The shooting mechanics are OK, but in my humble opinion the game could use a bit more recoil on most of the guns. AC's bots are also quite merciless, so if you can't find a human opponent for some reason, fire up the game's AI mode and prepare to get your butt kicked.

I know, there's really nothing revolutionary here, but it's fun and reasonably polished, especially considering the price point.īum-rushing Rambo types will die quickly, as it doesn't take many hits to bring down an opponent, and the maps reward both patience and layout memorization. There are also a few nifty instances of environmental weapons sprinkled throughout the maps (think RPGs, wall-mounted machine guns, etc.). The New York City map was particularly memorable, and overall the game provides plenty of wide open spaces for long-range combat as well as smaller areas for close-quarters fighting. There are about a dozen of them for now, and despite the title's name they're not all set in the arctic. There's a bit of lore about World War III or some such, but honestly I didn't care, and I doubt you will either. Gameplay is hit or miss, really (sorry I had to). Joining a game (or setting one up yourself) is a snap, and the whole production feels like Call of Duty X instead of your average free-to-play shooter.

The game itself is beautifully rendered, and the menus and lobby screens are easy to navigate. Something you'll notice right off the bat is Arctic Combat's presentation. One small annoyance was the need to exit out of the client in order to up the default 1024x768 resolution, but as I said, no biggie. W, A, S, and D still do their thing, as does R for reloading, E for melee, Control for crouches, RMB for sight aiming, and F to pick up additional weapons or interact with the environment.

There's nothing out of the ordinary on this front. Even though shooters are probably old hat to most gamers by now, AC doesn't assume so, and the quick training course serves as a great primer for a true newb or a quick control layout summary for genre veterans. I was pleasantly surprised to be guided through a tutorial upon logging in for the first time.

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