Home » Previews » Preview: SMITE
Previews

Preview: SMITE

SMITE is the MOBA I think non-MOBA die-hards will be able to get into the easiest.

Whether that’s enough is an entirely different story.

If you’re familiar with the genre, I’m sure you’ll think I’m doing it a disservice when I describe it as such: a multiplayer online battle arena game where you mash a lot of buttons to try to kill enemies, hoping your cooldown periods are shorter than that of your opponents. Oh yeah, and there are three lanes than can run down in order to mash said buttons, alongside NPCs that are easy to kill and owers that are the complete opposite.

Warner Bros. has made one where I can be, like, fifteen different versions of Batman. Yet, I repeat: if I were to play a MOBA regularly, I think SMITE would be the one I went with.

It also bears repeating that I probably won’t stick with it.

Screenshot-2-large-jpg

That typical MOBA description works with SMITE, but one small change flips the genre on its head; rather than giving you a top-down, omnipresent view, you tackle developer Hi-Rez’s effort in third-person. You’re right amongst the action as you run down a path and slaughter minions before the smashing of buttons against real opponents.

Surprisingly, the setup on Xbox One does wonders with the multi-buttoned input method in use on Windows PCs. Using the controller to run around, launch attacks and control where my hits were landing seemed surprisingly easy. Especially when shown a keyboard mp that I’m confident my fat fingers couldn’t work with. Nothing felt out of place on the controller, and everything was admittedly easy to learn.

While learning inputs was easy, learning the real way to play the game was not. In my time with SMITE, I was shown skill tree upon skill tree and coached on what equipment could and should be used to buff this, protect against that and so on. It proved a little too much. In the same sense, in most of the times I played, I was crushed. My team was usually full of casuals who played exactly as I described — spamming attacks, waiting for them to come back to use, and usin’ ’em again. Other teams featured well-oiled units who used specials together to decimate the unknowing.

It was like starting to play Halo multiplayer after the current iteration had already been out for a year. So, not so well.

While the game offers up standard (though third-person) fare, its Arena mode is for the casual folk like myself. Lanes are done away with. Opponents are thrown into a big bowl… and then, everyone has at it. Plain. Simple. Effective.

SMITE-Assets-Xbox-One-Screenshot-v2-02-jpg

Those who’re highly-killed and want to invest time can take off the training wheels, spending their earned skill points on new techniques and weaponry. Those who can’t be bothered can auto-level and head back to casual games involving a bit of patience and a lot of button mashing.

While playing, I was told Hi-Rez was careful to balance out new characters – new Gods are added every fortnight – but the newbie in me just wasn’t seeing it. Playing on the free version of my game, with access to only a limited number of characters, I played Ra, a ranged magical characters who shot out his powers in very particular, extremely hard to master ways. On the other hand, premium God Thor, kicked the ass of everything around him. A “ranged assassin”, he was picking off people near and far.

While not gaining any kills in an entire round with my puny God, I killed fifteen players with Thor in the next go. As a result, I can’t help but feel that SMITE is a little more pay-to-win than free-to-play than Hi-Rez is willing to admit.

Nevertheless, in all the MOBAs I’ve played – and usually loathed – SMITE was the most-user friendly. The one I could se myself growing to like if I forced myself to sit down and play for multiple, multiple hours. Does that mean newcomers will like it? Maybe; at the very least, for a time. Does that mean genre fans will hate it ’cause it’s not hardcore enough? I have no idea. I think there’s probably enough in there for someone who’s willing to dig in to really appreciate. The problem is, I don’t.

SMITE is available now on PC and in closed beta on Xbox One, so you’ve plenty of opportunity to check it out for yourself and see what you think. It’s a free-to-play title with in-game purchases ranging from cosmetic additions to the aforementioned additional playable characters. If you’re in either of the groups I’ve described above, I invite you to use the comments, below, to share your experiences with the game.


This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.

About the author

Steve Wright

Steve's the owner of this very site and an active games journalist nearing twenty (TWENTY!?!) years. He's a Canadian-Australian gay gaming geek, ice hockey player and fan. Husband to Matt and cat dad to Wally and Quinn.