Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Reviews

‘LawBreakers’ Review

'LawBreakers' is what happens when Overwatch meets Unreal Tournament

By
LawBreakers Review blitzball
‘LawBreakers’
MSRP $29.99
Score Details
DT Recommended Product
““LawBreakers” is a speedy, chaotic addition to the shooter market, but might struggle to break through.”
Pros
  • Unique character types
  • Fast, old-school PC-style shooting
  • A good blend of old and new ideas
  • Zero-gravity areas create crazy situations
Cons
  • Missing some key stat-tracking for certain classes
  • Chaos can get overwhelming
  • Easily overshadowed, may lose audience quickly

At any given moment, LawBreakers can erupt into absolute, ridiculous, gravity-defying chaos. That delicious disorder, which cropped up time and again as we played developer Boss Key Productions’ multiplayer arena shooter for our LawBreakers review, has its roots in the many distinctive first-person shooters from which the game takes its inspiration (which makes sense, given the pedigree of studio chief Cliff Bleszinski). Lawbreakers’ takes cues from Unreal Tournament’s fast-paced, low-gravity antics, and smart traversal ideas reminiscent of what made Titanfall so fast and fun. Its emphasis on class distribution reflects the underlying team dynamics of titles like Battlefield. And it’s impossible not to compare it to Overwatch, whose roster of distinct “heroes” clearly informs the fact that LawBreakers’ characters are all distinct from one another.

What makes LawBreakers worth playing on PC or console, though, is how well all these elements work in concert with each other. Almost every encounter in LawBreakers has characters warping, flying, boosting, and blasting, firing, and slicing away with all manner of overpowered weapons. It should be a big mess of competing ideas, and somehow, it isn’t.

Its delicious chaos grows from LawBreakers’ clear roots in many different shooters

A fight on one side of the map might be a tight one-on-one duel in which one character is sliding in, trying to close the gap to use close-range weapons, while the other is flying backwards, hoping to connect a powerful laser beam from a distance. On the other side, five or six characters zip around a zero-gravity arena, snagging each other with grappling hooks to get in close with swords or sniping with powerful dual revolvers.

The variety of characters you can choose from and fight against makes LawBreakers feel just shy of out of control, just like Unreal and Quake. In a world in which well-built multiplayer shooters seem to be everywhere, LawBreakers adds a take that melds the past with the future in a way that creates something exciting, even if it is another addition to an already saturated market.

True character

In LawBreakers, two teams of five players face off in one of a handful of objective-based matches. No matter the mode, some areas in every map have bubbles of altered gravity, where you might be able to jump high, float, or even fly. These sections are usually in the center of the map, where most of the action will occur, creating situations in which you can move from a fight on the ground to one in the air and back again seamlessly.

How you navigate those zero-g spaces depends on which of game’s nine character classes you choose. Each class sports a unique weapon, special abilities, and traversal mechanic. The Valkyrie, for instance, has a jet engine on her back, allowing her to fly for short distances. The Assassin uses a grappling hook to swing around the map, including dangerous gaps other players couldn’t cover.

There’s a huge amount of nuance in the character classes, their abilities, and how to best use them in each of LawBreakers’ five different objective-based game types. Although most every character’s MO boils down to “shoot enemies,” their differences — how they move and fight — create all kinds of variety in how you get the job done. Engaging a Wraith, which can slide and jump for high-speed attacks, is a totally different task than fighting off a jet-pack-wearing Harrier. Building a strong team, with different character types that put you at an advantage, can give you an edge.

LawBreakers is often so fast and twitch-oriented, that just because you’re mismatched against another player doesn’t you can’t deftly pull out a crazy win, if luck, skill, or both are on your side. Everyone can step into a low-gravity area in the map and totally change their movement abilities. The fact that characters might fly over you, slide past you, or swing into you creates a huge variety of battle situations, and that potential for lots of different kinds of fights makes LawBreakers exciting and tense in a way many other shooters can’t quite match.

Faster and more furious

While racking up kills is always important, matches feature objectives that put teamwork ahead of straight-up carnage. LawBreakers packs five objective modes, each a bit of a new take on a classic first-person shooter multiplayer match type. “Overcharge” and “Uplink” are takes on capture-the-flag gameplay, in which you take an object back to your base to score, but in LawBreakers, you have to defend the flags for set periods of time before points stack up.

There’s a huge amount of nuance in the character classes and how to use them

In Overcharge, the battery can be stolen mid-charge, meaning your hard work defending it can end up benefiting the other team with a timely grab. In Uplink, both teams have their own distinct charge meter, so you have to be just as good on the attack to stop the other team as on defense to score your own points.

“Turf War” and “Occupy” are zone control game-types: In Turf War, both teams try to take control of three different locations, with each one “locking” after one team has stood on it long enough to capture it, before all the zones unlock to be captured again. Occupy has a single control point that roves around the map, and points are scored when your team controls it.

Last but not least, “Blitzball” tasks teams with ferrying a ball to the other team’s goal, with a twist. You have to defend the ball for about 20 seconds in order to pick it up, and if the carrier is killed and the ball dropped, it’s another long, harrowing defense in order to grab it again.

Again, it’s impossible not to see this game and think of Overwatch, with its objective-only gameplay. LawBreakers “answers” Overwatch’s more teamwork-oriented gameplay with a faster, punk rock-ier take on similar material. There is still a focus on building effective teams and grabbing objectives rather than just rocking the other squad’s world, but it’s faster, it’s twitchier, it’s gorier. LawBreakers invokes Unreal and Quake, to the point where it feels like a completely different animal.

Breaking out

LawBreakers offers a markedly different experience from other games, but it might be too little, too late.While it has is a solid, well-built combination of great shooter ideas, it does not have the polish necessary to stand out in a crowd of solid, well-built multiplayer shooters.

For one thing, LawBreakers’ focus on faster gameplay and twitch fighting means its chaos is sometimes overwhelming. With so many character classes, abilities, and weapons in play, the learning curve is steep — and all the game offers in the way of teaching you to play it is a library of YouTube videos.

There’s a (mostly empty) sandbox mode that lets you try out each character’s moves, but for the most part, you’re tossed in the deep end and expected to figure things out. That’s a tough sell for a game that’s as fast and as hectic as LawBreakers, and is trying to build a dedicated player base in a field of other games with dedicated player bases.

Boss Key also neglected a few minor, but important details in the game’s statistics-keeping and scoring that can weaken your connection to the game. At the end of each game, you get a scorecard that marks how much damage you dealt, how many kills and deaths you racked up, and how many objective points you earned.

In some game modes, the statistics are straightforward. In others, like Blitzball, it can tough to understand how you contributed.

Similarly, the support classes, Battle Medic and Harrier offer the ability to dish out health and power-ups to other players, but those elements aren’t tracked at all. In a game that’s all multiplayer, all the time, giving players comprehensive looks at just how well they’re playing is essential to getting them invested in the game, and LawBreakers falls short in a few of these aspects.

Our Take

LawBreakers comes off as a cool addition to hero-based multiplayer shooters with a ton of good ideas from industry veterans (led, of course, by former Gears of War franchise Lead Designer Bleszinski). It’s just a slightly niche one. That’s good, because a variety of game offerings is always better. But LawBreakers feels like it lacks a major way to stand out, and that might hamper its ability to attract players and get them to abandon their main multiplayer squeezes to learn the ropes of a whole new one.

Is there a better alternative?

Again, there’s an elephant in the sniper nest, and its name is Overwatch. The question is whether you want Blizzard’s slower, more deliberately paced version of the hero shooter, or a faster and more frantic one more akin to old-school shooters like Unreal Tournament and Quake?

For our money, all things considered, we’d take Overwatch, but there will definitely be players who prefer this.

How long will it last?

LawBreakers is designed to be played forever, with a progression system that unlocks loot boxes and cosmetic items. With nine different characters to master and a lot of nuance between them, LawBreakers a lot of variety in gameplay that should keep shooter fans busy as long as they care to play it.

Should you buy it?

Yes, if you are looking for a fresh new multiplayer arena shooter experience, LawBreakers is great at blazing its own zero-g path, and does so at a $30 “budget” price. That’s if you’re looking. With more open-ended multiplayer shooters available than ever, you may be fine with the shooter you’ve got.

Note: LawBreakers was reviewed on PC using a copy of the game provided by the publisher.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Phil Hornshaw
Phil Hornshaw
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Phil Hornshaw is an author, freelance writer and journalist living in Los Angeles. He is the co-author of The Space Hero's…
All status effects in Lies of P and how to cure them
Pinocchio in Lies of P.

Lies of P is a challenging role-playing game that will test your mettle at every turn with deadly enemies and dastardly environmental traps. But to make things even a bit more difficult, you'll have to contend with a collection of status effects that can majorly affect your character and make things much harder for you in battle. We've compiled a list of all status effects in Lies of P, as well as a list of ways to cure them.
All status effects
There are a total of seven status effects, with each either dealing damage or having a noticeable impact on your ability to perform in battle. Here are all of them and how they work.
Overheat
Overheat is caused by taking too much fire damage too quickly. When the Overheat bar fills entirely, you'll begin to burn and lose health until it is cured or wears off naturally. During this time, your Guard Regain recovery amount will also be reduced, which can drastically impact your survivability in fast-paced encounters.
Shock
When Shock is applied, your character's stamina recovery will be reduced significantly, which can have devastating consequences. Until this effect is cured or wears of naturally, you'll be stuck with very limited movement and attack opportunities due to your decreased stamina.
Electric Shock
Not to be confused with standard Shock, Electric Shock is caused by taking too much Electric Blitz damage in a short period of time. When this happens, you'll take increased Electric Blitz and physical damage for the duration of the effect, and your Fable meter will drain continuously, which can reduce your attack options in combat.
Decay
Decay is caused by taking too much Acid damage within a small time window. This will cause constant weapon and acid damage, both of which can make life difficult for you in battle since letting it go on for too long can result in needing to repair your weapon while also dodging your foes' attacks.
Corruption
Corruption is caused by a buildup of, well, Corruption. When this happens, you'll be afflicted with what is essentially your textbook poison effect, meaning your HP will drain continuously until it wears off or is healed with an item. This can be especially challenging to cope with when also fighting enemies, so avoiding sources of Corruption is highly advised when possible.
Break
Break is an annoying status effect to contend with, as letting its bar build up entirely will temporarily decrease how much health your Pulse Cells heal. This can be especially frustrating when you already find yourself at low health and don't have many Pulse Cells left, but it's usually best to wait until the effect wears off before healing so you can ensure you get the maximum amount of health possible.
Disruption
Disruption is perhaps the most concerning of all status effects in the game, as you'll be instantly killed when the Disruption bar fills up entirely. If you find yourself in a situation where a lot of Disruption damage is being doled out, it's best to back off until the bar depletes some or you'll soon be seeing a Game Over screen.
How to cure status effects
There are multiple items in the game designed to help you cure specific ailments, as well as items that can increase your resistance to them so that you can reduce your chance of becoming infected to begin with. You can find these cure and resistance items in various places while exploring throughout the game, or you can buy them with Ergo from Polendia at Hotel Krat.

Attribute Purification Ampoule - Cures Overheat, Electric Shock, Decay, and Corruption
Special Purification Ampoule - Cures Shock, Break, and Disruption
Attribute Resistance Ampoule - Enhances resistance to Overheat, Electric Shock, Decay, and Corruption
Special Resistance Ampoule - Enhances resistance to Shock, Break, and Disruption

Read more
The best traits to level first in Remnant 2
Three characters shoot at a boss in Remnant 2.

Much of Remnant 2's leveling process is based around increasing the ranks of traits that you'll discover throughout your journe. This will give you plenty of opportunities to build a character that best matches your playstyle. In the game's opening hours, however, each character will begin with just a few traits that can be leveled, and your equally limited trait points can make deciding which of those you want to invest in somewhat of a challenge. In this guide, we'll give you our opinion on which of these are best to focus on for optimizing the early part of your adventure. Here are the best traits to level first in Remnant 2
Best traits to level first in Remnant 2
When beginning the game with a new character, you'll have only five traits – one archetype trait exclusive to the archetype you've chosen and four core traits that every character begins with. Your archetype trait will level automatically as you play with that archetype, so you don't need to do anything with that trait. Instead, let's take a look at the four other core traits and discuss which ones are best to invest in.
Vigor
Vigor improves your overall health, which means you can take more damage before dying. This is likely the most important trait to pump points into, especially when first setting out into the dangerous world of Remnant 2. Enemies hit hard (especially bosses) and you have limited healing options during these opening hours, so you'll need every bit of extra health you can get. It wouldn't hurt to prioritize this trait until you get it to level 10, actually, as you'll be able to get plenty more points as the game progresses, and being able to take a few more hits against the game's first few bosses is immensely helpful. This is even more true for Challengers in team compositions where they'll be tanking and spending a lot of time in melee range.
Endurance
Endurance improves your overall stamina, which will allow you to run and roll more during combat. This is a great option to level up if you're playing a character that is focused on melee, as it will allow you to run more when you get surrounded or roll out of the way of enemy attacks without worrying as much about your stamina meter. For primarily ranged players, though, it's a bit less useful, so you're probably better putting those points elsewhere early on. As with Vigor, though, Challengers will likely benefit most from the trait due to their tendency to be a group's close-quarters combat specialist.
Spirit
Spirit improves your weapon mod power generation. This helps you to earn the ability to use your weapon mods more often in combat, meaning that its usefulness is entirely dependent on how useful your weapon mods are to your build. At the beginning of the game, your weapon mods will be most helpful during boss battles, and you're likely to end them before generating a second use of your mod anyways. Because of this, Spirit is likely better saved for leveling later on so that you can focus on survivability first. Gunslingers, however, are likely to see this as a good option in group settings because they're designed to be a DPS powerhouse.
Expertise
Expertise improves the cooldown speed of your archetype skills. This will aid you in using these skills more frequently, which can be a help against bosses and packs of deadly foes. However, like with Spirit, the usefulness of this trait in the initial few hours of the game is limited due to the already long cooldowns and the speed at which many bosses are likely to fall anyways. While Vigor should still be a priority for most classes, Expertise can be a particularly worthwhile trait for Medics who are playing with a group, as it's vital to keep their healing capabilities available as much as possible.

Read more
Fortnite Artifact Axe: how to destroy stones and best location
Animated image showing Fortnite Artifact Axe

Anyone who plays Fortnite long enough will come to love its yearly summer festivities, and as usual, this year's Summer Escape Event has proven to be a great time for players looking to engage in fun quests and earn new cosmetics. This week provides a new quest that tasks you with destroying 10 stones in battle royale mode, which offers you the reward of a new harvesting tool known as the Artifact Axe. If you're wondering what qualifies as a stone and how to destroy them, we'll give you the details below.
How to destroy stones in Fortnite to earn the Artifact Axe
First of all, you've probably hidden behind some of these stones before because, well, the game is actually just referring to the large rocks you can find scattered all across the map. Some are larger than others, but they're all easily identifiable and can be destroyed by smacking them repeatedly with a harvesting tool. In other words, you're quite likely to run across plenty of them playing naturally, especially if you spend any time in forests or along the coast.

If you're wanting to know of a spot that will help you knock the quest out quicker, you can try heading to the beach to the south of Kenjutsu Crossing at the bottom of the map.

Read more