Competition For Dota.

Get ready for ‘BattleSouls’. From a brand new gaming studio, Pixeleap brings you a few tweaks to your favorite online titles to create another MOBA franchise. Fans of ‘Dota’ will find the playthrough interesting when they dive into a medieval world with similar mechanics and views as ‘Smite’. Choose from a range of characters with only two ability options and run through a small map where you first have to destroy a force field before attacking the other team's fortress. Is it original? Some ideas and decisions are different. Character designs, art style, and the controller mechanics have been perfected to work properly in order to try and compete in an ever growing genre. As of April 2016, even Blizzard launched their own MOBA game, which came out only a week before the ‘BattleSouls’ official launch. It is impossible not to compare, so I will explain what is unique or dissatisfying about the title, and what ‘BattleSouls’ has to offer.

The title is currently in development, and like many other MOBAs, the creators will continuously add and perfect the game as it grows. It is impossible to judge the title as it continues to grow, so even if the game lacks in a few sections, it may completely change by the same time of next year. I will judge solely on what the game offers now and what it could be. What the game currently offers now is five playable characters, which look to be a mix from Nordic and the late 1700’s cast members (Having an elemental wizard and a busty pirate in the same match). I like the original character designs and what looks to be their mascot, who is a healer with ram horns on her head. A cute mascot, but nothing seems to stand out about them. Looking at MOBAs who have monstrous creatures and overpowered Gods, this game only has humans with splashed costumes. It is an original choice, but many might not like playing a game as a normal looking human. There is, however, one reaper character which makes it the oddball of the group, but even his design is not distinct. I would rather play as Hades in ‘Smite’. I think with a wider character selection and more distinct designs for the characters, this game could begin to rub off me. The same way with the abilities; there needs to be more than just two.

Every player can switch between their characters depending on the situation, which makes it the one original idea I really like about the game.

I understand how this game has come about (having been in development myself). Many things are difficult or slow to build with a small team, and it is obvious in the play through that the creators put a lot of work into this. It will continue to grow and I hope the abilities progress as well, for it currently gives only two abilities to each character. In Dota, the characters could have five to seven abilities and weapons, maybe more. It made it more unique and thought-provoking to strategize your movements. That's why I am still a Dota fan. The one ability I thought was a game changer to all MOBAs was the ability to switch between the characters in the game. Every player can switch between their characters depending on the situation, which makes it the one original idea I really like about the game. It can grow from this or restrict it as time goes by, but it is a new style.

The last thing I wanted to mention was the price of the game. By the time this review goes up, the game will be launched, and I hope it goes up for free, or at least for a small fee. For a new MOBA game, it still has some growing to do. There are a few glitches in the map I found that gets your character stuck or misreads your attacks, so I hope there is a reasonable early access price, especially when pricing MOBAs is a sensitive subject. When ‘Overwatch’ came out, it gave players a five-day free trial to try. The game was cleaned and perfected. It works with your controller on all three systems. It looks like a great game except for its extremely high price of $60.00. No one pays for Dota except for DLC content. No one pays for 'Smite' to get its five to ten minute arena battles, and no one pays for League of Legends. Why would people pay money for any timed battle arena? It ludicrous when the competition has created the genre for anyone to play with any kind of hardware, which makes me hope that ‘BattleSouls’ sticks with the tradition.