Firestorm Online

[User is recommended to immediately enter a match, this will ensure that the user quickly becomes accustomed to the new attribute settings in a relatively safe environment]

I looked myself up and down in the mirror once more and sighed.

'Right… I'm not used to my new abilities yet, that could prove troublesome in real life but in the game it doesn't matter too much.'

As I walked over to pick up my VR rig I began to realise just how massive the changes were, my whole body felt lighter and faster. I almost tripped over my own feet as I steadied myself.

I picked up the helmet and slowly slid it down over my eyes.

The opening logos for FO lit up in my peripheral vision as I watched a familiar main menu come into view. The top of my view showed the section headings: Competitive, Custom, News, Settings

I tapped the competitive button and selected random for the map settings, within a couple of seconds my view went black and the sound of heavy bombing faded in.

The map I loaded into was named "Blazing Sands", it consisted of a small village with an ornate temple in the centre. As the name suggested it was set in the middle east, every time I loaded in my hatred of sand intensified.

I looked around to see four smug and overconfident faces staring back at me, while believing in yourself is an important characteristic of a winning team, this had a limit.

"All right lads let's crush some noobs!" screamed a teenager through his microphone. The voice cracks immediately destroyed any impressive image he wanted to build up.

I quickly brought up his profile to see the rank of this impressive specimen.

'Bronze 5… seriously, those enemies you just called noobs are at least 2 ranks higher than you!'

Each player had a competitive rank, this helped FO's system to match you up against similarly skilled opponents. Most ranks were split into 5 groups which were further split into 9 sub-ranks.

Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond were the groups that 99.9% of players fell into, but for those truly exceptional players who could honestly call themselves masters of the game there was one more rank: Elite.

The Elite rankings were special, unlike other ranks you would have to fight to maintain your level.

As the start time drew closer I inspected my equipment, hanging from my belt was a short but sturdy looking combat knife along with a smoke grenade and a decoy grenade. In a holster on my thigh was my trusty firearm the P250, it's high penetration, low cost rounds made it a great choice for a budget player like me.

That was one more thing to note, FO was pay to win. This wasn't strictly true as good players could overcome rich players through pure skill but the equipment you could afford inevitably changed the outcome of most games. Each match you effectively wagered your equipment, if you killed then you'd gain your opponent's equipment, if you died then you'd lose your own. Of course there was a winning bonus as well.

This was one of the reasons why corporations were so eager to sponsor big teams, not only were the marketing opportunities abundant but the money you could make from a high profile match was in the millions. Thus they happily supplied the best equipment on the market to their subordinate teams.

My simple loadout cost me $70 in total, $30 for the pistol, $30 for the smoke grenade, $5 for the decoy grenade and $5 for the knife. Although my job provided enough spare cash to buy this kit a few times a month this meant that if I had a 0/1 K/D in my first few games I would end up completely broke.

With money in mind – time for next level tactics…