The MOBA genre never really grabbed me the way it seems to have grabbed the PC gaming populace as a whole. I have played League of Legends several times, trying each time to see what all the hub-bub was about, and each time I left unimpressed. Same thing with the DOTA series, as well as Infinite Crisis, a game that for all intents and purposes I should love because of its connection to the DCU. All that being said, I do understand why these type of games are so popular with the gaming community, and not just with busty girls sporting a surprising lack of clothing on Twitch. The games are very simple to pick up and play while offering veterans a wealth of deeper gameplay strategy and tactics, especially in the team setting.
With the Witcher 3 fast approaching, CD Projekt Red is on a full-blown offensive getting the Witcher name on everything it can. This time around they have tapped Fuero Games to put together a MOBA for them in the world of The Witcher. This all sounds fine on paper, but what is really shocking is that the people at CD Porjekt Red decided to make this MOBA only available on mobile platforms. How on earth do you manage to cram an entire genre of games (the MOBA) that has, up until now, been predominantly a PC gaming endeavor, and better yet make it work on mobiles? Well, you grab the platform by the balls and create The Witcher Battle Arena.
This review will focus its sights on the Android version of the game available on the Google Play Store, but the game is also available on iOS devices through the Apple App Store as well. The first thing you have to realize is that the team have done a wonderful job translating a League of Legends style game onto a mobile device. All the major points that you would expect to see are here, with little tweaks made to work around the limitations of the platform. Teams are set up in three’s with each player taking on the role of a member of The Witcher universe. You have your brawlers that love to do damage up close with swords and axes, your ranged attackers that prefer bows and magic, and your more balanced characters that have a slight mixture of styles. You won’t be seeing a large variety in the characters as there are less than a dozen to choose from, but there is enough here to keep basic players satiated.
Battle Arena, just like most other MOBAs, gives you three starter characters to play with. If you want additional characters you will have to take to the store to unlock them with an in-app purchase, or through the credits that you can earn during play. If you don’t want to shell out a load of real money (I sure as hell don’t), you can use far less credits/money to purchase new costumes for each of your characters. Again, if you aren’t new to the MOBA scene then this is pretty standard, but it’s nice to see the same level of additional features implemented for a mobile title like this. You’ll also have the ability to upgrade your stock characters by earning experience the more you battle. This allows you to have a sense of growth with your character and also lets you switch things up with another character and start fresh with new upgrades that can alter your experience.
Gameplay wise is where Battle Arena has to make a few sacrifices to the standard MOBA format. It’s not a huge change (we are trying to cram a huge game into a teeny tiny package here), but one fans of the genre will no doubt notice. In traditional MOBA games your team will have certain paths that they can travel down capturing various pads, towers, capture points, etc. These points you capture will slow down the decay of your team’s point pool, while in turn speeding up the decay of the opposing team’s pool. The more points you capture, the better odds of you winning the match. In games like League of Legends and Infinite Crisis, these capture points provide a real back and forth, making watching a match (to some) just as interesting as taking part in one. Battle Arena mixes things up by eliminating the path system and focusing on a much smaller arena system, hence the name. Instead of traveling a long/large map with a huge team, you’ll be pitted three-on-three in a small circular area.
You’ll still have to work together to capture points, winning the game in the same manner as any other MOBA, but the small size of the playfield makes for games that are much faster and, in my opinion, a lot more fun. While the game offers health areas, one on each opposite side of the map, you’ll most likely never have the time to use them as the game moves at blistering pace. Because of the small nature of these maps, players will no doubt notice the lack of player speed in Battle Arena. Personally, I think it works to make the games arena feel larger than they really are, but many players are going to find this slowdown a bit annoying. The only problem with this system arises because of the limitations of the mobile platform itself. At the time of this writing I was able to play games just fine, but I was initially plagued with tremendously long load times and server stability issues on various occasions. Not only that, but because this isn’t on a PC/console there is no voice chat support, or any text support, so effectively communicating with your squad is impossible.
But what about actually playing the game? Well, things here are once again a slightly stripped down version of the standard MOBA offering. You’ll have access to a shop system at your spawn point, with a variety of areas that you can upgrade from points earned capturing areas of the map and killing enemies. There are three areas of upgrade available to the player: Weapons, armor, and accessories, each with their own distinctive upgrade paths. In each of the upgrade areas players will start with a single item that is identical to everyone. From there you will have the option of three branching upgrade paths (like a tree sprouting limbs) that have unique perks. This allows you to customize your character in-game to your liking. While the upgrade trees don’t offer a wealth of depth options like MOBA games on PC, it is nice to see a little variety in the game. Controlling your character is a breeze in Battle Arena. MOBAs rely on a point-and-click system to play and in turn, Battle Arena uses the same basic principle. Tap the screen where you want to go, tap to attack, tap an ability to use, and so on.
Gameplay modes are also on point with Battle Arena. From the start menu you’ll be able to choose between PvP matches (ranked matches have yet to be activated at the time of this writing), a practice mode for single player, and a co-op battle in which you can set the AI difficulty before jumping in. That is quite a bit of options, even if some features have yet to go live. For a free game there is a lot here to like and many hours of enjoyment to be had. Playing the game on my Nexus 5 I didn’t have any problems running The Witcher Battle Arena, but depending on your phone your mileage may vary.
If you are looking for a really fun MOBA that shows lots of signs of offering even more in the future, then The Witcher Battle Arena is the game for you. Yes, the game does have in-app purchases, but it never once made me feel forced to get them to be competitive, in fact, the game never really even promoted their in-app stuff like most of these free game do and for that it is to be commended. The Witcher Battle Arena is available now on Android and iOS devices and comes highly recommended.
Game download links: iTunes, Google play
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