A relatively new player has joined the Battle Royale playing field, and it is none over than Islands of Nyne. While employing a science-fiction setting supported by fast-paced gameplay, the game has a real chance of becoming one of the most popular Battle Royale shooters out there.
Although the game offers some backstory to it, besides the tooltip on the loading screen speaking of Recruiters hauling Earth’s famous buildings (like the Colosseum) to the Dome, the player is not given much information - perhaps due to the game still being in early development stages.
The first look
Islands of Nyne welcomes us with a menu very similar to PUBG or Fortnite, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, the developers decided to embrace a similar menu style.
We can see our avatar in full armour and this is also the place where we will spend earned in-game currency on boxes that contain random skins (yes, IoN offers a fully fledged skin system).
As for match options, there are no differences to other Battle Royale games, including duos, teams of 4, etc.
The thing that distinguishes the IoN from other games in the Battle Royale world is the training room, where players can get familiar with the types of weapons, attachments, bullet physics and bullet spread. This feature might be suggesting high inclination for eSports competitivity, once fully released.
The Battle
In contrary to Playerunknown's Battlegrounds or Fortnite, the lobby where players can only run around aimlessly like headless chickens trying to poke each other with fists or pickaxes is completely different.
In IoN, we receive an old-school Gun Game! (Also known as Arms Race in CS: GO) This gives us a great opportunity to check ourselves how the shooting mechanisms work against real players, without having to leave the entire match when dying.
And the shooting is fun! The best way to describe the gunplay is Modern Warfare. Seriously, it feels like a game mode for Call of Duty. I’m very glad that the developers put such emphasis on the guns.
Once the time is up and it’s time to join the Battle Royale, the player’s character is being dropped into the Dome. While free-falling it’s possible to check your whereabouts on the map.
But hold on, there is no parachute?
No, instead, the avatar does a superhero landing, takes out his knife (which can also be used as a ranged weapon) and is ready for slaughter.
The first thing that you should be looking for is a weapon, then armour and shield. Since the game plays almost like Call of Duty, speed and quick reflexes are essential for your success. Standard Battle Royale mechanics are implemented as well, like a closing in wall of death and an ever-shrinking safe-zone.
The Dome
While fighting for survival, it’s hard to notice the hand-crafted beauty of the arena, which is a perfect balance between the bleakness of PUBG and the vibrant colours of Fortnite. At the centre of the map, players can see a big pillar of light shooting to the sky generating the energetic dome we’re in.
In the distance, the gigantic supports for the Dome are visible. The arena itself is filled with seemingly random buildings taken from various eras of Earth’s history, as well as it hosts a variety of different biomes, like deserts, forests and many more.
The Overall
While on one hand, the game is still in early stages of production and this shows in the form of many bugs, issues and disconnects, on the other hand, it offers awesome shooting mechanics, a fantastic game lobby and strong competitive potential.
We will be observing how the game develops with high hopes and you can find the cheapest prices for it through our price comparison.
