Paladins Hands-on Impressions: Quick, Interactive and Simple

After Smite, Hi-Rez Studios has successfully grabbed my attention with Paladins once again

When I heard about Paladins, I assumed it to be an RTS game like Age of Empires. But soon I came to know its a team first-person shooter like Overwatch, and I’ll be honest I felt it’s a straight copy. I watched many trailers including their hero introductions, but kept my hands away from any kind of gameplay. I wanted to try it myself. Yesterday around 4:30 in the evening, I sat down, exhaling long breaths and hit the ‘Play’ button. What I saw and what I experienced next, was actually pretty awesome and beyond my prediction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3x2B1AydP4

Hands-on Impressions

Paladins is a beautiful game. The visuals are sharp and neat, UI is pretty solid, champions are balanced and maps are well-designed. I’ve played 3 matches so far and all of them had pretty great scores. 32-1, 24-0 and 27-0. I played Casual matches as I don’t have any friends to play custom games, nor am I high-leveled to access Ranked.

My first time experience was at Jaguar Falls, a map for the Siege mode of the game. I picked Viktor, the guy with a scope-gun. The tutorial helped me learn the basics, and I was ready to rock and roll.  I loved the UI and how easy it is to learn unlike Dota 2 Reborn. When it first came out and I had no idea how that works and I actually quit Dota for like a month and a half.

Moving on. The other hero I played was Barik, yet another shooter, but without a scope. He’s a turret spammer, and I enjoyed spamming these turrets and was immortal (almost) throughout the game. His ultimate is Dome Shield, a dome that heals you and your allies. At first, I thought it launches artillery barrages on enemies, that turned out to be a  fail prediction.

Overall, the game is interesting and I bet it will keep you engaged and entertained for months. I’m looking forward for some great tournaments and leagues happening here in India, so that I can make a huge leap in my pocket money. If you’re playing Paladins and are lonely as me, add PaladinsDev. Yep, that’s me. Let me know what you think about the game in the comments below and I’ll be happy to join your conversation.