Combat Arms is a standard first-person shooter. You run around on foot and shoot other players until they die. In this aspect, Combat Arms serves well as a free shooter, and never falls into some of the pits one would expect. It looks good, plays well, and scales excellently according to the system that it is being played on. If you are starved for a little bloodshed but don't have the money to lay down for a modern FPS, Combat Arms is definitely a decent choice, and is a great game to play in short bursts.

The monetization in Combat Arms comes from the sale of weapons and outfits to players. Players can buy new weapons and new outfits using that classic microtransaction system that free-to-play developers love. Unlike Exteel, however, your rank and your equipment do little to determine how well you play. This is a free-to-play shooter that actually requires some skill on the part of the player, so do not think you can get by on simple grinding. It's a refreshing change of pace from the typical microtransaction model where paying means you instantly get better at the game. Skilled players deserve advantages too, and Combat Arms delivers. You can also pick dropped weapons off the ground, which allows players that do not play as much or with less access to funds to have decent weapons too. You will always spawn with your chosen weapon, though.

Gameplay is determined almost entirely by the chosen game mode. There's your standards, such as deathmatch and team deathmatch, as well as a few interesting ones, such as spy mission. The most ridiculous gametype, and the one that gave Combat Arms its latest moniker, is Quarantine, which pits fast-moving infected players against a horde of easily startled human players. It's a load of fun, and if you can finish an entire mission, you'll definitely have a blast along the way.

It's worth discussing personal experiences with Combat Arms, since this community issue is so focused. I know that this is unprecedented, and it may never be in another Playing for Free. But it has to come to light that the Combat Arms community is full of sore losers and statistic padders. So here's the skinny.

The very first game I played was a Quarantine mode game, as I wanted to see the dynamic between the zombies and humans. This game latest a few rounds, and was generally enjoyable. There was one person who was glitching out to win the map, so the server banded together to kick him in fairness to all. In general, a great experience. Then I tired playing a team deathmatch server.

Combat Arms is a game that really emphasizes in-your-face shooting. It is not careful and meticulous like Counter-Strike or Delta Force. This seems to elude many players, and they become frustrated or upset when you use such a tactic. I found myself in a Team Deathmatch game at the top of the charts by running around and spraying like mad. Most players were not used to this tactic, so I racked up enough kills to reach the top of the leaderboard. My teammates soon followed my lead, and we held a good dominance on the other team for a few minutes.

The next thing I knew, players began being kicked left and right, but only on my team. The justification at the bottom was "hacking". The lobby leader (who will remain unnamed) was obviously padding stats, as our team currently had a solid lead. I asked the leader why everyone was being kicked for hacking, but there was no response. Then I was kicked myself for hacking. I stared at the general lobby for a good two or three minutes before swearing and complaining to myself about sore losers.

Frustrated, I looked up another game and began to play. Sure enough, I began to creep up the score boards thanks to my tactics and copious scavenging from the corpses of the fallen. After about 5 minutes, I was booted for hacking again. Presumably, I was kicked for hacking because my score was rather high for somebody that had just started playing the game and was using only a default weapon. This assumption seems to be the key behind Combat Arms: The higher your rank, you better you are allowed to be.

I tested out my theory by purposefully playing poorly for a while. I noticed that players were more talkative and stopped accusing me of hacking. While I was not enjoying myself, I was also able to complete games, which let me earn the cash and experience desired. This punishment for skilled players is extremely jarring and off-putting, making the game very lackluster for those that want to play for real instead of imposing restrictions in order to play with others. I played well again after the test, and was kicked for hacking once more, which reinforced the notion that skilled players are punished for playing well at low levels.

Combat Arms is a good game. It plays well, runs well, and has a wide selection of modes and weapons to choose from. For the low price of free, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better shooter. Thanks to this, however, it also seems to attract the worst of the worst. The stat padders, the sore losers, or the downright trolls. It is through this that Combat Arms suffers, and it's a shame, because it's a game that is easily loved. If you love shooters, give Combat Arms a try. Just beware of the community.