Going into the demo, I have to say I was pretty apathetic toward the game. When we found out we would be seeing it earlier in the week, it was hard not to roll my eyes at the thought of another MOBA coming in and trying to steal the crowns worn by Dota 2 and League of Legends. But after that half hour, I walked away infinitely more optimistic for Master X Master. Structurally the game shares a lot in common with other MOBAs, but the execution is different enough that I'm willing to bet that MXM will find its own audience of players.
The biggest difference is that where most purebred MOBAs are unapologetically competitive, Master X Master borrows heavily from action RPGs like Marvel Heroes 2015 and Diablo 3. While the competitive modes that the genre is known for still reside at the heart of the game, Master X Master will likely appeal to an audience who wants to play that style of game but is pushed away by how unflinchingly obtuse and brutal they can be.
This accessibility is partially aided by the fact that MXM isn't strictly a competitive multiplayer experience. The first demo we were shown was a cooperative mode that pitted myself and two others with clearing out a dungeon that was an accurate recreation of the dungeon I previewed from
Blade and Soul earlier in the week, even down to the final boss. This is intentional because one big aesthetic feature of MXM is that, along with all of the original heroes which will be included in the game, players can also choose to play as several familiar faces from other NCsoft games. Though the version we were playing wasn't localized in English, I quickly recognized a Chua from Wildstar alongside characters I from Blade and Soul and Lineage. NCsoft even confirmed they were looking to partner with other companies to bring their characters to the game, but had no more specifics to share.
The cooperative mode we played was the first big sign that MXM wasn't going to be your typical MOBA experience. For one, you control your characters directly with the keyboard while the mouse is used to aim your attacksMXM is essentially a twin stick shooter as you can move and shoot in different directions simultaneously. This meant the action already felt far more immediate than the more disconnected "click to move" controls of most other MOBAs.
The other big tweak to the formula is that every mode has you choose two characters who you can switch between at any time after a small cool down. The ability to quickly swap characters on the fly immediately cracks character strategy wide open, though the short demo and lack of English localization meant I hardly was able to explore the depth of this system. Either way, I can already anticipate how deeply it will change your approach to building team compositions in competitive matches.
The cooperative modes that we played largely felt like something from Diablo 3 or Marvel Heroes 2015. We moved through hallways killing hordes of monsters while dodging their attacks. Dodging was a huge aspect of survival, as most monsters we encountered had abilities that they would use generously that could severely damage an unwary player.
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Though the mode was fun, aside from the controls and the wrinkle of swapping characters on the fly, it felt very formulaic. Items would occasionally drop, and I had an inventory full of things with names I couldn't read. Looking at it though, it was easy to see how MXM would likely adhere to the standard template of free-to-play online gamesespecially Marvel Heroes. You'll likely spend a lot of time running missions with your friends and grinding for rare item drops, but I was unable to tell exactly how items affect your progress and the game. When I asked one of the lead developers about it during a group interview, I was told that progress made in cooperative modes would affect your character in competitive modesperhaps something akin to League of Legends' rune system?
While the cooperative mode was fun, it was immediately eclipsed by the frantic action of the deathmatch mode we played shortly after. My team of three was thrust into an arena against three other players where we brawled for supremacy. Though the arena itself wasn't overly interesting, the character swapping quickly brought to light the potential for some deep strategy when choosing the composition of your team. Swapping between heroes means you can immediately access the abilities of two heroes nearly simultaneously, setting yourself up for some powerful maneuvers or choosing two heroes who cover the other's weakness. If someone is taking shots at you from range, swapping to a ranged hero would be a viable tactic. Each hero also has their own health and energy resources to draw from, so swapping becomes a necessity during prolonged fights to prevent dying.
That said, being that we couldn't really read anything on screen, we were basically left to brawl it out and figure things out as we went. The arena had teleport spots scattered around the map that could allow you to warp from one corner to the next with ease, allowing for a quick escape or trapping a fleeing opponent.
When our demo was over, I stayed around to watch a tournament that was taking place in the NCsoft booth and broadcast to a large TV for passerbys to watch. Being in a different language, it was hard to interpret anything of note, but as neutered of a statement as it sounds, MXM definitely looks like a competent MOBA hybrid.
What remains to be seen now is whether the twist of swapping characters and the addition of cooperative dungeon runs will be enough to set it apart from the rest of the pack. Already we've seen new contenders crash and burn (looking at you Dawngate), and a part of me wonders if MXM is already way too late for the MOBA goldrush. But at the same time, being a free-to-play game that looks fully willing to adopt the tried and true formula of every other free-to-play game that has come out recently, I almost think that MXM will do just fine regardless. If you're on the hunt for another free-to-play action RPG, MXM looks like a perfectly fine suitor to play around with. I loved how the controls and character swapping deeply impacted the experience, making it feel different enough than just about any other MOBA on the market. But I know enough to know that MXM isn't going to coast to the top on these two aspects alone. With an open beta expected to arrive in the first half of 2016, only time will tell if NCsoft's take on Heroes of the Storm will find its footing among the already crowded genre.
(1 hour ago) 
