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Being given the opportunity to play Arena Breakout, my first impressions of the game was me telling myself how realistic this shooter feels, and how the game is an immersive First Person Tactical Shooter that strays away from the usual molds we see in modern day FPS games and attempts to do its own thing similar to that of Escape from Tarkov.
This is due in part to certain mechanics within the game that I personally have yet to see in a mobile shooter such as individual body damage, the absence of an ammo counter as well as a realistic quick reload feature that requires the ammo cartridge to be equipped on your Chest Rigs for you to be able to perform it.
Gameplay
The game has an extensive tutorial for those who are unfamiliar with the mobile shooter genre, and will teach you simple basic command inputs as well as other mechanics that the game has to offer. One such mechanic would be the inclusion of noise levels and directional type audio. Being a tactical shooter, knowing where your enemies are is key to a successful operation, due to this, players could gauge where the enemies are by listening to the sound prints that enemies produce while they are making their rounds.
Vice-versa, the enemies themselves could also listen in to your sound prints and know your current position should you make too much noise either from sprinting or firing off your weapon. This would result in the enemies being able to pinpoint your location which might result in an unfavorable outcome where you end up dying and losing all your loot and current gear.
At its core, Arena Breakout is a looter-based shooter that plays something similar to Destiny or The Division where players can go through different missions and build up their grand arsenal from there. At time of writing, the game offers only two modes, a Tactical Op Mode and a Covert Op Mode. The difference between the two is that in Tactical Op Mode, you can bring your own loadout while in Covert Op Mode you will go undercover and have random equipment.
It is also important to note that during multiplayer type experiences, the loot is shared which encourages players to coordinate properly with teammates to ensure that loot distribution is done fairly with equal amount of spoils for all.
If you find your loot lacking, weapons and other items can be purchased through Contacts. They essentially act as quest givers and merchants to whom you can sell items of interest to alongside making your purchases. During my playthrough there were five contacts available to meet, two of which you can unlock fairly early in the game as I have done.
The different contacts also sell a variety of weapons and items that are suited to their roles, for example; Joel Garrison sells only ammo and guns while Evita the medic sells healing consumables such as painkillers. Personally, I was visiting this window quite frequently as I burned through my ammo and consumables quite fast since I opted for a more loud approach during operations.
While the option to purchase weapons are available, the loot dropped from enemies will generally be the better option as they can be obtained for free and sometimes come readily available with attachments such as a laser pointer.
You will also need to learn how to manage your equipment properly as the slots in your bag will be taken up rather quickly with the many types of ammo and loot you will acquire during the operations.
Another great feature about the game is that you can choose to leave operations at any time without the need to wait for your teammates to perform an extraction. I personally had a teammate who was inactive during a mission which was unfortunate, however after immediately making my way to the Extraction Point, the game allowed me to exit the operation and return back to the menu with my loot without the need to wait for other party members.
Not only that, the game also has small minute details which helps with the overall immersion such as the ability to turn off your laser pointer to avoid enemies spotting it as well your character holding the gun in a different position to avoid it from colliding with any object in front of you.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Arena Breakout was a fun game to test out as it was very different from all the shooters I have played before. It required a more slow and steady approach which differs heavily from my usual run-and-gun playstyle, and the gameplay loop is satisfying in its own as there are a few other stages that are locked behind a level requirement which would definitely present more challenges and better loot opportunities.
Suffice to say I am genuinely excited for the full release of Arena Breakout and cannot wait to see what the complete package of the game has to offer. Arena Breakout will be made available for Android and iOS when it releases. For further information regarding the game, you may visit their official website.
