SMITE – Preview
SMITE is a Moba game that is currently being developed by Hi-Rez studios. For those amongst you that wonder what Moba stands for: Multiplayer online battle arena. SMITE is going for a new approach when it comes to the typical Moba games and is trying to make it a third person experience instead of the top down view. Will the company succeed against the competition? We got invited to test out the Beta version and we’ll try to answer that question for you!
Story:
Like in most Moba games there is no real storyline and to be honest it isn’t needed either. SMITE chooses to create it’s ‘Gods’ to be real figures out of different countries’ mythologies. Each of the playable character has it’s own lore to be read in it’s own information page. I have no doubt most of the players will not even bother to read the lore of these gods but for those who are interested in mythology will surely enjoy the gesture.
Pretty much it comes down to this. Your god will have to earn your place in eternity.
Graphics:
SMITE is a pleasant experience to the eye. When your computer is up to a decent gaming experience you will be able to enjoy a decent scenery and pretty animated characters. For those who are still playing games on their old toasted (like me!) can turn down the graphics enough to experience a smooth playing style aswell. The characters themselves have their own style and you will notice the influences from the respective areas that they come from.
Sound:
No complaints on this department either. The combat noises sound as they should be and each of the playable characters has it’s own set of sounds (and voice). Ofcourse when playing you will sometimes experience an occassional annoying sound, especially when playing against some of the gods and you hear »happy new year » once too often… Yes Sun Wukong I’m talking about you…
Gameplay:
Now a short introduction for those that are new to the Moba genre: The most common way to play the game is a 5 vs 5 experience (1 vs 1 is an option aswell). You fight on a map with 3 lanes each defended by 2 towers, 1 phoenix and at the end of the yellow brick road you’ll find a giant minotaur waiting to kick your ass. During the game each of the lanes will spawn it’s own set of ‘mobs’ that will fight for you – but keep in mind the enemy has it’s own set of these so called mobs and they will try to attack you, your towers and so on. Your God starts of at level 1 on each match and has 4 skills it can learn and upgrade untill he reaches it’s maximum level (20). During the match killing the enemies’ monsters will earn you money and experience (last hitting them will earn you even more) and ofcoure slaying enemy gods will earn you even more money and experience. When you are fighting an enemy god and a teammate comes in for the kill you will still get rewarded for your part in the combat by a small money reward and a little bit of experience and an ‘assist’ in the score screen.
Your goal is to get strong (and your team too) so you can start tearing down those pesky towers and the phoenix in it’s respective lane (or all lanes!) to breach their stronghold and claim victory by killing their minotaur. How do you get strong then? As stated above you will earn money during your match and with your hard earned loot you are able to buy items (in your camp) to improve your god and to kick even more ass. Keep in mind if you die you will just earn more money for the other team and they will get stronger and will be harder for you to fight. Keeping an eye on your HP is the way to go. Ofcourse this doesn’t mean you will always have to stay this careful because if you don’t take a small risk now and then or don’t help your teammates nothing can be achieved either.
Note: a small detail I forgot to mention, SMITE is a free to play game.
Own experience:
Normally I’d end up by scoring a game I ‘review’ but this can’t be called a full fledged review yet seeing the game is still being developed and has it’s share of bugs and ‘construction sites’, I’m simply going to write a bit about my own experiences when playing the Beta. Personally I was quite excited because the game reminded me of a regular Moba game (which I tend to enjoy) but with a third person view which reminded me a little bit of WoW pvp. (which I also enjoy!) At the beginning of the game it might be advised to open your option screen a second to check out the controls to make sure they are to your liking. The game offers you the chance to play practise matches to try out all available gods. Keep in mind that when playing against other players only a handfull of free gods will be available and those that you yourself unlock by either playing a lot and earning points or by contributing to the game and pay real money for them. One thing about that last part was very important for me, paying real money does not make you stronger than other players and will simply help you unlock a desired god quicker or you will be able to choose to buy a skin for a god you like to play with. (Which means just a simple cosmetic upgrade)
I can keep the actual gameplay part quite short: I enjoyed playing a Moba game in a third person view and if they keep up the work and add a decent amount of new gods I have no doubt they can turn this game in to a good competitor for the more popular games at this day. The gameplay works pretty smoothly (ofcourse they have their own share of bugs or tests when a new god is developed) and you get used to the controls after a match or 2. Teamwork tends to be an issue but that solely depends on the people you’re playing with and not the game itself.
The only bother I had were the awful menu’s they don’t look as pleasant as the rest of the game and they look as if windows 3.11 is making it’s revival. I have no doubt however they will change the style of menu’s because during my test they already did a decent amount of updates and added things like a match history screen, player profiles and so on.
All in all I sense (and hope) a good game in the making.
Note: All gods look badass, but if you play the game and you get cornered by the cutest of them all (Cupid!), it’s probably me… beware of the power of love…
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