What do you get when you take shrunken mythological heroes as well as a couple of random mascots and pit them against one another in short-form battle royale MOBA-like brawls? The world can find out with today’s free-to-play early access release of Battle Crush, NCsoft’s foray into this sub-genre. And it doesn’t look as if it’s all going over well with gamers.
The title’s early access release lands on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices, with three game modes including the team-based battle royale, a 2v2v2 team brawl, and one-on-one duels, while the first of the game’s weekly tournaments is scheduled to begin on July 6th. There’s also some cosmetic handouts for those who pre-registered for the game, along with some ’90s-era hip hop outfits in the cash shop.
It’s that monetization and other complaints that have so far raised the ire of those who have tried the game so far: The Steam’s user review aggregate currently sits at “mostly negative” as players rip into pricey monetization, leverage pay-to-win accusations as players claim paid heroes are stronger than free ones, complain about button mashing gameplay, and agitate against an over-reliance on items. If you’re looking for some more complete impressions, be sure to check Sam’s Fight or Kite column, where he got some hands-on time ahead of today’s launch.
