Geneshift -
Early Access Review
I can honestly say that Battle Royale games are one of my least favourite genres. I think this is in part due to the repetitiveness of gameplay, but also because I completely and utterly suck! I mean, I suck at most games, but I’m on a whole new level when it comes to BR games! I played Fortnite and absolutely despised it. I played PUBG and found it “meh”. I played Ring of Elysium a little and enjoyed it for a short while, in small doses, but that was only because of the guys I was playing it with. I know there are other popular ones, but I have little to no attraction to them. I just don’t like Battle Royale games.
Enter Geneshift. The one and only Battle Royale to spark my interest, although that spark is now a raging inferno! It’s completely different to the BR games previously mentioned, with it’s top-down view and quick rounds. It was inspired by GTA2, and it shows. That’s a good thing in my eyes! The whole look and feel of the game is simply awesome! It’s also the first, and only, Battle Royale that I haven’t completely sucked at! Yay for Geneshift!
I actually started playing this game when it was accidentally given away for free on Steam, a month earlier than it should have been. This free version is somewhat limited, but not in a way that prevents you from enjoying the game. You’ll progress a little slower with the unlockables, and the single player/co-op campaign is limited to the first chapter, but for the multiplayer gaming, you’re pretty much unrestricted. Play to your heart's content. There’s also a referral system for unlocking the full version of the game, so you don’t necessarily have to pay for it. That said, I enjoyed it so much that I went ahead and bought it.
As I just eluded to, there’s a single player campaign, with the option to play co-op too. I've completed the campaign twice, and it's great fun! I think co-op is the only aspect I haven't tried, but I imagine it's even more awesome! The most recent update made it so anyone owning the full game can host a co-op game, regardless of whether the other player owns the full game, which is a great bonus! Daily Survival Runs were also recently introduced. This is essentially 12 rounds of Battle Royale fun against the AI. Of course, each new round is more difficult than the previous. Survive the 12 rounds and you’ll be the champion. But it doesn’t stop there! After you beat 12 rounds, you’ll unlock the Hardcore difficulty, so you can challenge yourself with an even tougher twelve rounds! But it doesn’t stop there! Next you’ll unlock the Insane difficulty to really test yourself! But, and you probably guessed it already, it doesn’t stop there! Beat it on Insane and you’ll unlock the final Ultimate difficulty. This isn’t something you’re likely to achieve very quickly.
When it comes to multiplayer, there are a variety of options. You have the usual battle royal type mode with a choice of solo, duo, or squad games, but there’s also Team Conquest, Free For All (FFA) Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and Co-op Survival. If you feel a little spoilt for choice, you can simply select “Auto Choose Best Server” instead, and let the game choose for you. Unlike other BR games, joining, joining a game in Geneshift is muy rápido. The rounds and matches are short and fast too, so there’s no need to book an afternoon off work just so you can get a game in! There’s also a variety of different leader boards you can try working your way on to which helps give that extra challenge and incentive.
Geneshift boasts a whole load of different weapons, all with a very different look and feel about them, and each with their own benefits, giving plenty of options when it comes to killing and personal preference. I quite fancy the sniper rifles, at least until I get rushed and slaughtered. There’s also plenty of different vehicles you can find and use, again, each with a completely different look and feel. The flat bed, for example, is big and slow, but you can get your whole squad on it and just drive around terrorising everyone! Some of the vehicles even have their own weapons too, like forward facing flame throwers, or a self-destruct switch. There are civilian NPCs roaming the map too, and you can get special missions from some of them. Completing these give you extra perks, like extra damage or fast reload speeds. Naturally, you can also kill the civilians, and there’s a 4 star wanted system just for that! Not gonna lie, 4 stars is great, chaotic fun!
There’s quite an extensive upgrade system where you can spend the coins you gain while playing on new skills, or items that you’ll be able to purchase and use in each game. There’s some cosmetic unlocks too, coloured headlights and different armours being a couple of them. One of the incredibly useful things about skills is that there’s skill queues you can setup, so that whenever you gain skill points during a game, you’ll automatically activate whatever skills you’ve assigned in the queue. I’m very happy this was added! It’s saved me many deaths from frantically trying to assign skills in game!
I think it’s safe to say I really like this game! I gave it a try because I got it for free and went on to buy the full version, even though I could have got it for free through referrals. I think that should speak high enough of how I feel about this game. There’s just so much choice, whether it be what type of match you want to play, or what weapons, vehicles, or skills you use. With so much to unlock in the game, and the different leader boards, it just keeps you wanting to play more! You’ve probably figured this out already, but I highly recommend this game!
P.S. I'm going to be a sneaky bastard and leave my referral link here. Alternatively, you can type Gawain112 into the "Give +1 Recruit To" area while in game to help me get more coins for unlockables :)
Posted on 08-06-2020
