Periodically I check out the free section of the Playstation Network just to see if anything catches my eye. I like trying new games for free, even if the free to play model isn’t the best way to go about doing things. It’s been a long while since I played a new MOBA, seeing as how Survival Sandboxes and Battle Royales took over that flavor of the month slot for a few years. I guess Auto Chess is a thing now, but it’s awful and that’s all I have to say. Enter Rampage Games and their new title, Genesis.
As MOBAs go, this one seems to fit the standard build. From the main menu you’ll have various sub-menus with stats about characters and weapons and things, along with leaderboards, a storefront with virtual currency and skins along with chat and mail systems. This is all pretty standard faire, and though its not revolutionary, it is pretty slick and intuitive.
Contrary to most MOBAs, there is a story of sorts. I know that League of Legends used to do various text-based story updates for a while, but I never really paid attention. Their cinematic videos were more well received but didn’t tell a story as much as they looked pretty. In the case of Genesis, it is said that our universe was basically expanding beyond the point of no return, a tear in space/time happens and probes are sent through. A whole new galaxy exists on the other side, so the best warriors of our universe are sent over to explore. From there, alien life forms are encountered and it doesn’t really explain how we get to a MOBA setup, but let’s be honest — story doesn’t really matter in this style of game.
What does matter is the gameplay, and as far as that goes, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from the genre. Like, the map isn’t exactly the same as in a game such as League of Legends or DOTA 2, but the general concept is the same. There are three lanes. There are neutral jungle creep camps. There are towers. One thing that’s a bit different is that there are specific places on the map where you can place wards (called “observers” here) and you can’t buy them from the store. Another twist is a variety of buffs that hang out on the battlefield such as healing packs, defensive shards and others. Otherwise we’re looking at staple concepts from the genre.
Another feature that LoL may not have but I have seen in other MOBAs, is the ability to purchase items for your character while still out on the map. Other games did it in a way that a critter would run off to buy and bring you back your items, in this case you can just straight up buy items while away from the home base. I don’t mind this, though it can lead to some unfair power spikes during a fight, but I guess the same thing goes for leveling up mid fight and getting a new ability, which I’ve seen happen many times in other games. The game defaults to automatically give you reminders when you have enough gold to buy something and a simple press on the d-pad will buy the item. I spent my time with the first few sessions focusing on the gameplay pros and cons rather than trying to learn new item builds. The game will automatically recommend items to you which is nice, especially being new to the genre. Skills are automatically leveled up as well by default, but these features can be turned off. Personally I’d recommend using the help until you have a better feel for the game. It can be a little wonky if you’re a PC MOBA player and now have to adjust to a controller. One stick controls movement, the other controls skill shots. Skills are used with various button presses, but it definitely feels different than other games I’ve played. Same difference?
Overall I think it’s a pretty fun title. I enjoyed myself for what little time I played. If nothing else it’s free (I do believe it is on PC as well) so you lose nothing by trying it out. Craving a new MOBA experience? This could be the one for you.
Me Vs. Myself and I 