LawBreakers

Overview

LawBreakers was a multiplayer-focused sci-fi first-person shooter developed by Boss Key and published digitally by Nexon for the PlayStation 4 and PC on August 8, 2017. It also received a limited-edition retail release by Limited Run. The online servers were later shut down on September 14, 2018.

The first game by Boss Key (founded by former Epic design director Cliff Bleszinski and former Guerrilla director Arjan Brussee), Lawbreakers was a team-based arena shooter, set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world, with a unique class-based system (called "Roles", where character selection is tied to both the Role and the team) and a focus on special movement abilities.

After the dissolution of Boss Key, the PC version of the game became free-to-play on June 11, 2018 (with all in-game purchases disabled) prior to closure of both PS4 and PC servers.

Gameplay

Team-based shooter with multiple modes:

Overcharge

A Capture the Flag-style mode with one "Battery" acting as the flag. Teams must race to carry a neutral battery to their base and protect it for 20 seconds after it hits 100% charge to get a point for their side. However, a stolen battery will retain the charge it had before being removed, which means even a losing team can still claim a point if they take and secure the battery from the enemy's base at 99%. The first team to 3 points wins.

Uplink

Similar to Overcharge, except the flag is a satellite dish. The charge retained is not tied to the dish, but to the team's own upload percentage.

Turf War

A territory control style mode in which teams must lock down up to three vital locations on the map per round. When all three points are controlled, the points will be added to the total of the team controlling each one, and the points reset to neutral control 15 seconds later. The game continues until one team hits the maximum number of points.

Blitzball

Two teams must race to take the "E.U.R.O. Ball" (the Blitzball, voiced by Justin Roiland) from the middle of the map and run it into their enemy's base, all the while listening to the ball complement or insult them depending on their performance. However, if they take too long, the ball will explode and take the carrier with it.

Occupy

A King of the Hill-style mode where one team must occupy a single victory point on the map, earning points for maintaining their occupation and for defending it against incoming enemies. The point itself shifts around the map every 45 seconds. The first team to reach 200 points wins.

Team Deathmatch

A separate mode with no objectives other than to rack up the most enemy kills as a team, either hitting the maximum number of kills or the most after 20 minutes of play.

Character Roles

Vanguard

A front-line fighter equipped with a flight suit that can jet around the battlefield and strike at the enemy from any range.

Maverick (Law)

Member of the Valkyries. A huge fan of the old movie Top Gun, Maverick based her callsign and identity around it as she went through boot camp. Currently seeks to hunt down Toska-9 for her betrayal.

Toska-9 (Breaker)

A Russian fighter pilot who went through the same boot camp as Maverick, and rose near the top of the rankings with her. However, her angry demeanor often clashed with the other recruits. When The Syndicate offered her a large sum of money to join them, Toska proved her worth by stealing a prototype flight suit and killing most of her class on her way out.

Abilities

• Hydra (primary weapon): an arm-mounted vulcan cannon capable of shredding opponents at any range.
• Pulsar (alt-fire): a short-range superheated energy blast that uses fuel for ammo, can propel the Vanguard back while roasting enemies in its path.
• Meteor Shells: Vanguard fire multiple rocket-propelled grenades in front of them.
• Afterburners: Allows the Vanguard's flight suit to temporarily increase its max speed, but will cool down if used too much in one burst.
• Starfall (Ultimate): allows the Vanguard to slam down at a targeted spot from midair, smashing enemies standing below them.

Enforcer

A more classic shooter role capable of buffing allies and disabling enemies.

Axel (Law)

A dutiful Sargeant within TASC who enforces the law to the letter. The first man to charge into battle and the last out, a picture of the ideal law enforcer.

Kintaro (Breaker)

Brother of the head of the Shura Corporation and its chief enforcer. Known mostly for his hard-partying lifestyle filled with booze, drugs, and beautiful women, but loves killing enemies to back up his bragging.

Abilities

• Aerator (primary weapon): assault rifle that increases in stopping power as its magazine is depleted.
• Badger (sidearm): short-range pistol with a powerful shock ability.
• Bloodhound Launcher (Ultimate): shoulder-mounted rocket launcher that fires multiple rockets in one volley that track a single target.
• Electromag Charge: an EMP grenade that can briefly disable the abilities of enemies caught in its blast.
• Distortion Field: Active ability that increases the movement, firing and reload speeds of the Enforcer and his teammates for a brief period.

Titan

A powerful tank that can leap into danger and deliver large amounts of damage up close while taking heavier damage than most others.

Bomchelle (Law)

Former MMA fighter who refused to take a dive when asked to by a corrupt coach. After being forced out of competition, she decided to put her talents to work for the law as a TASC agent.

Cronos (Breaker)

A death row convict who somehow survived the electric chair. After being broken out of prison with his fellow Lifers, Cronos decided to take his revenge on all law enforcement.

Abilities

• Hammerhead (primary weapon): a powerful rocket launcher with dumb rockets that can be detonated remotely.
• Crisper (sidearm): An arc-lightning launcher that can shock multiple enemies at close range.
• Berserk (Ultimate): a drug cocktail that temporarily boosts the Titan's max health and replaces their weaponry with the ability to shoot powerful lightning from their hands at a short distance.
• Neutron Mine: a proximity-triggered explosive capable of slowing down quick enemies, giving the Titan time to destroy them. Can be destroyed by enemy fire. Can ensnare enemies and allies alike in its blast radius.
• Pulverize: The Titan leaps forward in a large arc, allowing them to jump into the fray and damage any enemies they land on.

Assassin

A flanker who can use their daggers as makeshift grappling hooks to harass the enemy's backline or quickly escape if things go south. Unlike other classes, has the ability to double-jump.

Hellion (Law)

Despite losing her legs when she was younger, Hellion somehow managed to keep up her spirits. She soon got new, metallic replacements for her legs, and has thanked her benefactors by using them to hunt down criminals.

Kitsune (Breaker)

The young head of Shura Corporation who is just as deadly in the boardroom as she is in battle with her blades.

Abilities

• Arc Blades (primary weapon): a pair of short swords that can be used as a lethal weapon up close. They can also be thrown to let the Assassin swing around the map, or used as a grappling hook to pull themselves to enemies for extra damage. Knives can be thrown up to three times in succession before recharging.
• Romerus (sidearm): a high-powered energy shotgun that can be overcharged to devastate enemies at close range.
• Frenzy (Ultimate): for a short time, the Assassin can heal from injuries while moving and attacking faster than normal with their blades, all while siphoning damage dealt to heal themselves. Killing enemies while in a frenzied state extends the ability's time.
• Flux Blast: Can launch enemies into the air or deflect some projectiles away from the Assassin.
• Dash: A burst of increased speed that lets the assassin run away from (or into) trouble. Uses the same charge bar as the grappling hook.

Gunslinger

A master duelist. Though not very fast, is capable of picking off single targets from nearly any range. Unlike other classes, carries both weapons (Alpha & Omega) in each hand, and can use them simultaneously.

Abaddon (Law)

The founder of the Archangels. A man from the future who witnessed the downfall of humanity and warped back to the past to stop it, but his miscalculation accidentally led to The Shattering that broke the Moon and forever changed Earth. Abaddon seeks penance by hunting down the criminals he indirectly created, hoping that his active participation in past events can prevent history from repeating itself.

Faust (Breaker)

A German assassin and representative of The Syndicate who was supposedly assassinated by the Valkyries, but just barely managed to survive their nano-virus. Now having supposedly risen from the dead, Faust returns to wreak havoc on those who tried to kill him.

Abilities

• Alpha (primary weapon): a basic pistol with 3-round burst fire.
• Omega (sidearm/alt-fire): an energy pistol that can be charged to fire a laser effective at any range.
• Warp: can teleport a short distance in any direction up to 3 times in succession, provides a short window for rapid-firing pistols directly after warping.
• Tac-Knife: a throwing knife that can stick to walls or in enemies, revealing enemy positions to the team within the knife's range for a short period.
• Equalizer (Ultimate): for a short duration, the Gunslinger overcharges both pistols and fires them in rapid succession, putting out massive DPS in front of him. However, there is a small warmup period, leaving the Gunslinger vulnerable to attack.

Juggernaut

A combat droid that can take more punishment than any other class. The Juggernaut is adept at protecting itself and its teammates, and can destroy enemies up close.

AEGIS (Law)

A heavily-armored combat droid used by TASC for riot control and maintaining order in various situations.

Nash (Breaker)

An older model combat droid that was hijacked by the Lifers, and later reprogrammed by a hacker to help their criminal activities. Nash often speaks in lines from 1990's action movies, reflecting the likes of the hacker who reprogrammed him.

Abilities

• Instigator (primary weapon): Automatic shotgun that can shred enemies up close, but has a long reloading time.
• Bayonet (alt-fire) attached to the shotgun
• Armor Up: Temporarily hardens itself to enemy attacks after a short delay, tied to a charge meter in lieu of an Ultimate attack.
• Holo-Barrier: Sets up a temporary barrier in front that stops all attacks and movement through it. Can affect allies and enemies alike.
• Charge: Runs forward, building up momentum, but cannot use the Instigator while doing so. Will slightly damage any enemies it hits while charging. If activated in mid-air, the Juggernaut will slam down for modest damage on enemies beneath it. Can also do extra damage with the Bayonet while charging. Uses the same charge meter as their extra armor.

Battle Medic

As the name suggests, the Medic is capable of healing teammates within its line of sight, but won't last long in a straight-up fight. Capable of hovering around the battlefield.

Tokki (Law)

A huge fan of the Valkyries growing up. Even as she studied medicine and medical technology, Tokki pursued her dream and ended up joining the Valkyries as a battle medic, ready to heal allies and fight enemies on the front lines.

Feng (Breaker)

Chief scientist of the Shura Corporation's private security division who dabbles in cybernetic replacements, which included replacing a large portion of his own body with robotics. Has little patience for anyone he sees as beneath his intelligence, which is almost everyone.

Abilities

• Lobber (primary weapon): A semi-automatic grenade launcher with shells that launch in an arc and explode on impact.
• Firefly (sidearm): A pulse pistol that fires 4-round bursts at any range, but the shots need to be aimed properly at longer distances. Too much use in succession will cause the pistol to overheat and make it unusable for a short period.
• Defense Matrix (Ultimate): Temporarily sets up a spherical defense matrix that pushes back nearby enemies and blocks all projectiles from going in or out of it. Also heals all allies inside it.
• Can temporarily boost their jumping ability to quickly hover around the battlefield.
• Sends out a medical droid that will heal a selected teammate within line of sight. A maximum of two can be active at the same time, each with their own cooldown.

Wraith

Similar to an assassin but much more extreme. Unlike other classes, has the ability to triple-jump, and can also wall-jump to extend his air time.

Deadlock (Law)

A bored yet highly-athletic prince from the UAE who decided to use his talents to hunt down criminals with the Archangels.

Helix (Breaker)

Faust's right hand man in The Syndicate, little is known about his true identity.

Abilities

• Spektor (primary weapon): Short-range machine pistol with variable recoil depending on how long the trigger is held.
• Wasp (sidearm/alt-fire): Short sword that can instantly kill enemies with low enough health. Also causes the Wraith to dash a short distance forward when using it.
• Slide: Can be used to kick the enemy for a small amount of damage and knockback on its own, or as part of a combo to zip around the battlefield while attacking.
• Stinger: Fires a Wasp blade straight forward that can stick to enemies or any surface. Will explode after a short time or if it is shot by any player.
• Chrono Switch (Ultimate): fires a wide, circular beam in front that slows all enemies hit with it for a short period.

Harrier

Long-range support character, capable of using lasers to propel themselves around the battle and to destroy enemies.

Sunshine (Law)

An English woman who pursued her childhood dream of joining the Archangels. Her hard work and upbeat demeanor helped her quickly rise through the ranks to serve as Abaddon's trusted ally.

Baron (Breaker)

A member of the Lifers from Haiti who was put in jail for trying to resist TASC's presence in his home country. After breaking out with Cronos and other Lifers, Baron seeks his revenge on TASC.

Abilities

• Shoc-Croc (primary weapon): A long-range rifle that fires a consistent laser beam forward until a reload is necessary.
• Laser Tag (alt-fire): Marks enemy targets hit with the laser with a white sheen, causing them to take more damage from the Harrier and allies for a short period.
• Raycasters: Jet boots that can be used to escape an area and as an emergency offensive weapon up close.
• Supercharger: A deployable station that can be attached to most surfaces, refuels the health and fuel of nearby allies.
• Convergence (Ultimate): The Harrier focuses a beam straight from their chest that deals high damage to enemies caught in it. The Harrier has little movement while the beam is firing.

Maps

• Mammoth (Sierra Nevada)
• Vertigo (Sierra Nevada)
• Station (Santa Monica)
• Promenade (Santa Monica)
• Grandview (Grand Canyon)
• Reactor

Story

In the near-future, clandestine experiments on the Moon ended up cracking its crust, leading to an event known as The Shattering on Earth where gravity becomes distorted and parts of the Earth float into the air. Though humanity somehow manages to recover, 100 years later, the balance of power shifts wildly across the globe. Multiple drug cartels, criminal gangs, and shadowy corporations have formed an unholy alliance to take control of the broken world.

The only thing standing in their way are the forces of the Transnational Authority of Supplement Control (TASC), a multi-national law enforcement organization dedicated to maintaining peace and order in the world.

Development

Originally in development as BlueStreak, LawBreakers was developed by newly-formed studio Boss Key Productions (founded by prolific game designer Cliff Bleszinski and Killzone series developer Arjan Brussee) as their first big title.

The game was initially centered around a Free-to-Play model, but in March 2016, Bleszinski announced that the game would be on a Pay-to-Play model instead, but promised it would not be a full $60 release.

The game began signing up players for a public Alpha build in April 2016.

Pre-Order Bonuses

Core Edition

The standard addition of Lawbreakers would launch at the below-average price of $29.99 in the US, for the PC and PS4 as digital downloads. Along with all characters and maps unlocked for play on day 1, everyone would receive an exclusive skin each for Hellion (Sunflare) and Kitsune (Honor Bound), the Assassin characters.

Deadzo Deluxe Edition

For $39.99, players receive everything from the Core Edition, plus "Exclusive Boss-tier Skins" for 6 characters: Sunshine, Maverick, Kintaro, Cronos, Faust, and Hellion. In addition, players would receive "Hadronium Blue Weapon Skins" for 5 Roles' weapons (Enforcer’s Aerator, Gunslinger’s Alpha & Omega, Titan’s Crisper, Battle Medic’s Lobber, Assassin’s Arc Blades), and 3 "Exclusive Deadzo Weapon Stickers" which could be stuck to any character's weapon, alongside a unique Deadzo profile portrait.

Collector's Edition

Limited Run Games offered a physical edition of the PS4 and PC versions, limited to a maximum of 2,500 copies at $69.99 each. The package included everything in the Deadzo Deluxe Edition, plus:

• Abaddon’s Journal: a journal ripped from the game world featuring fifty pages of original fiction, art, and blank journal pages for [the player's] use.
• Two LawBreakers ultra premium character card packs featuring thick card stock and foil, one pack for each faction (LAW and BREAKERS).
• Exclusive vinyl LawBreakers sticker set, plus a Deadzo sticker and postcard.
• Premium numbered box issued by order of purchase, printed with a beautiful metallic silver ink.