Recently at GamesCom we got to sit down and check out Arena of Fate from Crytek, well with our latest Alpha access we got to do more than have a developer guide and actually got to try it out for ourselves. Playing on your own as opposed to playing with a dev guiding you through the game has allowed us to get a first time player experience with the game, combined with the fact that we were jumping in and playing with players who have already been enjoying the game for a while as opposed to a bunch of Press n00bs like normal, it left us with mixed feelings.

Logging in to start offers up a choice of free heroes, able to choose three to add to our starting collection and the rest being bought with gold earned through playing matches (how free hero rotation might work is still relatively unknown though). We tried to get a varied selection and so went for the boxer Sullivan, the witch doctor Baron Samedi and the wuxia martial artist Hong Gildong, giving us a wide spread of characters. We also got to choose a “Club”, three to choose from these appear to be factions of some sort where players can work together against the other clubs, this emphasizes the “sport” element of the game that Crytek are trying to push; though you can switch clubs later if you wish as well as creating your own club down the line.

Looking through the various menus, checking out the shop and variety of skins that are already in place and being sold, what we couldn’t find was a tutorial mode or a practice area to try out our character. Unfortunately it seems that Practice mode is currently locked up and so our baptism of fire was against real players in a 5 v 5 traditional three lane battle. What isn’t so traditional is the scoring method; players can earn a point for their team by killing 7 enemy team members or by dropping towers in the lanes, and the game is won by either having the most points at the end of the 20 min match limit or if you destroy the enemy base structure. Combined with in-lane healing and talent levelling the purpose seems to be to try and make a more fast and furious MOBA with as little downtime as possible leading to protected game lengths.

Stepping into our first few games was interesting, whilst the general vibe of the game is very much like a traditional MOBA it definitely leans more towards League of Legends/ DOTA2 style gameplay as opposed to something like Heroes of the Storm. In LoL style fashion players are generally quite isolated in their lanes, expected to be able to push and survive and then joining up with the group every so often, and as someone new to the game using a new character it’s fair to say I sucked badly (and got cursed at for it; go team….). For a game that wants to push the sport style game matches it definitely didn’t feel like I was a part of a team, not in comparison to something like Heroes of the Storm where team fighting is pretty constant and you rely on your other team members.

The general combat felt like a continuous poke at the enemy team members and their waves, and endless tug of war between two towers until someone slipped up and ended up out of position and being brutally punished for it. As often as not that was us. Death was a bit of a pain as it meant you ended up behind on XP, which, means you are not only giving the team points but also becoming a drain as you don’t keep up in levels, which leads to more bad feelings between the teammates that even if you’re not being outright idiotic, but just not necessarily playing well, then you are crucified for it. Fall a little behind and lose a couple of towers and it is remarkable how quickly team members are hitting the “Surrender” option to try and forfeit the game; from out previous interview with the devlopers who talk about “come backs” then either they have grossly overestimated how viable it is to make a comeback, or how likely it is for the defeatists to not try and end the game early when they don’t get a perfect start. Of all our games not one of them went the full distance and ended up with surrender, hopefully it’s because its Alpha and not ranked play… but we’re not so sure.

When we did get to fight it just doesn’t feel like there’s that much to do, you don’t have to roam the map that much, again, in comparison to some other MOBA, and the occasional group in the jungle area to take on some camps was a small fleeting highlight as lots of enemy team members and your own team congregated at the same points for a big fight. Actually getting around the map is pretty slow, respawning at the base is a long hike back to the middle of the map, though the respawn time after dying is quick, which is a major benefit.

It felt in many ways like it was the same thing every time; same time of gameplay, same map, and the animations and skill maneuvers didn’t really have the wow factor that we were expect as the game in general looks pretty great. The UI, characters and general design all look top notch, as one would expect it to be from Crytek, but there wasn’t anything that made us go “Wow that was cool”, and no instant “this game is pretty fun” that we’ve felt with Heroes of the Storm and other lesser known MOBA. It felt tedious and in all honesty quite frustrating to play.

Overall the game has tried to take the currently most popular MOBA (League of Legends and DOTA2) and highlight one of the fundamental issues that put some players off; the game length. The rest of the features are then built around this, with ideas and mechanics to support quicker matches, staying in the action for longer and less of a need for base downtime. The problem is that away from that it’s still very much the same kind of MOBA as LoL and DOTA2 are, so whilst it has the potential to make its own community and maybe lure a few people away from these games, it definitely isn’t genre redefining and the gameplay still feel the same. For players that enjoy Heroes of the Storm, it’s varied maps and objectives, it’s team fighting and more maneuverability around the maps, then they probably aren’t going to enjoy Arena of Fate as much.

SCORE:

• Pros: Lots of unique and interesting characters available, pristine graphics, short match lengths.


• Cons: All too familiar three lane map style and gameplay, slow travel between locations, doesn’t add anything particularly new to the MOBA genre.

Rating: TBD

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 8th, 2015 at 11:22 am and is filed under Articles, MMO News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.