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Top 5 Competitive Multiplayer Games of 2017
2017 is looking bright for competitive multiplayer games. Here’s our pick of titles that have the potential to be big if given time and exposure.
With a lot of mainstay LAN cafe titles like DOTA 2 and League of Legends already larger than life, the gaming masses do wonder if those juggernauts are all there is to it for the scene. Eventually, you’ll need to start looking for alternative forms of competitive gaming that one day can expand further into the limelight. One can only be happy for so long watching lanes being taken over and skill-shots being pulled off over and over.
This year so far has been bountiful, titles-wise, with most of them being multiplayer fares that can be played either online or together in the same room on the same couch.
FOR HONOR (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC)
What Is It: A multiplayer online action game where you take control of either a samurai, a viking, or a knight to duke it out with other warriors together with your feudal/medieval weapon of choice. The controls and feel are akin to Dark Souls’ melee combat system but in a player-versus-player environment instead. Oh, and there’s a nifty left/right/top guard and parrying system to spice things up.
Why It’s Worthy: Both the 4V4 Domination mode and 1V1 Duel mode are fun with friends, frenemies, and random melee-savvy strangers. The combat is great and visceral, and the variety of classes are enough to complement many tournament-level play styles. There’s even a tier list for each of the classes and a number of strategies players can use to tackle objectives and win duels.
What Needs Fixing: For Honor is using a P2P online service; in an age where dedicated servers are the way to go for online-heavy competitive multiplayer games, Ubisoft dropped the ball here. There are tons of reports and news regarding random disconnects, rage-quits without penalties, and incessant lag. Let’s hope that it’s just a temporary setback.
HALO WARS 2 (PC, Xbox One)
Be a sci-fi military General
© Microsoft
What Is It: Microsoft and Xbox brought in the developers behind the acclaimed Total War series, Creative Assembly, to make a real-time strategy game for consoles. Again. Second verse here is almost the same as the first: you control an army of UNSC units like Spartan supersoldiers, Warthog jeeps, and giant Scorpion tanks to defeat opposing alien factions like The Banished.
Why It’s Worthy: The controls are spot-on for a console RTS game. While the game comes off a little more basic, you can’t argue that each fight looks beautiful, each a spectacle on its own. Seeing armies of flying Banshee spaceships firing their green lasers down below UNSC troopers while Brutes groundpound the heck out of vehicles amidst the blazing battlefield is just lovely eye candy.
And then there’s also Blitz Mode, the new Halo Wars 2 feature where you deploy units with cards and hold onto more territory than your opponent to win. Firefight Blitz lets you and a pal fight the AI horde for as long as possible; it gets tense when the challenge ramps up and the resource points dwindle. If you wanted a fast MOBA-style approach to a strategy game that’s also fun to watch, this new mode has it in spades.
What Needs Fixing: At this point in time, there is no official Xbox support in Malaysia. Most people have to parallel import an Xbox One and its slew of games. There’s also the case of the microtransaction part of Blitz, but that can be solved by having tournaments only allowing certain decks with specific cards just for that occasion.
BATTLERITE (PC)
The new king of the MOBA block of 2017? Sure!
© Stunlock Studios
What Is It: A fast-paced multiplayer online battle arena title where 3v3 modes are the norm instead of the usual 5v5 fights. Objectives and gold farming are tossed aside in favor of best-of-five combat in a close quarters arena space.
Why It’s Worthy: The game may be in Early Access mode, but there’s a lot of potential in having a 2v2 mode going on. Having teams of two fighting each other in a small arena space make for more breakout and action-packed moments compared to a 5v5 MOBA. It also helps that the game is balanced right.
Since Malaysia is known for its huge MOBA scene, it’s obvious that a game like Battlerite will find an audience.
What Needs Fixing: None so far. This is perhaps the only title on this list that has all the right ingredients for success.
MARVEL VS CAPCOM INFINITE (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC)
Avengers Assemble! Capcom...Congregate?
© Marvel Capcom
What Is It: A 2D fighting game featuring characters from Capcom and Marvel Comics. Pick two characters, then pick an Infinity Stone of your choice as a one-time power-up to defeat your opponents with martial art moves, super-powered punches, and LOTS of projectiles and beams.
Why It’s E-Sports Worthy: If it’s anything like the last Marvel vs. Capcom title, the game will have an audience simply because it’s Street Fighter characters beating the crap out of the Avengers. Or the Darkstalkers cast fighting against the likes of the Inhumans. If the crossover appeal isn’t enough, the flexible combo-heavy aerial juggling combo system will hook in most fans of the hyper fighting genre.
What Needs Fixing: Apart from the scarcity of information about the game until later this year, there is Capcom’s game-handling history to take into account. Remember Street Fighter X Tekken’s mixed messaging and the DLC kerfuffle that killed all the buzz for the potentially-great game?
Heck, even Street Fighter V had its fair share of problems ranging from subpar net coding compared to older games to unwarranted character nerfs that got its professional player base up in arms. We hope that Capcom learns from its past mistakes and make the latest Marvel versus title blow our minds.
CIVILIZATION VI (PC)
This city is ripe for some nuclear decoration
© Reddit, Firaxis, 2K Games
What Is It: The sixth iteration of the long-running turn-based strategy series. Civilization VI lets you pick a world leader with their own perks and strengths, build up your civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age, and become the most cultured or scientifically-powered nation there is. Or you can just bomb the living daylights out of your rivals with nuclear bombs and tanks.
Why It’s E-Sports Worthy: Because there’s potential for long-yet-engaging battles in Civilization VI. According to Team Liquid, one of the top e-Sports leagues out there, the team felt that Civilization series’ depth is beyond compare. It’ll be bold new territory, but with the right amount of skilled players and shoutcasters putting in color commentary during the slower bits of the game, it can work. And trust me, the slow bits can drag on.
What Needs Fixing: A typical Civilization multiplayer game is incredibly lengthy. They can take hours and even days depending on the amount of nations you have to fight against. Players and even developer Firaxis themselves need to figure out a way or create a game mode with streamlined time rules and game speed for a better viewer experience.
What do you think about these awesome picks? Are there any other games you think we missed out on that have huge potential in Malaysia from a competitive multiplayer standpoint?
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