Mad Combat Marines – Review
Follow Genre: Action, Casual, Shooter
Developer: FreezeNova
Publisher: FreezeNova
Platform: PC
Tested on: PC

Mad Combat Marines – Review

Site Score
5.2
Good: Low price
Bad: Really bad A.I.
User Score
7.5
(2 votes)
Click to vote
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.5/10 (2 votes cast)

FreezeNova has nine games on its record and six of them could be just assetswapped games, as they certainly look rather similar. One of the games on their list is Mad Combat Marines, a multiplayer shooter that lets you rip into enemies and friends alike. It doesn’t allude to anything and doesn’t try and fill its own shoes by claiming to be something it’s not, like saying: ‘we’re like Counterstrike, only more edgy.’ That’s a thing in its favor, because that would be a big pair of boots to fill.

Mad Combat Marines

Story

Where do you begin on story when it comes to a multiplayer shooter with no campaign mode? Maybe along the lines of: you are military man -and only men, because apparantly women aren’t allowed to be toting guns and spraying bullets all over the place- and you go on a rampaging murder spree and kill anything that moves until it stops moving. That should set you up for a plot. It’s not overly complicated and gets things done and your enemies done in. It’s safe to say that Mad Combat Marines is more about show than it is about tell, so take it into stride as you mow down the opposition.

Mad Combat Marines

Graphics

The graphics of Mad Combat Marines could do with a little more than a ‘style’ adjustment. Currently it sits in with a very childfriendly open environments setting with really bright lighting and little detail while your character is rather detailed. Due to this the game looks unbalanced. Then again it would be impossible to tone down the brightness without making it impossible to see your enemies. Which is currently also a problem with the draw distance being so short. Another note on the surroundings is that it’s currently impossible to tell which surface will let you land on them and which ones will just phase through you like vapor. This problem recurs on many items as the hit detection on environments is really off.

Mad Combat Marines

Another thing that really makes it difficult to know if a shot is going to land is when you are aiming, you can’t tell because there is no indicator. A small red dot telling you when a target is within range would be nice. The ragdoll effect is rather funny although it is a little glitchy.

Sound

Mad Combat Marines really took their RPG and blew this one up. The opening screen boasts one soundtrack which loops quickly and then in the game it goes quiet. The only thing you hear is the ominous clip-clop of your footsteps. The latter is probably for the same reason there is no actual music in CS and other tactical shooters, namely to determine where your foes are hiding.

The guns have their own distinct sound so you know at all times which gun you are holding. Whenever you score a kill the game tells you and does so in a rather hushed manner. Not some overly grand fanfare which would have been justified, but more in a mute way. It’s very reminiscent of Unreal Tournament.

Mad Combat Marines

Gameplay

Mad Combat Marines is a multiplayer online shooter in the vein of Counterstrike. It does however fall short. The way it’s played is you choose a room and then join the game, or you could just make your own room and then play the game that way. It needs to be said that if you don’t have the required amount of players, the game will fill the necessary spots with A.I. If you’ve never played a game with really bad A.I. I suggest you play this game, because the A.I. is really unpolished. When they lock on a target they’ll keep trying to kill it even if there’s an obstacle like a floor or a wall in between them, making them easy pickings for you to finish them off. When they are doing this, you are free to fire a flurry of bullets into them and they won’t even turn around and try to fight back. So easy killings.

Mad Combat Marines

This game lets you drive a car to switch things up. Some maps are really good for this while others ones aren’t that suitable. Sure there are roads on them and you can cruise them, but good luck trying to score a kill by just honoring the road code. The cars handle like a snail’s turd and when you try to run over a character, it’s like hitting a brick wall as they don’t even flinch. Should an enemy race over to you, you’re dead meat. If you think you can dodge this painful death by jumping, think again. It’s not that you can’t jump high enough, your legs are so supreme that you would be able jump over several cars stacked onto each other, but even when you jump the car will just hit you and kill you. This feels like a cop out. Then again you can just RPG their asses when they are in a car, as when it blows it takes out the driver too.

Mad Combat MarinesWhen it comes to weaponry, you can choose between a handgun, a machine gun, a sniper, and an RPG. All of these are unlocked from the get go, so you are free to test them out and see which one suits your play style. Should you run out of ammo before you die, you’re out of luck as this artificially stops you. Only dying regenerates ammo, so you’ll have to die to keep on killing. What’s the reason to keep playing after the first match, you ask? Well you gain points which unlocks other costumes and colours for your outfit.

Conclusion

When it comes to shooters, it’s completely up to you. Even if you are a real hardcore multiplayer shooter fan, be warned as the game is currently really desolate and you’ll be playing against A.I’s a lot which doesn’t really make the game shine. There’s a lot to patch and polish, but then again, Mad Combat Marines is really low budget and doesn’t cost that much so if you want to have some really simple shooting fun, this will be a great diversion.

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: 7.5/10 (2 votes cast)
VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rating: +1 (from 1 vote)
Mad Combat Marines - Review, 7.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings
Q


First game ever was Crash Bandicoot 3 Warped, ever since then, gaming has been something that I've gravitated to. Reading's fun but not as interactive. Always up for a bout of online multiplayer. If that multiplayer is co-op. So if you are up for a friendly co-op session, hit me up. Rahenik's the name to search on PSN.

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