We went to Montreal for hands-on time with Ubisoft’s March of Giants, and it has squashed any fears I had about the MOBA/RTS mashup.
Real-time strategy games were once a jewel of the competitive gaming world. Age of Empires, Command and Conquer, Starcraft, and Warcraft 3 stood as monoliths of the era, with the best of the best exuding a level of macrotactical prowess that was, even to genre journeymen, dizzying. Simultaneously, an evolution was underway, one which would shift the focus from commanding massive forces, and towards dominating with a central hero. Custom RTS maps like Aeon of Strife and Defense of the Ancients (the OG DOTA) concocted the formula, laying the foundations of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) that has since risen to prominence.
As someone who spent their youth marauding with Mongols in Age of Empires 2, and an unhealthy amount of their adult life having their screen turn grey in League of Legends, I've been waiting a long, long time for a game that not only encompasses the rich tapestry that flows from RTS to MOBA, but brings a Thanos-esque balance to the importance of both the hero and the commander. Having been flown out to playtest Ubisoft Montreal's upcoming free-to-play MOBA/RTS hybrid, March of Giants, I've been colored a shimmering shade of impressed by how it manages to turn back the clock, while remaining lockstep with modernity.
March of Giants, at first glance, follows many of the standard MOBA conventions. You have your typical three-lane map layout, with various objectives placed between them, such as Bulldozers that can break down defenses, and the roving Abomination blimp (MoG's Baron Nashor) that yields a powerful cannon when destroyed. The win con is simple: destroy two of the three bastions stationed at the end of each lane, though you'll have to get through a defensive outpost en route.
The titular giants, in many cases, don't re-invent the wheel either. They're born out of the dreams and nightmares of the people, which in the First World War era - the game's setting - naturally encompasses much of the supernatural fascination that emerged as Europe became more secular. While you have your conventional lycanthrope and lych, the Montreal team has already dabbled beyond its scope with the anachronistically Lovecraftian Voidmaster - classic magical realism. Of course, the steampunk stylings and existence of these towering behemoths already present an alternative enough take on history, but what I'm ultimately trying to get at here is that you won't be wondering 'what the hell is that?' when you get to the giant selection screen; at least, for the most part.
Likewise is the case with their kits, particularly if you're coming from other MOBAs. Trench Maw, which I immediately highlighted as a ghastlier version of the Cart Titan from Attack on Titan, is able to burrow underground before re-emerging to deal damage like League of Legends' Rek'Sai. Likewise, the beast can activate a Rammus-esque shell that soaks damage, though instead of reflecting attacks, it stores them and explodes, similarly to Sion's Soul Furnace. It's not all paraphrasing, of course, as you'll find plenty of unique abilities, including those tied to the battlefield and troops, throughout - more on that later.
While it's easy to look at all of this as a mere riff on what's come before, it's crucial to have these points of translation. All of this familiarity makes for a far more approachable transition from the games I already play, which was evident in how little time it took me to grasp how many of the giants were supposed to be piloted. It's all very well executed, and giants maintain strong individual identities that I'm sure players will resonate with. This also allowed me to focus on getting up to snuff with the extra gameplay layers the studio has introduced.
In the pre-playtest briefing, Ubisoft Montreal Creative Director Xavier Marquis explained that without bringing anything new to the table, March of Giants would be "dead" out of the gates. It's an unsurprising show of self-awareness, considering how competitive the market is. LoL and DOTA 2 have already hoovered up most of the MOBA segment. Smite 2 1.0 is launching at some point this decade… hopefully, and Valve's entered the ring with the third-person shooter-infused Deadlock. RTS diehards, meanwhile, are still playing games that are decades old, evidenced by the thriving Age of Empires competitive scene, and last year's excellent Tempest Rising. What March of Giants does is the gaming equivalent of integrating the arts into STEM (call that STEAMpunk), and it does so convincingly.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://www.pcgamesn.com/march-of-giants/moba-roots-preview-montreal
