SMITE Review

I’ve played a lot of games like League of Legends and DOTA 2, and a while ago, I got into a game called SMITE back when it was in closed beta. Mixing up the formula a bit, SMITE focused more on skill shots. Every attack, every ability and spell has to be aimed. I got into it, but most of my friends were caught up in the League of Legends action and left quickly. I stuck with it a while, especially once I was able to get more people to play with.

Game Mechanics

SMITE works from a third-person over the shoulder camera, with completely free movement and aiming. Players choose from a roster of gods to play, all from various mythologies. My personal favorite is probably Vulcan from the Greek Pantheon, although Guan Yu The Immortal has a special place in my heart back when he was mega overpowered.

Game Modes

There are multiple game modes, from a ticker based Arena mode, to Domination, to the familiar three lane 5 on 5 map that everyone is used to. There are also special game modes, different every day. Thursday is Thor’s Day, where all players fight as Thor in a giant five on five arena fight.

Look and Feel

Graphically the game looks ok. Nothing amazing Everything tends to look like it was modeled out of clay, but the environments look great and have lots of nice little animated touches, like the giant kraken tentacles in the 5v5 three lane Conquest map.

Balance

SMITE is pretty balanced, and Hi-Rez has actually done a nice job of keeping things in check while releasing new gods to play as in a timely manner. The game is still in its infancy though, and the roster is still not too big. If it keeps on for a while like LoL or DOTA 2, I could see the issues from just having so many playable characters affecting the inherent balance of the game.

I’m giving this game a 7/10

I have a lot of fun with it, especially with friends. The various game modes give it a lot variety, which is really needed in this kind of game. And the god designs are really nice. Some of them intricately detailed, some of them well crafted in their simplicity. I’m looking forward to trying out the new god Apollo later today.