In a market now saturated (but apparently never tired) of battle royale, check out a fresh and cross-platform title. Spellbreak presents itself to the public as a "multiplayer magic action”, In which we are called to impersonate a warrior magician. Fights until the last "mana", therefore, because magic will be our main weapon. Spells and strategic combos will allow us to subjugate the other players catapulted with us into the Hollow Lands, and pocket the victory. Developed by Proletariat Inc (already known for Harmonix, Insomniac and Turbine), Spellbreak is perhaps also for this reason the most ambitious title of the American studio. Released for Switch last 3 September - but also available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and of course PC - is available for free download on Nintendo eShop and, in the wake of the other cornerstones of the genre, in-game transactions will allow you to obtain cosmetic items that will make the experience more colorful and personalized.
The classes, the spells, the spells
Beyond the appearance of our fighter, to distinguish one magician from the other is undoubtedly the class - as well as the player's ability to combine it with others secondary spells. As for the main weapon, it will in fact be possible to choose between the magic glove Gelobrucio, Conductor, Pyromancer, Toxicologist, Stone Shaper o Storm. As you can imagine, each of these classes has its own style of play, so much so that it will be up to the hero to choose to take advantage of a more cautious approach (such as with Gelobrucio, attributable to the sniper class), more explosive (if you choose the class Pyromancer, for example) or closer (if you choose Stone Shaper instead).
The main weapon (or rather the glove), in addition to dictating the player's class, allows you to unleash more powerful primary and secondary attacks. In the case of Pyromancer (the glove of flame) for example, it will be possible to detonate fireballs similar to rockets, while as a secondary power we will have the possibility of summoning walls that inflict burn damage to those who get too close. But in addition to the right glove, with which we will take the field from the beginning of the battle, we will also be able to find around the world the sinister gloves, which will broaden the range of our spells. By entering into possession of the second magical quantum, in fact, we will be able to combine spells in devastating combos, perhaps creating powerful tornadoes or clouds of poisonous gas (air + poison), electrical storms (air + electricity) and more. The player can also level up, and this allows us to earn bonuses and upgrades that will make our attacks even more fearsome and dangerous.
The (desolate) Hollow Lands
Like any self-respecting battle royale, we will be catapulted into a large map - at the moment only one is available - devoid of everything, if not our main magic glove. Once they swoop into the Hollow Lands, therefore, we will have to get started immediately in search of chests and hidden objects inside buildings, or strategically placed here and there. In addition to the secondary glove - which we will extremely need - we will therefore have to dedicate ourselves to the collection of medications, armor, belts (because without these we will not be able to armor ourselves properly), magical runes (which will provide us with additional secondary skills such as flight, teleportation, invisibility ...), scrolls to read (which will allow us to apply very useful power-ups in the game) and more.
As in all other titles of the genre, it will be possible to land on the map alone, in single player mode, or together with your team - made up of random players or your friends. Although, however, in the most classic battle royale it is possible to reach up to games of 100 players, the Hollow Lands seem to host a maximum of 42. This detail, unfortunately, makes the adventures quite exploratory and at least in the beginning very little "last man standing", to then grow more involvement only towards the last stages of the game. Clearly, with the shrinking of the area, players will be forced to merge everyone into one area, and this will make the experience more hectic and fun.
Spellbreak, yet another battle royale?
Those who are already familiar with titles such as Apex Legends, Call of Duty Warzone, Fortnite and Realm Royale, will find many well-known elements in Spellbreak - from the initial airdrop, to the shrinking play area, to collecting weapons and loot. But, we have seen, the original trait of the title remains the replacement of the classic bullets with the casting of spells and spells, which perhaps allow a slightly more stimulating and less banal approach than it might seem - especially in the beginning.
Also give one RPG-like component, and the rich variety of elements and skills available (and the possibility that the range may even increase in the future is not excluded), the player is truly given the opportunity to find and develop his own method of play, and to master the vast offering combined spells and effects. To enrich the gaming experience, Spellbreak also offers users a hint of lore, to which we are introduced from the very first tutorial session.
To complete the review, we finally point out that on the Nintendo Switch the game has shown to behave very well, even at the battery level. No overheating, crashing or lag phenomena were found, and even the matchmaking - despite the cross-platform crossplay active - has proven to work well, placing us in fairly balanced matches. The title is at its best in docked mode, of course, especially if you are using a Pro Controller. In portable mode, however, the console manages to guarantee a good autonomy of about 3 hours.
