The new Warcraft mobile in the play test: is actually nothing special, but I am still looking for it

With Warcraft: Arclight Rumble, Blizzard is releasing a new game in 2022. Essentially, it is a strategy game that heavily resembles Clash Royale. It does not offer really deep features or significant innovations. However, MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch is still addicted to it.

I love mobile games. Whether ports of existing PC games like Teamfight Tactics or RuneScape, or entirely created mobile games like Clash of Clans or Pokémon GO. I currently have just over 20 games on my smartphone.

Included among them for a few days is the new Warcraft game Arclight Rumble, which I got to test in advance. Blizzard just announced it a few weeks ago. At first, I was not very impressed and put the game aside after the first 5 rounds in the tutorial. It offered me hardly any special features and felt a bit too hyper and sweetened.

But with longer playtime, it drew me into a kind of addiction spiral. Suddenly, I want to upgrade my units and complete that one mission I have already failed three times. The prospect of upcoming content also puts me in a positive mood, although the shop leaves a bitter aftertaste.

Strategy and team composition play a major role

Arclight Rumble is supposed to simulate a kind of slot machine in the world of Warcraft. I enter a battlefield in each match, where I have a cannon that represents my base. The opponent tries to destroy it.

This opponent has a character or a siege weapon on their side of the battlefield as well. Usually, they are creatures from Warcraft, but occasionally, a well-known personality like Hogger or the Baron of Booty Bay shows up.

The battles follow a clear pattern:

• I spawn creatures – called Minis – from my deck at my cannon
• To summon Minis, I need gold. This is generated automatically and passively, and can also be gained through special actions on the battlefield
• There are two “lanes” where the creatures run towards the opponent
• My creatures and the enemy’s creatures either meet somewhere on the battlefield or run through to the end boss and attack them

The first rounds are kept pretty trivial, as many side objectives are still missing. I just throw units into the lanes randomly and feel the start is very boring.

But over time, the tasks increase, and I developed an addictive factor. Strategically placing units – ranged attackers behind melee fighters and countering enemies with flying units – awakened my first tactical instincts.

Later, stationary ballistae are added, which can be captured and then defend my lane somewhere on the battlefield. This lane does not need much attention in defense initially. Additionally, I can spawn your creatures directly at the ballista. This gives me the advantage that they have to cover less distance to reach the enemy champion.

There is also gold ore, which I can mine with goblins on the map, or treasure chests that also grant bonus gold. Occasionally, there are also objects that allow me to switch lanes with a creature while moving. I must keep all of this in mind.

The longer I played, the more tactical elements were added.

A round lasts 3:30 minutes, and if there is no winner, there is an additional minute. In this minute, there is double gold, and the action increases. If neither can defeat the enemy in their base, the match ends in a draw. This actually never happened in the early levels, but the higher levels in Darkshire were noticeably more challenging.

I had to settle for a draw four times.

A wide selection of characters from the Warcraft world

In Arclight Rumble, there are various creatures I can summon. In combat, a rock-paper-scissors principle applies:

• Melee fighters on the ground are particularly effective against ranged fighters on the ground
• Ranged fighters on the ground are particularly effective against flying troops, like griffon riders
• Flying troops can attack melee fighters without them being able to retaliate
• Additionally, there are spells that allow you to deal damage or create other effects at specific locations, as well as hero characters, of which you can have exactly one in your deck

It is therefore important to have a good tactical understanding and to assemble your team correctly. Additionally, I can level troops by using them or completing specific quests designed for those troops.

Creatures in the game include:

• The Darkspear trolls or dwarf hunters as ranged attackers
• The gnoll brood or warsong grunts as melee fighters
• Griffon riders in the air
• Famous heroes like Sneed, Jaina Proudmoor, or Rend Blackhand, of whom I can include one in my deck

I get new figures through missions in the game, but also in exchange for gold. Gold is awarded as a reward for missions or can be purchased directly for real money in the shop.

Those who are afraid that the game might become pay-to-win have some grounds for concern.

The shop currently allows me to purchase 800 gold twice a week for 9.49 Euros and 500 gold once for 3.79 Euros. These purchases reset every Sunday. New creatures cost 350 gold at the start.

You can invest money, but it is capped to a certain degree.

For gold, there are also XP tomes that improve the experience of my creatures. I can buy two of these per week, for 500 gold each.

Additionally, there is a weekly package that contains three special contents for my deck. In my test, this was the “Horde Beginner Package” for 1.89 Euros, which included two characters and the spell Execute.

Edit: At level 12, a new package with boosters and gold for 19.99 Euros was unlocked.

Guilds, dungeons, raids, and PvP – A wide range of features

In general, I explore the Eastern Kingdoms in the early levels. I begin my adventures in the Elwynn Forest, where I encounter goblins, gnolls, and Hogger. In total, there are 5 missions there.

Further missions follow in Westfall, Duskwood, Stranglethorn Vale, and so on. Through the missions, I level up my account, which in turn brings new missions and features. If I get stuck on a mission, I can complete quests. Through these quests, I can specifically earn experience for a creature and even make slight progress in a draw.

The higher I level, the more functions I unlock. At level 7, for example, I can join a guild and chat with it. At level 22, I unlock dungeons for multiple players, where a strong boss awaits at the end. There is already an option for raids, but it was still disabled during testing.

At level 12, PvP is also activated. Here, you fight in a 1v1 on a balanced map with one ballista and gold in the center. As a reward, you get 10 experience points for a creature.

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The constant internet connection and heat are clear downsides

Besides the shop, which can certainly be viewed critically, I was especially annoyed in the first test that I constantly needed an internet connection. Even the single-player missions were simply ended if the connection dropped for just a millisecond.

This made it impossible to play Arclight Rumble on the train or as a passenger in the car. A big downside.

Additionally, my smartphone got very warm and the game drained a lot of battery. Games like Clash Royale and Teamfight Tactics were far less problematic in this regard. I played with a Xiaomi Redmi 11 Pro, a smartphone with a Snapdragon 680 processor and 6 GB of RAM.

Personally, I was also annoyed by the kitschy presentation and the sometimes overblown dialogues. This may appeal to a younger generation, but at 29 years old, I did not feel addressed.

Arclight Rumble is not classic Warcraft, but somehow addictive