While at the E for All Expo over the weekend, I sat down with Herb Yang, producer on Nexon's new online free-to-download / free-to-play FPS, Combat Arms.

If the name sounds familiar, Nexon are probably best known for their earlier title - Maple Story. Don't worry though, this couldn't be much further from the cutesy MMO, instead having more in common with their other project, the currently Korean-only Counter-Strike: Online.

Want to know more? Why not download the latest client - it's free! - and read on, to find out what Herb has to say!

To start with, he explains that Combat Arms has taken the free-to-download / free-to-play online multiplayer first-person shooter genre as it exists, and has added plenty of extras to it - giving you even more of a bargain for the price!

The game promises a highly-customisable experience for each player, offering multiple weapons, different stages, four diverse game modes, and action-packed gameplay. Each person can design their own character, customise their weapon, form or join a clan - and check to see how their skills may shape up against other players, thanks to a sturdy player profile system and robust stats-tracking.

As you play through the game, Herb explains that there's a level of persistence to the online experience - while it is pretty removed from a classic RPG, he mentions that some players have taken to Combat Arms as a role-playing experience, taking their soldier up through the various ranks, learning unlocks and even developing backstories for their character.

For most people, however, it's a standard FPS. Built-in to the game website is a tracking feature, keeping tabs on player profiles and stats - but also maintaining a friends list, so you can find out if your mates are online - and what they're up to. Also in what may be a first for an FPS, the game features a clan functionality on the same site - enabling people to recruit or be recruited, design their own clan emblem, or post about rules or upcoming events.

While speaking to Herb, I touched briefly on the apparently-touchy subject of microtransactions within the game - that is, the ability for players to bypass the free experience by paying cash money for in-game gear, weapons or other benefits.

"I'm going to answer that question very carefully - one of the things that we're very cognisant of is the idea that our cash features are balanced with our regular features - especially in FPS games, everything's about skill... but yeah, you can buy things in the game with NX, real money - we've just launched that portion of the game, which we call the Black Market, a couple of days ago - now you can hire what we call Mercenaries - they allow you to switch your character's appearance, you can play as a different character, but that's entirely cosmetic. We also are selling a bunch of different cosmetic items like another gasmask, or stuff like that... we always offer a GP (the in-game currency) equivalent inside the game. So, whether you want to buy in cash, or GP, you get the same thing."

The Black Market has also introduced a new level of gender equality into the game, with the first female character - Mei - now available as a mercenary. Whether you hire Mei or the male mercenary, Deckland, you'll receive 50,000 GP (Gear Points), to create their gear loadout - or simply choose to use the same weaponry for your mercenary as you do for your base character.

The update that brought about the Black Market has also brought about a revamped melee system, complete with several new weapons (including the Machete and the Ninjato), both available in the market, alongside other new weapons such as the FG-1 Fire Mask, Tactical Backpack and the Boonie Hat, all purchasable with Nexon Cash.


As time goes by, the Black Market will continue to grow and expand - it only launched a few days ago, and they're already promising new gear, bonus maps - you name it!

The game itself is also set to grow and expand - the whole shebang was launched on July 10th, with E for All marking the North American unveiling - and while he was a bit shy when it came to numbers, Herb promised me the playerbase was "quite big".

"We're very happy with what we have - but this is actually just the beginning of the game. Being an online game, the game's going to be evolving a lot. We've got a schedule mapped out, and the game definitely is going to change a lot..."

Another topic I expected him to be coy over was when the discussion turned to lag. The servers are located in the US (on the Pacific Coast), so obviously I was concerned about how that would affect my antipodean colleagues! His reply, although vague, was quite promising:

"I haven't heard a lot of complaints - obviously some people will, but we offer our current service to both Australia and to South America, and typically the lag doesn't seem that bad. Pretty much, if you're about 250 milliseconds for ping, I think you'll be okay."

So. If you've been considering a new FPS experience, and your wallet is the only thing holding you back, it sounds like Combat Arms may be worth a look. Its tiny price tag is matched by its tiny system specs!

	REQUIREMENTS	MINIMUM	RECOMMENDED
	OS	Windows 2000	Windows XP or better
	CPU	Pentium 3 - 1GHz+	Pentium 4 - 2.4GHz+
	MEMORY	256Mb RAM	512Mb RAM
	VIDEO CARD	GeForce 2 MX	GeForce FX 5600 or better
	DIRECT X	Version 9.0C or later	Version 9.0C or later
	HARD DISK SPACE	2.0 Gb	2.0 Gb
	INTERNET	Cable/DSL	Cable/DSL or better

We got to see a bit of a Combat Arms tournament while at [b]E for All[/app] - and trust me, those tiny specs can still manage to produce a pretty shiny looking game. While I'm not sure that it'll set the world on storm just yet, Combat Arms is providing a very suitable little stop-gap for those of us who want to play FPS, but don't quite have the money or the hardware to keep up.

Want to give it a go? We've got the latest client file available for download from our mirror. It's less than 500MB, and totally free to download and play - what are you waiting for?