Offensive Combat preview - Hands-on with the browser-based FPS

Capture the flag. Team deathmatch. Progression and unlocks. Offensive Combat covers off on all the standard shooter tropes, which is fairly impressive for a free-to-play, browser-based FPS. And yet, Offensive Combat is anything but standard. With tons of fan service for shooter aficionados and a surprisingly over-the-top selection of customization options, Offensive Combat is turning out to be one of the most hilarious online shooter experiences we've had.

The experience can be distilled down into two parts: customization and gameplay. Once the game began, we had the option to customize our character in a variety of ways. Naturally, we began with our look. Offensive Combat's visual customization ranges from hardcore Call of Duty-esque military costumes to giant banana suits and lizard heads. Each part of the body – including the head, torso, legs and arms – can be modified however you want. Feel like creating an abominable snowman wearing a Hawaiian shirt, or a cowboy wearing banana pants? Go for it.

The weapons break down to primary, secondary, melee and grenades. The primary weapon slot houses assault and sniper-type weapons that range from modern M16-style assault rifles to space-age ray guns. Secondary slots consist of equally varied pistols and shotguns. Then again, if you want to give your opponents an extra dose of humiliation, equip a rubber chicken or the aptly named Ham-mer (a honey-glazed ham with a fork as a handle) to the melee slot and beat them to death with it. Getting kills earns experience for weapons, unlocking perks like faster reload times, quicker downsite aiming, or greater ammo capacity.

Once you do get the upper hand on a player and reduce them to a hole-riddled carcass, you have the option to engage in Offensive Combat's version of tea-bagging. This isn't the "victory crouch" made famous by the Halo community; instead, these are pre-chosen "pwn" animations that has your character humping air, flipping the bird, or riding a pony over your victim's body. Pwns can be purchased and equipped in the character customization screen before jumping into a match. Successfully completing a pwn will earn you additional coins which you can use to purchase more elaborate pwns or buy new weapons and costumes.

Surprisingly, for a browser-based game the shooting feels on par with a standard PC game loaded onto our hard drive. Control inputs are responsive, and we didn't experience any slowdown or graphical hitches the entire time we were in-game.

If you want to get your hands on Offensive Combat, the North American open beta starts in August. Be sure to check back for more information on Offensive Combat as we get closer to its full release.