PC Game Review: Microvolts-Free 2 Play FPS Shooter Madness!

One of the reason the blog updates have been coming so sporadically is due to my stumbling upon an awesome game called "Microvolts".  It's currently in Open Beta and is free to play.  it was pretty ironic that I found this game.  I was messing around on YouTube about a week prior and saw some video footage of someone playing this game.  At the time I thought it looked pretty cool, but the video had no info of what game it was or how to find it.  Luckily one of the MMO newsletter's I get in my email each week had an add for it.

Here's the skinny.  You're character is one of 4 toys.  We have Know, Naomi, Pandora, and C.H.I.P.  They are engrossed in a rather messy war.  Every player can play as one of these four characters.  The real joy comes when you have collected enough MicroPoints (MP) to redeem them for custom parts for your character (like new hairstyles, clothes, pants and shoes, and even bling).  There are RPG elements to this game as well.  Every match you play will help you build experience points that will count towards your level (I'm currently a Level 7).

The Kitchen Map

There are currently 9 Maps (Junkyard, Castle, Neighborhood, House Top, Model Ship, PVC Factory, Chess, Battle Mine, and Toy Garden).  Each map is amazing detailed.  For example, the Chess map takes place on a patio table outside.  With a chair on each side of the table lending it's seat as the spawning area for the players.  They can then leap up ontop of the table via a jump pad.  There you will encounter a giant chessboard that you can use the pieces for cover as you make your way across the table battling other players.  Each map makes you feel as though you are a renegade toy, with everything being oversized.  It's awesome.  If you've ever played "World of Padman", the levels are very much the same in terms of shear size.

The game types include Team Deathmatch, Free For All (Deathmatch), Capture The Battery (Capture The Flag), Elimination, Item Match, and Close Combat.  The first three are pretty self-explanatory.  However, the Elimination Mode is just that.  It's a version of Team Deathmatch with no respawn.  Forcing you to play by the rules and help your team survive the round, if you'd killed; you're out.  Close Combat restricts each player to Melee weapons only and takes place only on the Chess map.  Item Match simply causes random drops whenever a player is killed.  Survive the map working as a team and collecting drops to help you win the match.

The weapons are insanely fun to use.  Instead of trying to make each weapon look realistic, the developers went with more plastic made, or toy friendly designs.  The weapons look like something you'd see packaged with an action figure.  You start out with rather low damage weapons in the beginner levels, but once you build up enough MicroPoints you can upgrade each weapon class and get the fancier, more powerful firepower.  The roster of weapons are pretty standard stuff to online shooters: melee weapon (some form of shovel, wrench, chainsaw, etc.), rifle (a rapid fire weapon), shotgun, sniper rifle, gatling gun, bazooka, and grenade launcher.

My version of Knox with the second tier Bazooka (the Pound).

Each weapon class has it's own set of unlockable versions.  Each version has it's own set of stats that will play a factor in it's operation.  This game reminds me a lot of the early days of Team Fortress 2.  Just the way the game handles, and the controls are pretty universal to typical FPS titles.

Upon entering the game, it's pretty standard fanfare.  You'll have to register a free account over at: http://www.microvolts.com/
From there you can start to "Charge You Battery" by doing things like linking the game to your Facebook account, completing your profile, reaching specific levels within the game, etc.  Once you're battery is charged you can unlock special rewards like extra MicroPoints for buying goodies for your characters.  You'll only have access to 2 of the 4 characters when you start (Knox and Naomi).  However, Pandora and C.H.I.P are available to unlock with your MicroPoints for further expansion.

The Shop.

As I mentioned above, one of the real joys comes when you start decking out your character with it's unique look.  This is done the same way as upgrading you're weapons; through the Shop.  Simply click on the Parts you want to see.  And if you are the appropriate level and have enough MicroPoints, you'll look unique in no time.  Once your items are bought. you can equip or unequip them by moving them from your inventory to one of the empty boxes hovering around your character.  And right now if you log 10 hours or more in one week you're entered into a contest to win one of 2 iPad 2's.  The first giveaway will be for hours logged the week of March 28th through April 4th.  And the second for hours logged the week of April 4th through April 11th.  So, hop in game build up a lot of MicroPoints to pimp out your character and this will have you logged time towards you're 10+ hours in no time.  Plus this game is insanely addictive, so you'll want to log more time into the game.

Customized Naomi.

To give you an idea of the customizing options available for the characters, here is a customized version of Naomi from another player I was playing with this afternoon.  The only other thing to cover is the sound, which is pretty common as other FPS titles right now.  Each character has it's own phrases they say when the taunt or when the get killed.  And some of them are pretty funny.  And definitely lighten the mood when you're killed in the middle of a crazy fire fight.

Overall, I'd rate this game 9 stars out of 10.  And that's only because it's still in Beta.  I can't wait to see how this game matures.  I've been playing this game pretty regularly now for about a week and the playerbase has done nothing but grow.  With more and more people playing with each passing day.

So do yourself a favor, if you love games like Team Fortress 2; you have to check this game out!
In the meantime enjoy the trailer:





Happy surfing!