Hazard Ops: The Shooter for Everyone .

As it turns out I’m not as bad at shooters as I think I am. Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty bad, but while trying out Hazard Ops for the first time during Gamescom I actually got complimented on not being as bad as I said. And my team actually didn’t do too badly, though we didn’t win, we weren’t stomped on either. Hazard Ops was actually really fun to play and they just recently launched so now everyone can experience it for themselves.

My play through started out with a quick introduction to customization. Picking your guns is only the beginning of your customization. You can pick from several different frames and much more. Not really knowing what I was doing I just picked things at random because they sounded cool. After customization I got into the tutorial where as you might expect I learned the basics. One thing I wasn’t expecting was being able to jump out of your Mech and do repairs on it. I only really ever got out on accident because it was just too much fun running around as a Mech. The tutorial went through the basics of motion; how to walk and jump as well as how to shoot.

Once I was finished with my tutorial I actually got to play against people in the new War of the Machines update. I was half expecting a gankfest but it actually proved to be both fun and challenging. The map we were on had several obstacles for us to hide behind so of course none of us really made ourselves easy targets. In the end it was a really close fight. But the enemy won by just a few points.

Scattered across the map were various boosters which players could pick up. They included things like speed boosts and boosts to damage. Oddly though I never really saw anyone going after them. It kind of seemed like I was the only one picking them up. And this was something I tried to do after each resurrection.

At one point I had jumped out of my mech (totally by accident) and it ended up getting destroyed before I could repair it or get back inside. So my mech was lost. Unfortunately, while I could still do combat, on foot I was quickly discovered by an enemy mech and taken out. That resulted in a quick resurrection at the starting point, back in a mech. It was for the best really, I wasn’t going to be much good to my team on foot. Your weapons just aren’t nearly effective enough against a mech.

The entire thing was fast paced and exciting to play. Just based on my short 15 minute experience I would happily recommend that if you like any kind of shooter from Planetside 2 to Titanfall you really should give Hazard Ops a go. I only experienced one small part of the game and I would happily add it to my list of games I play regularly. This was actually an experience that I got a few times throughout the convention. I might actually start getting away from the MMORPGs that I so adore.

As I learned this was but one of many things you can do in Hazard Ops. Infernum has gone all out with the shooter. They’ve managed to make it friendly to both the hardcore and casual. It is both complex and beautifully simple at the same time. It comes with several different modes you can play through that gives the impression that Hazard Ops is really all the best bits of all the shooters and mech games there have ever been put into one game.

Beyond the mechs Hazards Ops has zombies, robots, mutants, PvP, PvE…like I said, it really is everything you could want in a shooter in one game.  Oh and dinosaurs, who doesn’t want to fight dinosaurs? I think Infernum has really hit something great with Hazard Ops. They’ve made a game that doesn’t tie itself down to just one thing and they’re obviously quite comfortable adding new modes to the game that are completely different to everything else they’ve done so far. Perhaps best of all though, they do it with a wonderful sense of humor. Though you wouldn’t really know it to look at the game. Everything about Hazard Ops looks like the super seriousness you have come to expect from a shooter.

Thankfully they aren’t like that at all. And that really helps give the impression that it is friendly to players of all skill levels. In fact, if you have a kid who wants to get into shooters I would suggest that Hazard Ops is a great start. Of course it isn’t really rated for children to play it, but what shooter is?

When it came down to it I had an absolute blast playing Hazard Ops. It was a pleasure to meet the team working on it and I’m really glad I got the opportunity. Meeting Dean Burrows was quite easily one of the highlights of the entire trip. He was excited to share his game with me and you could tell he really loves his job. Hazard Ops was…while it was on my radar for news it was never a game I actually considered playing myself. But now that I’ve given it a try and really enjoyed it I think you’ll find me logging in from time to time. If nothing else it’s a great way to unwind after a stressful day. Why? Because ultimately, I don’t take gaming seriously. I’m there to have fun even if it means I never win. Though hey, winning is always nice.

Hazard Ops is now live, the War of the Machines update which I got to try out launched the same day as the game did. That means you can jump in and shoot up some mechs right away. Me though? I think I’ll be spending the rest of my weekend taking on some dinosaurs.