CrossFire (video game)

CrossFire
Developer(s)	Smilegate
Publisher(s)	Smilegate West, Tencent (CN), VTC Game (VN)
Engine	Lithtech Jupiter EX
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release	KOR: May 3, 2007 NA: January 30, 2009 EU: August 31, 2011
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

CrossFire is an online tactical first-person shooter for Microsoft Windows by South Korean developer SmileGate. Neowiz is the Korean publisher of CrossFire, and deals with SmileGate directly. All other publishers must go through Neowiz to get to the developers. The game was released in China by Tencent, with Tencent as the exclusive agent service company. Tencent operates the game through the internet, with service areas covered and the networks supported by China Telecom and China Netcom. The tests for its software bugs were started publicly on April 2008.

According to The Korea Herald, the game was the world's top grossing online game of 2014 at 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion).^[1] Neal H. Moritz‘s Original Film and Korean game developer Smilegate are teaming up to develop a film based on the popular online game “Crossfire”. A film adaptation of CrossFire was announced in October 2015.^[2]

Gameplay

A mission success screen on a team deathmatch mode, the player holding a M16

CrossFire is a free-to-play first-person shooter that features two mercenary corporations named the "Black List" and "Global Risk," fighting each other in an epic global conflict. Players assume the role of either a Black List or Global Risk mercenary, joining an online team that must work together to complete objective-based scenarios. With the exception of the Zombie mode and Wave mode, each mode can support a maximum of 16 players, each divided into an 8-man team.

Players will progress and be promoted through various Military Ranks, beginning at trainee, with the highest being Marshall. Players also have the ability to customize their character's equipment and appearance through in-game items.

CrossFire has a free currency which is called Game Points (GP), which are earned through playing and completing matches, buying premium items that grant bonus GP, or fulfilling certain missions. Premium and special items like modified weapons can only be bought using monetary currencies. The content tends to vary from version to version.

Modes

CrossFire features several game modes, each with unique maps and rules.^[3]

Team Deathmatch

Teams work towards goals, such as first to x many kills, or the team with the most kills.

Search & Destroy

Black List's objective is to plant and detonate a C4 charge in a designated spot or kill all of the Global Risk players. Global Risk's objective is to eliminate all Black List players or prevent Black List from planting and detonating the charge within the match's time limit. Players do not respawn. Rounds last up to 3 minutes.

Free for All

No teams, kill as many players as possible. Players respawn at different locations. The round ends when a player reaches the kill quota for the match or the timer runs out. Weapon restrictions exist for this mode.

Elimination

Similar to TDM, except players don't respawn when killed. In some maps, players start only with their melee weapons and must pick up guns pre-set in the map. Rounds last up to three minutes, with Global Risk defaulting in wins.

Suppression Mode

A new, and much faster Search and Destroy! Each Black List player gets a bomb, and spawns only a few metres from the bomb plant site. The Global Risk must storm their defenses and disarm the bomb before it detonates!

Ghost Mode

All Black List mercenaries have invisibility and melee weapons, while all Global Risk mercenaries are fully visible, but can use all available weapons. Black List emits a heavy breathing sound, footsteps, splashes while running through water, and also become significantly visible while moving.

Shadow Mode

A variant of Ghost Mode. A player becomes a Shadow warrior which is an advanced ghost character. This mode introduces security devices such as Sensors, Lasers and Sprinklers to track down the Shadow warriors. In this map, there are certain part of the floors which are covered with different textures (including broken glass) that will make more noise than others, making it easier for the Mercenary Soldiers to hear the Shadow Warrior movements.

Mutation Modes

One or two players are infected and turned into mutants 20 seconds into the round. When the time is up or all mutants are dead, the soldiers win. If all the soldiers become mutants or die, the mutants win. Mutants are flung backwards when shot.

Escape Mode

A game mode where Black List team must "escape" through a portal a certain number of times while the Global Risk team tries to prevent them. There are walls and doors that can be destroyed to make the escaping team's job easier or is a requirement to escape, at half time the teams switch sides (if the team finishes escaping early, then they immediately switch sides. If they don't complete their goal, then the other team only has to finish what the other team started).

Hero Mode

The game plays mostly like Mutation mode, but features a "Hero" character. 20 seconds into the round, one to three players randomly will become mutants and one will become the "Hero". Also, mutants here will continue to respawn when killed unless they are killed with a headshot. The game ends when either the soldiers survive until the round ends or they are all turned into mutants.

Hero Mode X

Random players are turned into mutants after 20 seconds and one of them is chosen to be the "Terminator" which has 6000 HP and can infect players with ranged lightning bolt attacks, making it a rather daunting foe for soldiers. Mutants can only be prevented from respawning by being killed with a melee attack rather than a headshot. The premise of this mode is that once only 2-3 players are left, they are turned into Commandos, which cannot be infected like regular soldiers and possess dual knives, which does massive damage to mutants and prevent them from respawning altogether. The round ends either with all players infected/killed or if all the mutants are killed and cannot respawn.

Zombie Mode

Four players in a Zombie Apocalypse-esque scenario. Zombie Apocalypse consists of a team of four Global Risk mercenaries trying to survive a fixed amount of rounds with a boss at the final round. The enemies featured in the game are a variety of "zombified" Black List mercenaries and mutants, each kind having their own unique characteristic The game ends once the players survive through the rounds and kill the final boss in the map or if all the players are killed and cannot respawn.

Elite/Bounty Mode

This mode is the first with given money and battle results, similar to the concept of Counter Strike. When the battle begins, players can only use the pistol equipped in their inventory and must buy other weapons using their cash. Cash can be gained by killing opponents or planting/defusing the bomb. This mode is like S&D Pro.

Wave Mode

5v5 or 4v4 team based mode. Both teams must destroy the opposition's defense towers in order to reach the base, which has two "Last defense tower" guarding it, players must destroy those two towers to start damaging the base (clearance of all side towers is not needed). This is the first mode where you can pick one of eleven classes before joining the room. Each class is different and has its own unique skills. This mode also introduces NPCs, airstrikes, mortar bombs, energy transmitters and Class Upgrade Systems.

King Mode

No teams. Players compete in a series of mini-games each round, and the players with the highest score gets selected as a commander each round. Game continues until a player reaches a certain score and fight to be crowned the King.

Sheep Mode

No teams. Players compete to get the most points in the end by picking up sheep, which generate points every so often. Once someone has gotten to a point limit set before the game, the golden sheep is spawned, and everyone must fight to see who will get it.

Big Head

Team death match but with a twist, as you get kills you level up, increasing your head size. This will increase up to 5! A bar will fill up for each team and when it is full, that team will enter "Big Head" mode, where you are able to instant kill anyone with a melee attack.

Weapons

CrossFire features weapons based on real life models, with each weapon belonging to a category. Categories include machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, etc. Each category is functionally similar to their real world counterparts (Ex. Machine guns are heavy, powerful, lay down heavy fire and have long reload times, Submachine guns are lighter and fire faster but deal less damage, Shotguns are effective in close range but ineffective at long distance, etc.) Weapons often have many variations, including different skins which give them different attributes. In addition, the re-skinned versions are often more rare. There are also some weapons which are different from other weapons like the VIP weapons, which has more powerful functions like faster reload, among others. Certain modes have mode-exclusive weapons.

Characters

Characters are the avatar of players and is what they will look like while playing in the game. A note is that while all characters are visually unique from each other, they are all functionally the same with no real advantages or disadvantages from each other in terms of stats, apart from a few limited-edition characters who are, for example; able to see better through smoke or reduces the visual incapacitating effects of flash bang grenades.

The characters featured in CrossFire is a combination of both real and fictional Special Forces groups. The real groups featured are: The Russian OMOH, the LAPD SWAT, the British SAS, the German GSG9, the Korean 707th Special Mission Unit, the United Nations Special Forces, and the American Navy SEALs. Each character also has both a Black List and Global Risk variant. Some characters are bought with GP, while some are bought with premium currency. There are special characters found in some modes like the knight.

There are also mutant characters for the Mutation/Hero modes, which unlike regular game characters, each have unique abilities

Different versions of CrossFire

CrossFire was released by different publishers worldwide. These are the countries that CrossFire was released in:

Revenue

In 2013, the game was one of the three most popular video games in China, with a revenue of almost $1 billion.^[4] It was the world's top grossing game of 2014 at 1.5 trillion won ($1.3 billion).^[1]

CrossFire is the most played online FPS game worldwide, with over 8 million concurrent users and 650 million registered players according to developer Smilegate.^[5]

Film adaptation

It was announced that Neal Moritz will produce a film version of CrossFire.^[6] Smilegate announced the deal Monday in Seoul, after spending a year weighing up proposals from Hollywood producers and studios. The company said that it settled on Moritz’s Original Film because Original “specializes in action blockbusters with strong storylines and themes, which have global appeal.” It said that it had faith in Moritz’s ability to parlay the game into a multi-movie franchise.

References

External links

• CrossFire NA/UK
• CrossFire Europe
• Crossfire China