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Hands-On With Gigantic At PAX Prime 2014
I sat down for a full game of Motiga’s upcoming third-person 5v5 brawl, Gigantic. While there are many aspects in common with the MOBA genre, such as a diverse hero roster, abilities and ultimate moves, and a 5v5 team structure, that’s where the similarities end. It’s fast-paced, almost like a shooter, and has players moving around a dynamic gameboard capturing points and powering up their team’s gigantic boss creature.
Instead of having a static field with creeps rushing bases, any creatures that enter the game are summoned there by players at control points. Instead of having a base to assault, there’s a giant monster on both sides with a huge health bar and a smattering of ultra-powerful attacks. These are not static targets, and will move around the battlefield, eventually resulting in a clash of titans as the two gigantic monsters battle each other, with the players determining who wins.
Summoning creatures on points can take a long time to “cap” the area if you’re looking to summon a monstrous fire drake, or a lot less time if you just want a friendly plant to hold the ground and throw out a few buffs, so you have to determine where the enemy team is before choosing what to call in to a certain point.
Gameplay is fast, and includes jumping and dodging, though both use a limited stamina bar to keep players from chain rolling or bunny-hopping around. Characters level up over the course of a match, and have a wide variety of ability augmentations to chose from. My long-range artillery character could add a slow effect to my ammunition, health regeneration and stun immunity to my “siege tank” fortify ability, and more. If you’re not looking to improve any specific character ability, you can opt to put your points in more basic boosts, like 10% more damage, extra stamina, and speed.
The lack of creeps and a rather small arena to battle in creates constant conflict, almost like a deathmatch. While certain characters are well suited to run sorties to get in and get out, taking critical area points and members of the other team separated from the pack, much of the game appears to hinge on teamplay.
It’s a formula that’s off the beaten path for the MOBA genre, and I’m eager to get a few more rounds in to see all that Gigantic has to offer.
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