LEAP | PS4 Review

With poor marketing efforts, and little light shed on "LEAP" from the gaming community this futuristic FPS with a mobility twist has fallen to the wayside not far from it's launch debut. While it is innovative, creative, and harbors precision gunplay with 3 unique ways to traverse a map it does not have the current player population to support it or warrant an investment from anyone looking to jump onboard. Even with two modes of play, four exo-suit classes to choose from, and larger scale modes comparative to games like Battlefield it still struggles to gain traction. In the following paragraphs I will go over the features in an attempt to enlighten you about it's contents, and what it offers at the current price point. Letting you decide for yourself whether or not it's something you'd like to get into ...

LEAP is quite a leap forward from your traditional modern day FPS experience. It is a fast paced PvP and PvE experience with two modes of play, and four exo-suited customizable character loadouts. While gunplay will feel familiar it's LEAP's mobility options, and arcade-like super weapon drops that help this shooter be more than just a mere FPS. In fact it borders on having arena/hero shooter mechanics as the super weapons, character specific abilities, and ultimates give it an over-the-top role based feel.

Character-wise you get to play as, and level up through XP earnings, four different classes of exo-suit wearing super soldiers. These cyber soldiers include the Pathfinder, Titan, Wraith, and Tech-Ops variations. Each playing a different role loadout, and ability-wise. Pathfinder, for example, is your all around assault type, and carries both an assault rifle as well as a shotgun. Titan, on the other hand, is the more tanky and defensive option using bigger guns. Wraith, as the title suggests, is the more agile of the group in that it's mobility is vastly improved in comparison to the others. Wraith also carries a sniper. Lastly, Tech-ops comes in as the support class offering support options much in the way they were utilized in earlier Battlefield games. With similar weapon loadout to the Pathfinder. 

All soldier classes come with two weapons, a grenade, a tactical ability, an ultimate, and a personal vehicle or PV. That, and stat/performance boosting perks in the form of unlockable augments and modules. Things that help with cooldowns, weapon effectiveness, and such. Additionally both the personal vehicles, such as hoverboards and the universal grappling tool, help the soldiers to traverse the map easier as well as more quickly. Hoverboards, or other PV's allow for unique movement options that can get you across pitfalls on a cooldown while allowing you to shoot. Similarly the grappling tool can also allow the soldier to swing into action by hooking on a pulling towards trees or other landscape set pieces. Making moving from objective to objective all the more easier.

In the way of customization players who commit to the grind can unlock weapon alternatives for their loadouts through XP gained by playing either PvP or PvE modes. Either that or through completed daily challenges that gift XP for specific feats rendered. Even the PVs can be unlocked and swapped out giving you extra ways to make it around the map. Things like gliders, and bouncy balls will become available the more you play. Also included in the mix are taunts, keychains, and skins that cover both the soldiers and their weapons. All of which comes in different rarities, and is unlockable in-game through the Blackmarket shop using credits earned. Nothing is pay to win.

The Modes ...

When it comes to modes of play PvP is sadly void of players. Having gone for a full match solo though I can explain the rules, and what it entails for those interested. The single mode in PvP is a 20 player team based capture point style mode known as the "Stomping Ground". Each player on either team chooses a drop in point from the start, and upon respawn using a limited amount of tickets in each team's ticket pool. A process that in turn limits the lives each team has. 

On either side of the map two capture points will appear, and disappear over time. Allowing the teams to capture the points, and score by getting enemy kills. At the end the most kills earned by either team decides the winner of that match. Matches themselves are lengthy with capture points changing multiple times over the course of the match. Additionally special drops will occasionally occur that when looted can gift extra tickets, or super weapons with limited ammo. Maps do vary and rotate so you do get access to more maps with this particular mode as well.

PvE, as one might, expect deals in AI controlled enemy waves, and a single team focus. Up to five players can play together, and try to complete the full 100 waves of spawning enemies as they rack up XP doing so. XP goes towards character leveling, and character unlocks. Only the played character gets the benefit of the current XP earnings though. As waves progress harder to defeat enemies such as those with shields or giant mechs will come into view making surviving the hordes all the more difficult. Thankfully players can revive downed players, and get them back into the action. 

The Presentation ...

Visually, LEAP is alright for a PS4 port. It's not the greatest sight I've beheld on the console, but it isn't a janky mess either. Everything from visuals in the menus to visual details in-game stand out in some way. Some maps, for example, have this haze or more natural appearance with natural textures applied giving way to pseudo-realistic forest-like landscapes. Others include futuristic city structures, and water filled areas for added effect. Details, as they are, only fall apart when up close and personal, but not too noticeably so. That being said, the guns in view look up to modern standards, and the shot effects equally as so. Even the soldier designs are decent, but more so in the menu depictions.

Gunplay, which is a crucial part of the equation, is much smoother than most FPS games I've played. Targeting is easy with applied aim assist, as is the trio of mobility options which include the personal vehicle (PV), grappling tool, and dashing. There's even a detailed listing of tweakable gunplay options that are on par with game's like Call of Duty. Gifting fine tuning options for aiming speed, an sensitivity as well as other expected features. Overall everything comes together complimentary with the only flaws I found being with the environmental collision when grappling to an object which can cause a jumpy glitch until you cancel the action. That and tutorial button prompt mismatches with in the optional tutorial which can confuse a player learning to play.

The Verdict ...

There are two reasons I think LEAP failed. I think marketing was fairly non-existent, and that the game model is more free-to-play friendly than it is retail relevant. This holds true despite the game costing well under the usual FPS pricing of $60. 

With everything weighed there's just not enough on offer at this time to warrant a grind, and there's not enough people playing to enjoy it. Even with crossplay enabled you cannot find PvP servers populated to any capacity. Only by chance was I able to find people playing the PvE, and quite honestly that seems to be the less interesting of the two modes, in my personal opinion. PvE, is basically a basic horde mode that lacks notable variety. It's a time consuming yet easy to manage wave based mode that is only challenging when multiple mobs land taking advantage of your distracted situation. I think the game would do much better with more PvP playlists, and a continuous supply of more maps. That and more cosmetics in a free-to-play version. As it stands paying full price for this game is not ideal. In fact it's kind of not a good deal even for less. Player population either makes or breaks a game, and the lack thereof is why I feel LEAP has failed at it's leap of faith.