by BONZO, HSM Editor 

NDreams decided on a very interesting experiment of allowing for a one week early access to F.U.B.A.R. through x7. With my Plus account I have access, and have had a chance to try out the game for a few days now and get my first impressions of it. So far, I love it. It is a very entertaining, very undemanding game. It is casual, and challenging at the same time. The game itself is purposely limited to a mission per day, to allow for pacing that limits your progression.

On the one hand, I actually like the enforced pacing, but I must admit that initially I was annoyed that I couldn’t keep playing. It was fun, and I wanted to continue. After completing the tutorial, the first mission of the first day, and subsequently spending my entire treasury on additions to the base, I found myself a bit lost. I didn’t want to leave the game just yet, but there was nothing else I could do. This being a one week early trial, I had very few friends on the list I could visit. Even so, I was still only limited to three visits per day, and I met that limit fairly quickly.

When visiting other people’s bases, you are also limited. If they don’t have the Combat Range, and you can’t play the mini game to train their troops. If they don’t have the Truck Storeroom, you can’t leave a gift. So all that is left to do is raid their base. Now the attack on a friend’s base is more of a suggestion than anything else. You hover over their tower and opt to attack. A status bar fills up and soon you get a message which states if you succeeded or lost. There is no direct interaction in the battle, or even a direct visual representation of that attack. And whether you win or lose, you end up with one point for yourself and gaining a point for your friend’s base.

Points are the currency system, so it’s a nice way of helping friends out. But after you exhaust your three visit allotment, you return to your base and all that is left is to send a scouting mission. These missions are structured so you don’t see anything actively, but you pick a location from a representational map. Each scouting mission has it’s own time period to completion. That is the end of your involvement; from there, you just return after the specified amount of time and check on the progress.

When I first played Aurora, the first time I completed Aurora Orb Runner, I was left with a bit of hunger for more of the game. That is essentially what it is like at first. You play the game in a very limited fashion and eventually adapt to the format. You then take it as a matter of consequence that you have to return the next day and it is a paced progression. This doesn’t mean you can’t play the game at all. You can replay the day’s mission as much as you want, but you only earn the major points for the first time you play it and only a few thereafter.

The game itself is very fun, especially if you enjoy tower defense games. It is free to play, but you have the option of buying war bucks. There are some items you can only purchase with the premium currency, but there are plenty of other items you buy with points, and you have the option of spending war bucks on them if you lack the points. The game is integrated into the public Aurora space, but it is not available to launch from there yet. I acquired the F.U.B.A.R. personal space, but the miniature-scale displayed there doesn’t launch the game itself. X7 granted you an active item, which takes up only a few slots, and you can place it anywhere. This is only the helipad portion of the base and not the entire base itself. The first reward itself is the same item, and you still have to use this active item to launch the game, but any changes you make to the base in the game are mirrored in the personal space.

The personal space is limited in size; there isn’t a whole lot to it other than rolling hills and the miniature base in the center surrounded by tiny trees. There are four tall posts where you can hang wall items. Other than that, there isn’t much function to the space itself. The space should have really granted some sort of upgrade to be used in game, and the mini-base doesn’t launch the game itself. This could be because the game hasn’t officially launched yet. Also, when you are at the personal space and in the game, when you quit it, sends you back to Harbor Studio rather than the F.U.B.A.R. personal space. This could also be because the game hasn’t officially launched yet.

Aside from the personal space and war bucks, there are a few other things related to F.U.B.A.R. you can purchase. These include two different avatar costumes, in both genders. One is a sniper, the other a robotic looking soldier. The interesting thing about these outfits is that they are very low polygon count outfits, clearly made to be very low detail and low tech. They actually resemble Duplo figurines, but are interesting enough in their uniqueness. There certainly isn’t anything in Home like them. There isn’t much variation from the male to the female, other than a slight increase in the protrusion of the chest area.

F.U.B.A.R. itself is a very fun game; the personal space is unique in that it reminds me of a miniature landscape, and if you can appreciate it for the aesthetics, it is well worth it. I am hoping once the game goes live, I can launch from the miniature base and no longer have to use the active item. If there is an upgrade in the game to owning the space I haven’t figured out what it is, but I did feel a longing for some incentive to own the space in an upgrade which would benefit my base or game play. The description on the avatar costumes doesn’t specify either if there is any upgrade for purchasing the costumes, so again it becomes more about the aesthetics of the costume designs themselves. The sniper is particularly interesting as it is perpetually holding the rifle and covered in a ghillie suit, at least partially. There are soldiers in the game similar to the costumes, but no word on whether the costumes unlocks those units for you.

If the costumes and the personal space added an upgrade to the game itself, it would be far more worthy of the purchase price; as it stands, it will remain up to the user’s discretion to judge these on aesthetics alone and make a judgement call on buying or not. F.U.B.A.R. itself though is a very fun game, and the only drawback of the war bucks is the lack of ability to gift upgrades to your friends. Once you get past the limit of one mission per day, and accept it as a daily activity type of game, it becomes increasingly fun and something to look forward to logging on for each day.

The game is a lot of fun, and one tip I can give you, once you start your base, be sure to purchase at least a Truck Storeroom and a Combat Range as soon as you can. These will allow for friends who visit your base to gift you and to train your soldiers, respectively.

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One Response to “F.U.B.A.R. Week One”

1. Kid Fleetfoot says:

   October 22, 2012 at 8:20 am

   I am liking the game very much so far. For those who are not good at shooters or quick button pressing, this is a game that might be to their liking. It’s simple. What the future brings to it remains to be seen.

   The number of friends one has who participate may change the enjoyment of the game.
   The simple pace of the game is to my liking.
   Whether there’s a leader board of any sort remains to be seen. I’m not sure that having one would be a plus.

   The space as stated isn’t much to look at isn’t much but neither is the desert. Just the same I decorated and will likely add a bit more.

   I’m looking forward to see what transpires and how it goes over in the Home community.

   Reply