Gaming

India’s PUBG alternative FAU-G is a national embarrassment

It practically feels like an interactive video

Published

February 10, 2021

Shivam Vahia

FAU-G is a new game that intends to take on battle royale games like PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends, and even Fortnite. But, the game is loosely based on the India-China border clashes of 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred.

Following the conflict, India banned many Chinese apps and vowed to become more self-reliant. The clashes were met with massive outrage in India because the anti-China sentiment was consistently rising ever since the origin of Coronavirus was traced back to the Chinese city of Wuhan.

For the general public, the virus’s origin and China’s border aggression created a deadly combination. India’s Narendra Modi-led government has a soft corner for nationalism, and it wasted no time to hit back in its own way. Within a few days, India started its campaign to reduce dependence on China and become Atmanirbhar or self-sufficient.

India bans or restricts Chinese companies

TikTok was the first one to get crushed. Followed by hundreds of others. And then, it was time for PUBG Mobile. Indians love the game and were caught in a strange predicament — play a Tencent (Chinese) distributed game or stand with your country? The answer was clear. PUBG Mobile went off the app stores, and a few die-hard folks who couldn’t part ways with the game found turnarounds like VPNs and external installations.

This where a new game comes into the picture. An Indian developer based out of Bengaluru saw an opportunity, just like Instagram spotted an opening with Reels when the TikTok ban was announced in the US. Indian developers tried to grab the TikTok moment with indigenous apps, but Reels rained over their party and sealed their fate once and for all.

PUBG Mobile craze gets replaced by FAU-G

But nobody could bridge the PUBG Mobile gap quickly because making a game isn’t child’s play. However, Indian studio nCore Games has bigger ambitions and announced it’ll be launching a PUBG Mobile alternative called FAU-G (Fearless and United Guards) soon. In Hindi (one of India’s official languages), fawji literally means a solider, and the developer smartly ripped off the name from PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and added a nationalist twist to it.

FAU-G was supposed to launch in November but got delayed to December and then January. Finally, the developers chose the auspicious day of January 26 for launch, a national holiday because it celebrates its 75th Republic Day. The game had more than four million pre-registrations, Bollywood celebrities like Akshay Kumar endorse the game, and it was supposed to land a mighty punch to our violent neighbor, a message that we don’t need them.

The game has finally arrived, and I’ve played for an hour. Yup, I’m writing an in-depth review based on one hour of experience. Hold on, though, don’t judge me yet!

Gameplay

The game is straightforward. It only has a single-player story mode right now, and there are no guns, grenades, or vehicles. According to the campaign mode, you’re a soldier in the Galwan Valley, where Ind0-China clashes took place in 2020. You’re separated from your unit and are supposed to make your way through enemy camps and find your comrades.

This is where it gets more interesting because you’re expected to fight just with fists or a melee weapon. As soon as you’re near an enemy, just keep smashing the hit button, and you’ll be fine. There’s no strategy or aim required to win because the game’s difficulty level is close to zero. AI bots just stand close to you and wait for you to crush them like flies.

The soldier needs to rest near a fireplace to warm up every minute or so. Galwan Valley is one of the harshest battlefields globally due to altitude and ultracold climate, so they incorporated this challenge as a gameplay feature. It’ll help you regenerate your health.

The melee weapon is currently restricted to a wooden club that has nails attached to it. Similar stop-gap weapons were used in the real Indo-China clashes because the two countries want to avoid an escalation and restrict their armies from firing live bullets. To make things as realistic as possible, the developers decided to start with a melee weapon.

A lot of bugs are yet to be squashed, and FAU-G stopped responding a couple of times. The graphics are underwhelming, and the map is too small. You’ll most probably never open it more than once.

But, how does it fill PUBG’s void?

Well, it doesn’t. The game was clearly conceptualized to cash on the immediate PUBG: Mobile ban. They announced the game first and then thought of brainstorming how they’ll accomplish a PUBG killer. Right now, the game only has a single-player mode that’s called “Tales from the Galwan Valley.” The game mentions a 5×5 team deathmatch mode and free for all (possibly the battle royale), but they’re not available as of now.

Thankfully, the developers thought of earning some revenue from the game and added a store. It has skins for the character and melee weapons, and they can be bought using gold or silver coins. The gold coins have to be purchased, while the silver coins are earned as you progress in the game. There’s also an “Honour Road” battle pass that’ll let you make some free in-game cosmetic goodies.

As it stands, the game is far from being called a game as it lacks minimum gameplay. nCore Games says it’ll be releasing more features, maps, weapons, and game-modes in the future, obviously. But it’s safe to assume that the game failed to capitalize the PUBG Mobile vacuum.

Nobody expected FAU-G to be as perfect as the incumbents, but we did expect a slightly enjoyable game that can challenge international studios. In turn, we’ve received a hyper-national interactive video that gives little joy and maximum cringe.

Even if the developer adds a ton of features in the next few weeks, the initial damage is done. The game has a rating of just 3.0 out of 5.0 on the Google Play Store, and it isn’t available for iOS yet. The launch euphoria is now gone, and users realize there’s no use in wasting storage after a game that barely works.

What does the future hold?

FAU-G isn’t the first Indian alternative to disappoint. As soon as the TikTok ban was announced, many local developers tried to seize the moment by creating clones. But none of them are close to bridging the gap, and Instagram Reels has successfully taken over the mantle.

A prime reason behind their failure is their vision. Their goal is to become India’s PUBG Mobile or TikTok, and in the process, forget those giants are successful because they’re unique. They offer something nobody does, and that’s their forte.

Many Indian start-ups like Razorpay, Ather, Cred, Instamojo, and Khatabook are successful because they focus on the product, the idea, and its vast applications. These companies don’t need a marketing campaign around “being Indian” to attract users.

nCore Games still has a lot of time and should focus on the game as a product, not a PR campaign. We don’t need dialogues that indirectly suggest what’s happening in the game is a real depiction of what happened at Galwan Valley.

When I’m shooting at someone in a game, they’re just another player for me and not a Chinese soldier trying to cross the Indian border. And this is a thin line we must maintain. Younger generations should understand the real harshness and consequences of war. A game is a simulation, and we’re turning it into a toxic dose of unimaginative propaganda.

The bad news for nCore Games is that PUBG Mobile could return to India after severing distribution ties with Tencent. FAU-G can survive if it ramps up development and releases features soon, or PUBG Mobile never makes a comeback.

Gaming

Genshin Impact, Duolingo partner for limited-time quest

Win various rewards by going on a 3-day streak

Published

December 9, 2025

GadgetMatch

Genshin Impact has partnered with Duolingo for a limited-time 3-Day Streak Quest in the Duolingo app.

The collaboration between the popular open-world RPG and the educational app features Teyvat’s travel companion Paimon.

Genshin Impact characters Tighnari and Cyno also make an appearance, as well as Duolingo’s beloved green owl Duo.

From December 8 to 27, players and learners from select regions can unlock the “Genshin Impact Quest” in any course on the Duolingo app.

Users who complete learning exercises for three straight days with receive the following in-game rewards:

Custom avatar “Diligent Study”
Themed namecard “Celebration: Dream Reader”
Unique Sumeru-style dish “Spiced Fried Chicken” and recipe
Collectible in-app statue of Paimon and Duo
Primogems

The reward redemption code can be claimed from the “Shop” page in the Duolingo app before December 30 and redeemed on the title before January 31.

To make the challenges more exciting, all four characters will show up on each quest to cheer on learners.

The collaboration follows the recently released Genshin Impact Version Luna III, which introduced Durin, a new 5-Star Pyro character with dual battle forms. There is also a new story chapter set in Nod-Krai.

Gaming

Razer Raiju V3 Pro review

Competitive controller that knows exactly who it’s built for

Published

December 3, 2025

Rodneil Quiteles

When I first unboxed the Razer Raiju V3 Pro, my brain immediately went: okay, this is exciting. It had that wow factor — that feeling of holding a piece of tech that’s meant to do something special. It’s the kind of controller that makes you want to jump straight into a game just to see what all the fuss is about.

Build and feel — familiar, but also very not

Coming from the DualSense, the first surprise is the weight. The Raiju V3 Pro is definitely lighter, but not in a cheap way. Holding it felt different, wider even, and my hands were a little more relaxed because of that added space.

The grip texture is great — no fear of slipping, and it feels particularly good on the bottom of your palm.

The face buttons? Smaller surface area, longer travel. Premium-feeling overall, though I’ll be honest: I’m not entirely convinced the Raiju V3 Pro’s feel matches its price tag. That’s mostly because I’ve tried some GameSir controllers that felt surprisingly similar for a fraction of the price. But still — this feels like a product built with intent.

Gameplay experience — where it actually comes alive

Most of my testing happened on NBA 2K26 because… well… that’s the game I always end up playing. And this was the moment the TMR thumbsticks flexed. I found myself doing more dribble combos and experimenting with shot styles using the right stick simply because I had zero fear of drift.

I also jumped into a few fighting games — TEKKEN 8 and My Hero One’s Justice 2 — then humbled myself in several Death Match sessions on Call of Duty Black Ops 7. I even swung through Spider-Man Remastered for a bit. Across all of these, the controller felt responsive, fast, and ready for whatever chaos I threw at it.

HyperTriggers and extra inputs — surprisingly useful

The triggers were most noticeable during my Call of Duty matches. I still sucked at it — let’s be real — but I can totally see how better players would squeeze more value out of the locked fast-trigger mode. The surprise twist was how useful the triggers were for fighting games. Having minimal travel made reaction-based inputs feel snappier and more controlled.

As for the back paddles and claw bumpers: I thought about taking some of them out, but ended up keeping everything on. Eventually, they became little fidget points that didn’t interfere with gameplay.

Mapped the extra trigger to Square to make it easier to hit the Triangle + Square combo for self alley-oops.

In practice, I rarely used them because I’m such a muscle-memory player… except in NBA 2K26. I mapped self alley-oops and flashy passing to the extra triggers, which helped because 2K moved those combos around this year.

Thumbsticks — the star of the show

The TMR sticks? Excellent. Smooth, accurate, fluid — all of it. I had fun abusing them without worrying about drift, and NBA 2K26 really let me push them to their limit. COD: Black Ops 7 was harder, but I think that’s more on me than the controller. Maybe a sensitivity tweak or two will fix that over time.

Customization — only what I needed

I’m not the type who loves deep tweaking, so I mostly skipped Synapse. I only used the mobile Razer Controller app to remap the extra triggers. And honestly? That was enough. The controller already felt good out of the box.

Wireless performance — HyperSpeed does its job

No lag. No hiccups. No difference between wired and wireless — seriously. HyperSpeed Wireless worked wonders and felt as reliable as any cable-connected controller I’ve used.

Pain points — minor, but noticeable

There are a couple of things worth noting.

The big one: no haptic feedback. The DualSense’s signature feature simply doesn’t exist here. Razer says this controller was designed with real pro players, and removing rumble seems to be one of those “it’s not needed in esports” decisions.

Honestly? After a while — especially during fast-paced games — I didn’t miss it. Haptics matter more in story-driven titles, and this controller isn’t really meant for those anyway.

One more thing: I couldn’t turn on the PlayStation with the Raiju V3 Pro. I still needed a DualSense for that.

Who is this for?

This controller is for people who play fast-paced, competitive games. Plain and simple.

But it’s also for players who want a controller built to take a beating — the kind that survives long sessions, intense button-mashing, and weekend-long gaming marathons. Its battery life is impressive, too, making it a great backup for when your DualSense suddenly taps out mid-game.

If you want a premium esports controller designed specifically for PS5, this is one of the best — if not the best — option right now.

If you want rumble, adaptive triggers, or a cinematic gaming experience? This isn’t it.

Is the Razer Raiju V3 Pro your GamingMatch?

If I had to describe the whole experience in one line: I’m swiping right because the Razer Raiju V3 Pro is an excellent piece of tech.

But it’s not for everyone, especially not for its asking price (EUR 209.99 / PHP 12,990). You can argue there are cheaper options — absolutely — but most of those lean heavily toward PC.

In the PS5 space, especially for competitive players, this is probably the strongest contender you can buy today.

Gaming

Helldivers 2 reduces gigantic file size by 85 percent

From 154GB, you only need 23GB now.

Published

December 3, 2025

Luigi Leonardo

The problem with games today is how big they are. Try installing Call of Duty today and see how much of your hard drive it obliterates. This problem is most apparent with live-service games. Unfortunately, one unlikely suspect of this is the critically acclaimed Helldivers 2, which currently clocks in at around a whopping 154GB. Thankfully, Arrowhead Game Studios has done some cleaning to reduce the game’s phenomenal file size by an impressive 85 percent.

Released last year, Helldivers 2 presents an enjoyable third-person shooter which pits players, solo or in a group, against hordes of hostile aliens or rogue robots. Despite being difficult, the game wants players to have fun. However, because of new content getting added constantly, the file size can get to big for modern machines.

Today, in a new update currently in beta, Arrowhead, with the help of PlayStation port specialists at Nixxes, has reduced the required file size of Helldivers 2 to only around 23GB. That’s a gigantic reduction, swirling around 131GB of savings.

Despite the huge reduction, Arrowhead says that performance does not take a backseat. At most, the new file system can cause only a few seconds of more loading times, and that’s only for the few who still use HDDs.

Currently, the new file size is an opt-in beta update. Players will need to change their settings a bit, as guided by Arrowhead’s blog post. They also advise anyone who uses mods to take caution since the new files might break compatibility.

Ultimately, the main goal is to make the new file size the default state of the game. If you don’t want to opt into a beta, hang tight for the more definite update.