On January 26th, the Indian Republic Day, nCore Games released FAU-G - India's own "PUBG Killer". Since its announcement in September, the community seems to be anticipated and hyped up about it. Here we have a short review of the game, which in our opinion, is far behind compared to PUBG Mobile.
Story
FAU-G, or Fearless and United Guards, starts off with a prologue that leads into the main storyline. The game tells the story of the Galwan Valley conflict, which took place in June 2020. It sparked tension between China and India. FAU-G narrates the event from the Indian perspective, adding a sense of patriotism.
Gameplay
FAU-G offers 3 game modes for players to choose from. As of now, we only have access to just one mode - Campaign, while the other two (5 V 5 Team Deathmatch and Free for all) still need some extra work. So, playing the Galwan Valley Campaign is the only option you have until the two remaining modes complete.
In this mode, players take out enemies in hand-to-hand combat to advance checkpoints. The game does NOT have any gun, which isn’t that surprising but definitely discouraging. The only weapon arsenal you have access to is a bunch of dystopian-looking melee weapons.
The game walkthrough is not that satisfying, but perhaps a little disappointing. All you do is pretty much punching the enemies to their faces. And don't worry when they gang up on you, they're kind enough to wait and seem to honor a 1-on-1 fight. The AI is not that good either. Most of the time, the enemies just stand there, throw a couple of swings, and watch their comrades knocked out.
The game seriously needs to work on the combat system more, if they decide to go on the no-gun route. As of now, you can just spam the attack button, and you'' get through the stage just fine. The lone shining thing in this game is the campfire. Players can sit next to it and regenerate.
There are currently three different playable characters in the game, but not with many customizations.
Controls
To be honest, the controls in FAU-G are way too simple. All you can do is to move, look around, and attack your enemies. There are not many interactions or things to do in the game. The camera angle is similar to most Battle Royale games, displaying a perspective from the shoulder. The UI seems straightforward.
Audio
We do not expect great music to come out of a game like this, but FAU-G actually did a decent job. The in-game audio and theme music sound good. However, the character dialogues are not in-depth and tend to get repetitive.
Graphics
The graphics of FAU-G is actually better than our expectation. We did not have high hope for that, but somehow, it delivers. The game offers graphics settings ranging from very low to very high.
Bugs
FAU-G does have tons of bugs and glitches. Yet, consider that it just came out a couple of days ago, we can cut it some slack. Another prominent issue is inconsistent FPS. The frame rate drops constantly, which can be super annoying to a lot of players.
All in all, FAU-G is a free game that players can walk through from start to end without paying anything. The idea is there, but the delivery and overall experience still need more work. If you purchase items from the merch store, the game will donate 20% of its profits to Bharat Ke Veer to support a good cause.