Ace of Spades is a free first person shooter and sandbox building game where two teams (green vs blue) are pitted against each other. The objective of this game is to capture the enemy’s intel and return it to your base.
The game is currently in beta (current v 0.58), but anyone can join in the fun. Graphically, the game looks very similar to recent indie success, Minecraft. However the gameplay is very similar to capture the flag game modes, as seen in recent FPS games like Team Fortress 2. This hybrid of ideas turns out very well online, and even in beta it’s very playable.
There are 3 types of weapons: a rifle, sub machine gun, and a shotgun. You can currently only choose one weapon at a time, and the rifle seems the most versatile weapon in the game. Grenades are standard issue and they can help you flush enemies out of their bunkers. In addition to weapons you have some tools available: a shovel, pick axe, and cube. The shovel destroys cubes, pick axe gathers them, and the cube allows you to build.
The building works a lot different from Minecraft in the sense you’re given 50 blocks each time you spawn. You can gather more with your pick-axe and you can choose from an array of colors. All cubes have the same durability, and there are some physics applied. It’s very satisfying to topple the enemy’s sniper towers.
The server browser leaves a bit to be desired, because as of this writing it’s all web based. Recently I learned of a third party server tool called 5 of Diamonds that streamlines renaming your character (the default name is “Deuce”) as well as joining servers and pinging servers.
Overall the game is hard to explain, but a joy to play. Even in beta mode I find myself letting my recent AAA blockbuster game purchases collect dust as I run around the voxel battlefield mending bunkers and sniping enemies from afar. If you’re a fan of either CTF, Team Fortress, Sourceforts, or Minecraft you’d be doing yourself a favor to check out Ace of Spades.