Master X Master visually reminds one at first glance of Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm. However, the first alpha test weekend proves: MXM is much more than just a copy of Blizzard’s success formula!
Last weekend there was a major alpha test for NCSoft’s MOBA Master X Master and I was also assigned a key. However, I really wasn’t in the mood to play a game over the weekend that had not interested me much previously. It reminded me too much of other MOBAs, and even though I had a very brief chance to play it during an exclusive developer session a few months ago, that experience was too short and compact to leave a lasting impression.
Alright, I’ll play it!
But then curiosity won out and I installed Master X Master. Right from the first tutorial mission, I was completely hooked! Master X Master plays very intuitively thanks to its responsive WASD action controls. This alone already sets the game apart from many other MOBAs and makes it feel more like a top-down shooter.
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It’s simply fun to shoot and slice through hordes of enemies with the special tag-team of two heroes, and the coop mode with friends makes all the action even more enjoyable! I love coop games, and the PvE multiplayer mode of Master X Master is therefore exactly my thing!
Welcome to the multiverse
After the first PvE mission, the game goes to great lengths to explain every detail of the complex gameplay. MXM offers countless customization options for my heroes and ranks right up there with established MMORPGs. Additionally, there’s a wacky story where humanity wants to reclaim Earth from machine beings and has picked up all sorts of curious creatures on their long journey from exile.
Among them are characters from other NCSoft titles, such as the insane psycho-hamster Mono Zax from WildStar, who was abruptly pulled into a parallel dimension while studying an ancient Eldan artifact. Similarly, the villain Jinsoyun and raid boss Poharan from Blade and Soul made it into the game. With these well-known heroes, the game is even more fun, and they fit perfectly into the wacky story.
No second Heroes of the Storm
The recycling of known heroes from other NCSoft franchises strongly reminds one of Blizzard’s MOBA Heroes of the Storm, and the idea of a shared parallel universe is not new. However, apart from that, Master X Master and Heroes of the Storm don’t have much in common in the MOBA mode. The action-packed controls allow for entirely different tactics, and since we are allowed to choose two heroes each, the team combinations are twice as complex as in any other games in the genre.
Thus, MXM is already a new challenge for MOBA fans, and for fans of coop shooting, the game is unique. Especially at the higher difficulty levels, teamwork is essential, and here too, one only wins if they adapt their hero selection to the team.
In hindsight, I do not regret my foray into MXM over the weekend at all and look forward to the upcoming test phases. Were you also there over the weekend? Do you share my opinion, or did you find Master X Master less appealing? Write it in the comments! You can find a detailed report on the game’s features from the alpha test weekend under the given link: Master X Master Preview: More than just another MOBA.
