Loadout – (Brief Interview With Community Manager of Edge of Reality)

Free-to-play games are quickly becoming the next big thing in gaming, giving gamers the opportunity to try new games without the potential risk of wasting money on a game that they may not enjoy. And who doesn’t like free stuff? Luckily for us, Edge of Reality does and they are entering the free-to-play market this summer with their newest game, Loadout.

Loadout is a fast paced, third person shooter with a heavy focus on weapon crafting and other forms of customization. As players progress and level up, they will gain access to new weapon parts, character customization, equipment and accessories. With the seemingly endless possibilities, players will truly be able to distinguish themselves from others on the battlefield. Ever facet of the weapons can be changed to the players liking, from the rate of fire to the type of ammo and ammo effects. In one demo for example, the ammo was altered to have different effects such as incendiary or electric.

The environments, weapons and characters of Loadout are presented beautifully on screen with a bold, colorful, and somewhat cartoony art style, similar to Team Fortress 2, which will allow it to stand out among the influx of modern military shooters hitting the market. The colors pop on screen and it is very satisfying to watch as my opponents exploded into pieces upon being hit with a rocket or watching their head disappear after a well placed sniper bullet.

To get some more information about Loadout and to answer a few questions, I sat down with someone who really knows his way around virtual firepower. K.L. Smith, professional Gears of War player and Community Manager over at Edge of Reality.  Here is what he had to say:

When can we expect to see Loadout available to the public?

 The public can expect Loadout sometime before Summer’s end.  In the meantime, we are about to enter our first round of closed beta invites.

Free-to-play games are usually accompanied by micro-transactions. What kind of micro-transactions (if any) can we expect to see with Loadout?

Cosmetic items, weapon parts, equipment and other in-game goodies will be available through microtransactions.  I must add, because this always pops up, we have a strong disliking for the Pay-to-Win model and we want to make sure players can earn  all of the weapon parts they see without feeling the urge to spend money.  There will be some items that simply cannot be purchased and will only be available through playing the game and earning said items in game.

Are there any plans to bring Loadout to console?

The Loadout team is really focused on bringing the game to Steam for PC.  We would definitely like as many people to play the game as possible, but there are several hurdles we face launching a Free-to-Play game.  We can never say never, but our focus is currently on PC.

If Loadout sounds as much fun to you as it does to me, head over to their website and sign up for access to the beta. Also, those not too savvy with playing shooters on the PC will be able to comfortably play with their wired Xbox 360 controllers. Look out for Loadout coming this summer.