The partnership between MARVEL and Kabam is proving to be one nearly as lucrative as the MCU. Following the massive success of their MARVEL-based mobile fighter, Contest of Champions, Realm of Champions is the multiplayer arena battle game that lets players customize their own hero inspired by their favorite MARVEL superhero.

You don’t actually get to control your favorite superheroes -- at least, not the versions of them you recognize from the comics and films. Instead, there are six “houses” for each of the game’s six MARVEL heroes, and you play a version of that house’s hero from one of the countless alternate dimensions. The houses are at war with one another for a reason that really doesn’t matter. The point is: you get to create and customize your own version of the Black Panther, the Hulk, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, or Thor.

Combat looks and feels a bit like Battlerite or Bloodline Champions with RPG elements and even a dash of Battle Royale thrown in there to mix things up. Matches are intense only last 2-3 minutes so it’s a game that’s easy to jump in and out of throughout the day. There are three game modes available, two PvP modes and a PvE mode, but the main event is Arena Conquest where two teams of 3 Champions duke it out in arena combat.

In Arena Conquest, each team has a tower on their half of the map; matches are won by destroying the opposing team’s tower. Get too close to your enemy’s tower and it will attack you, dealing a ton of damage in the process. The only way you can get close enough is by capturing the point at the center of the map, which is done by removing your opponents from a shrinking circle (by forcing them out with an ability or defeating them). Capturing the point temporarily disables the enemy tower, giving you an opportunity to deal some damage to it.

Since I was matched with similarly skilled players (i.e. newbies), my first few rounds of play consisted of 6 players marching forward and spamming skills until a team wins. It’s not particularly complex, and once you’ve got a hang of the controls and understand some of the abilities, you naturally start to pick up when to cast your skills and how to position yourself in a fight.

I’ve spent maybe a dozen hours in the game, and it’s been interesting to see the different tactics players have devised for different situations. For example, some champions have the ability to push other players out of position, which is useful when the capture circle shrinks and you want to force opponents out so you can make a quick capture.

Players have also discovered that you can still deal damage to the towers even when the circle is uncaptured, so a popular strategy is to rush the tower as a team when it’s hit points are low, tanking its attacks while hoping to deal enough damage to end the match.

This game mode is a lot of fun. It’s like Kabam has made a game entirely out of my favourite parts of mobile MOBAS -- the thrill of positioning yourself perfectly and landing that difficult skill shot, the danger of dancing in and out of combat when your life is low -- without the long early game and endless creep hitting. And matches are so short, it’s hard to stay mad even when you’re not happy with the way your teammates are playing.

Deathmatch mode is a three-team version of Arena Conquest, though with only two players on a team, it feels like your success is far too dependent on being paired with a competent partner. Stronghold is the game’s PvE mode where three players work together to protect a crystal from waves of Adaptoids (the game’s generic alien baddies). There’s surprising depth to Stronghold, with multiple variants of Adaptoids that each require a different approach to take down. Without the element of competition, this game mode lacks any real stakes or urgency to make it worth spending too much time in.

Extreme RNG

There are seven different item types you can equip onto your Champion of choice. You can obtain new items simply by playing matches, or you can purchase containers that drop several random items in a gacha-like system.

I say “gacha-like” because the item drop mechanic in Realm of Champions doesn’t quite work like your typical free-to-play gacha game. Typically, gacha games have a set pool of characters or equipment that you have a chance to obtain when you purchase a container. Like in Borderlands -- each item in Realm of Champions is unique, providing buffs to different stats, with some also giving you special passive abilities. For example, you could get two visually identical items that both provide a similar boost to your combat power, but each would buff different aspects of your combat (i.e. one might boost your light attack damage while the other would improve the effect of any stuns or slows you have). And since there are dozens of different stats in Realm of Champions, there are countless ways you can build your character to fit your playstyle.

Having so many different stats and completely random items also means there’s a good chance the gear you get isn’t going to be what you’re looking for. I became aware of this issue quite early on in my playtime when I noticed many of the items I was getting were marginally better than my current gear but provided boosts to abilities I didn’t have equipped. I can imagine this would be quite frustrating at higher levels of play, where the most powerful items are already incredibly rare -- it could take you dozens of hours of play before you get something to improve your current loadout.

Each Champion can also equip different weapon types, each with their own ability set. Changing your weapon can completely change the way your Champion plays and moves around the map. It adds a layer of complexity and variety to your build possibilities, but again, since finding the right items for your play style is quite difficult, completely upheaving the way your character works can make the rest of your current gear nonoptimal.

The Final Word about the "Realm of Champions"

Realm of Champions is a great action game that fans of MOBAs and top-down action RPGs will absolutely love. Combat is pacey and exciting, and the game modes and arenas are perfectly designed for quick, high-intensity sessions. The RPG elements are deep and offer a lot of variety, allowing you to min-max your Champion in countless different ways. However, because of the way the item system works, it’s not a game that rewards heavy investment of your time or money. Realm of Champions is a game that’s best enjoyed casually.

By Andi Nuruljihad for Gamesforum