Death can come from any angle in Lawbreakers, as was shown in the PAX East demo build. After choosing from a gallery of killers, players will engage in class-based combat, blasting the enemy apart and protecting objectives in high-flying first-person shooter combat.
The game’s various classes provide a wide range of mobility options alongside their choice of weapons. Select characters have access to the jet-pack like Afterburners, others can increase the speed of movement and reloading of nearby characters, some drop from devastating leaps, and one even swings about the match on energy cables like a homicidal Spider-Man.
Mobility is interesting, but offensives capability is key in any match. Titan, who was used during the preview match, carries a rocket launcher and lightning gun, as well as a neutron mine that will slow opponents and the ability to go berserk, delivering crushing melee attacks. Each of the game’s current four character types have access to two weapons, a mobility attack, and their own grenade or special effect. More character types are planned for the future.
Lawbreakers will have several different play modes, and the one on display at PAX East was Overcharge. In this mode, players had to retrieve a battery and bring it back to their base, holding onto it as it charged. It played out in a map that was a mixture of open areas and tight tunnels, letting each class show off its usefulnesses and downsides in a variety of areas.
The Titan proved useful when defending and in tight spots, using offensive power and rockets to keep opponents at bay or clear a path for the other characters. However, in the open against the game’s various highly-mobile characters, it would still die quickly. Players needed to consider whether offense or defense was necessary, and how best to approach the battery and their goals. Despite being a huge, powerful brute, the Titan would still need to stick to a specific plan and role to survive.
Things happened quickly during a match of Lawbreakers. Even saying the Titan class was slow in comparison to the others does not mean it felt slow. All characters moved quickly, so players would need to react fast to the combat. It also meant watching more than just the ground in front of the player, as many classes could easily take to the air, and the map had many levels for players to leap down from.
With combatants coming from every angle with an array of weapons and offensive capabilities that were more than just firearms, Lawbreakers felt like a speedy means of shaking up competitive shooters. The abilities of the classes seemed to complement each other well, rewarding the team that works together. Fast, lethal, and well thought out, Lawbreakers is well on its way to giving players some unique angles to look at first person combat.
Players interested in Lawbreakers can sign up for a chance to play in its Alpha from the game’s site.
