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As many of my friends know, I am not what you would call a "gamer." Yes, I love board games, but I seem to be unable to take that "skill" to the TV and video games. I have my moments, like when I beat the Nintendo Wii Playground Games series, or when I beat Red Dead Redemption. However, the victories are few and far between. In fact, unless students are over hanging out, I rarely play video games by myself...or with Tonya. I usually relegate myself to a few moments passing the time on a various app or Sukoou puzzle on my Ipad. But, on November 17th, all that changed. The game Vainglory came out, and changed how I view my Ipad and games in general. It isn't that it "came out" as in was launched, so much as it "came off my Ipad/Iphone screen" and demanded attention.
"Vainglory" falls into the genre known as MOBA, or Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, where players compete 3 vs. 3 for supremacy of land. Basically, a fancy way of saying they are playing "Capture the Flag." In this case, the "flag" is the crystal that your team must destroy. However, before this can be destroyed, your team must make its way down the "lane" destroying small minions and turrets that are protecting the enemies territory. This genre, as i just discovered, has been famous for years, made popular by League of Legends, which can be played on the PC. Anyway, what makes the gameplay fun is the fact that everyone starts at "ground zero" in their abilities every single game. Yes, you may have played and know how to use certain items, but you are not, by default, more powerful at the start of a game than a noob like me. We all must gain experience points throughout the game in order to buy more items and better weapons and defense equipment.
While League of Legends has hundreds of characters and countless/endless ways to join teams and make your way through a game, Vainglory keeps things simple, but unique. For starters, having 10 characters that can slowly be earned and played for free (depending on the week), helps gain new players, while forcing the great players to focus on learning just a few characters. In other words, it may upset the die-hards among us, having so few cahracters, but new players, like myself, quickly adapt to this new genre without feeling completely overwhelmed by too many choices. Let me focus on how to play and which skill my character is proficient at. Too many times, i am unable to play certain games because frankly, they require way too much time to learn the basics. With Vainglory, it is easy to play, yet difficult to master. But, after only 3 games, i truly felt like i was becoming a better player and teammate. I may not be great, but when it comes to team games, i have always had the motto, "I don't want to cost my team the game when i play." With Vainglory, that quickly became the case, as i was dying less, finding specific points where i could get easy kills or assists without worrying about dying. This is huge when it comes to attracting new players, as well as giving confidence to the noobs among us. Yes, kills must be hard to come by, but not at the expense that i give up quickly. There will always be those players that do nothing but want "the kill" or stats that allegedly show one being a great player, but just remember, the point of the game is not kills, but to win. When you win, you gain more "Karma" points, which helps you get into better and more intense games.
Vainglory was made specifically for the Apple release of the iPhone 6, which means the gameplay will be a lot different than the PC. However, for the most part, Vainglory surpasses anything i thought could be done on a touchscreen device. The controls are easy and the game quickly becomes second nature to any who play, yes, even the noobs like myself. I had played, and still enjoy "Fates Forever," but Vainglory has quickly supplanted it. Not only is it fun to play, but the graphics are truly amazing. With the iPhone 6 Plus, the game actually looks and feels like true HD. Having grown up with Atari and the original black and white Gameboy, i never thought a day would come when the device i'm holding looks better than my TV. That may be a bit of an exaggeration, but we all have that moment when we realize what we possess is transcending time for just a brief moment. For me, picking up this game and just looking at the lush colors and fun characters, and their idiosyncratic voice overs, was all i needed to enter that video game bliss so many dream about.
As for the actual playing of the game, not only are the graphics great, but gameplay is seamless and requires just tapping the screen to move around. When you tap an enemy, your character will quickly move in and begin attacking automatically. Where gamers need to be aware is the fact that these games will take at least 20 minutes to complete. While this may not seem like much in the grand scheme of video games (Hello, Skyrim?), since the game is played on IOS devices like the phone and Ipad, whenever you have a call or text, however, this quickly can ruin or change how you are playing the game. You will lose "Karma" points for leaving a game, no matter the circumstance and this will help prevent "AFKers" in future matches. So, beware of which device you are using when playing as every little text or notification can truly impact your game, stats, and ultimately, victory. Otherwise, tap away fellow warriors.
Superevil Megacorp, the company that created Vainglory, apparently raised over $15 million to finance and get the game up and running. Obviously, becoming the Keynote speaker or video demonstration as Apple releases the Iphone 6 will help anyone get on the business map. But, these guys have taken the principles of so many MOBA's and made one that is all their own. I see no reason as to why this game will not only grow, but thrive, gaining new fans of this great genre along the way.
Bottom Line:
It's free, amazing and doesn't require gigs of your hardrive, so why not download ASAP?!
Pros:
Great game, amazing graphics and cool characters
Strategy is vital to match
Just plain FUN!
Cons:
Game can feel "different" on Iphone compared with Ipad
Noobs will feel overwhelmed for the first 5-10 games before feeling more comfortable
AFKrs are still out there, ruining great competition
