Summary: Gigantic is at the same time unique and familiar. With enough elements of the multiplayer games that you’ve loved thrown in to make it familiar, put together in a way that I haven’t see before, it manages to forge it’s own identity in the crowded world of Free to Play competitive multiplayer games. Audio Version: Let’s start with the familiar. The maps that I’ve seen have followed a similar lane mechanic that you’ll find in most popular MOBAs. Due to the perspective shift from the most MOBAs, similar to Smite in it’s over the shoulder, MMO-style, viewpoint, the lane focus is not incredibly apparent. There’s also summoning circles that you’ll want to grab strewn across the map. Capturing these points grants your team power, the use of which I’ll explain later. Once you’ve pulverized any enemies defending a circle and gain control, you can summon creatures which will help your team hold that point. Such creatures include Bloomers, which will heal allies as it guards the summoning circle; Cerberus, a ranged creature; and there’s even been mention of a dragon like creature, the Drake, as a summonable creature. Creatures are bound to the summoning circle at which they are spawned, so don’t expect minions helping you as you fight your way to the Guardian across the map. Guardians are gigantic monsters (see what I did there?) that are the crux of this game. Your goal is to get enough power through player kills and holding summoning circles to send your team’s guardian on a rampage to attack the opposing guardian. Once your guardian has completed it’s rampage, the enemy guardian is vulnerable, and heroes can rush in and wound it, bringing it closer to death. The match ends with both Guardians rushing to the center of the map to Clash as the heroes battle at their feet. This final push for victory makes the combat feel almost claustrophobic, as the last skirmish of the match takes place in the shadow of the Guardians’ epic bout. Player heroes are varied and interesting. Offering a mix of play style from MOBA skill shots to MMO tanks, it was fun to try out a few different approaches to the game by changing which hero I chose. Definitely my favorite was The Margrave, a melee tank with a balrog hand grafted to his right arm. With him, I was able to dash into the center of any skirmish and lay down some punishment to keep foes off of my allies. My gigantic (see what I did there?) arm was very adept at keeping foes focused on me, as the repercussion of ignoring me was a quick and merciless death. I did try out a few of the other heroes, including Imani - a sniper, and Uncle Sven - a healer and support character, and each gave me a different yet fulfilling experience. While I didn’t get to try out all of the different characters, what I did experience felt balanced and fun. I also never felt that one character was dominating in the five or six matches that I got to play. The one downfall to this game may be the fact that it’s not fitting neatly into one genre. I can already hear the moans from MOBA players about the lack of a true meta game, and the wails from MMO players that there isn’t enough character customization. Both of these criticisms are valid, and could push players away from the game. When I asked Joe Pikop about this at PAX East, he didn't seem fazed at all. Most importantly, I had fun. More fun that I’ve had in competitive games such as this in a very long time. I’m looking forward to spending some more time in Gigantic, and seeing if my first impression is a lasting one, or if the fun that I had in-game was fleeting and not a true example of what the game plays like in the end.
