This weekend got a bit busy. I was intending to write an article about Hi-Rez’s new take on the MOBA genre: Smite. But I found myself just too busy. Too busy actually playing Smite.
To explain to anyone that may not be familiar, Smite is a new MOBA done from a 3rd person point of view, rather than the traditional isometric angle. Players control their heroes (or in this case Gods), with the WASD keys, rather than a click to move system.
Smite actually differs in a number of ways from its predecessors, more so than you might guess at first glance. A lot of these differences are direct changes in mechanic, scheme or layout, but some are organic changes that have arisen out of changes to another feature. All in all, it’s a solid game, so why don’t I tell you what to expect for all you MOBA fans out there.
First of all, the camera. The camera will be 100% familiar to anyone who has played a 3rd person anything. Though for online gamers, the most ready comparison will probably be World of Warcraft. Due to this control scheme change, we see new issues being addressed. In most MOBAs, your hero is always facing the direction he is moving. That is simply a virtue of how click-to-move control schemes operate. This is no longer the case; You can strafe and back pedal, though you still can’t jump (which actually matters). Strafing and back pedaling make you move significantly slower than if you are walking forward.
You also suffer a significant movement penalty for attacking while moving, which is a new concept all together, but one that makes snares all that much more important. In fact, only being able to move forward at your maximum speed has a few other profound effects. Namely, it makes watching your back much more difficult. Ganks from behind can completely blind side you in lane if you’re not keep very keen track of the mini map.
The second largest difference, even though it’s a very limited and specific change in the game, is the enemy base. The final structure that must be destroyed is, in Smite, an enemy in and of itself. The Minotaur fights back. You cannot kill the entire enemy team, and “recklessly push for the win”. The Minotaur is no laughing matter and I haven’t finished a game where it was killed from full life during the span of a single respawn time. You can be fairly certain that when you go in for the killing blow, you’ll be fighting The Minotaur with at least some interruption from the enemy team.
The item shop is done differently than most other MOBA games as well. This is not a surprise in and of itself, as almost all the titles that fall into this genre do their shops differently. I would like to at least highlight the two things that I found the most notable:
- Beginning items are not separate from end-game items. You will simply buy an item and upgrade it as the game progresses. Each item has 3 ranks. This means that for a final item that has Health and Mana, you won’t have to buy a single Health item, and a Mana item, and then combine them later. You will start with a weaker version that has both Health and Mana from the start. Most items that have special effects however (like returning damage to attackers) do not gain their most potent benefits till rank 3.
- On-use items are their own category that come without passive stat benefits. This means that players must choose between the worth of these active effects, and items that will make their standard kit more potent.
The most recent news in Smite has been the addition of a new God. Guan Yu is a Chinese God, and is a durable magic-damage dealing champion, and might I had that he’s a doozy. He emphasizes my only complaint with Smite thus far, and that is mobility. Given that every attack, every skill, has to be aimed, mobility is king. Guan Yu’s ability to dash through units, and his ultimate that allows him to bounce around the battlefield several times in succession, coupled with his high damage, make him extremely capable of… well, doing just about whatever he wants.
In fact, the game is curious in this sense. Every single God I’ve played, I’ve walked away from thinking: “Man, that guy is so strong “. All of them feel really good. Personally I’ve been walking around with Ymir and Hel, but that’s the great part about everyone being pretty balanced at the moment. You can viably play anyone you like.
Smite is a great game to pick up and play, and I recommend it pretty highly right now. Whether or not you’re into MOBAs, or the 3rd person take on MOBAs, will determine whether or not you like this game over others, but it’s definitely not a bad way to spend a saturday afternoon.
