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Game Name: Alliance of Valiant Arms
Game Genre: Military FPS (First Person Shooter)
Game Website: ava.ijji.com
Game Developer: ijji
Developer's Website: ijji.com
Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows 2000
CPU: Pentium 3 - 1GHz+
Memory: 256Mb
Video Card: GeForce 2 MX
Direct X: Version 9.0C or later
Hard Disk Space: 25.0 Gb (? This is what my "Add/Remove Programs" shows it as being, but there is no way, is there???)
Internet Connection: Cable/DSL

Alliance of Valiant Arms (AVA) has the basic control setup for most FPS games. The biggest difference I notice is when you want to sprint. Instead of holding down Shift, you have to double-tap forward (W). This is very annoying when you are already running, and seems to only work when it wants to work. This is my biggest problem with the controls. The only other thing that is different from most control setups is that 'G' is used to pick up and put guns down. This isn't bad, but worth mentioning, since most people forget, while in-game, how to pick up weapons.

Frame rate is not a problem in this game. Even when lagging, you usually just 'teleport' instead of getting all 'skippy'. There's really nothing else to say about the frame rate... Moving on.

You'll need an ijji account in order to play this game. The account is free, and sign-up is easy. There is no character creation, however. When you play, your character's looks and outfits just depend on what character type you are currently playing as. There are three character types you can play as. Point Man, Rifle Man, and Sniper. From AVA's own website, here are the descriptions of these three classes:

Point Man
Description

Highly mobile class specialized for close range assaults. Very effective when attacking enemy troops from behind or when scouting.

Characteristics

Uses SMGs for main weapon. Very high movement speed. Good for gathering overall combat situation.

Relativity

Very strong when in close range but quickly falls weak when there's some distance.

Skills

Can learn combat situation related skills, movement skills helpful in scout operations and in close range combats, and skills to increase training levels of knife and SMG.

Rifle Man
Description

Universal soldier for all kinds of operations. Can join in under any battle status. This class is more than capable for all types combats. Can employ wide range of variable strategies.

Characteristics

Uses assault rifles for main weapon. High defense rate. Master of grenades.

Relativity

Weak against Point Man when in close range and weak against Sniper when in long range, but expert skills and experience will bring victory in the end.

Skills

Can learn skills to enhance main weapon, grenade usage, and defense rate for increased survival rate.

Sniper
Description

Capable of effective attack in far distance. Suitable for defending certain area or supporting main attack force with covering fire.

Characteristics

Uses sniper rifles for main weapon. Skilled use of secondary weapon covers up for abilities lacking in close range combats.

Relativity

Very weak when in close range but can cause substantial damage with great accuracy from distance.

Skills

Can learn skills to enhance SR usage, and secondary weapons related skills for improved survival rate.

During any game, you can choose which class you want to spawn as after your next death by pressing F1 (Point Man), F2 (Rifle Man), or F3 (Sniper). Each class has to have a different main weapon equipped, as you can only equip certain guns to certain classes. However, you can choose to use the same pistol, grenades, and other gear for all three classes, or you can equipped each individual class differently, so you can have different advantages with each class.

There are not a lot of weapons you can choose from, really, but that's okay. It makes the game more about skill than high-powered spray. Most of you will probably not even notice the small selection, and it doesn't seem to make a lot of difference anyway.

The game modes are a little different that most military FPS games I've seen. You have the usual "Stop the bomb from exploding" scenario, and the "Kill as many people as you can" mode. But you also have escort missions where you need to escort a tank to its destination or stop the tank from reaching its destination (depending on which team you are currently on). There is a convoy mission where you need to pick up a "package" and deliver it to a certain destination, or stop the other team from delivering it (again, depending on your team's side). Lastly, there are AI missions where its you against the computer where you are either trying to survive a prison break, survive against AI enemies at some random location, or escape from a facility before the time runs out.

In each mode, besides the AI missions and the annihilation (First team to reach so many kills), each team will switch sides in the middle of the game. This is really nice so no one can say the other team had an unfair advantage. Besides, half the modes have two different goals to them, one for each team, so it's nice being able to play it from both sides. The images above show the different classes of each team. The team you are currently on in the game will define which group in the images above your character is in.

This is, by far, my favorite military FPS game. The clan section isn't as good as you would expect, but it seems they are still building that part up. However, there are 3rd party sites that are already holding matches for the fairly new game. If you like military FPS's, you should definitely check out the website for this game, at the least. Hope to see you in-game.