GAME BATTLERITE

Battlerite Stunlock Studios GAME REVIEW

BY JOWAN DAVE G. GUIDES

There’s no denying that Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) is the most popular genre of video games. Games like Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) and League of Legends (LoL) are in the top most played games ever since their releases. The possibilities in playing MOBA are endless: you “farm” for gold in order to buy your hero or champion items, you level up its skills in order to suit your battle style—the list goes on and on. Typical MOBA games have a three-lane, five-versus-five format that usually last around 30 minutes to an hour or even more depending on the game. But what if we take away the 20-minute laning stage and go directly to the teamfights—no lanes, no bases, just champions going at it in a small arena setting? Well, you have Battlerite.

I’ll just go straight to the verdict—Battlerite is immensely fun! The graphics, the orientation, the point and click style of gameplay—it screams of traditional MOBA. However, the developers from Stunlock Studios call it a Player vs. Player game. It’s more Super Smash Bros or Tekken than DOTA. Something that stands out in Battlerite is how intense and fast-paced it is.

As of press time, there are 23 champions that are classified into three categories: melee, ranged, and support. Each of these categories does exactly what you expect. You have two bars to keep track: the health bar and the energy bar. The way it works is like a traditional fighting game—the energy bar fills up as you deal damage to the enemy. Additionally, you also gain energy by “winning” the orb in the center of the arena that also gives you health; when you fill up your energy bar, you can use your ultimate ability which deals a significant amount of damage.

The game is limited to 2v2 and 3v3 matches wherein you can play in casual, ranked, or co-op mode. The match is a best-of-five format. Whoever wins three rounds wins the game.

The graphics and interface are extremely intuitive. It contains very user-friendly buttons and layouts that don’t confuse new players. The tutorials give you rewards and make it easier for the learning curve. The graphics of the actual gameplay are good although it might confuse traditional MOBA players as the controls are totally different. It’s a WASD-based movement compared to the traditional right-click navigation. The champion is centered in the screen and it turns to wherever you point your cursor. What’s impressive about the experience is how the animations are executed— different champions have unique animations that represent their personality. When you’re disabled, you would know it. When you deal damage, the animations show it well.

Overall, Battlerite is an

extremely fun game. It fills in that craving of MOBA players to play intense teamfights without all the dragging laning phases and farming. Of course, the game is not perfect. There are flaws you can point out like the cursor design and the limited number of players per match. But these are just really nitpicking. The heart-racing gameplay and the attention to detail by the developers no doubt overshadow these tiny flaws. I’m certain these issues will be fixed in future patches and updates as the game is quite young. S