Amazon’s new shooter Crucible launches in 2 weeks, and our MeinMMO author Jürgen Horn is totally in love with the game. Read here why he’s so excited about the upcoming hero shooter.
How did it all start? I, Jürgen, had actually only peripherally kept an eye on Crucible. I had seen a promo image and had in mind that Amazon wanted to release some shooter sometime soon. Since I was currently busy enough with the beta of Valorant and other titles, Crucible wasn’t a big priority for me, at least until concrete information would come.
But then I had the pleasure of editing the Crucible article by my colleague Alexander Leitsch. And what can I say? I was immediately thrilled by the trailer and the game concepts of the new shooter. Full of anticipation, I read the part about the release and got even more excited. Because Crucible is coming out on May 20, which is in exactly 2 weeks!
This is definitely a reason to celebrate, especially because of the following aspects of Crucible that I am already looking forward to.
1 – The game modes
That’s why the modes are promising: The game modes in shooters are usually well-known concepts. (Team-)Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Domination, etc. That’s all nice and fun and always enjoyable.
But in Crucible, there are a few concepts that you haven’t seen or at least not often. Namely, PvE elements in competitive PvP. The idea of smashing monsters while leveling up, like in a MOBA, last occurred to me in the unfortunately deceased MOBA shooter Battleborn by Gearbox, and I already found that idea enjoyable.
Because when you take down AI monsters and earn loot and experience, even mediocre players have a secret to success and can contribute meaningfully to the team play. Additionally, such game modes foster both tactical and strategic thinking. It adds more depth to the gameplay than just mindlessly shooting at the enemy players.
Here are the difficulties: Of course, the concept hinges on execution, but I assume the developers will do a good job balancing PvE and PvP and will continually refine it as needed. This is even more important with this game concept than it usually is.
2 – The visuals
What I like about the game’s design: Those who know me know that I love colorful shooters. Hence my preference for games like Borderlands, Battleborn, and Overwatch. I like it bright, loud, and vibrant.
And that’s exactly how Crucible presents itself. The game seems to take place on a wild planet full of bizarre fauna and flora. It’s colorful and lush everywhere, and the effects of the weapons and skills promise to be a visual spectacle as well.
This could go wrong: Too much is eventually really too much. If the developers overdo it with the effects and colorful graphics, it can distract from the game, throttle FPS, and deter players who prefer a more subdued experience. Here, too, the developers need to ensure they maintain balance and don’t present the game too extreme.
3 – The heroes
How cool, I can play as a cat: After the colorful visuals, I particularly liked the playable characters. There are quite a number of cool, quirky characters that I want to try out:
- A nasty cat that looks cute while being mean.
- A fat alien, the space trucker.
- A powerful woman with flamethrowers.
- A cute robot that loves plants.
And that’s just 5 of the 10 planned hunters. I’m really curious about what they can all do, how they play, and what their abilities are.
Here are my concerns: However, it is also important that the heroes must be well-balanced. Their skills and weapons should be fairly distributed, and the developers need to stay alert and quickly adjust with nerfs and buffs when necessary. Because nothing ruins the fun of hero shooters faster than if certain heroes are too strong or weak for extended periods.
4 – The gameplay
This is how I envision the game pace: Looking at the scenes shown so far from Crucible, they promise fast-paced shooter action. That suits me well. The leisurely gameplay of tactical shooters like Valorant is nice too, but I prefer when I can dive into the action and have freedom of movement.
In that area, Crucible could really score points with me, as the heroes jump around wildly, and everything is exploding and rumbling everywhere. I think the pace will probably be similar to Overwatch or even a bit faster.
This could still go wrong: On the other hand, it’s important not to make the game too fast. Because if you only win through total movement and the time-to-kill is very low, inexperienced players will quickly feel overwhelmed by hyped-up super kids with their quick reflexes. Again, balance is the key word, and the developers need to strive hard to fine-tune everything.
5 – Accessibility
This is how the release works: Crucible will simply be released on May 20 as a free-to-play release for Steam. There is no generally accessible beta, and especially no annoying closed beta for which you need to go through cumbersome means to obtain keys.
That was recently the case with Valorant. The shooter from Riot can only be played if you watch Twitch streamers for hours. While that may be good for Twitch and Valorant’s PR, it’s less favorable for many players who want to join in but simply have no luck.
So I had fun with the game, but my pals without a key did not. However, if Crucible launches soon and it’s free, then everyone can join in and ideally have a large player pool for quick matches.
