MOBA Madness: a quick look at Smite

Smite launched for North America and Europe last month: it’s a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) that gives you unfettered access to a pantheon of gods from around the world, complete with an over-shoulder camera view and game controls more reminiscent of MMORPGs than MOBAs.

Smite was developed in the US, but now that Chinese eSports team World Elite has announced a Smite team even though the Chinese client is still in beta and not widely accessible, we thought we’d better give it a spin. After all, everyone knows a MOBA to an Asian gamer is like breathing to a living creature.

(See: Tencent wants Smite to be an eSport as Team WE announces new Smite team)

So without further ado, please welcome our latest weekly feature at Games in Asia: MOBA Madness, where we will discuss, analyze, and compare MOBA games every week.

What is Smite?

Smite is a third-person MOBA developed by Hi-Rez Studios featuring heroes based directly off various pantheons. There are presently 51 playable gods from Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Roman, Mayan, and Norse mythology. The Chinese version of Smite will be released by Tencent.

Like League of Legends, gods in Smite can be purchased with virtual currency. They also get rotated on a regular basis, so you can play all the gods without having to buy any. Hero levels are capped at 20, and each god comes equipped with three ordinary skills, one ultimate skill, and one passive skill.

(See: Smite begins China beta, just in case there weren’t enough MOBA competitors there)

Requirements

Smite looks really fancy, but according to Can You Run It, it can inch by on Windows XP, a Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz processor, just 2GB of RAM, and a graphics card with minimum 512MB video RAM. That’s not much at all, and I was able to play it at its highest settings with no video lag on my two-year-old rig.

The only problem you may face is the client download. I work off a 100mbps home broadband and took about half a day to fully download the client, which takes up a total of 10GB in your hard disk. I shudder to think of how long a less stable internet connection will take to do that.

How does Smite play?

There are several game modes in Smite. Newbies will find themselves having to play through the practice mode first, after which they’ll be able to access co-op and league play.

Within these modes are maps with different meta games. There’s the conquest map, which is your standard, three-lane MOBA map where you must destroy the enemy phoenix and titan. The phoenix and titan are Smite’s replacement for the towers and ancient you find in Dota 2.

There’s the joust map, where there is just one lane with one tower and six players in total. The goal is once again to destroy the enemy phoenix and titan.

There’s the arena map, which is basically a hero arena where you must beat each other to death. Instead of destroying a phoenix and titan, however, you must get the enemy team’s ticker to zero, either by killing minions or by having your minions enter their base.

There’s also the assault map, which is based off Dota 2’s “all random, all mid” mode. Players are randomly assigned gods before they start the game, and they can’t return to the fountain to heal or purchase items unless they die.

Then there’s the match of the day map, which changes on a daily basis. Every battle in the match of the day will be different from yesterday’s, and could be a combination of any existing maps with selected pantheons. Today’s match of the day, for example, is called Faces of Death, and features an Arena map where players can only use gods of the underworld, like Hades, Anubis, Thanatos, Zhong Kui, and Hel.

(See: 7 things that piss off support players in Dota 2)

There are a few more important facts you might want to know: you can last-hit, but you can’t deny. There are no couriers. You must ward or die. Many of the female characters are scantily-clad.

What’s nice

Let’s face it, the only reason you’d actually read nowadays is if you want to find something out. In this case, you, my dear MOBA player, probably want to know if Smite is worth checking out. Here’s what’s nice about it.

Over-shoulder MMORPG view

This camera view brings a player closer to the action, and gets him or her more immersed in the game than ever before. Forget everything you’ve ever experienced in Dota 2, whether pushing mid, enjoying a comfortable trilane, or beating up Roshan. Smite does it bigger and better because you’re up close in the action, and while maneuvering with WASD will feel foreign at first, you’ll soon wonder why all MOBA games don’t do this.

Being able to preset abilities

We’re all familiar with the time we first played a hero and had no idea what skills to add. Smite offers new players a helping hand with its myriad of heroes by automatically adding skillpoints to yours as it levels up in-game. The preset abilities can be set outside of battle so you can concentrate on the meta instead of having to pause and hide behind a tower to read your ability tooltips.

Items can be automatically bought

Yup, there’s an auto-buy option, too. This can be turned off in game, but I find it really helpful for when you’re just learning the character. In any case, the shop has full and clear recommendations for the items you need. Auto-buy just lets you focus more on the game. Like auto-levels, you can also preset the items you want before each match.

It’s fast!

Depending on the map you’re playing, games can be as short as 12 minutes. And you get the full beat-minions-destroy-phoenix-topple-enemy-titan experience, too.

What’s not

But for every light there is a darkness, every sinner a saint. It’s the same with Smite. While it is a refreshing take on the done-to-death MOBA genre, it does have a few weak points.

Encouraged tunnel vision

I don’t know about you, but map awareness in an ordinary MOBA is already tough for me. When you bring me down close into the action and make sure my line of sight is concentrated above my hero’s head, I can’t see anything else. I died a lot in Smite because the camera angle simply isn’t encouraging for map awareness.

You don’t have to learn anything

Yup, I did say that. If you don’t turn off the auto-buy and auto-level options for your hero, you never have to learn to handle it because the game will do everything. The automatic options encourage new players to try the game, but I have a feeling they will also encourage noobs, because no one will feel inclined to learn anything.

There’s no Asia server

Smite has been published for North America and Europe, but Hi-Rez Studios’ only Asian partner is, as of this moment, Tencent, who will no doubt be publishing a Chinese client. While the ping is not noticeably terrible, it’s always nice to have a local publisher who can provide a) nearby servers and b) payment options, for when you just don’t want to grind it out for a hero.

There you go: this has been a first look at Smite in Games in Asia’s MOBA Madness feature. Tune in every Tuesday for something MOBA-related, we promise you won’t be disappointed!

The post MOBA Madness: a quick look at Smite appeared first on Games in Asia.