A few years ago now saw the announcement that Cliff Bleszinski was coming out of retirement (Unreal Tournament and Gears of War fans rejoiced!)… and then he announced a First Person Shooter code named “Bluestreak” with publisher Nexon, who’s biggest claim to fame so far was the free-to-play side-scrolling MMORPG – Maplestory. A lot of head scratching then began as there was almost no similarities between the companies.

But long story short, as time went on, Boss Key Productions was announced, then we heard the new title, heard CliffyB make his usual rousing speeches that had us all waiting for more during the GoW era we all started getting excited. Excited enough for myself to finally download the game and start playing the last open beta before release… and its fun as hell.

Right from the start the game lets you know that  it just wants to be one thing, and that’s pure unadulterated non-stop action fuelled superlative fun. From the Matrix-esque main screen of 2 people frozen in mid air while attempting god knows what, to the maps that decide it would be too easy just to have a normal arena, lets break the laws of gravity and have areas where everyone is flying through mid air trying to shoot each other, much like the old Unreal Tournament…_ . Just when you think this is just another shooter in an oversaturated market of clones (even of themselves, I’m looking at you Call of Duty) LawBreakers goes and does it there way, with the seemingly overwhelming bravado while yelling, WHY NOT?

And then there are even small easter egg’s such as hearing Justin Roiland’s yelling at you as the Blitzball which gives you the same goosebumps as when you play Accounting VR or Virtual Rickality.

Of course in the post micro-transaction era there was always going to be a loot system, but LawBreakers (I know what your thinking, even the 4th wall breaks are just too punny at this point) decides it wants to have its own version in the form of adorable little “stash drops” which came alot faster than expected during the 8 or so hours put in.

In an era where multiplayer games and the internet have evolved into the point where you can play what you want, when you want and with whomever you want LawBreakers made me nostalgic for those Lan party days where there always would be way too many males, pimples, fizzy drinks and pale skin.

Verdict

A love letter to those who spent the time hooking up their computers for a LAN party to play Unreal Tournament with the speed up and gravity down, just to see how crazy it gets!