Auto Assault Member Review for the PC

Review for Auto Assault

    MMORPG's, or in other words, the newest way to make money years after you release a game, has spawned dozens of games trying to hook you with gameplay that rewards you just enough to keep you coming back for more.  In this grand old tradition of unwinable games comes Auto Assault, the first attempt at creating an online world by developer NetDevil.  In some respects this is a decent first attempt that brings a lot of news ideas to the table and refines some common elements.  In other respects this game falls flat on its face.

    The game's storyline focuses on the interaction between the different races in the game, three of whom are playable.  In this category are theMutants, BioMek or Human, and there are different classes within each.  The player begins with a basic vehicle and combats NPC characters until the character gets to a second level in which you fight harder NPC's and other players for control of areas.  The whole game is built around combat, and you can tell this in the very basics of the game's design, including the death system.  When the player dies, you are airlifted back to a base and you are instantly repaired.  This game is unique in that there is no penalty for dying, and players can quickly get back in the action.  This tends to keep things frantic and fast paced, but also removes a lot of the fear of death.  Instead of death being a real problem, its more a tinyinconvenience.  This fact encourages players to disregard tactics and focus on firing as much as possible.

    Speaking of the action, the game takes place from a third-person perspective with your character being in a vehicle when outside of a town and reverting back to your character inside a city.  It would have been a great feature of the game to be able to have more control over what your character does in terms of getting out of the vehicle.  How interesting would it have been to be able to set up with a sniper rifle and fire at a vehicle with your character then jump in a car and drive in and finish them off?  Instead you are limited in tactics and options in a way that never lets you forget yourself and lose yourself in the game, andthetas a shame because there is some depth here.

    One aspect of the game that is very deep is the weapon and vehicle customization.  With the scrap materials you find around, along with the things you can buy allow you to turn a stock vehicle into a very personal extension of yourself which is nice.  It would have been nicer to be able to play the game differently based on these choices.  Imagine the ability to choose a vehicle based on how you want to play in terms of not fighting.  Allowing a player to be a merchant or something of that nature would have added some depth to this game that it really needs.

    In the end, this is a game that is decent.  It plays well and is fun, for around a month.  However it just does not allow for the kind of development that encourages a real community to build around it, and ultimately its that community that makes a game like this.  Without it you are just shooting at a bunch of strangers, andthat's fun for only so long.