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The gentlemen of Smashmuck talk champion design
Smashmuck Champions has a pretty diverse roster of characters, and it took a crazy group of mad scientists to assemble such a motley crew. It has everything from a robotic pop diva to an alien riding a velociraptor. Everything from the appearance to the gameplay of each character is fairly wild and unique, and it's clear that the design team goes out of its way to create avatars that are "not just another frost archer." I sat down with the design team for the game, including Kiz Studios art director Allen White, lead designer Ben Rodgers, and lead developer Jacob Schieck. In-between the jokes (these are some funny guys), we had a pretty deep discussion about the wacky designs and what the team looks for when making a character.
Smashmuck Champions has a new champ, arena, controller support
If you're a Smashmuck Champions player, today's a good day because Kiz Studios has released a "mega-update with new champs, a new spooky arena, and -- answering the calls of fans -- controller support." A company press release has the details which include Kovax Nobo, a champ designed live by fans at PAX Prime. Oh, and there's also the Tesla Turret skill-swap, too. We've embedded two preview videos after the break. One focuses on Kovax while the other is a general patch update. [Source: Kiz Studios press release]
Smashmuck Champions now on Steam Early Access
If you were intrigued by our hands-on with new MOBA Smashmuck Champions at PAX Prime last week, we've got good news. The title is now available via Steam's early access program, according to a Kiz press release. The "program helps to further Kiz's commitment to open development, bringing the fans and players into the creation process to tweak, refine, and suggest new ideas that are incorporated into the game," the company says. Smashmuck Champions is free-to-play. You can view an announcement video after the break. [Source: Kiz press release]
PAX Prime 2013: I played Smashmuck Champions and it was golden
There were some pretty great games at this year's PAX Prime, but if there's one new game I played that I couldn't wait to go home and install, it was Smashmuck Champions. Currently in open beta, the game features a MOBA-like control scheme combined with faster-paced arena action. The guys at the booth joked about how they hated the term MOBA, but there are few games that fit the term "multiplayer online battle arena" better than Smashmuck. Allen White, art director for the game, led me through the matches. He was a pretty big help, answering all of my questions while I stomped all over the other con-goers. Unlike the typical MOBA, Smashmuck has a low barrier of entry, a lot of game modes, and an easy learning curve, and it's just plain lots of fun. You're doing yourself a disservice by not installing the game right now.
The Soapbox: League of Legends is the new World of Warcraft
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Every now and then, a game comes out of nowhere with such incredible financial success that it causes the games industry to completely lose perspective. All it takes is one game to start raking in the millions for developers, publishers and investors to stumble around with dollar signs in their eyes for years to come. Innovation grinds to a halt and everyone starts blindly copying whichever game just hit the jackpot. It's like some huge industry-wide superstition takes over and convinces people that if they do the same dance the same way, it'll rain again. World of Warcraft has consistently had this effect since shortly after its launch in 2004. To this day, several studios per year excitedly announce yet another fantasy MMO that lifts its entire feature set and every gameplay mechanic wholesale from World of Warcraft as if it were a model for automatic success. The same thing is happening again in online gaming today, not from MMOs but from MOBAs, a new genre based on the competitive gaming classic DotA. Developers are still chasing the massive money made by yet another hugely successful game, and this time it's League of Legends.
New MOBA SmashMuck Champions fights its way into closed beta this month
Watch out, MOBA fans: A new challenger has appeared! Indie game developer Kiz Studios announced in a press release today that its upcoming MOBA title, SmashMuck Champions, is set to enter closed beta this month. Of course, if you're anything like us, you're probably wondering what the heck a SmashMuck Champions is. According to the game's official site, the title is "a free-to-play action/strategy game featuring online multiplayer combat" in which players "build and train their own SmashMuck teams... to do battle in the toughest sport on Planet Muck." Gameplay-wise, the game seems to be your standard MOBA with a few not-so-standard twists. The addition of persistent champion gear plus interesting new mechanics such as stat-boosting training routines aim to put a new spin on the old formula. But hey, you don't have to take our word for it. The game will be entering closed beta testing on May 27th, so if you're a MOBA fan looking for a new thrill, just head on over to the game's official site and sign up for yourself. Oh, and while you're at it, don't forget to check out the game's latest official trailer after the cut. [Source: Kiz Studios press release] %Gallery-155368%
