Veiled Experts is a new free2play tactical shooter coming to Steam that takes Counter-Strike’s foundations but takes a completely different approach. MeinMMO has already done a few rounds and gives you a brief assessment of the tactical shooter. An open beta is planned for March.
Call of Duty was my entry point into tactical shooters. Hardcore “Search & Destroy” with a well-rehearsed team – is there anything better? Yes, Counter-Strike fans would say. But this “stopping” when firing for precision… what’s the point?
Only through a little Valorant hype did I recognize the appeal behind it. And a few rounds in the new tactical shooter Veiled Experts further strengthened the impression. It’s an exciting, predictable element that delivers a certain tactical depth.
Having said that, I would always choose Overwatch over Valorant and always put CoD over CS:GO. But Veiled Experts takes such a unique path that it could become its own “original”. Read about my first impressions of the game here.
You can watch the current trailer here:
Veiled Experts Beta Announcement Trailer
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Refreshing destruction with team play
What Makes Veiled Experts Unique? It’s a refreshing mix of Counter-Strike with third-person hero shooter elements, dynamic maps, and a little bit of Battle Royale.
The main mode is “Search & Destroy” – attacking and defending teams start on opposite sides of a map, the attackers have to plant a bomb (seed), the defenders have to do everything to prevent it. If a player is dead, you can revive him under certain circumstances. A team deathmatch mode is also planned.
As with CS:GO, a round starts in the shop – you buy weapons, equipment and also some of the special abilities of the agents. There are also perks that can be unlocked for the whole team. Every team member can invest here and you unlock armor for example for all.
The developers pointed out to us during the play session that “Scanning Gear” is an important part of Tactics. This allows enemies to be spotted early. Veiled Experts has many such anti-camper mechanics.
Each playing field is delimited by a magnetic barrier. Like in a battle royale, this zone moves, gets smaller and you take damage if you are within the magnetic zone. You don’t want to give long-term campers a chance to concentrate on a specific spot for a long time.
On top of that come the agents, some of whom have very different abilities. I played with Soy, a support. With her ability, I could either scan the environment and regenerate the armor or health of my teammates. I could switch modes.
Then there are specialists like Dmitry, who gets a sniper rifle at the start of round 4 without having to spend any money on it. Or Lily, who accumulates discounts in the shop when she spends money.
Fluid third-person and tactical dynamics
how does it play As a fan of The Division, I’m familiar with third-person and how unwieldy the controls can be at times.
Veiled Experts immediately surprised me in a positive way. You sprint by default, but you can also run slower and/or crouch. There is also a fast reel in the game that has a short but noticeable cooldown.
It felt good from the first minute, fluid and rewarding. The maps were also helpful. We played on three different maps, all packed with cover, wide lines of sight, and tactical elements. If you had an eye for it, cover was usually just a roll away.
If the attacking team destroyed a bomb site, there was even some variety in play. The areas were then destroyed by the bomb and changed the map.
The large maps with their many possibilities and the tactical dynamics due to the magnetic field as well as the variable bomb points caused excitement when playing the game. I wanted to play more, build a team, dominate a match.
By the way, I also got my small portion of Call of Duty – for a lot of cash I could get a Juggernaut suit and rampage across the map with a minigun.
Finally, a little information about the weapons: The individual weapons all played very differently and could be improved through attachments during the matches.
In addition, the developers explained to us that the different types of ammunition also have other effects – 9mm ammunition is not as strong against armor as larger calibers.
when can i play it Veiled Experts still needs some time until its full release on Steam. For example, the progression systems in the game are not yet fully thought through – you want to finish the gameplay completely before you take care of things like that.
However, there have already been initial tests in which it was allowed to publish recordings. If you want to see more, check out YouTube.
An open beta is planned for March 2023 on Steam and this might be the latest addition to our list of the best free2play shooters of 2023. I’ll keep an eye out.
What’s your impression? Leave a comment on the topic.