Take Arms [Review]

Check out our thoughts on Take Arms from Discord Games

Take Arms

Team multiplayer games are typically things I take great enjoyment in due to the potential fun factor when there’s good player synergy. Team Fortress 2 is possibly one of the few games I hold in very high regard to this because of the large community. Take Arms takes a retro 2D approach for a team shooter in hopes of capturing the hearts of indie gamers. We will be evaluating the game as of the most recent update that addresses several issues raised by the player base.

As mentioned in the short preface the game is presented in a Contra style, 2D side scrolling perspective. The game gives you the choice of some basic game modes, and on selecting one you are either thrown into a lobby to wait for players or joining a game that matches what you’re looking for. After going into a match, the player is then presented with 3 classes: Striker, Grunt, Destroyer.

Striker being your sniper class, Grunt being the assault class, and Destroyer being your heavy weapons class. The game is sadly a little bit bare-bones on presentation as there are no load-out options to modify how you play. Also, from the matches I have played, the maps seem to be all too similar to each other. This in turns hurts replay value because the game play ends up feeling repetitive.

Take Arms

As far as game play goes, there is an offline mode that allows the player to play with bots in different modes. While it is good to help orient the player with how to go about the game, the bots are not too clever sometimes. Multiplayer is where the real focus of the game is and should be the primary reason for purchasing Take Arms. One of the major bullet points in the new update is quicker match making, but I have had a little bit of trouble finding available games within a 1 minute time frame.

The average time frame for matchmaking seems to be about 4-6 minutes if I’m lucky. Even then, the community seems small for a game that is very centric on multiplayer.  It’s hard to get matched up and go a game with more than 1-3 other players.  Also, the matches often become stalemates from people dropping out. The premise of the game is good, but without an active community it just falls apart.

Take Arms

Overall, Take Arms has good premise, but it is a game that is a little barebones and rough around the edges. Also, it lacks the community that a multiplayer game needs to thrive.  I feel part of the reason is due to the game being an indie game; it lacks the exposure to help bring in more new players. I hope that with more time to mature and refine Take Arms ends up being a much more solid game and also evolves into something much larger. Take Arms can be found on the Xbox Live Indie Games channel for 240 Microsoft Points ($3) and a demo is available.

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Long Diep
Long Diep
Long Diep

MASH Veteran

Long is an classic game fanatic who has a fond love of arcade games. He is a fan of fighting games and racing simulations and loves playing them with good friends. His true love is with Japanese curtain fire, "bullet hell" shooters. He is a gamer who believes that sometimes the best gaming gear can make the difference between a better experience in a game to increased game play skills. Even though he likes his unique games, he does enjoy FPS games, RPG's, and various other games. Long has a so

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