Warface: All of the "Free" co-op money can buy!

I like the concept of free.

Free means without cost, without restriction, without encumbrances. We're all familiar with the phrases, "Free will" or "Free beer."  If we get all philosophical about it there's much more serious sounding uses of the word like "Free speech" and "A Free Society."

All of them, without exception, mean the same thing.  Specifically that nothing should get in the way of whatever is supposed to be "free."

Unfortunately, when someone came up with a game model dubbed "Free to play" we were forced to reexamine our understanding of the word "Free."

Case in point: Warface

Warface is a recent entry into the "Free to play" arena and unlike much of its RPG stable mates, is the first FPS of any quality to be offered up free of charge.

At least that's the promise...

The first time you load the game you'll see a typical FPS shooter with graphics that while not cutting edge are at least on par with those of Battlefield 3 without the eye candy turned on.  You'll also find an ample if not somewhat busy user interface complete with a "safe house" for you to learn the mechanics of the game without having to dodge an opposing team's ammunition.  There's even training missions that allow you to earn in-game bux (not real $$) to fix weapons, etc.  Yes, you heard that right, you can "break" a weapon.

Nice features, in fact a few that current triple-A titles would do well to emulate.  Well, maybe not the broken weapons thing but I digress...

Even Battlefield 4 still has a clunky "test range" map that is all but hidden in the game options.  In Warface, the "Safe House" is right up front.

The play is almost textbook Call of Duty-esque "sandboxing" with 3 primary play modes: Co-op, Versus and Survival.  Co-op and Versus offer some variety in map selection with Versus offering the additional contexts of traditional Deathmatch, Objective and Capture the Flag "-esque" modes found in other FPS games.  One thing that does stand out about Warface, however, is its focus on cooperative gameplay regardless of the play mode chosen.  Only in Deathmatch do you ever really suffer the typical Call of Duty multiplayer "run and gun" affair.   Meaning you're always with a buddy and you don't always have to play a pure multiplayer game. 

That's a perspective I can appreciate as the term "cooperative" gameplay is often just a misnomer for "online multiplayer."  

Look at it this way.  Playing a multiplayer game with friends is often like trying to pick up somebody at the airport when you don't know what flight they're on or when they'll show up.  

Cooperative gameplay, on the other hand, is like taking a road trip with a friend.

Not that Warface is a perfect iteration of the concept.  Far from it.  Finding your "friend" involves adding them to a "chat" list and then hoping you can join their game before all the available slots fill up.  

Of course you can start your own co-op session but unless you've got at least 4 in your party nothing's going to happen unless somebody just happens along.

Meaning we have a bit of multiplayer creep if not a bit of Call of Duty's awful "player matching" going on.

Before I forget, there's another game mode, "Survival" but it's really just waves of baddies and to play it you have to achieve a certain rank or XP to unlock it.  Something I'm not likely to do and I'll tell you why in a minute.

So far Warface sounds pretty good right?  I mean who wouldn't want a Call of Duty clone focused on co-op and built on the Crytek (Crysis) engine for free?

Ah, but there's that word again, "Free."

Every time I launch the game and suffer through what seems like a agonizingly lazy progress bar I'm instantly assaulted with prompts to visit the "store" or partake in the "deal" of the day.  It happens at the end of gaming sessions too and there's an ever present "nag" at the bottom center of all the lobby screens encouraging you to buy, buy buy!

There's an old marketing phrase that military types like to quote from.  You know the one.  It's usually preceded with stirring music, jets streaking overhead all while a bunch of guys in camouflage stand there saluting.  It goes, "Freedom isn't free" and neither is Warface.

It seems you're forever assaulted with prompts to buy upgrades, skins and outfits.  In my time with the game I've been offered special weapons, explosives and experience boosters that would clearly give me an advantage.  However, I've noticed that you don't seem to really "buy" much of anything.  You "rent" it. 

For example, I've been offered special smoke grenades and sniper rifles on a "trial" basis for a limited amount of time after which the item is removed from you inventory. 

Thing is, even if you do buy an upgrade, you're still just renting the equipment for 30, 60 or even 90 days after which you have to buy it all over again.  

All you've gained is an extension on your "lease."

I suppose that's one way to guarantee a revenue stream for a game that's otherwise "Free." 

While I understand that Crytek has to make money on Warface somehow their chosen model is nothing short of the epitome of greed.  Too many so-called "Free to play" games are really "Pay to Win" and Warface enthusiastically embraces the practice.   

That's no surprise especially with the obvious development that's gone into the game.  What makes Warface especially egregious, however, is forcing players to continually buy the same weapons just to continue playing.

So you save your pennies, buy your upgrades only to have them taken away if you don't ante up again. 

Sure, you don't HAVE to buy anything.  You can get a few games in and still be a freeloader if you want but much like the "Premium" subscriptions so common these days, you'll soon find yourself outmatched and locked out of "special" events.

So in the world of "Freemium" we have a new worst offender, Warface.  A game whose promise is trumped by its publisher's greed. 

Free in the context of Warface is analogous to being a freed slave in the post-Antebellum South.  You may have been free but you didn't have many opportunities.

That analogy came too easy for a post about a video game.  To me that indicates how wrong the Warface model is.

It's a shame too as I'd have gladly paid $20 for a good co-op FPS that wasn't always trying to pick my pocket.  I've always said that Call of Duty's greatest strength was its single player storyline and the cooperative game modes that grew out of them. 

Alas, even Call of Duty doesn't know how to do Co-op anymore.  I was hoping Warface could have filled the void but it seems the only void it's aimed at is the one created by its revenue model.

I've created the video below to give you a taste.