I'm playing Ravaged,
a vehicle-focused online first person shooter game by 2 Dawn Games and
Reverb
Publishing.
This team-based shooter is online-only,
as it does not have any single player content or a tutorial to teach
the nuances of the combat. There are two game modes (capture the flag
and conquest) that take place on eight maps of varied sizes. Each of
the two factions get slight different weapons and vehicles, the
latter of which include ATVs, buggies, trucks, 4x4s, tanks, and
helicopters. Some require skill to pilot successfully (especially the
helicopter) and all handle plausibly well. You cannot drive and shoot
simultaneously in most vehicles, which emphasizes team play. There
are five classes in Ravaged: the scout (with a light machine gun),
assault (with a rifle), explosives (with a grenade or rocket
launcher), sniper (a choice between a rifle or crossbow), and the
heavy (with a machine gun). Using the rifles is straightforward, but
the rockets experience significant gravitational drop that makes them
require more skill to operate effectively. All classes get a
secondary weapon, a melee weapon, and another item like grenades or
mines. Ravaged doesn’t make you unlock weapons as there is no
persistence or progression in the game (just old fashioned murder).
You cannot “lone wolf” in Ravaged (again, placing emphasis on
team play), as the rocket launcher is necessary to take out vehicles,
but that class is useless against infantry. In addition, you can
spawn on your squad leader to get in the action more quickly, so
teamwork is definitely highlighted. Ravaged is fast-paced, thanks to
speedy vehicles and low soldier health that makes for quick, deadly
engagements. When the maps are populated, the gameplay of Ravaged
makes for a refreshingly chaotic experience. Ravaged has found a nice
middle ground between the “twitchy” Quake/UT shooters and the
slower-paced Battlefield games, filling a comfortable niche between
the two extremes.
