You looking to put your FPS shooter skills to the test? Then that’s where competitive games come to “play.” Aquiris Game Studio has already released Ballistic Overkill back in 2015 as an early access launch with the intent to bring player vs. player madness to the PC steam. If you’re looking for gameplay similar to Call of Duty and Counter-Strike, then this may be the direction you should be looking in.
I would consider Ballistic Overkill to be a fast-paced first person shooter with a futuristic environment offering. There are place points on the map that allow you to boost your health. So I would find this game similar to Unreal Tournament, which I also enjoyed very much.
There are 7 character classes with their own set of skills and weapons to choose from. Each will give you the opportunity to select the loadouts in terms of primary, secondary and melee weapons. So when you’re in the match, you’ll be able to switch between classes and loadouts before you spawn.  If you want, you can even swing a katana sword around in stealth mode, which is very satisfying.
One thing to point out is that games like Ballistic Overkill will have you jump in right away into the action. The flip side to this is that there is no tutorial, so you’ll need to figure the controls out through trial and error. I myself did not have much difficulty going through this game. But keep in mind that I’ve had quite the exposure to online FPS titles. My recommendation to those coming from games like Counter-Strike is to go into the game’s control settings and adjust the sensitivity as well as the commands on the keyboard to align with the controls you are used to previously.
As you progress further, you level up which affords you the opportunity to unlock new weapons and skills. You earn these XP from making kills as well as assists. Currently there are lockboxes that work similarly with Counter-Strike’s cases, except you don’t need to purchase keys in order to open them.
There are plenty of maps in Ballistic Overkill to keep you challenged and entertained. I hope to see more of these maps to liven the gameplay up even further. There are also quite the number of game modes available such as Team Deathmatch, Free-For-All, King of the Hill, and Capture Point.
As for the presentation, the menu theme really sounded cool and enjoyable. The graphics are very nice to look at and are filled with vibrant colours. You can see the details of the textures to be very fine, especially when running on a higher resolution. And the atmosphere is very immersive with the deep sound effects that get your heart pumping.
All in all, I really had an enjoyable time with Ballistic Overkill. I am excited to see the further developments that come about with this FPS. It may not necessarily serve as a replacement to the other competitive FPS that you enjoy on a regular basis. But Ballistic Overkill does add some variety if you’re wanting to add something new to your shooting gameplay mix.
