CHENNAI: A week back, when I had just installed it, I was excited to review Fearless and United - Guards (Fau- G). Fau-G is the Indian substitute to PUBG, the inveterate Battle Royale. My avowed reprehension towards this game format has long since been interpreted as ‘Fake News’, so I felt no guilt in ‘smashing that download button’ right on the morning of release, preparing myself to give Fau-G a rave review. However…
… Fau-G isn’t ready for a review. The full version of the game has not released. It is not even close to an Early Access edition. A beta would still be a better version than the current release. It is more like a concept demo. The concept involves showcasing a single mission in its ‘Campaign’ mode. The ‘Team Deathmatch’ and ‘Free-for-all’ modes are to release at some unannounced point in the future. Although Fau-G is not ready for a review, I am rooting for a win for the developers. I liked that they had a clear idea of the campaign story. The 20-minute-long Galwan mission tried to be politically accurate with the lack of guns in combat between the involved armies. Combat was restricted to some cool punching action and limited use melee weapons. I like the idea of fireside health regeneration, and I am curious to see how it plays out in the other modes. The movements were smooth overall, the mountainous environment shows promise for excitement in future missions, and in terms of functioning - nothing that a few patches cannot fix.
What surprised me, however, is that at a first glance, Fau-G did not seem desperate to impress. The game gives to us what it has to offer, with a vibe that says, ‘you WILL like this, and play, and replay for hours on end’, not a ‘will you like it, please?’ I am only hoping that the next major update of the game proves me wrong, with Fau-G being a game that is appreciated not only by a restricted user base in India but capable of competing with the other international Battle Royale greats. Specifically, Fortnite. I want Fau-G to overthrow Fortnite. I rate this game a faux out of four. I will defer my real review to once the full version releases.
Anusha Ganapathi
@quaffle_waffle
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)