The gameplay within Hobowars varies differently from our recent tests on Evony, Sea Dogs and other web based gaming franchies. Hobowars still has some crisp visuals, (the graphics are actually very similar to those in Grand Theft Auto).
Developed by ‘Hellbored’ entertainment, it seems the biggest market for the likes of ‘Hobowars’ and ‘Hobowars2′ is from kids at school. These gamer kids get plenty of time in front of the browser and the competition factor of ‘outranking’ their friends is a massive driving force not just for Hobowars, but for any online gaming franchise.
Ok, more about the Hobowars gameplay -
Your first reaction from this game will more than likely be laughter. You signup and you’re soon picking your hobo character. Pick a bald guy, fat guy, skinny guy, daggy dressed guy – choose whatever you like.
Once you’ve chosen and saved your Hobowars Character, it’s time to understand the general gameplay and ‘goal’ of the game.
The whole point of Hobowars is to ‘fight’ or ‘battle’ your gaming opponents, or fellow hobos. A successful battle gains you money in the game and more respectability (if a hobo can have much of that!)
From the trolley boy at Walmart, to a homeless guy on the street, taking him on to earn money is critical to progressing in Hobowars. Regardless of victory or defeat, you will no doubt suffer injuries and healing is a big part of the game also.
The fighting will be extended to gangs as you are invited to link with larger groups for the common mugging cause.
In addition, you’ve got to eat right? So trips to KFC and other food outlets in this game are a must for the Hobos.
Overall, Hobowars is probably a ‘mini-Grand Theft Auto’ but in browser format. So that means, a lot more text and less raw motion graphics. Ok, so that won’t be for every gamer, but the ability to multi-play in Hobowars is very very cool.
Taking on your school friends in the game or battling someone online to increase your ranking is attractive to anyway. (Even a hobowars or hobowars2 player!)
Wait for it, you can even get weapons in this game! And some of the weapon types are quite laughable. At the lower end, the Hobo character can buy a plastic cup, plastic spoon right through to rocks, rubber knives and even rags!
Don’t stress though, successful Hobowars players can climb the rankings and eventually afford cool guns and other weapons such as: AK47, M16 and Shotguns.
But there are some other interesting aspects of Hobowars that show some tuition to young gamers. The game rewards players for collecting cans and recycling, but also a hobo character cannot progress unless he ‘learns’ so attending school and improving is a crucial part of this free online web game. (This includes, primary school, high school and university)
The progressions and rankings in Hobowars are taken very seriously it seems.
Scams, bots, hacks and cheats for Hobowars are heavily targeted by the game developer and owner ‘Hellbored Entertainment’ they have plenty of rules and discussion around this, and also touch on sharing accounts in the game (illegal) and playing multiple characters in the game (also illegal)
So stick to the rules folks!
Overall, a great laugh and Hobowars is something that must be seen by a good range of gamers. Sure, RTS and MMORPG hardcores probably will get bored quickly, but certainly give it time and join the game with friends, it makes it much more interesting to watch progress over the following weeks.
