While Splash Damage's team-based shooter Dirty Bomb never reached dizzying heights in terms of popularity or player base, it did well enough for the developer to continue working on it, to the point where it took back the publishing rights from Nexon. Sadly, while Splash Damage plans to keep the lights on for Dirty Bomb, it's calling an end to active development.

It's a collective problem facing gaming right now. Everyone wants to make something that is easy to learn and hard to master. For Blizzard, it's a core tenet of every game they've ever made.

But what happens when the base level of knowledge required to learn -- the game within a game, if you will -- becomes a daunting task in and of itself? After multiple expansions, it's a problem facing Hearthstone players. Heroes of the Storm's rapidly approaching that point. And the developers behind Overwatch admit it's an issue for them too -- and they don't have an answer.

It’s not often that first-person shooters turn to Australia’s most ocker icons for inspiration.
But when it came to Redeye, Dirty Bomb’s latest smoke and sniper expert, lead writer Ed Stern couldn’t help but refer to some of the most Australian experiences - because he lived them.

So my yesterday went something like this. "Oh, hey, Dirty Bomb is in open beta! Nobody is talking about this game, but the people who made Brink are behind it, and the art looks cool, so what the hell, I'll give it a shot". Thirty seconds later I'd quit to desktop.

Team-based, objective-oriented FPS Dirty Bomb is available to anyone who wants to try it out today. Download it on Steam for free, but be warned -- developer Splash Damage has made it clear that this one is not for the noob-hearted.