By Mohammad Abubakr (Abubakr), OnRPG Journalist

Although at first glance Cross Fire will seem like another generic FPS (First Person Shooter), it really isn’t. Cross Fire has many unique features which stand out from other FPS games. This is a game you must try. At first I thought it was just another FPS game, but when I had nothing to do and downloaded this game, I fell in love with it.

Black List? Global Risk?

In Cross Fire there are two sides you can pick; Black List and Global Risk. Like most FPS games you can change sides in every room/server. These two teams remind me of Counter Strike’s Terrorists and Counter Terrorists. Global Risk is a military organization founded by Sir Alex Roid, who was a retired SAS member in the British Air Force. Then Michael Norman developed it into a business corporation. The goal of this corporation is to achieve world peace. Black List is a secret terrorism organization and its founder is unknown.

Don’t get lost!

Cross Fire has many maps to choose from. These are of different sizes and for many purposes.  Some are great for sniping while others are for closer range firing. All the maps are very well done with many secret passages and places to hide. Camping is not a huge issue as you can’t get hurt for a few seconds after you spawn.

My favourite maps are Ship, Egypt, and Monaco. Be sure to check those out! I love to play on Ship and Egypt because they’re small maps. You can easily run into the action without having to search for enemies. Monaco is exciting to play on because it’s great for sniping. It’s a medium sized map with options of using a close ranged gun or sniping. What’s more fun than running in and killing all the snipers?

Hmm… What to play?

In Cross Fire there are many different modes to choose from. With all these options you won’t get bored. If you’ve ever played FPS games before you’ve probably tried out team death match. In team death match you can choose either of the two teams, Global Risk and Black List, and you have to kill the opposing team. The room master (the person who created the room) sets the kills required to win and can choose between a number of maps. In Team Death match you will be able to respawn after you have been killed. This is my favourite game mode because it requires some strategy, lots of teamwork, and skill.

Another great mode is free for all. In this mode everyone is alone and the aim is to keep killing your enemies until you reach the required number of kills which is set by the room master. Once again there are a lot of maps to choose from. This time however it doesn’t matter which team you join as everyone is on their own.

Tired of killing someone and getting killed again while someone is in invincibility because they just spawned? Then Elimination mode is right for you!  Elimination is like team death match except you don’t respawn. Once you have been killed you must wait until the current round is over. The rounds finish once all players on one team have been killed. The last team with at least one person alive wins the round. The number of rounds required to win can be set by the room master. If you’re playing Elimination mode you also have the option of choosing the Cross Roads map. This is a special map where you don’t use your own gun. Instead, at your spawn point there are various guns on the ground available to be picked up as your weapon. It’s ‘first come first serve’ so decide what gun you like and run for it. Don’t steal your teammate’s guns though if they asked for it. I like to go for AWM, M4A1 and the AUG. Usually I just get whatever is close/left if these guns are taken.

Another interesting mode is Search and Destroy. In this mode you can win by completing your objectives like detonating C4 or defusing the opposing teams C4. You can also win by eliminating the opposing team. If you fail and the bomb has been planted, don’t worry. It takes a while for the bomb to actually explode. So, hurry up and defuse it! Here is what I do if I’m in charge of planting C4. When our team has planted the C4, we camp around the C4. It will take a few seconds for global risk to defuse so if someone is there they won’t take that chance.

Lastly, there is Ghost Mode. This is a game mode which makes Cross Fire stand out from other F2P FPS games. In ghost mode Black List is cloaked and they must plant a bomb at either site A or B. There are various maps so the sites have different locations. Black List run very fast and can’t be seen when standing still but the downside is you can only use a knife. Global Risk on the other hand can use guns but are fully visible and run at normal speed. Just like Search and Destroy, Global Risk has to prevent Black List from planting the C4.

Lock and Load

Cross Fire has a huge variety of weapons to choose from. You can choose between snipers, assault rifles, grenades, melee weapons, ECT. Make sure you get a weapon that matches your play style. If you like to stay far away, get a sniper or a gun with good accuracy. If you like to run into the action buy a gun with lots of firepower because you don’t need to worry about accuracy as much. You start off with a basic sniper and rifle. In Crossfire you can carry many bags which store different guns and you can switch bags for a few seconds after spawn. Don’t know what gun to buy? What I do is go to Crossroads and try out all the guns on the floor. Take your pick!

I personally use the M4A1. I like to shoot from far and still be able to do a fair amount of damage up close. The M4A1 fulfills my needs. This gun has great accuracy even at long range, and it does quite a bit of damage. I’m hoping to buy a SCAR Light soon and maybe an AWM (Sniper). Weapons in Cross Fire don’t expire (yay!) but they do need to be repaired. As the weapon gets more damaged its stats will start to decrease. Talking about weapons, you can also go to special rooms which allow only pistols, knives, or snipers. This increases the fun and won’t make the gameplay feel repetitive.

Characters

In Cross Fire you can choose between different characters. You have the option of choosing between: OMOH – Russia, SAS – England, S.W.A.T – America, and SPOP – England

Summary

In conclusion Cross Fire is a great FPS game. It has so much to do and best of all; it’s free! If you’re worried about your computer being too slow, don’t worry! The system requirements for Cross Fire aren’t very high. It won’t cost you a dime so go ahead and start up the download! You can come and play a few games with me if you like. My IGN is Abubakr, add me on Xfire too if you want (Abubakr).

The Good:
– Fun and unique gameplay
– Lots of maps to choose from
– Many game modes
– A lot of active players
– Easy to learn and get into
– Many weapons
– Nice community.

The Bad:
– Graphics aren’t the best
– Weapons not customizable
– Some hackers.