Ironsight is a futuristic FPS that is fast-paced and a lot of fun with quick games and low queue times, even in Aussie prime time.
Ironsight is a free-to-play multiplayer sci-fi fps developed by South Korean studio Wiple Games and published by Aeria Games. Ironsight was in closed beta testing in South Korea in 2017, open beta since February 2018 and has eventually made the move to Steam, launching on December 19, 2019. The game is still in open beta status and is a lot of fun to play for quick sessions or settling in for hours.
It’s the year 2025 in a dystopian world reeling from the effects of a catastrophic natural disaster, two warring factions, the North Atlantic Federation (NAF) and the Energy Development Enterprise Network (EDEN), are engaged in relentless warfare in the final battle over the planet’s last remaining natural resource, Trinitium. With the collapse of oil, Trinitium is now the dominant energy resource capable of not only powering entire cities and infrastructures but most importantly, unraveling the secrets to new and more powerful technologies which lead to a new generation of advanced drones and military equipment.
Ironsight felt like playing a mix of a couple of games which was great. The smooth and futuristic aesthetics felt like playing Ring of Elysium. The gameplay feels like playing a futuristic Call of Duty game akin to Black Ops or Advanced Warfare. There’s thankfully no wall running, sliding or jetpacks to be seen, it’s just pure run and gun slaying and it’s a lot of fun with some of the game modes giving great vibes of playing Counter-Strike back in the day. My ping was almost always in the red though as the game only has three servers – one in Europe (channels in Belgium and Frankfurt), one in the United States (North Virginia / South Carolina) and one in Brazil (São Paulo). Visually the game ran very smooth but occasionally I would feel the lag from time to time with my bullets seemingly not registering or someone killing me right as I see them. I was still able to rack up plenty of kills, so the lag didn’t detract too much from my performance or enjoyment.
Being free-to-play you may automatically think pay-to-win, but as far as I can see the Aeria Points you purchase are used to unlock cosmetic skins for your weapons as well as xp and gold boosts. Coins you earn from playing games can be spent on skins, but you’ll need to spend some coins after every matching repairing your equipment. Ironsight has several PvP as well as PvE Missions utilising 14 locations, with PvP game modes team deathmatch, search and destroy, secure point and resource takeover. PvE Missions consist of the game’s tutorial and an EMP mission, then two AI team deathmatch with easy and normal difficulties to hone your skills before tackling real players. There are also competitive ranked battles on a regular basis so you can compete to become the highest ranked player.
Ironsight contains also over 100 weapons you can gain access too, all with experience levels earned through use that can unlock accessory slots. You can use all the usual types of weaponry in most modern FPS games from SMG’s, Assault Rifles and Sniper Rifles as well as a range of tactical grenades and flash bangs. Nothing too outside the FPS box here, and there’s no real need to. What is different and interesting though are the varying types of drones you can deploy based on kill streaks. Like Call of Duty, after each match is played your base level gains experience, as does the weapon(s) you used in that match.
Deployable drones are what gives this game its own style and they come in offensive or tactical variants. Tactical drones include UAV jammers, Spy drones and Observer drones to identify enemy positions. I liked the Spy drone as it was a personal one, following you around, pinging the map with nearby enemies which earned you points per enemy spotted. It sounds OP, but then the drone above your head makes you stick out like a sore thumb, so it’s a trade-off. Investing time into the game will give you access to the Gorgon, Stalker and Zeus drones. Gorgon uses a powerful light to blind enemies and give away their position. The Stalker drone will chase after enemies and display them on the minimap, while Zeus is a remotely controlled drone that strikes the enemy with overwhelming force.
Offensive drones are where the action is at, providing you can level up and get enough kills to use them. The Blade drone rises in the air and can be guided to crash into the enemy while the Crawler does the same except crawls over low obstacles. The Firefly and Hellbird drones can be controlled by the player to shoot remotely at players. The Escort drone follows the character, marks the enemy with a laser and fires its silent machine gun. Finally, the big Metal Reaper is a heavy drone for a ground attacks using a landing designator. It has a lot of armour but can still be taken down with coordinated efforts.
Each games is timed so you are always in for some fast-paced action that allows you to hop in for a quick game or two, or settle in for some variety across the multiple game modes. Like most FPS games, there are maps suited to snipers and others suited to run-and-gun in your face action. I much preferred the team deathmatch and secure the point game modes over search and destroy, simply because I like respawning straight after dieing. There is a time and place for modes that you have to wait for your last team member to kill or be killed. In my limited play time after my daughter is asleep, I just wanted non-stop action and it’s great that you can exclude certain modes in the game search process.
Ironsight is a futuristic FPS that is fast-paced and alot of fun with quick games and low wait times, even in Aussie prime time. It plays very much like Call of Duty and does contain microtransactions for cosmetic items only. For us Aussies, expect high pings when you play however I was still able to get plenty of kills once I learned the maps and the game modes. Ironsight is free-to-play and available through Steam or directly through the Aeria Games website.
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Written by: @ChrisJInglis
