GameCyte

Looks like Battlefield Heroes isn’t the only free-to-play, easily laptoppable online first-person shooter competing for your beta applications. Today, Nexon announced Combat Arms, a primarily squad-based shooter slated for release later this summer. Combat Arms will kick off a short closed beta on May 30th, which will last one week.

Multiplayer online shooters are solid, engaging fun, especially when their players can upgrade persistent personas with the latest in deadly weaponry. But not everyone wants to shell out $50 for the latest Battlefield or Call of Duty, or has the hardware required to run them well. But just as Battlefield Heroes promises to recreate the former title without charging gamers a cent, here Nexon (and Korean developer Doobic Studios) appear to be attempting the latter — a free-to-play Call of Duty 4.

One of the strongest characteristics of Infinity Ward’s award-winning title was its rewarding, ‘carrot and stick’ system of unlockable weaponry and customizable loadouts, and it appears Combat Arms intends to take those features and run with them. Successful players will accumulate in-game currency and experience points to purchase new guns, attachments and explosives, and will be able to change their avatar’s appearance as well. There’s also an emphasis on community building — according to the press release, “players can recruit, manage, and communicate with their clan members, all within the game.”

Though the release is light on details, IGN scored an excellent interview with product manager Herb Yang, who, to our pleasant surprise, explained most everything we still wanted to know. Have some factoids:

1.) The game will run on computers that my ancient laptop spits at in disgust:

Combat Arms is playable on the PC and will require:
• Windows 2000 or XP
• Pentium 3, 1 GHz
• 256Mb RAM
• GeForce 2 MX or equivalent video card
• DirectX 9.0C
• 2Gb Hard Disk Space
• 128 kb/s Internet Connection

2.) There will be a crapload of weaponry, AND they intend to release new weapons on a monthly basis:

IGN: What sorts of weapons can you use?

Herb Yang: Pretty much most types of modern weapons you can think of – shotguns, pistols, assault rifles, sniper rifles, SMGs, etc. Like all game content types, we’ll be adding more each month. The game will launch with over 30 guns, as well as a bunch of other secondary items such as grenades, mines, rockets, backpacks.

In addition, weapons will be modifiable. We plan to have a wide variety of weapon attachments that you’ll be able to use on all your guns — silencers, scopes, extended magazines, etc. – so even if you and your friend both use the same M16 or AK, they can be tweaked for your own personal preferences.

…Combat Arms will have a variety of secondary weapons that you’ll be able to bring into battle in addition to your guns. I can say for certainty that we will have: frag grenades, smoke grenades, incendiary grenades, gas grenades, rocket launchers, melee weapons, flash bangs, and claymore mines with more coming each month.

And 3.) Perhaps most importantly, you can’t buy your way to victory.

Combat Arms is free to play and pay-per-item. Items you pay for with real money will primarily be cosmetic or convenience items. Don’t worry, nothing that affects game play balance will be purchasable with real money. You can play the game for as long as you want and not pay a single cent if you don’t want to.

For now, it appears Nexon’s Combat Arms site is either down or swamped with would-be beta testers; but if you’re chomping at the bit for some action, here’s a video to tide you over:

Press release:

May 23, 2008 – Los Angeles, CA – Nexon America Inc., the U.S. division of Asia’s leading online game company Nexon Group, announced today the launch of Combat Arms, its free-to-play, online first person shooter. The highly-customizable game is slated for commercial release later this summer, but a select group of players will get a chance to fire away in the closed beta test starting May 30th.

Combat Arms deploys players into a dangerous war zone teeming with soldiers of fortune looking to make a mark. The online shooter will advance the FPS genre by offering a rich free-to-play experience and introducing customization features unavailable in the current generation of online FPS games. Players have the ability to tailor their gaming experience by customizing how their characters look as well as which guns and equipment to carry into battle. A large arsenal of deadly weapons can be modified with attachments such as silencers, scopes and extended magazines.

The game is beginner-friendly while providing great depth for veteran gamers. By rewarding players who win matches and make kills with in-game currency and experience points, Combat Arms extends the game beyond an individual match. Accumulating both will help soldiers rank up to unlock and acquire new weapons and equipment. Further, the game extends beyond the battlefield through an extensive set of community features with a focus on clans. Players can recruit, manage, and communicate with their clan members, all within the game. Additionally, players can maintain a persistent profile to track their experience and performance to see how they rank within the Combat Arms community.

“Competition in video games among friends is always fun, but Combat Arms takes it to another level by letting gamers frag for free,” said Min Kim, vice president of marketing for Nexon America. “Combat Arms delivers all the great socialization elements found in other popular Nexon Games and presents them in one of the most popular gaming genres in North America.”

Combat Arms focuses on improving accessibility and community while maintaining a high fidelity combat experience. The free-to-play offering combined with low system requirements will encourage new players enter the traditionally hardcore space.

The upcoming closed beta test will run exclusively at FilePlanet.com for one week beginning May 30th. The beta test gives players a first chance to experience the heat of battle in realistic 3-D environments. Combat Arms will offer players the opportunity to face off in multiple theaters, including a junkyard, industrial plant and weapons factory, through multiple game modes. Players will experience regular content updates, such as new weapons, gear, maps, and more free game modes.

The closed beta will last for a short time and interested players can learn more at http://combatarms.nexon.net.

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