CrimeCraft is an online first-person shooter (MMOFPS) from Vogster Entertainment.  Initially released in the fall of last year, they recently celebrated their 1-year anniversary.  At launch, the game was a purely subscription-based model with a monthly fee of about $10 to play.  Despite this lower than normal pricing, they chose to move to an even more accessible "free-to-play" business model with optional premium purchases.  This new option makes the game extremely inexpensive to play with either purchasing premium currency as you go, or springing for the low subscription rate of a mere $5 a month.

In addition to the business model changes over the last year, the game has changed and evolved in its content and gameplay as well.  Though the developers have remained quiet over the last several months, they have been continuously updating and enhancing the features of CrimeCraft.  Now they are preparing to launch their first expansion to the game, titled "Bleedout".  Since the game has changed so much from its initial launch, we felt it deserved a re-review that takes into account all of the new features and content it currently has to offer.  So, we recently took some time to test out the various features of the game to share with our readers.

Starting Out

After logging in, you are able to create your first character.  Since this is a relatively "real world" modern game, you will create a normal person, either male or female.  There are a variety of pre-designed heads you can choose from and about six to ten hair styles (depending on whether you choose male or female).  Male characters also have a few options for facial hair.  The starting clothing is rather limited, with only a few tops, bottoms, and shorts to choose from with three or four color variations.  If you are an MMO veteran, you are probably going to be expecting more options for character appearance than are available.  It would be nice to have some more control over the faces and more hair styles as well.  Keep in mind that the clothes aren't significant because you're going to get a lot more options for your equipment once inside the game.

After you enter the world, you enter into "The Moat", which is a fairly substantial tutorial area that guides you through the first several levels of the game and slowly introduces you to its various features.  You are immediately treated to some of the gruff personality that is a characteristic of many NPC's in CrimeCraft.  Their attitudes range from humorous to sometimes downright insulting (all in good fun, of course).  You get the picture that it's a dog-eat-dog world and you're wearing bacon pants.  With a quick rundown of the basic controls, you are given your first mission to test your worth.

This is the first experience of the combat and mission system in the game.  Since it is a shooter at heart, the combat plays a center role in the gameplay.  While there are other features like crafting, recon, etc. you can't forget that you have a gun for a reason.  The controls handle in the standard WASD method with an active mouselook for aiming.  You can still access things like your inventory, map, and other UI by pressing TAB, but mostly you're focused on firing your weapons.  You start off with one semi-automatic pistol, giving you a simple start off to the combat.

Combat & Missions

The weapons have a fairly realistic firing rate, aim, recoil, and accuracy.  You'll find that if you simply fire off your gun wildly, your target reticle with expand and you will soon be looking far above your target's head.  It isn't a problem to control your aiming and firing, however, with even just a little practice on these initially weak and unskilled NPC's.  I recommend you take the time to familiarize yourself with the mini-map, controls, and combat in this first area as it is the easiest place to do so.  Obviously, as time goes on your twitch firing skills will improve, but you need to at least familiarize yourself with the basic aspects of the game before moving on if you aren't a veteran at shooter games.

During combat there are also fun bonuses you can obtain by doing things like head-shot kills, killing multiple enemies in short succession, or even killing an enemy with the last bullet in the chamber.  So for the expert FPS players, there are additional goals you can "shoot" for during the game (sorry about the pun).  While the enemies in the first map are not overly challenging, be aware that will soon change as they vary in both toughness and behavior.  There are some enemies that will hole up behind some cover and make it difficult for you to target them, while others will occasionally go nuts and just rush you with a knife!  Some advice: watch your back and don't let down your guard (pretty obvious, right?).

Next you will move on to different missions like rescue, "assasination", escort, and even some recon and collection missions.  The first several missions are against NPC's only, and you start off solo.  Then you move on to NPC missions where you are grouped with other players in an "open mission" style.  Once you have passed those milestones you will eventually get into your first PvP match.  Here is where a lot of the players find their fun, as fighting against  computer AI just doesn't compare to the challenge of other intelligent (at least SOME of them) human opponents.  This makes things much more challenging as players use more clever tactics like hiding, sniping, sneak attacks and all the other things YOU can do.

Simply firing your gun is not the only tool at a player's disposal.  There are also skills and boosts that players can use to enhance their combat abilities.  You can learn special skills from things like survival techniques to weapons abilities that add to your arsenal of destruction.  I didn't count ALL the skills, but there were over 20 different options that I noticed.  Each of those skills can also be levelled by spending skill points, enhancing their effectiveness even further.  Players can obtain things like a heartbeat detector to seek out nearby enemies, or auto-healing injection device that passively heals you when your hit points drop below a certain point.  And there are many options beyond that.

Each player has between one and three skills they can "equip" each mission, and one or two boosts they can carry with them (the number you have available depends on level).  Some skills, like those mentioned above, are gadgets which you have access to while others are enhancements to firearms skills or even the ability to use traps and explosives!  Boosts are items (typically player-crafted) that as their name implies will "boost" your abilities or stats.  They can do things like heal you, or increase your combat effectiveness, and more.  Don't be scared off by these drug-like items.  They are essential to your survival and success.

PvP Combat

While the number of maps in the game is not massive, it isn't a short list either.  There are a variety of locations, and additional mission types available with PvP like capture the flag, death match, assault, and others.  It will be important that you familiarize yourself with the maps as early as possible, because it can be easy to get turned around or confused if you don't know your way around.  You will have the opportunity to experience the maps in PvE missions (against computer AI), to it's best to learn them there.

PvP combat has the added features of things like rankings, additional rewards, and DAILY tournaments (yes, daily).  Players compete for both bragging rights and actual in-game rewards.  There are bulletin boards around town that will give you a breakdown of "who's who" in PvP, as well as the most recent results of daily tournaments.  I have to say, it can be a little intimidating when you find yourself in a PvP match with one of the top-ranked player killers in the game (which was where I found myself).  With practice and skill, you can make your way up the rankings, which are dynamic and not simply based on who has been there the longest.  And if you want more PvP action, there are also in-game events which are run on a fairly regular basis by the GM's.

Gathering & Crafting

As I mentioned before, combat isn't the only thing there is to CrimeCraft.  There is also a crafting system, which allows you to choose one of four initial professions.  These professions then branch off into two specializations each, giving a lot of room to advance your manufacturing skills.  Whether you want to create firearms or modifications, or maybe brew up some powerful boosts (consumable enhancements, like potions in the fantasy genre), crafting can be beneficial to the individual or your gang.  The system is fairly straight-forward.  You pick up components found throughout the maps you explore, and you stand over them for a given amount of time to pick them up.  Once you have scavenged what you need, you combine the components to make your end product.  Simple, but rewarding.

Gangs & Socializing

Speaking of "gangs", this is another important part of the game for anyone wanting to get the most out of their CrimeCraft experience.  Like guilds in other MMO's, gangs are a group of like-minded players banded together for the greater good of its members.  Part of the allure for many people to MMORPG's is the social aspect and interaction with other players.  Not only do I recommend you find a gang to join, but I would almost say it is absolutely necessary.  While you CAN enter into PvP missions teamed with random group-mates, you might quickly find yourself mostly alone and often disorganized during the battle in such a case.  Now add a handful of gang members at your side and you become an organized force to be reckoned with.  Gangs also have a "level" and get cool features like a hideout.

It also helps a great deal with immersion in the game if you can participate in the social aspect.  The community in CrimeCraft, like in many other MMO's, is a "mixed bag".  You have fair percentage of foul-mouthed kids, but there ARE other players who are helpful and willing to answer questions or guide new players.  The problem you might run into is that the main chat channels are often full of the prior type of player.  If your only interaction with other in CrimeCraft is through general chat, you will likely be discouraged and find the community very lacking.  But in the game's defense, this can happen in any game and is a frequent side effect of free-to-play MMO's.  So again I say (contrary to what you would say in real life), take my advice and find a good gang to join.

Immersion

On the subject of immersion, CrimeCraft does a good job of pulling you into the world they have created.  The environments are very detailed, with objects in each district/area fitting the overall theme.  The NPC's you encounter, whether enemies or friends also have a great deal of character (particularly mission-givers, vendors, etc.).  The maps themselves also fit seamlessly into this world of chaos and gang warfare.  Along with the visuals, the audio is fitting and not overwhealming.  The music is very urban, and the sound effects are professional and sensible for each gunshot and psycho scream.  The artistic style in the game is not an area where it is lacking.

The Future & Conclusion

Another addition to the game, which at this time is coming soon, comes with the first expansion to CrimeCraft: "Bleedout".  This will add new episode content to the game, with scheduled additions that expand on the story for players to participate in.  CrimeCraft is one of only two games in the MMO genre which has this type of content (the other being the space MMO, Star Trek Online).  This allows players to have even more story-driven content and additional mission types to experience.  These will be included with the $5 subscription plan, or available with the free-to-play model for a one-time purchase of $2 per episode.

Overall this is a great option for those who enjoy online multiplayer shooters.  It is definitely a "niche" game, in that it will not appeal to everyone.  If you are strictly a fan of fantasy games with elves and wizardry, you're not likely to find yourself at home amongst gangsters and drug dealers.  But in terms of quality, both technical and gamplay-wise, CrimeCraft has a lot to offer and a rather high level of replayability.  I could certainly benefit from additional maps and character visual customization, but these can certainly be added as the game continues to expand.

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