Crucible

Nothing can redeem its boring gameplay and poor frame rate.

Checking all of the boxes needed to fit into the service game climate Crucible has: a roster of heroes with diverse abilities, cosmetics, a battle pass with dozens of progression levels, and snippets of lore that suggest a larger world. Unfortunately, it wraps these familiar elements around a competitive thirdperson shooter that isn’t very good. Even for a free-to-play game, I can’t find a reason to stick with its boring combat and spotty performance.

So much of Crucible feels like a misguided effort, starting with its game modes. Heart of the Hive is a 4v4 race to farm Essence (experience points) and be the first to collect three hive hearts. Efficient farming is the best way to out- level opponents and get an edge in fights, but it’s so boring that I can’t blame most of my teammates for screwing around instead of aiming for the objective. I had a bit more fun in Crucible’s duos-only 18-player battle royale mode, Alpha Hunters. The map still feels too big for the number of players, but the action does tend to kick off faster than Heart of the Hive. There’s also a neat twist – players that have lost their partner can offer to partner up with enemy players and reform a duo on-the-fly.

Crucible’s combat is sluggish and the gluttony of explosion effects are hard to read up close. Imposing assault rifles and miniguns sound like they’re shooting marbles. Neither NPC or players react to taking damage, something that totally kills the impact of Drakahl’s big axe and Shakirri’s sword.Since most weapons are only effective at mid-range and movement is slow, every shootout becomes two people staring at each other holding left click, each trying to drain the other’s massive health bar first.

There are too many shooters out there that do what Crucible does better. That’s a big problem for a competitive multiplayer game, even at the low price of free.

MORGAN PARK

Despite some cool heroes and a neat twist on battle royale, Amazon’s hero shooter wasn’t worth the wait.