Smite Preview

[muffinatorXII]

The big difference between Smite and other DOTA games is the greater emphasis on player skill.

This is completely untrue. Abilities in HoN, DOTA and even LoL are much harder to land properly than in Smite. The 3 behemoths of the DOTA genre are more skill based in every way you can think of, especially in terms of how easy it is to execute an attack or ability properly. In Smite, theres no high ground to take into consideration, next to no stuns, etc.

It's still a lot of fun, but to call it more skill based than pretty much any other DOTA game is a sure way to get laughed out of the house.

As for my personal thoughts on Smite, I like it. It's casual as fuck, and that's why it's good. Rounds are short, abilities are straight forward, items are next to irrelevant since they have no active abilities attached to them. Also, replacing the "ancient" with an actual boss battle is a great idea, it doesn't add much depth but it makes winning a round that bit more satisfying. On top of that you have the V system from Tribes, which is an absolute God send, and something I've sorely missed in every single DOTA game I've played - till now.

On the other hand the graphics absolutely terrible in places, the overall style of the game doesn't really meld, and it's a bit too simple at times. It's no DOTA 2, and that's fine, because it doesn't want to be. I'll enjoy it from time to time, but I can't see it becoming my go-to DOTA.

there are actually a lot of stuns.
also how are the rounds short? matches can go on for like 50 minutes. it's not the 1 and a half hour games of LoL or stuff like that but that doesn't make it short.
items are very relevant because almost all of them have a special passive.
I've seen a lot of people say that they don't like the art style and that it doesn't fit but i just don't see it, it looks fine.
and about the animation graphics and stuff, beta = beta
also what do you mean "it's a bit simple at times"?

 

[muffinatorXII]

okay if you played smite than you would know about the ridiculously long respawn times when you get to about level 18 in a match, so a mistake there could cost you the entire game and it actually happens quite often. a mistake in DotA is more costly early on probably not later in the game.
and I'm pretty sure the "fierce competitive nature of DotA" is it's community. some people are like that in Smite, it usually turns into someone yelling at the whole team regardless of his own personal skill and usefulness in the match.

 

[muffinatorXII]

It's not all that innovative or unique, though it's competent at what it dose.

I suppose if they actually worked on balance more it can be good, but they don't seem to have the kind of magic touch Riot has.

the game is actually pretty well balanced. of course some people will whine about this or that god being OP but it's pretty well balanced, not perfect, but beta is beta

 

[muffinatorXII]

Oh yeah, sure. Some ***** can summon a bore which stuns you for 2 seconds. Incredible.

also Agni has a stun and Ymir and Anubis and Guan Yu and Anhur. there are only 21 gods now so i think it's a good ratio

Maybe I'm just too fucking pro (unlikely), but I think you have your timing mixed up. 90 minutes is an extremely long round in LoL and very rare, and the same goes for 50 minute rounds in Smite. I've played maybe 20 rounds of Smite, so I'm not the most experienced player, but not a single one of them went past the 40 minute mark.

the long games are quite rare but they are the most fun, seriously the first time you have a match with almost equal teams that goes on for a while you will understand how fun the game is

Hell, even if the game was built in a way that allowed for these long rounds you'd probably still never see them because of the surrender features, which is another one of my gripes with Smite. I hate the surrender thing. It harms the game in so many ways.

i really really hate the surrender feature it's super annoying

Call me when you can turn an enemy into a sheep for 3 seconds or silence someone for 5.

ok there is nothing like that but there are active ability's that slow enemies and make you immune to CC and stuff like that

I mean that you hardly ever have to adapt to different situations. In Smite, you could activate automatic leveling and item buying and still dominate every game you play. Compare that to DOTA, LoL, and HoN, and... Well, go play them. Other DOTA games have a huge number of different situations that can develop. Smite, not so much.

so what you're saying is... that items don't matter so the game is more dependent on skill? AH HAH! so you admit it!

 

[Eric the Orange]

MOBA style games always "look" interesting to me. But unfortunately I don't like playing games online with people I don't know. Plus the very competitive nature of MOBA games makes the community very harsh. So I'm pretty much relegated to playing computer if that's even available, but from what I've seen the AI is fairly sub par.

 

[muffinatorXII]

I honestly can't tell if you're serious or joking around. But that couldn't be further from the truth. Having your hard carry gone for 50 seconds is no joke.

i meant compared to smite where in later stages of the game it takes about 80 seconds to respawn

Not really, since items take skill to use properly to. In fact, some of the bigger items are harder to use than most abilities. Sheepstick the wrong target and you'll have a long cooldown + another guy (who you should have sheepsticked) demolishing your team. Use your BKB wrong and you've blown 3100 gold, since it decreases in effectiveness with each use.

yea but DotA is a way bigger game anyway, it's bound to have more stuff and more complexity.


Smite is more casual than DotA and LoL and stuff like that, but i enjoy it way more than those games probably because of that, i mean i get exhausted by just playing one game in LoL and then i can't play more that day, partly because of the community (the Smite community isn't great lately either though) and partly because it's less actiony (does that make sense?)
than Smite.

 

[NightHawk21]

I'm hoping the game turns out well, and I have a decent amount of faith in the developer after tribes.

Also off-topic. I hope its okay, but I linked your review/preview in my smite thread. I'm also giving away beta keys if anyone wants to try the game in the same thread:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.383935-SMITE-Giveaway#15207181

 

[Mirroga]

I think the major problem of an Action RTS/MOBA in the third-person perspective is the lack of vision or awareness heavily required in the genre. It's already hard to follow a fast-paced full team clash. The third-person perspective will not help in this let alone the crucial ganking and map control phases.

 

[muffinatorXII]

So basically, you just made 3 posts arguing with me only to come around here and pretend you agreed with me all along. Bravo.

i made 3 posts arguing about the stuff you were wrong about.

 

[Norix596]

As a frequent player of LoL I have to say this sounds pretty interesting if only to see how the camera change affects strategies - will "assassin" playstyles be more focused on slipping into enemy blindspots for example? The ground-targeted spells seem like they'll be a pain to hit anything with from this view though.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I think the major problem of an Action RTS/MOBA in the third-person perspective is the lack of vision or awareness heavily required in the genre. It's already hard to follow a fast-paced full team clash. The third-person perspective will not help in this let alone the crucial ganking and map control phases.

I believe that was the point. The third person perspective forces players to be more aware of their surroundings rather than just hammering damage out like an action game. I've since learned to frequently do a quick turn to look behind me to make sure nobody is sneaking up. I think that's what gives this game it's own skill requirement.