A Solid Looter Shooter
NetEase’s Lost Light is an action-survival game, soft launched into open beta in November of 2021 for the US. While the game bears a striking resemblance to several popular titles of late (PUBG, Escape from Tarkov, and The Division come to mind), it remains a surprisingly polished and complex gameplay experience. Impressive visuals, consistently smooth gameplay and a deep weapon customization system managed to keep me hooked – despite an otherwise generic aesthetic. But how long can that last?
Lights In The Dark
This third-person shooter sees players deploying into an exclusion zone, a “No Man’s Land” governed by the sharpest eye. There are three available maps, none of which are especially unique or exciting. However, they all offer a decently fun space for fast-paced or methodical gameplay. There’s room for mid-range shooting, or tight corridors for close-quarters combat. Players can engage in combat or stealth to collect valuable loot, which they will then deliver to one of several extraction zones. Extraction means escaping with all the loot you collected – dying means losing everything. You are a Firefly, tasked with exploring the exclusion zone. Your job is to bring light to whatever mysterious events created this warzone. This high-risk-high-reward gameplay is reminiscent of The Dark Zone from 2016’s The Division. There was plenty of valuable loot that players had to safely extract from the PvPvE zone. Other players would try to kill them and steal the loot for themselves. The health and crafting mechanics from Escape From Tarkov are also quite similar to Lost Light‘s own.
Enter The Zone
This is the core loop of the game. Enter the zone, kill other players (or stealthily loot), extract, sell your loot. There’s an in-game shop for selling loot and a black market for trading between players. There are missions to complete with each deployment which offer rewards on top of your loot. These have simple objectives, like getting 3 kills with an AKS-74. Most of the story is drip-fed via these missions, but the lack of strong story is excused by the addicting gameplay loop. Gunplay is smooth and fun – weapons feel unique and weighty. If you’re not playing against players online, there are bots. These bots can hold their own and make for a fun and tactical experience.
While the gameplay is mechanically sound, the sound is… not. There is the occasional audio issue, but it is not so glaring or common as to ruin the experience. Between games, you have access to The Shelter. Here, you can manage your inventory, access the shops, claim rewards, outfit your Firefly and interact with what is arguably the game’s most detailed and enticing mechanic – weapon customization.
This Is My Rifle
One of the most important and heavily advertised aspects of Lost Light is it’s complex, realistic weapon customization. You can examine and modify these beautifully rendered weapon models at The Shelter’s weapon bench. This is where your money and your ruthlessness serve you best. Each weapon has up to 12 slots for mods, with dozens of potential components to decorate your weapon. Attachments must be unlocked before purchase by reaching a specified level, but they can also be obtained on the battlefield. Searching chests (or corpses) will do the trick. The primary incentive of Lost Light is to become the most lethal Firefly by creating the deadliest loadout. The possibilities for customizing and upgrading via your flush bank account and plethora of crafting supplies are seemingly limitless – and the high degree of uniqueness between every player’s weaponry makes it feel as though there’s always something to work for.
Incentive To Kill
At the time of writing, Lost Light is entirely free-to-play and there are no in-game purchases. NetEase is currently offering daily login bonuses for your first 6 days. There’s also bonus loot for your first 25 levels to motivate your return to the exclusion zone. However, Lost Light’s simple and fun gameplay loop might be enough on its own to keep you coming back. The developers are quick to fix whatever issues arise and they appear to have plenty of content planned. You can find news and updates on their official website, as well as their Facebook page. Lost Light is in beta, but it is an exceptionally polished F2P survival-shooter. Clearly, a great effort was put into making this game the best mobile survival-shooter possible. I’m excited to see what Lost Light is like by the end of next year. The game, as it stands, won’t be for everyone – but there is potential.
Lost Light is available on Google Play, download it for free today. For more hardcore action games, check out our comprehensive list detailing the best Android action games of all time.
