Video Games: ‘Frontlines’ – The Realistically Violent Roblox First Person Shooter
Usually a child-targeted game platform, Roblox is taking a sharp turn with the realistic and violent game Frontlines.
Roblox, the online game platform known for cute unrealistic games has gone in a somewhat different direction recently. Introducing their first realistic and violent first-person shooter, Frontlines, Roblox may not be E for Everyone for much longer.
What is Frontlines?
Frontlines is a military-style shooter. While it’s made on Roblox, it looks much more similar to games like Call of Duty than the usual cartoonish Roblox fare. A trailer revealed this week features a death-match style game with realistic terrain, guns, sound effects, and even blood splatter. The people are still the classics cartoony Roblox avatars, but that’s just about the only cartoony thing in this game.
Studio Maximillian created Frontlines and teasing the game on social media for weeks. Now that we’re finally seeing something close to a final product, it’s clear that this is quite the departure from your average Roblox game. The First person shooter style game uses a fairly simple point-and-kill game style. But this is only compared to other big name games. Compared to the rest of the Roblox site, the quality and detail are pretty incredible.
The Roblox platform itself is pretty huge with 45 million daily users and billions in annual revenue. Most games are made by users. And while not every game goes as to the level of Studio Maximillian, some clearly do. It’s a platform meant to be accessible and fun, and even encourage kids to design their own games.
What is Roblox?
Roblox is also, unfortunately, a platform with its share of issues. A history of exploiting the labor of their underage user base, having NC-17 spaces on the platform, and generally failing to protect their young target audience has left Roblox in hot water on more than one occasion. The company recently made a statement promising to “take steps” toward ensuring the safety of young people on the platform. But there hasn’t been a lot of evidence that they have taken that promise seriously yet.
While many other games are even more realistic and violent, Roblox is a platform targeted towards and enjoyed mainly by children. While they may not be the audience that Studio Maxamillion has in mind for Frontlines, it’s pretty obvious who will be playing the most.
For those of us old enough to enjoy more mature games, Frontlines looks pretty fun. But how many of us will play it instead of Call of Duty and other big name first person shooters? Sure, a few nostalgia rounds will be fun, but after that when the platform is mostly younger kids again? It’s hard to say what the longevity of Frontlines will be. But for now, the fact that they did that with Roblox is downright impressive.
Have you played or developed any games on the Roblox platform? Are you interested in checking out Frontlines? Do you have a favorite Roblox game, or do you just know it as a blast from the past? Let us know in the comments.
Happy Adventuring!
