It’d be nice to have every game be perfect, but that doesn’t happen in even the highest end AAA game and it’s manageable, but a little annoying.
Conclusion
Alliance of Valiant Arms is a great game with a lot going for it. I’ve often been surprised by just how good Aeria’s shooters can be, although the flaws are often pretty obvious. In AVA, there aren’t really any out and out flaws, a fact that makes the price tag even more impressive. If you’ve got any love of Counter-Strike’s style of tactical play, this is a game you should look into. It’s not perfect, but I guarantee you’ll find something to like.
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