I’ve been playing League of Legends for too long. It’s the game that inspired me to get into news writing in the first place, and the only light shining in the darkness that the COVID-19 pandemic has cast on the so-called “best years of my life “. And yet, my relationship with him remains complex; Right now, I just can’t love him like I used to. So, in his absence, my eyes turned to Survive (formerly Project Loki), the brand new MOBA experience from Theorycraft Games. I’ve been following its progress over the past few months and recently had the chance to try it out myself. After hours of pure, unadulterated chaos, I can confirm that this may be the game that finally takes me away from League.
If you’ve never seen Supervive before, it’s essentially a mashup of League of Legends, Apex Legends, and Smash. Similar to Apex and Fortnite, you enter the map instead of spawning somewhere random. From there, you gear up, stalk your opponents, and obliterate them using League of Legends-like abilities, while simultaneously avoiding the ever-invading Storm Ring. You can choose from a roster of varied characters (or hunters), each bringing their own unique skills to the MOBA’s ever-changing battlefield.
As we load up and prepare to exit the spaceship, I am immediately reminded of Fortnite. The map’s colorful visuals and names like Kaiju Korpse are reminiscent of Epic’s battle royale, but the map itself is noticeably different. Supervive’s perspective is top-down like League’s, and each zone has its own particular characteristics. Frozen Temple and Frozen Waste, for example, feature breakable ice that you’ll need to jump from to avoid a watery death.
Speaking of environments, one of the things I like about Supervive is its verticality. You can gain heights, cross chasms at your own risk, and dodge behind terrain. One of the things that bothers me about League or Dota 2 is that they are both set on a linear playing field. Supervive, on the other hand, is more dynamic and fluid: you feel like you’re playing a game, rather than clicking buttons very quickly.
However, as I also mentioned, terrain doesn’t always work to your advantage. My partner in the duo, animation director Jesse Davis, warns me that if you get hit while flying over one of the vast canyons, you’ll be thrown into the abyss and sent to your death. As I listen to his advice and try to stay safe, an unexpected ambush ends up throwing me into the depths, never to be seen again.
Except that’s not the case. Much like in Apex, surviving players can bring their allies back into the fray using various beacons scattered around the map. While this isn’t new, it’s an interesting idea that I’ve never seen implemented in a MOBA before, and I’ve used it many, many times.
While I’m a main support in League of Legends, I of course decided to go all out and pick up Shiv, a glass cannon assassin, and Huntress, an archer similar to Ashe from League. Huntress gave me the safety I needed in the early turns, but switching to Shiv was a pure adrenaline rush (I played an evil Akali once upon a time). I was rushing into the fray, finally getting used to its mechanics when I was crushed by a huge train. Who put them there?
You see, every time you enter Supervive, something changes. Matches often feature modifiers that can change terrain elements and cause absolute havoc. In this case, he added three high-speed trains that the overall storm is drawn to, meaning the final rings would still have a train passing through it. This led to some very impressive late-game teamfights, where players were forced to dodge the screaming locomotive and, of course, their enemies. It’s clever, innovative and truly exciting – our whole team shouted “TRAIN” every time we approached it. It’s safe to say that by the end of our journey, we didn’t, in fact, like trains.
But there’s much more to Supervive’s map than just choo-choos and chasms. Although the gameplay is inherently PvP, there are PvE elements scattered around that can help you level up. As day changes to night, new terrors appear to challenge you and vicious world bosses appear on the map for you to defeat.
There are also a multitude of safes, each containing high-level gear, but these take a bit of time to open. It’s definitely worth it, but it leaves you vulnerable to backdoors, so you’ll need to keep your eyes on your surroundings, not just the prize.
The gear system is usually a welcome reprieve when purchasing the same items repeatedly, but it is quite complex. Since my time with playtesting was relatively short, I wasn’t really crafting mega-busted, super-broken one-shot builds; I ran whatever made sense. For new players, I fear the sheer volume of gear (and systems in general) can prove overwhelming, but for those who spend hours researching new ways to splatter your enemies, Supervive has you covered. For me, where Dota 2 is a more complex League, Supervive is a more complex Dota 2.
Despite its initial subtleties, Supervive is incredibly fun. It merges MOBAs and Battle Royale games in a way that is innovative, fun, punishing and exciting. The skill ceiling will be high, but the explosive teamfights are worth the steep learning curve.
If you want to try it out for yourself, a new Supervive playtest is scheduled to begin on Thursday, June 27 and end on Thursday, July 4. Note that places are limited, so it’s worth tuning into some Supervive Twitch streams, where access will be available via random drops. You can view all the information here.
Fresh, innovative and fun, Supervive is an exciting take on a genre that has largely become obsolete. Only time will tell if it can compete with LoL – after all, League of Legends’ latest mode is exciting – but I’m quietly optimistic. I want to see a new rivalry blossom in a stagnant space that I hope will be forced to evolve to keep up with this brave new adventure.