The business model should be familiar by now: You earn in-game currency as you play... but if you want to fast-forward to the better items, or if you want a competitive edge, or if you just want to look a certain specific way, War Inc. is happy to take your actual money. You get "game dollars" just by playing the game, but for "game points," you have to pay real-world dollars. It's a verbal sleight of hand, but at least the math is straightforward.
Some of the things you unlock are temporary. For instance, you can rent guns and perks for up to a week -- but you also earn plenty of permanent unlocks by playing the game and leveling up. For instance, at level four, I got a gun that felt like it was actually killing people, instead of just alerting them to my presence so they could turn around and shoot me. At level five, I earned a black ops key, which let me use the ammo crates scattered around the map to resupply. Previously, I had to run back to the far edge of the map or just let someone kill me so I could respawn with full ammo; however, the black ops key is a bit of tease, since it's temporary. Think of these keys as subscription fees, available in increments of up to 90 days. Once you've tasted the advantage of extra ammo in the middle of the map, how can you do without?
War Inc. frequently reminds you that you're advancing by flashing the experience point and game dollar rewards that you earn. Kill someone on the other team, capture a point, or get an assist, and the numbers pop up in cheerfully displayed clouds. The graphics engine is pretty decent, presenting expansive, atmospheric levels ranging from a jungle river in a shallow canyon, to a nighttime village, to a ruined European city. In other words: The usual places you visit in a shooter. The levels seem built smartly enough for multiplayer games; I never got the sense that some sniper was loitering somewhere racking up cheap kills. In fact, on some maps, the usual sniper spots are great places to harvest a few easy kills. Furthermore, nothing's quite like a green smoke grenade to keep out the sniper fire when you're capturing a victory point flag.
War Inc. Battlezone is currently in beta, and the developers at Online Warmongers are still rolling out new content. For instance, expect various models of UAV camera drones that lets you mark enemies for your teammates and rain fiery death down upon your foes. Though these drones can be shot down, I suspect it's a good way to learn new maps as well. With satisfying enough gunplay and gameplay gimmicks like drones on the way, War Inc. is the sort of shooter that might save you the $50 you would have spent on Call of Duty.
And if you want to hop into the beta, we've got you covered -- give it a try!
EDITOR'S NOTE: We initially had the developer identified incorrectly; we've since fixed it. We apologize for the error!
