Version tested: PC (closed beta).
Free-to-play has always been a sword of Damocles for those who decide to develop a game of this type. While there is a good chance of attracting a large number of players given the free nature of the title, on the other hand there is the great risk of not being able to emerge. And in a market already conquered by fierce competition, let's face it, bankruptcy is practically around the corner.
The guys from YingPei Games did not let themselves be discouraged and continued to work on MARS, a third-person shooter whose official debut is scheduled for Q2 2021 on Steam. The developer gave us a key to the Closed beta, but what we faced unfortunately did not particularly enthuse us. Indeed, at present we would strongly recommend postponing the launch, but let's find out why.
What game is it?
MARS is a third person shooter for both PvP and PvE set in a futuristic context complete with a robot. They are present on classic competitive multiplayer, including ranked games, and the Cooperative mode in which to face career or other missions. Of course, it is also possible to play in single player. The game is based on a season system which also features the now widespread Battle Pass, thus allowing you to unlock extra rewards by purchasing it. It goes without saying that among the currencies of the game there is also a premium one (called QGold), obtainable precisely with real money and spendable for cosmetic items, weapons, equipment and even specific difficulties in maps in which they have not yet been unlocked. In general, however, most of what appears in the shop can also be purchased with in-game currencies.
Like any self-respecting shooter, MARS also allows you to create custom classes and upgrade weapons by assembling various components, a bit along the lines of Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Obviously, there is no lack of aesthetic personalization of the character and of the arsenal. In addition, equipment can be crafted in the armory using materials earned from missions.
Described in this way, it would seem that the free-to-play by Yingpei Games has all the credentials to compete with its peers. Once you experience the gameplay, sadly, this idea fades pretty quickly. L'Enemy AI is definitely not up to par, the feedback returned by the weapons is very poor (sniper rifles have a recoil close to zero, to name one) and the aiming system is rather inaccurate. To weigh further is the total absence of a story, with missions unrelated to each other, too chaotic and anonymous that often boil down to a "run-shoot-complete" formula.
Why play it?
It is difficult to find a reason to play it, above all because it offers nothing innovative that the competition does not already have and which, undoubtedly, can perform much better. If you don't have a high-performance PC and are looking for a competitive free-to-play shooter with which to play a couple of games every now and then, without giving weight to the technical sector, perhaps MARS is worth a look. Being a beta and, therefore, a version very close to the final one, we doubt that it will improve enough to be re-evaluated, at least not in the short term.
Why not?
The underlying problem of MARS is due to the fact that it presents a gameplay that is absolutely not in step with the times, and the same applies to the general technical sector. The game does not support resolutions higher than 1920 x 1080, the frame rate is limited to 60 fps and graphically it is placed in 2008, with really woody and sometimes absent animations (the movement of the lips when the characters speak, ed). Among other things, the full screen mode does not work despite enabling it, inevitably remaining in the window. A negative note also goes to the various game menus, which result rather full and confusing making their comprehensibility complex.
To give the coup de grace we think a rather basic audio sector e texts and spoken completely in English. Given the amount of information and statistics to be read especially on weapons and equipment, this is a not insignificant limitation that excludes (for now) that slice of users who do not chew their language well.
Final comment
Basically, MARS it stood still at least 10 years ago in all respects. The decision to focus on a free-to-play of a genre already saturated in itself was rather ambitious, but in the current conditions there is nothing that can allow it to stand out among the fierce competition. Perhaps the fact of staying on an old technical sector is intended in order to reach as wide an audience as possible, but the concept seems to have been developed quite in bulk. Too much meat on the fire that was almost completely burned, saving very little. PvP is probably getting away with it by a hair, but that too is likely to get bored soon. Honestly, we would have preferred less content but better rendered, slowly evolving the experience based on community feedback.
