14 DAY TRIAL // Aerena – Clash of Champions is an online turn-based hero-centric tactical combat game based in a sort of steampunk meets magic setting, that challenges players to fight in cross-platform arenas.
Aerena is currently in development at the hands of Cliffhanger Productions, and has entered a playable alpha stage back in October, on Steam Early Access.
For now, the game offers the core arena-focused gameplay experience, with both AI opponents and online PvP fully functional.
The game can be played on PC and Android for the moment, with plans to deliver a version for iOS in the future.
The story sets the action in 1955, in an alternate Earth timeline where the 1899 discovery of Aether has propelled the world into a new age of progress, based on the incredible power source.
Wars for control of the resource were soon waged, fueled by the incredible advances in science and technology, and soon Earth was flooded as a result of the ensuing environmental meltdown.
In a desperate move to save mankind for Oblivion, The Games were created, where Earth's greatest Champions battle for domination atop the very Aether extractors they seek to gain access to.
The arenas are 6 by 6 tile squares, and they feature both hazardous and bonus tiles. For instance, landing on certain tiles can damage your Champions or even kill them outright, while others heal them or grant them extra energy.
Players start by choosing a Ship, then a team of up to 5 Champions from the available roster, and finally get to load 3 Shells, and they're off to the battle.
An arena match is won by reducing the enemy Ship's hit points to zero, a feat that can be accomplished by either killing enemy Champions (2 damage for each death) either by directly damaging the Ship with your Champions and Shells.
Out of the 5 pre-selected Champions, only 3 can be deployed to the battlefield at any given time. Upon the death of a Champion, players have the choice to either respawn him/her or choose another unused Champion to enter the stage, as best serves the situation.
Champions have 3 abilities, a regular everyday attack, a special more powerful version that has added effects like knockback or longer reach and costs more energy, and a sort of ultimate ability that is unique to each Champion.
The Shells are various one-time artillery charges, with effects varying from switching the position of two Champions to restoring an ally to full health or dealing damage to an enemy or the enemy Ship.
Each Champion has a unique assortment of melee or ranged skills and a backstory, as well as a faction affiliation. The gladiators are usually pretty balanced and cover the full spectrum made available by the game mechanics.
Some of them are high-health lumbering melee beasts with average attacks, others are faster and can attack at a greater range but have a low health pool, with others being able to deliver crushing blows but also being easy to dispatch themselves.
The energy for using the more advanced abilities is gained each turn or by using the regular attack and stepping on bonus tiles, and the Ship's energy gauge will rise when getting damaged or by killing enemy Champions.
Each Champion gets 2 actions each turn, and they can be used for either moving, attacking, or firing one of the one-time Shells.
With characters having around 4-7 life points, Ships around 15 and damages ranging from 1 to 3, the gameplay is pretty fast-paced and battles rarely last more than 10 minutes.
The game's tactical depth is unveiled when special abilities are deployed, some of them being able to hit 2 or more enemies, also dealing damage to the enemy Ship, knocking your opponents back in order for them to waste one of their actions on moving back into range, and many others.
Among the more interesting abilities, players are able to sacrifice a Champion in order to kill an enemy or to deal considerable damage to the opposing Ship.
There is also a Narrator, that for now is content with just announcing the Champions as they enter the arena, but it's a nice plus that adds to the feeling that it's all a grand competition.
The game plays very straightforward, it's not at all complicated and there are no hidden calculations involved, hit percentages or dodges or any of that, you can make some easy predictions and see your strategies work or fail depending on how accurately you assessed the tactical situation at hand.
There is also a PvP league with different tiers, that allows players to show off their tactical prowess, but unfortunately for now, the player count is pretty low and most often waiting times are too long.
The graphics are good, the models and animations work fine, there are plenty of visual effects and there is even an action camera that zooms in during attacks. Both the graphics and sounds are very well suited to the scope of the game.
There are some areas of the interface that clearly point to the game being developed with the functionality of a touchscreen in mind, but it plays well enough on the PC too.
Aside from the lack of an options menu to turn off the music while alt tabbing, and having to click a back button instead of right clicking to close a Champion information page, which are minor concerns in an alpha, the game works fine.
It does become a tad repetitive after a while, however, but it's still only an incomplete early access build, and the low number of players online at most times is a pity, because multiplayer is what this little game is all about.
Considering it's an alpha version, it's actually pretty good, there are no visible bugs and the gameplay is all there, and it seems like Aerena – Clash of Champions is shaping up to be a very good time-killer for when you want a more serious experience that only takes 10 minutes to enjoy.
