Have we reached market saturation for MOBAs yet? Apparently not, according to Bandai Namco, who just announced Supernova, yet another free-to-play battle arena.
What’s their unique angle?
Supernova is looking to innovate by combining traditional MOBA gameplay (if there can be “traditional” gameplay for such a new genre) with a dose of RTS elements.
Players will not only control their hero unit (called a Commander in this game), but they’ll also be able to upgrade their lane minions in “ways familiar to any RTS player.” These lane units will be a mix of infantry and mechanized land and air vehicles, creating a rock-paper-scissors sort of dynamic, as opposed to the one-size fits all approach of typical MOBA games.
Players will also be able to upgrade their Commanders outside of matches,building on that character’s base skills. Fingers crossed that this isn’t a pay-to-win sort of approach.
How does it look?
The sci-fi art style is definitely refreshing, considering most MOBAs seem hell-bent on pushing the fantasy angle. Aside from that, it doesn’t appear to be reinventing the wheel in any insane ways, which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you stand in regards to the current MOBA landscape.
You can watch just under two minutes of gameplay below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuD6URImaYM
I’m intrigued, where can I sign up?
Supernova won’t be out for at least a couple of months, but sign-ups for a pre-launch alpha test are going on now. You can find out more at the official website here.
