FPS General

Webzen has announced the launch of a brand new South American server for their excellent first-person shooter Arctic Combat. This new server will open up the game to a whole new audience that no longer has to connect over a distance, providing an overall better experience. With the new server, Webzen is also localizing Arctic Combat in Spanish and Portuguese, making the experience for folks in South America that much better.

“We’re very pleased to introduce the new server for our players in South America,” said Webzen head Jihun Lee. “We are dedicated to providing localized service to the Arctic Combat community, and committed to continuously introducing new content to the experience.”

The new content mentioned by Lee was released alongside the new server and includes one new weapon and a new map. The new gun is the TAR-21, an assault rifle that has seen some love in the FPS community before. The new map is called 'Highway' and will be available in Team Deathmatch. Last, but not least, players will be able to purchase limited edition Valentine's Day editions of certain weapons.

If you're looking to chuck heart-patterned grenades and wield pink assault rifles, this content is your time to shine.

Arctic Combat is available now and is free to play. Check out the new content in the game on Steam or at http://ac.webzen.com/main.

Arctic Combat has been available in open beta on Steam for a week or so now, and we've been able to sink a healthy few hours into the free to play shooter. So, how does it stack up?

First off, a little bit about the game. Arctic Combat takes place in the future but most of the weaponry and environments are set in a familiar urban environment. World War III is in full force after a mass amount of resources were discovered beneath the Arctic Ocean. As economic crises begins to ravage the worlds largest nations, the people begin to protest against their governments. World leaders once again turn to these untapped resources in the Arctic Ocean as battles for control begin to spring up in the region. 

When we initially heard it took place during World War III and in a future setting, we were anticipating some more futuristic weaponry akin to Battlefield 2142. This isn't actually the case, as most of the rifles (M4A1 and AK47 to name a couple) are prevalent in modern culture and have been for decades. While the lack of these futuristic elements isn't necessarily a detracting factor in the game, it's something you should be aware of going into it.

Webzen is stressing the skill-based aspect of Arctic Combat and this is obvious from your first match in the game. If you're accurate and smart, you're going to do infinitely better than the guy who is rushing match after match. The gun mechanics are superb, easy to get the hang of but difficult to master. With a focus on aiming and quick reflexes, Arctic Combat has been a very satisfying shooter to play. We've been using the hell out of the AK47 and AK74-u and definitely recommend those guns when you acquire the in-game funds to purchase them.

Gameplay in Arctic Combat is reminiscent of Counter-Strike, albeit in a more casually accessible fashion. Players can aim down the sights of their weapon for starters, as Counter-Strike purists froth at the mouth around the globe. In this day and age, ADS is more important than most people will admit and we were glad to have seen Webzen incorporate something this basic into their game. While we understand that ADS wouldn't be a smart fit for the style of play that Counter-Strike features, we can't say that this is something developers should adopt universally.

Keep reading for more on Webzen's free to play shooter, Arctic Combat!

Webzen has announced that their debut first-person shooter, Arctic Combat, will be entering open beta on December 7th - just two days from the time of this post.

Arctic Combat takes place in the future, during World War III. The team has been working on the game since 2007, fine tuning the mechanics and building a great gameplay experience. Webzen has put an emphasis on the skill-based nature of Arctic Combat, making this a really good fit for the eSports community. Indeed, the team has already hosted several closed beta Arctic Combat tournaments in both North America and Europe.

When the game launches in open beta on Webzen's own Global Service Portal, the publisher is simultaneously releasing a Steam version of the game for players who prefer that method of playing. Both games connect to the same servers, so no worry that Steam players won't be able to play with GSP folks.

“With its strong competitive component and community features, Arctic Combat is a fantastic fit for the Steam community,” said Webzen's Jihun Lee, in today's press release. “We’re pleased to open up the game for NA/EU players, and we look forward to delivering news about a series of eSports tournaments featuring Arctic Combat.”

Arctic Combat is, of course, a free to play title just like the rest of Webzen's catalog. The open beta is set to kick off on Thursday, December 6th so make sure you check back in with us at FPS General for more information when it goes live.