'Paladins' proposes new spin on free-to-play shooter

Team-based action game "Paladins" is the latest to come out of Hi-Rez Studios. We take a look to see where it might fit in with the existing landscape of games with similar scope.

With chunky, caricatured characters, and a painterly art style, "Paladins: Champions of the Realm"(paladins.com) looks like it's drawing on several well-known influences.

Most notable among them are Blizzard Entertainment's hugely popular MMO "World of Warcraft" and digital card game spin-off, "Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft."

As a sci-fi techno-fantasy that has its glistening technology powered by magical influences, players in "Paladins" can choose from a number of basic characters and shoot to win over various game modes.

Aiming to distinguish itself from many of its contemporaries, "Paladins" draws on Hi-Rez's fondness for wide open spaces as seen in "Global Agenda" and "Tribes Ascend," instead of focusing solely on tighter, enclosed choke points that encourage conflict.

With all that land to cover, players can move around on horseback, an MMO reference, before dismounting to engage in combat.

At the same time, "Paladins" leverages some of the card-based concepts from "Hearthstone" or "Magic: The Gathering."

Players can build up decks of cards through persistent play, each card bestowing a different one-time-use skill or ability.

Recent hit "Titanfall" helped popularize the concept, and orienting its game around expendable cards could help "Paladins" find a useful source of revenue.

Superficially at least, there are comparisons to be made with not only "WoW" and "Hearthstone," but also a clutch of team-based or MOBA-like games in development, like "Battleborn," "BattleCry," "Gigantic" and Blizzard's own "Overwatch."

Each one has the opportunity to set new standards and build the biggest community; for "Paladins," its chance will come with an early 2016 launch.