The Bloodgate

This is the start up UI that sends you through a very brisk tutorial. Then it's right into the Arena. Everything one needs to learn or know about the game can be accessed via the Bloodgate. Here you can add friends, find matches, chat, join ladder games, join skirmishes, etc. It's very similar to the Heroes of Newerth setup. Almost identical actually. Navigation is easy and players that want to pony up some cash can also visit the Funcom Marketplace and buy cosmetic style items but more on that later.

Characters

There are currently four character types, Range, Melee, Heal and Tanks for which there are no talent trees or specs. Everyone joins the game and picks a character depending on their play style. Each character has seven abilities that encompass everything from basic attack to an AoE spell. Players also have a more powerful ability that becomes available once you've gotten enough hits off. Every character has the ability to heal allies or revive them but this takes a few seconds so try not to get hit while you're at it.

The Marketplace

The Marketplace is Funcom's micro-transaction store. Everyone has access to it and whether you buy blood coins for cash or earn them the old fashioned way all types of players can get items one way or another. Obviously if you buy coins you can have access to items faster than if you were just playing and collecting them. Don't worry though; the items don't give any advantages, there purely cosmetic.

There are three kinds of currency that can be used in the Marketplace, Blood Coins, Tournament Coins and Funcom Points. Blood coins are earned by playing games and are dependent on what type of game you're playing also if you win or lose. Tournament coins are special currency available only when participating in tournaments and can unlock exclusive items in the marketplace. Finally Funcom points are used to purchase items, but instead of playing until you get enough points to buy something you just throw it on your credit card and buy the item outright.

Game Play

This is a very fast paced game and difficulty is added with real-time combat because you actually have to aim your attacks to be successful. There is no RNG. It really is point, click and attack. If you miss it's because your aim is bad and not because the game is bugged. W,A,S,D are standard movement controls so you can run away from incoming fireballs. FYI attacking an enemy in the back does %20 more damage.

  

  

The fact that no one is power gaining makes this a very entertaining game. You never have to worry about someone being more uber than you. This is a skill based game and the best players are those that are just that good or have amazing twitch reflexes.

There are three game play modes, capture the artifact, arena and conquest mode. Arena is your basic free for all, kill or be killed matches. Capture the artifact is your typical capture the flag style map. Conquest mode requires you to take control of specific nodes around a very large map and protect them against your enemy.

Overall

This game is my new favorite PvP past time. Players can be thrown into completely random matches with a less than desirable team composition and still win if they can out skill their opponents. It seems the theme is get in, get action, get out and all the fluff is taken out. Finally the winning point for me is that this whole game is FREE! That's right. You can buy some of the packages they have that go all the way up to $90 for a lifetime membership or you can download the free version and get in the action right away. If you haven't picked this up yet and you're big into PvP/arena battles, this game is for you.