Amazon Game Studios are planning to release a total of two games for 2020. The first one is a third person shooter MOBA which goes live today.
Speculation about Crucible started long ago as players tried to figure out what the game will be all about. It’s now clear that the title will be a close spiritual of Epic Games’ Paragon. Much like Paragon, Crucible will be a third-person shooter set in a MOBA style map where teams will clash and only the best will win. Another title which might have served as inspiration for Crucible is Gigantic. The latter was developed by Motiga and published by Perfect World, due to a lack of players it was shut down in 2018. The plug on Paragon was also pulled in 2018. And now we have Crucible.
As it becomes clear two games have already failed to keep player interest in that niche genre that mixes MOBAs and third-person shooters. Will Crucible be the one to succeed where the others have failed? If it brings anyone comfort, Amazon’s title is actually much closer to Gigantic than Paragon.
What it does right
Multiple game modes
Unlike some of the others we’ve already mentioned, Crucible offers players multiple game modes right from the start.
- Heart of the Hives – a PvE mode where you have to collect three hearts while competing with other teams
- Alpha Hunters – technically not a battle royale (since there are only 8 teams), but a team-based mode where the last one standing wins. You can make a new partnership with another player if your teammate dies or disconnects.
- Harvester Command – once again it’s about 8 teams playing capture a strategic waypoint and accumulate enough points to secure victory
Lack of roles
Unlike MOBAs Crucible won’t have defined roles, instead players will be able to decide how to develop their character through levels and talents. It’s also huge plus since neither you nor the enemy team will know what to expect from the different characters since the builds can vary quite a bit
Free to play
Much like Paragon and Gigantic, Crucible will be free to play which is what most people would want.
A big enough roster
Crucible will have a total of 10 playable characters on release and more will be added with future updates in addition to other game modes. Ten might seem like a small number but considering that talents will play a huge role they’ll probably be enough to give everyone a chance to play exactly what they want. As always it’s better to have a more limited pool with distinct characters instead of flooding the game with hunters whose abilities will be overlapping or basically the same.
What we’re worried about
Free to play might mean more cheaters
The F2P model is surely the most popular one out there in the current times but it’s a double-edged blade. If players can just create an account and hop in, there’s also the chance cheaters will keep doing the same. It’ll be nice to see some incentive to actually play on the same account, good anti-cheat measure and an adequate report system.
Microtransactions
Then there’s the question of monetary gain and since the title’s F2P, the studio will be cashing out through visuals. Hopefully, Amazon Game Studios won’t implement anything game-breaking in the online store. We’ve already heard promises that there will be no loot boxes whatsoever but we won’t be completely sure until the game’s out.
Lack of marketing
For a game that’s coming out today, there isn’t a whole lot of ads on any of the big platforms, so the title might be missing out on initial players.
As you can see, Crucible’s doing a rather good job for the most part. In terms of gameplay, the title has all it might take to spark player interest and potentially keep it. Whether it’ll become a huge hit and enter the esports scene will be determined by the test of time. For more gaming news, check out EarlyGame.
