Hero -driven arena based games seem to be the new hotness when it comes to the competitive scene. Looking to take their own share of this market while also introducing new gamers into the game type is Motiga with Gigantic. Blending free-to-play MOBA (think League of Legends or DOTA 2) principles with the gameplay of a third person character action game, Gigantic is looking to keep things accessible while also offering advanced play for those looking for it.
Players choose from a wide selection of characters which have each been designed with a certain type of player and gameplay in mind. Prefer first person shooters? Give the sniper Imani a try. Like beat-’em-ups? Maybe the melee-focused brute The Margrave is for you. Maybe you’re a more methodical player who likes stealth games, well then there’s the assassin Tripp who can offer that get-in-and-get-out style of gameplay. Of course, not every genre of game is going to be represented, but any player who has experience in a third person game should have no problem adapting to and learning Gigantic.
Gameplay itself is a 5-on-5 competitive match that culminates in the capturing of points and a battle between each team’s guardian. Teams push towards the enemy guardian’s lair, battling enemy players for summoning circle locations on the map. Players can summon creatures that offer different advantages like being able to heal allies or spotting out stealthy enemies. Kills and other objectives give power to your guardian or may take it away from the enemies. After a set time, the guardians themselves push further onto the battlefield and the final phase of the match is started. Teams must now wait for their guardian to strike the other to allow them to damage it. Matches can not be ended in one downing of a guardian, however. Guardians have three bars of life and each must be taken out before a victor can be declared. It’s an interesting twist on the end game in matches for this genre and in theory should give losing teams the ability to come back if they are playing well.
Another more inviting feature of Gigantic over the competition is in its approach to in-match character progression. Motiga has decided to ditch confusing item shops and the concept of a “perfect” leveling path for skills, and instead decided to let players adapt their abilities from a few branching path for each ability. For example, Uncle Sven has an Acid Flask which creates an area of effect that will damage any enemy players that happen to walk through it. If a player happens to notice that the enemies seem to be ignoring it, they could upgrade Acid Flask to do increased damage while enemies stand in it and also does additional damage once they leave for a period of time. Or that player could opt to specialize in a different route and use Acid Flask in tangent with a different ability that once used on the area of Acid Flask did a burst of massive damage that could scare off advancing foes. It’s really up to each player to make beneficial decisions for the team based on how they are currently playing and what scenarios the other team is presenting them in that specific match. That concept is at the crux of whether players find the game rewarding or not and it seems as if Motiga understands the abrasiveness it has presented in other games of its type in the past and have been working hard to develop a game that sidesteps that.
With any competitive game, as more players come in and learn it a meta game may develop and push less skilled players out because they are not “playing correctly” and can’t keep up with the more informed players. As of now however Gigantic seems like the step forward that the competitive hero arena game genre needed to take to bring a wider audience into the mix. Gigantic will be free to play on both Windows 10 and Xbox One later this year.
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