S4 League

Infobox VG


developer = Pentavision
publisher = Neowiz Games
released = 2008
genre = Third-person shooter
modes = Online multiplayer
ratings = N/A
platforms = Microsoft Windows
media = Internet download

"S4 League" is a third-person shooter multiplayer developed by Pentavision in 2008. It is currently hosted in Europe by alaplaya [cite news | coauthors= | title=Alaplaya announces European S4 League | publisher= | url =http://www.gamershell.com/companies/burda_ic_gmbh/444182.html | accessdate = 2008-09-16 | language = English] and by Pmang in Korea.

The title of the game comes from the four "S" words defining this game: stylish, eSper, shooting, and sports. eSper are a type of power apparently held in the virtual world setting of the game.

Gameplay

. It is a third person shooter, with two modes of play: Touchdown and Team Deathmatch.

Keep In Mind! A player MUST have at least one weapon AND one skill equipped to play in any match.

Touchdown is a modified Capture the Flag, in which two goals are set up on either side of a field. A "Fumbi", which represents a ball of sorts, is placed in the middle. A player must grab the Fumbi and take it to one of the goals in order to score a Touchdown. The Fumbi also quickly drains the SP of the player holding it, which can result in the use of skills being disabled until the Fumbi is dropped or the character dies.

Team Deathmatch places up to 6 people on each team, and has the player fight for a set amount of points, or until the time runs out. Deathmatch fields are characterized by having many destructable objects in the game environment, such as roof-breaking of buildings and crates scattered strategically around the field.

Weapons and skills

There are many weapons and skills in "S4" that diversify playstyles. All Weapons and skills offer "license" which allow a player to test a weapon or skill for a certain number of hours (currently set as 5 hours) so that players may see how the item works and decide what they would prefer. License may only be obtained once. Once time limit expires, Items must then be purchased and a license is no longer available.

The following is for the EU version, and does not reflect weapons or skills in the Korean version:

Weapons consist of the Plasma Sword, Counter Sword (Hand to Hand Combat), Sub Machine Gun, Revolver, Chain Gun (Short Range Combat),Gauss Rifle, Semi Rifle, Cannonade, Railgun (Long Range Sniping), Sentry, Mind Energy, and Mind Shock. Each weapon has a different rate of fire, reload speed, special effect, accuracy, damage, and range. (Head Shots increase damage)

In Depth Guide for Range Weapons:

SMG - Fires bullets rapidly for quick damage,Low accuracy from long range, High firing rate.

Revolver - Similar to a shotgun, Fires one shot with burst bullets, Extremely Low accuracy from long range, Can cause 1 hit kill from very close range head shot, Slow firing rate, Causes Knock-back!!

Chain Gun - (New Weapon from Official Launch) "REDUCES MOVEMENT SPEED"!!!, 2-3 second charge before firing", Fires a flurry of bullets constantly, largest ammo supply, Extremely Low Accuracy from long range, Slow reload time. High firing rate.

Gauss Rifle - Fires lasers with great distance, Medium firing rate, Accuracy reduces with constant shots but may increase with closer distrance from target, Accuracy increases with repetative single shots, Sniping Option (possible to be used at short range or long range).

Semi Rifle - Fires a line of bullets in a rhythmic pattern,Medium firing rate, Accuracy is greater when firing constantly at close range, Sniping Option with lower hit ratio.

Cannonade - Fires generated beam for area of effect damage, charge is needed for greater damage, slow fire rate, Sniping Option (best used far due to rate of fire), slow reload

Rail Gun - Fires intense beam for great damage, extremely high accuracy, slow firing rate, highest damage, Sniping Option, charge is needed for greater damage (may cause 1 hit kill when charged (head shot not needed)), causes knock-back, slow firing rate, slow reload.

Sentry - Calls forth 1 sentry to fire at opponents in its line of sight. Line of sight is determined by the players directional facing, causes Knock-Back, WARNING!!!! DOES NOT RELOAD UNTIL PLAYER DIES,CAN ONLY BE SUMMONED 3 TIMES, ONLY 1 SETNRY AT A TIME PER PLAYER(if more than 1 sentry is used by a player, previous sentry is automatically destroyed), HAS HP!!! (Note: sentry is automatically destroyed if its user dies)

Mind Energy - Fires a stream of energy from a short distance to slowly heal an ally's HP, Slow fire rate, can be used behind walls/objects after hitting target. "WARNING!!!" "The user CANNOT heal allies that are 1 hit away from death!"

Mind Shock - Fires a stream of energy from a short distance to slowly drain an opposing players HP, slow fire rate, can be used behind walls/objects after hitting target.

Also in the game are special techniques called skills. Currently, the skill choices are HP Mastery, SP Mastery, Flying, Block, Shield, and Anchoring.

HP Mastery increases the character's maximum Hitpoints by 30. SP Mastery increases Maximum SP by 40. Flying enables its user to fly for a short amount of time. Block creates a wall in front of or behind the user and can be destroyed by any player on either teams. Shield enables its user to block bullets but not melee combat (Shield can only prevent frontal attack. It does not protect your entire character (Watch your back)) Anchoring throws a line and allows the user to grapple to nearby buildings/walls/objects.

Costumes

Along with weapons and skills, S4 sports a large selection of clothing items including shirts, head decorations, pants, shoes, and gloves. All items can be upgraded to give additional bonuses to damage, damage reduction, hp and sp, and other benefits.

There are outifts that resemble characters from the Music Videos of the songs in the DJMAX series (another game franchise made by Pentavision). A male character can buy the costume that makes them look like the gambler from the music video for Out Law, a female character can buy the costume that makes them look like the girl wearing yellow in the opening video for the first DJ Max Portable. Both gender characters can buy NB Ranger Masks (known in S4 as Envy Rangers, due to NB sounding almost like envy).

Items in the shop are usually part of a set but may be mixed and matched freely. Completing a set does not give any additional bonuses. Some items require the player to reach a certain level before using, but also do not give any additional bonuses.

Every piece of clothing must be repaired when its efficiency hits 50%. Repairs are roughly one half of the original purchase price, and increase as efficiency drops. If an item is upgraded, repair prices are doubled. Damage applied to equipment during Touchdown matches are reduced if the player is killed while holding the Fumbi. (Research is being conducted to determine whether or not the damage to equipment in a Touchdown game is GREATER than damage to equipment in a DeathMatch)

Hints & Tips

-Purchases-DO NOT BUY COSTUMES FIRST!!! Make sure that you have weapons to appropriately fight in matches to earn money. Often players that start out and purchase costumes first, find themselves unarmed as they proceed further into the levels. License can only be used once! If you have exausted all of them and still have not purchsed a weapon, you will be unable to assist your team in combat.

-Money/PEN-To make PEN fast, compete in matches that just began or have long time limits. Also, Complete your mission to further add PEN to your character. Once all of your missions are completed, they are reset and given again for more chances to earn PEN.

-Enviornment-Learn your surroundings/map. There are many different access points that can be discovered using the right technique and combining movement skills as well as jumping skills. Use what the game has given you and create your own style. Remember, virtual boundaries count as walls too.

Networking system

"S4 League" uses a p2p and p2s2p connection in order for players to play in matches. When a user connects to a match, they become connected to the other players in the match. This isn't a problem for LAN matches or short distanced players, but can cause lag for those who are playing internationally or are on dialup or narrowband connections..

PSP edition

game system. [cite news | coauthors= | title=Pentavision announces S4 League | publisher= | url =http://darkdiamond.net/web-notes/pentavision-announces-s4-league/ | accessdate = 2008-09-13 | language = English] The game is similar to the PC version, but does not connect to the same servers for online play. Therefore, playing against a PC user with the PSP version is impossible.

"S4 League Portable" does not have any releases planned outside of Korea.

References

External links

* [http://s4.en.alaplaya.eu/ Official European "S4 League"]
* [http://pmang.sayclub.com/s4/s4_home.nwz Official Korean "S4 League"]
* [http://www.mys4league.com/ My S4 League - Professional community]
* [http://www.mys4league.com/ventrilo.html Public "S4 League" Ventrilo server]