E.O.D. Test Site – Smiting the gods with Smite on PlayStation 4

SMITE_Logo

Smite is a game worth mentioning to many. As one of the highest appraised MOBA’s on the market next to Vainglory, DOTA, and League of Legends; the title has earned a lot of credibility and respect from gamers from around the world since its launch just a few years ago. With fans ranging from PC to Xbox One and now PlayStation 4, we’ve decided to let our E.O.D. members get their hands on the game. What they thought of it? Takes a few notes from both the P.C. and the Xbox One version and compares the three together for a bit of fun.

Smite on PlayStation 4 has been a long awaited dream for PlayStation 4 owners as many of them opted out of Microsoft’s Xbox One. This meant missing out on early 3v3 maps, god skins, and even other items within the game. But this latest version offers a few things that the Xbox One version offers up also. So what are the key differences outside of the games third person action? Lets take a look at the console variants versus PC before we really get into the fun stuff.

First of all, PC by default does see a lot more game modes, meaning players will take on modes such Assault and Siege. Both of which are already experienced by PC players and Xbox One players. Unlike other game modes, Siege offers a unique twist to the game as both teams primarily do not focus on gathering gold or resources, but instead players will focus on minion kills for one point each or players for five poins each, and finally neutral camps for nine points each. First team to spawn the Siege Juggernaut will find it constantly moving forward, and attacking any enemy units that are in its path. Structures taking priority.  In this mode there is also a creature titled Wild Juggernaut. If slain this enemy will spawn next to a friendly Siege Juggernaut, separate from the encounter, and will allow them to coexist while taking down enemy objectives. The mode is focused on a 4v4 team build so that the team will be a bit more of a valued statement.

For those who recently played Grab Bag the mode Assault may seem rather familiar.Assault is known as an ARAM, which means All Random All Mid. This mode is a custom mode from other MOBA titles, one that others don’t have, and is unique to itself. The mode finds players selected to a random God they want, however players can use their favor to re-roll their chosen deity or even use premium currency. During this mode players will find themselves fighting for a single lane while being unable to recall back to base or even buy items. That option? To die. However, this does affect your teams overall standing and even affects the teams ability to obtain items and level up. Like Conquest the game offers the ability to destroy the enemy teams two towers, phoenix, and even their titan. However, PlayStation 4 users have not heard of when or if they are getting this mode in the near future.

While those few differences are subtle between the other versions, there are a few things that the PlayStation 4 has going for it such as unique skins for characters, and even a chance to obtain a few of the chests that weren’t available to PlayStation 4 players when the game initially launched during this Closed Beta period. The skins, however are promotional, which does mean they’ll be exclusive and possibly up for grabs for a limited time. This version does also see a bit of need for ranked play and clans as they are still unavailable for play and have not been stated when they will be implemented into the open beta version.

At this time, however, Smite stands as a solid MOBA on the PlayStation, PC, and Xbox families and bring players from around the world to enjoy a contest of the pantheons. we’ll see you around, gamers when our finalized review comes out once Beta ends for PS4.


 

About the Writer:

chris_adeeChris Adee is one of B.A.T.G.R.’s newest writers who seems to love three things. Sleep, games, and MOBA’s when he’s not goofing around on Warframe and SMITE. He also likes games. A lot. Oh and anime. Did we mention anime?

The Weekly Rant: Smite on PS4, HTC Vive’s Pricing, and Bioshock Collection for Next Gen

This week has been one with a few good size releases and even some better sized news. Fresh off the table are two things that have hit the mainstream, one being that HTC Thrive price has been confirmed, pre-order dates in place, and the hardware shipping with it listed. Meanwhile on the other end we’ve learned that Smite has officially begun its launch onto PlayStation 4 with the closed Alpha having started just very recently. Oh and did we mention the fact that the Brazilian ratings boards have possibly confirmed a Bioshock: The Collection for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4? While the PlayStation 3 idea might just be a bad one, we can’t argue that it may be a decent idea, and one that’s worth possibly buying into for those who don’t own a PC for gaming or, well, have had the chance to jump to PlayStation 4 or Xbox One as of yet.

So lets break down this weeks rant into a few sections.


Smite: Battleground of the Gods on PlayStation 4


SMITE_Logo

There’s no secret when it comes down to the idea that I absolutely love a good MOBA and I’m always willing to give one a go. After all I’ve invested hundreds of hours into Vainglory since it’s launch on Android last year and still continue to play it this day. Now SMITE is a bit of a different story since I’ve played a decent amount on Xbox One due to convenience of a rather large screen compared to the one that my laptop has built in (we really do need a new review computer, add that to the list of things to do, when possible). SMITE is a rather interesting take on the MOBA genre since the game is one, if not the first third person MOBA that offers a third person shooter or even a third person hack and slash view of the battlefield.

The game itself is rather interesting as it brings deities from beliefs from around the world. Players can take on the role of playable characters such as Athena, Kukulkan, Nezha, Bellona, Kali, and many more through out the religions of the world. While the game has been largely available to the PC and Xbox One communities, the game has finally begun its movement to dominate the PlayStation 4’s free-to-play market, much like titles such as Warframe, Blacklight: Retribution, and even War Thunder. With the beta coming in March, it’ll be nice to see the community for SMITE grow in size.


HTC Vive Priced at a Steep 799.99 USD


HTC_Vive_Two_Family.png

When we first wrote about the cost of VR gaming due to the Oculus Rift price announcement, our jaws tightened, and our wallets began to flicker with flames coming to life. With the price leak of the HTC Vive, our hearts have sank and our wallets withered away as we watched any hope for affordable VR coming to life become a possibility. Instead one of my personal favourite hardware manufacturers has jumped in at the high-end price of hardware marketing. Unlike the Oculus Rift that was priced at 599.99 USD, it looks like HTC may have just taken an arrow to the knee on this one, and hobbled to the back of the VR race.

With Sony having not priced the PlayStation VR just yet, we can only hope that Sony doesn’t follow in the path of both the Vive and Rift so that players may have an affordable experience, but if anything sticks true – the future of VR gaming may just cause some people to set their wallets on fire and walk away without any form of a smile on their faces. Only thing HTC can do now? Hope that UploadVR is wrong and they’ll be dropping the price due to the feedback of consumers who might just not want to spend that much on a VR headset with two controllers. I know I sure as heck won’t be.


BioShock: The Collection Rated in Brazil


Bioshock-2-splicer-trio

We all know that if someone said that they haven’t been even the slightest of the last gen franchise BioShock, we all know they are either lying or they genuinely aren’t interested. My guess is more-so the first half since the franchise takes a rather interesting turn with the idea of human genetics and alteration. Let alone does it do that, the first two games are almost legitimately skin crawling as players will take on enemies that are physically damaged, mentally degraded due to their need for Adam, and even psychotically motivated with anything they do.

With the series having only three installments and a handful of DLC, it’d be an interesting move if publisher 2K decided to bring the franchise over to the next gen consoles with a bit of polishing, and even higher frame rates and resolutions than when they were previously released. Though the idea that the games could possibly see a Sleeping Dogs type release can make anyone cringe since Sleeping Dogs didn’t see just a whole lot of upgrading between last gen and the current. If BioShock does anything, we just hope 2K gives a true HD re-release for home consoles. Who wouldn’t want to exit a bathysphere once more only to take on lunatics. If the titling is true and this is happening, we’ll see the collection on all consoles for Xbox and PlayStation as well as PC. Wait, why PC? That’s beyond us, but this does give us some hope. Now if only we could get titles like Dragon’s Dogma and the Mass Effect Trilogy on the current gen.


Closing Thoughts


FCP_01_BATARI_GOLD_1080p_1453248587

Lets just pretend for a moment that all of this is actually coming true. Mostly the BioShock portion, we already know that the series has become beloved by their fans, and with SMITE now on PlayStation 4, we can only hope that BioShock: The Collection and even a remaster of Dragon’s Dogma will head this way. Till then? We’ll be content playing some of this years upcoming titles and even taming some saber toothed cats on Far Cry Primal while clearing the streets of Manhattan as Division agents with Tom Clancy’s The Division.


About the Writer:

dustin_batgr_prof

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on TwitterGoogle+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.