Orange jump suits for the win!

Hi, I'm tIKi_mAn and I'll be your reviewer for today. This week I bring to you the recent release of a cool game which targets quite a wide range of game styles. You like tricking? This has tricking. You like classic death match? This has death match. Looking for something new? This has something new alright. I am talking about nothing other than the fully standalone game, Warsow, which recently released version 0.2.

• It's a blurry line
If you are one already familiar with Warsow, the thought might have occurred... "Mod"? Well you are in fact right to question it! Based using the QFusion engine, which in itself was developed off the Quake 2 engine, Warsow indeed has eligibility to have the feature, now lets check out how it earns it.

• Graphics Hardcore
I am a simple man to please, nearly anything in life that looked pretty I've tried. Warsow is no exception. Rendered with cel-shading and thick outlines Warsow looks very much like a cartoon without being lame on the graphic detail. The best description I can give is of an unholy marriage between Tron and this game I played on my friends Xbox a long time ago, Jet Set Radio. This awesome effect I call screen glow, also known as bloom, adds a lot to the whole graphical effect.

The cel shading may make things look simpler at a first glance, but don't let that get to you. All the game media is very well made, when I see this I cannot believe it started with Q2 technology, it looks that great. Even if you do not like cartoonish type rendering, at least give this game a fair try.

• Sound Galore
I would not propose that Warsow has the best sound effects in the world. Actually I think the weapon sounds make the guns feel weaker than they really are. Creating good sound effects is not an easy task, and the sounds in Warsow are decent and fit with the theme of the game. The energy related sounds like health and power ups are good, nice techno type hums and the sort. I only wish some of the sounds could be bolder like on the shotgun type gun called the riotgun.

• Game Play and More
The first thing that comes to mind when I think about the game play of Warsow, I think about the 'special' moves you can do. You can dodge, you can dash, you can even double jump with ledges. There is still more though. Does the word 'grind' mean anything to you? It's the ability to slide on various angled objects like hand rails, and then jump off at the end with speed. There is also the wall jump, which is by far the most useful of maneuvers in my opinion. However unlike Q3 CPMA and UT2004, theses tricks are preformed with a second key which when pushed while standing still is a lunge forward - It is called the 'special move' key, I just consider it a jump modifier.

In addition to standard game types like Death Match and CTF, Warsow has this mode called Race, which times you to complete an obstacle course Defrag style. Another mode called Midair involves a lot of rockets, and mid-air kills are the only way to score. Warsow also has instagib, but I'll leave that up to your imagination.

The CTF game mode is unique and requires a lot more teamwork to complete. Basically when a flag is picked up, you have a few seconds to get as far as you can, when the timer is up the flag returns to the enemy flag holder. The only way to make it all the way is to have your team dominate the enemy base and stand on their flag holder to keep the timer up, thus allowing the flag to be captured. This is an interesting twist but makes bots totally useless in CTF, and and also prevents 1 on X combinations. There is a cvar though that can turn the timer off, so no worries.

• Contributing to My Mental Stability
Another thing I always look for in life are things that help me be as productive as possible. I spend a good deal of time on the internet in the chat rooms, and when jumping into a game fullscreen what if someone says a joke and I miss it? Coming back and typing "lol!" would make me seem insane for a joke that ended an hour ago. Have no fear, you can now be on IRC and play Warsow at the exact same time with the in-game IRC client! Too bad everyone already thinks I am insane, eh? But at least now I will never miss out on that really funny joke.

• Many Ways to Play
The development team actively maintains both Windows and Linux versions of the game, so fanboys unite! Though, what I gather off the forums and IRC there are no solid plans for official Mac releases. There are however many people interested in porting it, and since Warsow is Open Source the community might pump out a fully working Mac release sometime.

• The Verdict
There are a few things I might tweak but in the end, Warsow put simply is fun. It is a nice change of view from the recent games to hit the market, and the price is right! I have been in love with this ever since Jube slipped it to me through the bars of my cage while Pappy-R wasn't looking, and hereby affix the Tiki Stamp of Approval upon Warsow. Be sure to keep an eye open on the servers, get a frag on me and send the screenshot my way! Peace and Good Fragging!

Midair rocket kills also for the win.	Ouch. Watch out for her.

Visit Website: Warsow.Net

Download: Windows Installer
  - or -
Download: Linux Tarball, and Linux Fix

What do you mean? This is how I always look.
- tIKi_mAn