Developer: Nimble Giant Entertainment
Publisher: Nimble Giant Entertainment
Platform: PC
Tested On: PC
Quantum League – Review
Quantum League is a competitive arena-based FPS with some RTS elements. While the overall premise and concept are unique and fun at their respective cores, the game lacks polish in certain areas; especially when it comes to character models and matchmaking. Nonetheless, even with a few rough edges present, we did enjoy our experience with the game.
Story
Seeing that the game is a competitive FPS, there’s not much to add to the story. We are taken to an alternate universe where time travel manipulation has changed the way the world sees sports, creating Quantum League, a heavily weaponized sport revolving around teamwork. The player’s main goal is to be the best Quantum Athlete by winning matches and climbing the leaderboards.
Graphics
Quantum League is a good-looking title, but nothing to write home about. The game is optimized pretty well, and can pretty much run on any PC. The Quantum Arenas, however, are the main highlights here.
Each arena, while similar, all have different themes and color swaps that make each battle unique. Ranging from the standard futuristic stadiums, cargo holds, museums, and nordic-themed arenas, each fight is always unique. Not to mention the added feature of having different variants to each arena, making it more enjoyable.
Character designs, however, are a little on the bland side. From the start screen, players who play many other games similar to this such as Fortnite, Rocket Arena, etc, can see the similarities between the designs. Aside from the small aesthetic changes, mostly all the characters seem generic and uninteresting.
Sound
The music in Quantum League is upbeat and funky, which fits the lighthearted theme of the game. The ambiance of the crowd, the announcer, and the banter between characters are a welcome addition and bring life to the sport.
Weapons in Quantum League have a quality sound design for each respective weapon. Each weapon, starting from the standard pistol leading up to the heavy weaponry of grenade launchers and rifles, sounds different from each other, all still being mixed with the synth-wave futuristic sound. When shooting, each weapon feels like it has weight when hitting a target, especially when critical hits are made.
Gameplay
Quantum League at its core is an arena-based FPS shooter. The aspect that sets it apart from other shooters is that it uses time looping mechanics to add a unique twist to the genre. In the middle of every arena is a time orb that resets every ten seconds, for a total of three times. After the loop is done, it projects a clone of yourself that repeats what you did in the previous time loop. Basically, players will have to team up with their past selves to win.
Unlike other FPS games that are more arcade-like in structure, this game requires a large amount of planning and strategy, to get the upper hand on the opponent. Since the opponents are looping as well, the game can best be compared to competitive sports like Chess, which rewards players who plan moves ahead of time.
If a clone dies during a loop, they will respawn the next round, but if a player dies, they will be desynced. Desynced players can still move around the map and shoot, but can’t hit enemy clones or players, meaning that they can only interact with the environment, setting up traps for the next loop. Desynced players can still make it back by finding health packs scattered around the arena. Overall the gameplay loop is fast-paced and fun, even allowing players who get killed to help their team.
In addition to the base mechanics, six characters have different passive abilities that greatly change the way the game is played. For example one of the characters, Bjarne, has the ability to see enemy clones through solid objects, making it easier to plan out spots to pick off clones; while Toure has a Kinetic Shield that creates a damage-absorbing shield while sprinting, making him a more aggressive close-range fighter. The game does a good job of making each character different gameplay-wise, even if their actual models are somewhat generic.
Weirdly enough, matchmaking seems to be a bit of an issue. Considering the game was out for a good month, the wait time between matches is painfully long. There have been multiple times where we had to shut down the game and restart just to find a match ten minutes later. Even when cycling through different game modes, such as the standard deathmatch and domination, which tend to have many players available, the wait times are still painfully long and kill some of the immersion.
Lastly are the cosmetic options and in-game currency. Like other titles that support the same features, players can use the Quarks they win from battles to buy special cosmetic items for characters. There is the option to just buy Quarks with microtransactions, but surprisingly it’s not necessary. The game is very lenient with the amount of Quarks players get, making the grind for costumes very easy and rewarding. There is also a completely free battle pass that rewards Quarks also, rewarding players with legendary skins if the pass is completed.
Conclusion
Quantum League is an innovative take on the FPS competitive scene. The overall premise of using time-based mechanics is a completely fresh outlook on the genre. Planning moves ahead of time and knowing when to be aggressive, all contribute to the high skill ceiling of the game. While the gameplay loop is enjoyable, the same can’t be said for its lackluster character design and painfully long wait times between matches.
Quantum League - Review,
No Comments