With the massive amounts of players on both the Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2) and League of Legends, there is no surprise that the one of the most recognizable game developers, Zynga, joined the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre. There is a reason why WB Games released Infinite Crisis, and why this game type keeps being re-created.
I’ve had my fair share of MOBA experience from the good old days of the DOTA mod in Warcraft 3, but the one that really got me to understand the game was League of Legends due to its simplicity. Almost every game of that nature is overwhelming at first, but within a few games you at least grasp the idea behind it and you then just play to perfect it.
Moving onto Solstice Arena, this game eliminated pretty much everything that is required to learn in a traditional MOBA. As advertised world’s first Speed MOBA this game most definitely does succeed at that. They have removed farming, by playing coins randomly across the map, and a neutral treasure chest in the middle which both teams essentially fight for. They have removed a major learning curve by providing each champion with just three skills.
There are only two things that require some getting used to. The first is what type of champion you pick, there are different classes from melee to ranged, magical to powerful. Besides adding coins across the map, there are also orbs, these are just power ups for you character to become more powerful without buying items. The bigger orbs give you a higher boost but you have to channel it which takes about 5 seconds and the smaller ones you just walk on to get a minor boost.
The second is items. As with all of the MOBA’s this is what becomes confusing. There are entirely too many items out there and you just don’t know what to pick. One of the best things about this game is that you have a visual as to where each piece of armor or weapon goes. The new thing that almost every game has been adding however is a Recommended Items feature, where it showcases what you should be buying, a wonderful time saver. What Zynga has done for this is add a checkbox which allows the game to automatically buy items for you as well. When you return to the shop, and walk out, it instantly purchases what is recommended to you.
The combat is to the point, because this is a speed MOBA, it goes right to the point. There are just three defending Towers (turrets) and one Oracle (the nexus). Destroy the Towers, reach the Oracle, and win the game! Due to the champions only having three skills with quick cool downs, it makes the game live to its name.
Overall, this game is Free to Play and available in Steam. If you are anti-League of Legends, or DotA2, try this out. During the first game, you will instantly learn how to play this. Being 3 on 3 instead of 5 on 5 also makes this go by fast. Each game lasts less than 5 minutes, which is even shorter than LoL’s All Random All Middle mode. I truly did enjoy it, but realistically if I’m on the computer, I will likely be playing something else. Though Zynga has made this for iOS, this would make for a great mobile game due to its speed. I rather grind out matches in LoL to reach enough points to unlock my next champion. In true Zynga fashion, known for their mobile and Facebook games which beg you to purchase a package of virtual currency, this game is no different. Each match gives you pennies in comparison to the thousands that you need to unlock a champion. Luckily they follow the formula or weekly rotating champions, but really… I’d rather just play with a select two or three and would like to own them fairly without having to pull out the wallet.
