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Amazon Games' Crucible Brings Flashy Free-to-Play Multiplayer To Steam
Amazon Game Studios has released their first major title, the team-based hero shooter Crucible. Amazon Game Studios started out by developing small games for mobile platforms. It wasn't until 2016 that the company announced its focus on developing AAA computer games. At TwitchCon 2016, the company revealed three games currently in development; Breakaway, Crucible, and New World. Breakaway was eventually cancelled in 2018, but New World is a highly anticipated MMO planned for a summer 2020 release.
That leaves Crucible, a strategic team-based third-person shooter. Similar to games like Overwatch, Crucible attempts to blend the MOBA and shooter genres to create objective-focused gameplay with a variety of classes to choose from. Players can choose from many unique characters called Hunters, with differing abilities, play-styles, and lore. All Hunters have a different spread of stats that determine their roles, such as damage, range, and defense.
Crucible was released on May 21st and is completely free-to-play on Steam. The game features ten Hunters for players to choose from, all with unique abilities, appearances and playstyles. Crucible currently has three game modes that vary in team size and objective. In "Heart of the Hive," two teams of players will not only fight against each other but must defeat bosses before the opposing team. The "Alpha Hunters" game mode brings in battle-royale gameplay, with eight teams of two competing to be the last standing. Finally, the "Harvester Command" mode is a traditional MOBA objective-based mode in which players compete to capture multiple points on the map.
What sets Crucible apart from many other hero shooters is the ability to choose loadouts for Hunters before the match begins. Rather than choosing which abilities to strengthen as the player levels up, like in League of Legends, players must choose which abilities to focus before the match starts. This allows players to personally customize their Hunter, and fight with the exact abilities they want throughout the match. Amazon Games has announced the Crucible Pre-Season for the next eight weeks. In order to thank players for their interest in the game, anyone who logs in before June 1st will receive 1000 free in-game credits. These credits can be used to purchase the Pre-Season Battle Pass or various other cosmetic items.
Fans will have to wait and see if Crucible has a successful launch on Steam this week, as player reviews are already flooding in after the game's first day of life. Crucible is an interesting hybrid worth trying out for any fan of the MOBA, Shooter or Battle Royale genres.
