You could twiddle your thumbs till the most awaited games release for the year (over the next 2 months), or make it scroll down your social media feed, to watch videos of kinetic sand getting sliced. Or, you could also download the Twitch app for desktop to play the new MMO releasing this week by Amazon studios — Breakaway.
The 10 minutes of gameplay made it clear that this was going to be a futuristic, fantasy based football game. Two teams in an elevated arena floating somewhere in space, target a single glowing football-shaped relic that’s in the centre of the ground. The aim is for the team to take the relic to their own goal. The game is fast-paced and very fluid.
The rules are fairly simple. There are two teams of four players each, each player choosing a ‘hero’ to control. You must prevent the opposing team from getting the relic to their goal point. This is done by fighting the opponent (with swords) that’s holding the relic, or destroying all in the opposing team before they respawn in the same round.
But that’s not it — there are also the unpredictable power-ups that help you dash to the end of the game, like invincibility boosters, and a jump-throw-land combo for a perfect touchdown. Each hero has the ability to create an object — like a turret, or a ramp, which when strategically used can help activate those powerups for members of the same team.
A well-developed e-sport game is a sure hit amongst online gamers — given the fast pace of the game, and the fact that no single match will ever be the same. The success of Rocket League is also attributed to this, additionally peppered with elements of strategy. But there aren’t many individual player differences between cars in RL as Breakaway has promised for its heroes. The fact that Breakaway is also integrated to our favourite game streaming app, Twitch — makes it easy for viewers to join in the fun, too. Move over Rocket League — we have a new free-to-play online multiplayer e-sport game that combines the forces of both FIFA and combat games.
Anusha Ganapathi
Twitter @quaffle_waffle
(This economics graduate spends her leisure time preparing for the zombie apocalypse)