Block N Load review

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What Is It? A class-based multiplayer FPS of construction and destruction.

Play It On: Core i5, 4GB RAM, GeForce GTX 650/Radeon HD 6790

Reviewed On: Windows 7, Core i7, 8GB RAM, GTX 670

Price: $15/£10

Release Date: Out now

Publisher: Jagex

Developer: Jagex, Artplant

Multiplayer: Up to 10 players

Website: Official site

I’m digging a tunnel. It’s an important part of my sneaky plan: forego the obvious deathtrap of the single, elevated causeway spanning the battleground for a stealthy subterranean insertion into the enemy base. Behind me, a few teammates wriggle along, accomplices to a hopefully glorious flanking action. They wisely let me forge forward first; I’m playing a Cogwheel, the tanky, clanky robot character sporting a deep health pool, a rotary cannon arm, and a permanent grimace. I scoop out an alcove in the tunnel’s wall and place a radar block. Above, enemy players and their ramshackle defenses light up in red outlines. They’re all aimed at the bridge. How tactically passé.

I gouge a few more feet into the tunnel before angling upwards. Scant layers separate me from my objective: a thrumming shield cube. If I topple it, the base’s primary power cube would become vulnerable. I scratch a topside hole and jump out, a heroic vanguard of my robot mole army—and run right into an awaiting gas mine. Before my brain can process how a robot can suffocate to death, I’m toppling backwards into the tunnel in a heap.

Sarge’s machine gun is a bullet hose, but he’s susceptible to close-range attacks.

When a moment like this happens in Block N Load, everything works. Its pieces fit like the many cubes comprising the forts, barricades, and sniper nests players cobble together in Jagex’s malleable multiplayer FPS. It wears its influences in plain sight; “Minecraft meets Team Fortress 2” shows up in so many Steam reviews and forum posts, the phrase may as well be its unofficial slogan. I can think of a better one: “I love it when a plan comes together.”

Tactical tetris

That means any sort of plan, because heading into a 5-on-5 round without one guarantees a frustrating loss. Strategizing is a moment-to-moment requirement starting from conspiratory chats in the pre-match lobby to a power cube’s final blow. I liked that emphasis on teamwork encoded directly into BNL’s DNA, and it’s best represented by the spread of special blocks and weapons each class carries into the field.

Sarge Stone, a demolitions-oriented soldier, uses TNT, grenades, and a rocket launcher to clear multiple blocks with big booms. Antony Turretto is predictably angled for defense with his turret blocks and ammo and health dispensers. Doc Eliza eschews a traditional healer role for area-denial gas grenades and traps but can still restore life with a rejuvenating pulse. The rest of the cast follows suit, and the spread of abilities covers a respectable range of gameplay styles—I really enjoyed the mobility of O.P. Juan Shinobi, a hilariously named katana-wielding ninja who tosses smoke bombs and teleports to wherever they land. I’m reminded of the skill diversity found in MOBAs but compressed to a smaller selection of characters.

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Block N Load review