With the popularity of Overwatch, there’s a new term out there for ability-based shooters: hero shooters. Paladins fits in this genre perfectly, maybe a bit too close to Overwatch if you keep on comparing too much. But if you’re yearning for another game that uses a similar concept that is not Team Fortress 2. you might want to give this one a go.
Developed by Hi-Rez Studios, a team that have carved its own niche in the MOBA market with the third-person take on it using mythological gods, SMITE, this is their take on an character-based FPS.
There are some neat ideas in here: you can customise your passives in the form of cards unique to each champion, and the current game mode is an interesting, streamlined take of the capture a point and pushing a payload. Plus, it’s free-to-play.
Though it’s really hard to not compare it to Overwatch. Hi-Rez denies any sort of inspiration coming from there, though it can’t be helped that their champions ended up with similar kits and abilities.
If you have got the chance to play Overwatch however, this could be a great substitute. It’s fun for what it is, and if we consider the developers’ track record, we can hope that it’ll be refined even more over time.
Check out the trailer below:
The current release of Paladins is technically an open beta, but will be free-to-play once it launches properly. You can get it either on Steam or through its own propriety launcher.