Nov 6, 2009

Meet AVA

The name of the game is Alliance of Valiant Arms. It's a feature-rich modern warfare shooter that runs on the Unreal 3 Engine, and it costs $60 less than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (yes, that means it's free).

The gameplay has a Counterstrike quality to it, but AVA is deeper (and prettier) in all respects. It has three basic classes, 50 levels of advancement, nine game modes, a full achievement system, and a solid array of weapons that you can tweak out with attachments.* You start with one primary weapon, a pistol, and a frag grenade for each class. As you progress through the ranks, you earn money to buy better boom sticks. Unlike Counterstrike, the weapons you buy are persistent, meaning you'll always have them as long as you keep them repaired (most of the optional gear is temporary, however). And, there's a whole pile of new stuff coming on November 11.

* Note that the website does not list all the gear that's available in this build.

AVA isn't as polished as Call of Duty, but the amount of content is pretty remarkable for something that's completely free. I've had a hell of a lot of fun with it so far, and it more than satisfies the urge to play the more traditional type of multiplayer shooter. In an age where most games are going the co-op route, it's nice to get back to my roots for a couple of rounds.

You get a decent wad of cash after you complete the tutorial mission. I highly recommend buying the M16 straight away: you'll do a lot better with that than you will with any of the default weapons.

If you're interested, start here. If you're not sure if you're interested, watch the video:

12 comments:

  1. Hell, I like the unpolished look. Better yet, I like the game and the graphics settings. I'm gonna download it and play it, just to see if I can convince more people to get, or not.

    One thing I noticed in all the vids I have watched, no use of the scoop or iron side. If so, that's a bummer

    Nice find Scott, as always!

    ReplyDelete
  2. looks nice, Is this this new hotness? Not sure what happened above.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The sniper rifles have scopes, and you can buy reflex sites for a lot of the rifles and smg's, but there are no iron sites for the weapons without them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. For anyone who gets enough playtime, post your impressions here, or on the forum.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am checking out the site right now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is this a free to play game where you have to gain money by the task you do, then you can buy weapons depending on the money and skill level you are at?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Skill level doesn't seem to mean anything, but you do earn money at the end of a round, and that's how you get new weapons and gear.

    ReplyDelete
  8. yeah, I am just glad thet you are able to keep the weapons that you buy. In WarRock, which seems to be the same free play type, you can buy weapons but you only have like 30 days to use them. this looks like you can keep it permanently.

    ReplyDelete
  9. OMFG!!! Pleas tell me it comes with that euro-techno music so I have some glow-sticks glow whole I play the game and take some xtacy. tssstsstsstsstsstsststss(yeah you know it's that techno beat) tsstsstsstsstsstsstsstsstss.

    ReplyDelete
  10. you would not believe the amount of Techno that is in the game...it is CRAZY!

    ReplyDelete
  11. it only took me like 24+ hours to download. Hope playing this game doesn't suck as much as downloading it. File kept stopping. I'd have to pause the file then restart it to get it to work.

    ReplyDelete