CosmicBreak

CosmicBreak Review

By Erhan Altay

CosmicBreak is a casual-friendly third person shooter MMO developed by the Japanese studio CyberStep.  The North American service opened on June 10th, 2010 – just in time for the summer rush.  While the visuals in CosmicBreak don’t stand up to those of Exteel, another mech based brawler, the combination of singleplayer, cooperative, and competitive content make it well worth checking out.

Union Battles

The graphics in CosmicBreak might not be technically advanced, but the quirky art style is distinctly Japanese and gives the game a unique atmosphere.  A browser plug-in and a small download (around 400 MB) are required before jumping in.  Each account can only create a single character, but the gameplay in CosmicBreak allows players to switch between various mechs, so this isn’t a major concern.  A short, mandatory tutorial starts with some dialogue between three NPC mechs.  Random bits of Japanese voice acting don’t serve much use on the American server, but somehow they sounded natural; it was almost as if I were watching a subbed anime.  The tutorial does a good job explaining the game’s basic controls.  W,A,S,D are used to move while the spacebar jumps and keeps mechs airborne when held.  Each mech has two attack modes, one controlled with the left mouse button and the other with the right.  After the first tutorial stage, players must choose between three warring unions: Wizdom (WIZ), Dostrex (DOS), and Bladine (BRD.)

Heroes on a Mission

CosmicBreak tries to incorporate some sort of story into the otherwise mindless robo-bash, and the motions are appreciated.  Each player represents a new ‘hero’ and the three NPC Union leaders try and convince them to join their side.  Each union has its own base area which serves as a persistent world lobby.  It is from this lobby that players can join arena matches, either by speaking to an arena bot or hitting the keyboard shortcut.  Players have the option of playing through a short mission prior to entering the lobby, where they will face off against a series of NPC robots with an NPC ally.  At the end of the end of this mission, and all future missions there will be a boss to contend with.  These first few missions each reward an additional mech, which is placed in the player’s garage.  It is from the garage that players can assign mechs to their ‘commando.’  A Commando is a lineup of three mechs that players take into battle with them.  Each time a player dies, they can chose to respawn as one of their three mechs.  Mechs fall into three broad categories: Air, Land, and Artillery.  Each type has its strengths and weaknesses highlighted by their different distribution of five stats: STR, TEC, WLK, FLY, and TGH.  The AIR type are the most agile and can fly around the longest without having to land to recharge their ‘boost’ gauge.  Land mechs are designed for ground combat, but can fly when the need arises.  Artillery are the slowest and bulkiest but deal heavy damage and have long rage.

The Commons

The gameplay portion of CosmicBreak comes in two flavors, PvP and PvE.  The PvP portion is accessed from the arena and comes in two modes.  Union Wars pits members of the player’s selected union against one of the other two.  Up to thirty players can take part in these matches.  A list of games is displayed and players can join which ever they desire.  Games start automatically when they fill up, but players are free to run around the area, chat, or just go afk until the battle begins.  New players should stick to larger battles -this way they will have more targets to shoot at and more teammates to fall back on.  In many ways, gameplay in CosmicBreak is very similar to Custom Robo, a console game for the Nintendo GameCube.  It is possible to dodge enemy attacks in real-time by strafing, or taking to the air.  Melee-range attacks such as sword swipes or thrusts deal heavy damage but are risky since they require the assailant to approach the target.  Tapping ‘w’ causes mechs to dash forward, and there are plenty of other small tricks players will pick up with experience.  The most remarkable part of CosmicBreak is how fluid it controls despite the blocky graphics.  Combat mechanics are simple to pick up, the controls function, but like Rumble Fighter, Splash Fighters, or GetAmped 2 the game is difficult to master.  More often than not, the better player will end up with a higher score than the one whose mech lineup has a higher point value.

Mecha Progress

The other major PvP mode is Team Fighter, which gives players more control over how they want to play.  Like in most lobby games, players must create Team Fighter rooms and can chose how many players are to participate and what map to play on.  There are no free-for-all modes in CosmicBreak – this is a purely team-oriented game.  This may seem limited at first, but with 5v5 being the smallest possible game size, free-for-alls would be way too chaotic.  Those looking for some PvE action must leave their Union’s area and head towards the shared Central Area.  A teleporter located in each union zone will take players to the shared area where players of all three unions can mingle and take part in cooperative missions.  Missions are hosted the same way Team Matches are.  There are several types of missions including story, assault, and mini missions.  Each come in five difficulty settings, ranging from “easy” to “extreme”.  Co-op missions are generally not as popular as competitive games, but this is probably because they can be played solo.  Playing missions solo is a great way to earn currency and experience.

Competing Currencies

The primary in game currency in Cosmic Break is UC.  Players start with around 5,000 and earn more by playing matches or completing missions.  New mechs, items, parts, weapons, and other items can be purchased from the shop using UC.  The single, universal shop is accessible from any lobby area while players are not in a game.  During the open beta, all items in the shop can be acquired with UC, including temporary bonuses such as double experience.  A lot of the items grant in-game advantages such as additional moves.  Whether these will cost Rt (the game’s premium currency) once it leaves beta is any one’s guess.   Besides purchasing items, players can also use a slot machine called ‘Garapon’ for a chance to win prizes such as new mechs or parts.  It costs 2,000 UC for a single spin, so play responsibly.  Players can apply custom paint jobs to their mechs, and the options available are quite impressive.  A whole palette of colors is available, and there’s even a more advanced editor for those who want to get real fancy with custom patterns.  CyberStep is the same studio behind the GetAmped fighting series, and CosmicBreak can be thought of as a Sci-Fi offshoot of that franchise.  While it supports much larger battles, the graphic style, and basic gameplay mechanics are very similar to its brawler predecessor.

Final Verdict: Good

CosmicBreak offers solid gameplay, but dated visuals and a cumbersome interface prevent it from earning a higher score. The ability to customize mechs, and the single-player and cooperative missions add value, but the best parts of CosmicBreak are the massive PvP battles.

CosmicBreak Screenshots

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CosmicBreak Videos

CosmicBreak Official Gameplay Trailer

CosmicBreak Tutorial Video

CosmicBreak Gameplay – First Look HD

CosmicBreak Links

CosmicBreak Official Site

CosmicBreak System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:
OS: Windows 2000 /  XP / Vista / 7
CPU: Pentium3 1.2 GHz
RAM:  256 MB
HDD: 800 MB Free
Graphics Card: 32mb

Recommended Specification:
OS: Windows Vista / 7
CPU: Pentium4 1.6 GHz or higher
RAM: 512 MB or more
HDD: 1 GB Free
Graphics Card: 128mb or better