BattleSouls was a pleasant surprise. An online multiplayer by Pixeleap, BattleSouls is free to play and currently available on Steam. It may be in beta but it definitely has a lot of promise if they can grow their player base.
This PVP game is a bit unique but let’s start with the basics. The objective of each battle is to destroy the other team’s crystals while protecting your own. Certain items can help you through the fight including the inhibitor. If your team controls this central base, your crystals can’t be attacked. Murder their mini crystal three times and you win. The controls are extremely simple and will take you all of 30 seconds to learn.
So how is this any different than the millions of capture based games out there? Instead of choosing one class to play, you choose three. You’re presented with five classes, each with three unique abilities, two active and one passive. Some use poisons, others are melee, and others are ranged. Throughout the battle, you can switch your class at will and each time you do, it activates your unique, passive attack. This requires you to master more than one character and also be adept at balancing your team at the start of the game.
I personally tend to play ranged classes, so I enjoyed the first default character they gave you: a mage. But there are choices for any play style and you do really need to become comfortable with switching between them. The battles themselves don’t tend to be long so it never feels dragged out.
The graphics are cartoonish but enjoyable. They’re definitely on the cute side but the attacks have interesting effects and looks. The music is fun, fitting the battle and look of the game perfectly. Sound effects are also on queue. There are four maps to play on. They all follow the same graphic design but change how you approach the game.
Now, I did have a few issues with BattleSouls. One I mentioned earlier in the beginning of this preview. Currently, you have two choices: Quick Play and Server Browser. Quick Play is with bots and can help early on when you’re first getting started. Server Browser though is where the PVP is at… if you can find it. Out of the many servers that are listed, only one had players. Unluckily for me, it was an EU server so I had to contend with a bit of lag. Overall, it wasn’t that bad, but it allowed bots to easily kill me from time to time.
The other issue I had with BattleSouls was the lack of story. I have absolutely no idea why I am destroying this other team’s crystals. What did they ever do to me? Are we fighting over land and the crystals are the source of their power? Did they take our jobs? I really was curious why I was put on this map to kill the crystals and murder the other team. It all seemed in cold blood.
Now, those issues aside, BattleSouls was quite addicting. I was able to get into the game right away and have a lot of fun. If this multiplayer could garner a bit more attention and fill up the servers, it definitely has a ton of potential. It’s great for a night that you just want to relax and play something that doesn’t require a ton of thought.
I’d really recommend checking this one out, even while it’s still in beta. It’s free to play so you don’t have much to lose. Check out BattleSouls here on Steam.
