S4 League

“	Fight! Show me your S4!	„
	~ Male Announcer

S4 League (Korean: S4리그) is an online, third-person acrobatic shooting game first developed by Pentavision and published in 2007 by Neowiz Games. The European servers were shut down on April 29, 2021.^[1] Official support for all other regions is discontinued, though unofficial private servers exist, including S4MAX and Xero.

The history for S4 League featured multiple developers and regional publishers. South Korean publishing was handled by Neowiz Games, Europe and North America by Aeria Games, Thailand by AsiaSoft, Taiwan by Nine Buddy Games Inc., Japan by Game On Studio, Indonesia by LYTO Games, Latin America by Yuisy and Philiphines by VALOFE.

The "S4" in S4 League stands for, "Stylish eSper Shooting Sports."

Stylish - an urban, underground style in a futuristic setting
eSper - a power source, from which players — called eSpers — perform supernatural feats
Shooting - fast-paced, acrobatic shooting combat
Sports - cyber-enhanced sport gameplay with multiple game modes

Gameplay

In S4 League, players use acrobatic stunts, eSper skills, and a variety of equippable weapons to compete for the best score. The skill range of S4 is broad, from beginner flips and team dynamics to advanced maneuvers and animation cancels that lead to an almost limitless skill ceiling. S4 League contains both PvP and PvE gameplay, including both team games and free-for-all gameplay.

The acrobatics of S4 League consume stamina points, or SP, which regenerates over time. Activatable Esper powers also consume SP.

Game modes

S4 League's first gameplay modes were the team PvP modes, Touchdown and Deathmatch. Developers later added several other game modes including the tag-based Chaser Mode, the PvE Arcade Mode and others.

Touchdown

“	Hurry! Get the ball!	„
	~ Male Announcer

Touchdown (TD) requires players to take a humanoid ball, called a Fumbi, from the center of the map and deliver it to the opposing team's goal. The ball carrier does not regenerate stamina, limiting their maneuverability and driving the teamwork aspect of the game. The Fumbi cannot be willingly dropped or passed, clinging to its carrier until the carrier dies or reaches the goal. The game is split into timed halves, and each half can end early if a team reaches the maximum number of goals required. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Deathmatch

Team Deathmatch (DM) focuses on elimination, with each team allowed up to 8 players. Both teams attempt to accumulate as many kills as they can within the time limit or until they obtain enough points to win the game outright.

Chaser Mode

“	This. . . is the Chaser!	„
	~ Male Announcer

A derivative of playground tag or FPS Juggernaut gameplay, Chaser Mode (or Chaser) pits one player against all others. Each round, a random player becomes the Chaser who gains greatly enhanced attack power, stamina, and damage resistance. All other players must evade the Chaser, who gains points for every kill. Runners receive points for surviving the round, in addition to more points for dealing substantial damage to the Chaser.

The Chaser is mortal and can be defeated with enough firepower. Furthermore, they are fully susceptible to knockback and stuns, though their enhanced stamina aids them in escaping stuns.

A Chaser's power is granted by a guardian, also called a "virus." The in-game shop offers different guardians for purchase which changes the guardian's appearance and provides additional buffs, such as raising or lowering the probability of becoming the chaser.

Arcade Mode

In Arcade Mode, players compete against hordes of AI enemies in a ongoing storyline. Players get PEN upon completing missions, and when a player finishes a chapter they receive bonus enhancement Chips that can be slotted into clothing or weapons. As an additional reward, players receive an Arcade Capsule after completing the Arcade Mode.

Battle Royal

S4 League's free-for-all Deathmatch mode, Battle Royale, pits all players against each other to see who can gain the most kills in the time limit. As an added twist, killing a player who is marked for death awards more points.

Not to be confused with the contemporary "Battle Royale" game genre.

Captain Mode

In Captain Mode, all players start as upgraded versions of themselves, called captains, with increased hit-points. A player remains a captain until they are defeated, after which they respawn as a normal eSper. The objective is to eliminate all of the opposing team's captains while protecting those of your own team. All non-captain players can detect the location of enemy captains.

Siege Mode

Siege Mode is a location capture mode featuring three capture zones around the map. Each captured zone grants a steady stream of points. Collectible buffs spawn around the map. These buffs can enhance stats like attack power or contain account rewards like increased PEN for game participation.

Servers, channels and rank

Players gain experience points for their game account which level up the player's rank, shared between all game modes. An S4 League server has both rank-limited channels and free rank channels. Players could compete within the rank leagues — Rookie, Amateur, Semi-Pro, and Pro — while any player could join the free rank channel. Custom games may also be limited by rank, if desired.

The EU version of S4 League provided multiple servers marked for different regions and languages.

Character slots and loadouts

Each account can possess up to three characters, all of which share the same account rank, display name and inventory. Each character may be customized with a different loadout. While players cannot edit loadouts in the middle of a match, they can select from their pre-designed loadouts between rounds.

Equipment

Weapons and Clothes are purchased with in-game currency earned by participating in matches. Players may also buy premium versions of weapons including those with bonuses of otherwise unattainable level. S4 League offers a wide variety of clothing designs. Both clothing and weapons have selectable power rewards which are standard across all styles. Note that S4 League does not enable trading of weapons or resources of any kind.

Different weapons change the movement speed of the character which is important for evasive and ball-running game modes. Ranged weapons vary by fire rate, bullet spray patterns, damage per bullet, and clip size. S4 League also has melee weapons which can stun, slow, or knock back opponents.

Skills are the assorted eSper powers that add game-changing abilities and buffs to a character. Each character can equip up to one skill. These skills may be activatable, such as Flying, Block and Invisible, or passive such as HP Mastery, SP Mastery and Detect. Active skills consume SP.