Review: S4League

S4League is a third person K-style shooter, developed by Pentavision.

I stumbled up on this game by pure accident whilst looking for through a list of free online games; I clicked the link and was taken to the website where I had to register and download the game client, which was done reasonably quickly; in about an hour or so.

Then BOOM! It wasn’t too long before I was on the English speaking server, then I was prompted to create my character. The parts at this screen are all vastly similar to one another so don’t take too long here.

After that screen however you are taken to the game room selection, you can only pick the top one to begin with as that is where the lower level players go, so in you pop.

Now, this is where the real fun begins. You have two choices here; you can A) Get straight into some action or B) customize your character. I would go with A first to generate some in game currency, called PEN, then come back and change your character up.

The Gameplay: As S4League is a K-style (or Korean Style) shooter, expect to see other players jump around, over and behind you as they fill you full of lead to begin with, but don’t worry, the control system is very intuitive and you will have no worries picking it up so you will soon be doing the exact same things. There are four different game modes. These are Death Match, TouchDown, Chaser and Arcade. As the game mode names suggest: Death Match splits the players into two teams, Alpha and Beta, the first one to score the designated points wins, this game mode has a combat emphasis. TouchDown is like a game of football; two teams try to get the ball from a central location on the game field and try to put it in their opponent’s goal. This game mode focuses less on combat and more on objective completion, but don’t expect to get an easy run to goal. Chaser mode is an experience similar to survival, as if the survivors are being "hunted". One player is chosen randomly to become the Chaser, who is indicated by the actual Chaser hovering near him (being 3 available for purchase at the Shop). The Chasers objective is to dominate the survivors in the given time, or survive if the survivors are too powerful, which is unlikely since the Chaser receives a huge attack and defense bonus, and reload time is shortened. The Chaser is also limited, since the Chaser Doll is blocking part of the visible area, and the survivors are outlined in red and black from his/her eyes. The players who are not chosen as the Chaser are the survivors. Their objective is to either kill the Chaser or survive in the time given. When enough attack power is implied on the Chaser, measured by a bar, the player receives 2 bonus points. While in a round, the player who is in 1st place and is not the Chaser is the "Target". The Target will always have visible cross-hairs which can be seen as long as the target is in your viewing screen. If the Target is killed, the Chaser receives double points and the next player on the ranking list is the Target as long as he/she's alive. There are also damage rankings, which are awarded to players if they either harms the Chaser enough with ranged or close-ranged weapons. Damage rankings give off bonus EXP at the end of the match. Arcade Mode is the games story mode, but don’t expect to be able to do it on your own, grab some buddies and jump in.

The level of character customization knows very little boundaries after you hit rookie level 5 and unlock the FUMBI centre, where a FUMBI will do a dance and generate a special version of an item, e.g. a coat in a different color or with different stat bonuses. You can also pay for premium content

For a free game S4League is pretty good, although if you aren’t willing to pay for premium content, don’t expect to get high rankings in a match. The graphics are typical of K-style shooters, leaning towards cell shading. The control system is easy to get to grips with and if you enjoy shooting people (or stabbing or hitting them with a big bat) whilst flipping over their head, switching to a revolver and shooting them as you come down to land. This is a game for you.

I give S4League 8.5 out of 10.

http://s4.en.alaplaya.net/ official S4League European site