Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games like Heroes of the Storm and League of Legends have exploded in popularity over the past few years, dominating the e-sports scene with strategic action, team drama, and droves of enthusiastic players and fans. Master X Master (MXM) is NCSoft's first stab at a MOBA, and the company injects enough newness into the genre to feel novel, while also adhering to tried-and-true conventions. Access to two playable characters during a match creates much more dynamic encounters, and player-versus-enemy (PvE) missions offer an interesting cooperative alternative to the player-versus-player standard. How NCSoft will price MXM at launch is a big unknown at the moment, as the game wont be released until late 2016.
Mastering the Masters
MXM is a giant crossover game featuring more than 30 characters from various NCSoft titles, as well as all new characters. The cast includes Rytlock, the beastlike Charr warrior from Guild Wars 2, and Jinsoyun, the sword-toting villainess from the recently released Blade & Soul. The warriors, called Masters here, have unique attacks, special moves, and defensive abilities that set them apart from one another. For example, Jinsoyun is a melee-oriented character, so her sword skills can only be used at very close range. Sniper Innowin is a purely ranged character who suffers a damage penalty if she attacks anything closer than 5 meters from her.
View All The camera is locked in a top-down isometric view, with your Master on the center of the screen. You have full control over your Master's movement using the PC's WASD keys, and all attacks are manually aimed with the mouse. The left mouse button is your basic attack and auto fire. Right-click is your defensive skill. Some Masters roll to avoid damage, while others sidestep or block. These skills are unique, so they have different cooldowns depending on the Master.
Special attacks are initiated with Q, E, 2, and R keys. Much like basic attacks, these skills are unique to their respective character. Jinsoyun, for example, has a sneak attack that she can use to get behind and stun enemy targets. Her uppercut slash launches her target into the air, leaving them vulnerable to further attacks momentarily. Unlike your standard auto-fire attack, which can be used liberally, special attacks enter a cooldown before they can be used again. In terms of gameplay, the WASD movement, manual aiming, and action combat puts MXM closer to Smite than other MOBAs. Combat is very fast paced, and the manual aiming is surprisingly satisfying.
MXM incorporates a tag system that sets it even further apart from other MOBA games, opening up all-new avenues of strategy. You can select two Masters to play as during a mission and can swap between them as you see fit, though there is a 12-second cooldown before you can switch back. This tag system lets you pair Masters with abilities that complement one another. You may opt to run into an enemy with a damage-soaking tank, and switch to an explosive damage dealer when your opponent has burned-through their stronger abilities. Or you may choose a support Master with potent crowd-control abilities and switch to a burst damage mage while your target is vulnerable. Or you can simply switch to a healthier Master if your character has taken too much damage. Each Master has its own health bar, but you will be forced to respawn if either character dies, so smart tagging is important.
