At the Razer 2017 Vainglory World Championship, developers Super Evil Megacorp finally gave an in-depth reveal of the popular MOBA’s much anticipated new feature: Vainglory 5v5.
Vainglory 5v5 isn’t something new; the developers have been talking about it since the first half of the year. 5v5 MOBA on mobile isn’t new either, with Vainglory’s competitors beating them to the punch. But today marks the first time Super Evil Megacorp has finally shown to the world what it has kept under wraps, and the company promises that it has released a 5v5 MOBA experience that rises above what the competition offers.
For starters, Vainglory 5v5 is designed from the ground up to support all devices that currently run the current 3v3 format. CEO Kristian Segerstrale mentioned that Vainglory’s E.V.I.L game engine was designed to support devices as far back as the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S3. On top of that, Vainglory 5v5 will also offer a richer visual experience: rendering 3 million-plus polygons and 200 animated actors at 120fps, allowing superior gameplay experience on 120Hz mobile devices like the Razer Phone and the iPad Pro.
Vainglory 5v5 also introduces new gaming elements, which switches things up quite a bit. First is the new fog of war feature, touted as a first for mobile gaming. A popular MOBA feature on desktops, fog of war adds a tactical incentive to use the new scout cameras for vision in the map.
Secondly, the 3v3 map’s Kraken has been replaced with two dragons: Blackclaw and Ghostwing. While Blackclaw works similarly to the Kraken (defeat it and it attacks enemy structures), defeating Ghostwing grants a significant team-wide buff that will surely alter the course of the game.
In addition, the Vainglory 5v5 map also has two interesting quirks. First, players from both teams will move from left to right – the game map is mirrored to ensure a consistent experience. After all, the new 5v5 map will have plenty of information to display, so streamlining the UI to have each player move from left to right makes it less confusing.
The second quirk is in the way the map is designed to encourage two-hero mid lane plays. The river flows out from the mid lane to the top and bottom lanes, and a hero runs faster if they follow the current – encouraging ganking opportunities to the top and bottom lanes. It also means each match shouldn’t last as long as a desktop MOBA.
However, Super Evil Megacorp maintains that Vainglory 5v5 isn’t “dumbed down” from a desktop MOBA. A professional-level 3v3 game can already stretch to 30 minutes, so it remains to be seen just how long a Vainglory 5v5 match can run. The showcase match at the Razer 2017 Vainglory World Championships lasted slightly longer, with the inclusion of the new dragons offering teams the chance to dramatically swing the course of a game.
The build shown in the tournament demo was still a beta build, but Super Evil Megacorp maintains that the full Vainglory 5v5 update will be ready in February 2018. The mode will be available for select players to try via a pre-registration page, or by completing in-game quests and win a Golden Ticket.
Here’s an extended look at the new Vainglory 5v5:
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