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They may take our lives, but they will
never take OUR FREE GAMES!!!!! Fellow Cheapskates, we are back in
action at FBGR, and we are off and running with the MOBA:
Rise of Immortals was developed and
produced by Petroglyph Games, and was released only seven short
months ago in September, 2011. It is currently available via the
Steam Store.
BLUF: Although the game developers
claim that the persistent character growth is a feature, having to
train every character you want to play until they are viable is not
something I want. This game definitely has better casual player
appeal, with several PVE maps in addition to the PVP maps, but it is
a second tier game in comparison to the benchmark, League of Legends.
SCORES
Playability: 2/5 If you've played
similar titles, you'll pick this game up easily. If not, the short
tutorial, easily ignored reminders for skill tree and artifact slot
unlocks, and easily missed clicks due to a very tight aiming device
will frustrate you.
Atmospherics: 4/5 The game has a
consistent style to the maps, interesting character designs, and the
background music is nice. The optional skins for the champions
leaves something to be desired, as they are mostly color changes,
with no real difference from the original.
Learning Curve: 4/5 Each character has
a unique style of gameplay, and can be customized for the player's
preferences, allowing you to find your optimum build and strategy.
Community: 4/5 PVE matches do not
differentiate according to character level, so it was common for me
to follow someone around in the match 20+ levels above me, and just
from that you can learn a lot. No real complaints about language or
rude behavior, but no real hands held out to newbies either.
Support: 4/5 I had no issues with the
game, and the crew at Petroglyph run regular updates and add new
content at least once a month.
Cash Shop: 3/5 Prices seemed fair and
reasonable, especially since the game hasn't been out long enough to
have a huge number of characters available.
OVERALL: 21/30 There are a few things
I found annoying, but overall I felt this was a good game. I think I
will retry it in about a year, if it's still up and running at that
point, to see how it has matured.
Backstory
Rise of Immortals is based in the same
world as Petroglyph's game, “Guardians of Graxia,” released 2010
both as a board game and online game. Graxia is a world of floating
continents, connected by portals from one to the next. The original
game was a turn-based strategy game, featuring the races of Graxia as
your armies. Rise of Immortals takes place several centuries later,
when the crystals that power the magic of the world and keep their
continents afloat start to lose power and die. After the crash of
one continent, the people of Graxia find out that nothing can be done
to permanently stop the decay of the crystals. Destroying one of the
crystals, however, sends its charge to the other crystals, and war
breaks out, as every faction fights to protect their crystals while
destroying everyone else's. In a desperate bid to stem the tide of
death, champions, called Immortals, are chosen from among the races
and out in the world to d battle. The losing forces watch as their
crystals are destroyed by the victors.
Each Immortal has their own backstory,
and each has their own reasons for fighting, but in the long run, it
all comes down to survival.
TUTORIAL
The tutorial starts you with Kyrie, a
Melee DPS Immortal that excels at single target attacks. The
announcer walks you through getting around, the various abilities
that Kyrie has, and the major objectives of the match. What I found
lacking was that there was no persistent gear tutorial or guide. In
other games, there is at least a pop-up window that says, in effect,
“Hey! Look over here! There's stuff you've earned that you need to
look at or you will be left behind by your competitors.” In this
game, the icons for your skills improvement flashes, but that icon is
tiny on the screen, and the flash is barely noticeable. I stumbled
onto the artifact page by accident, just in trying everything out.
MATCH ME UP
After you have learned the basics, your
next choice is Immortal selection. This decision is more important
here than in other games, because of one simple thing: Each Immortal
must be leveled up independently. In other MOBA games, you level up,
unlocking persistent skill or gear slots, and you can assign them to
any character you choose. Rise of Immortals, however, ties
progression directly to the Immortal, meaning that if you start with
Kyrie, and decide that she isn't your style, you'll have to start
from scratch on the next immortal you try. There are currently 21
Immortals to choose from, and each is labeled as to their role in the
game (DPS, Support, Tank, etc.). Oh, and that's one role per
Immortal, these guys are not designed to be flexible enough to cover
more than one.
Once you have chosen your Immortal, you
will be sent to The Hub, a non combat map where Immortals hang out in
between matches. You'll be able to see other players, their level,
if they are in a group, and if they are queued up for a match. This
is also where you have access to your skill tree and artifact page,
the two persistent stat bonuses each immortal has. Skills unlock
every level, where the artifacts unlock in groups every ten levels,
to a level cap of 50. You also have access to the global
marketplace, where you can buy artifacts, various buffs, skins, etc.
Artifacts and Immortals can be bought with earned points from the
matches, but all other purchases are cash.
At any time in the hub you can change
immortals or queue up for a match. There are currently four match
options available: 1v1 PVE, 2v2 PVP, 3v3 PVE, and 5v5 PVP. Each has
its own map and goals, and each awards different amounts of permanent
EXP to your Immortal. You can see the number of people in the
queues, which is nice to know so you aren't waiting forever for a
match, and 1v1 PVE is always available as a practice venue. While I
played, I saw no one enter the 2v2 queue, but there were plenty of
players in the 3v3 and 5v5 maps. Solo and team match-ups in PVP are
done by level, but not all players are in the same level bracket.
Rather, each team is given an equal amount of players at about the
same level. In the last 5v5 game I played, each team had one player
at level 17, several players around 6 or 7, and I think we each had
one player at level 1. needless to say, the team fights were
anything but balanced. If your high level player was there, you
dominated until the other team's leader showed up. It's nice that
they want to let everyone play without waiting until there are enough
lvl 50's on to make a match for them, but this system is not
balanced.
PVE matches are a lot of fun, and will
really appeal to the casual player, as even the lowest level player
will be able to contribute. The 3v3 Map includes two in-lane
monsters that stop you and your creeps (NPC low level forces that
auto-spawn and head down the lane until they meet resistance) until
you are high enough in level to kill them off, and a dragon that is
released from the enemy base once you destroy it. The dragon heads
straight down the map to your base, ignoring all terrain, and only
attacking if it is attacked, until it either dies or destroys your
base.
YOU ARE A UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE...
Just like most MOBA games, there are a
variety of maps, Immortals, and team compositions to try. The
differences in this game are where it succeeds or fails:
Persistent Immortal Growth: Fail.
Having to train every single one of them to get their skills and
artifacts sets filled up is slow and annoying, whereas other games
you develop as a player and unlock the slots you need, then apply
them to every character you choose to play.
PVE maps: Success. Having separate,
interesting, fun challenges to do that don't require players on the
other side means you have a great way to learn your character in an
easier environment.
Larger Maps: For the PVE, larger maps
are a success as they allow more exploration, more minion camps, and
more opportunities to have some fun. For PVP, it's a failure, as it
means it is far more easy to steamroll a team that doesn't pull
together fast enough for a team fight.
FINAL VERDICT
This game is good, but just not good
enough yet. In comparison to other MOBA titles, it has some
originality, but where it matters most, the PVP matches, it doesn't
compare well enough for a seat at the big table.
That's it for this review, join us next
time as we take a crack at the MMO Forsaken World. Till then,
goodnight you kings of Mainstream, you princesses of New Content!
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