The Bi-weekly Gamer: Vainglory hits milestone in mobile gaming with new release

Columns February 21, 2018

The time has finally come for Vainglory.

The game’s long awaited 5v5 mode arrived on February 12, and with it came huge changes to the mobile esports and gaming community. The new mode boasts some of the most highly technological achievements so far reached on mobile devices, including proper coding of “fog of war,” an in-game vision system that mimics real life in that you can only see what would be in your player’s vision range. Previously, a pop-in system was used in which things would pop into your screen as they became visible. Now, there’s a smooth transition in environment, which looks like fog is being pushed apart to make room for your character. This was not previously possible on mobile devices due to technological limitations, but the developers over at Super Evil Megacorp broke the barrier and produced something magical.

The Bi-weekly Gamer is a column about competitive gaming that appears in every issue of Nexus.

But that’s not all: the new map itself is a marvel to both look at and play on. Boasting graphics that rival that of a PC game and sitting at a constant 150 frames per second even on older devices, I personally have never had a smoother or more enjoyable experience on my phone (also, I usually hate phone games, so this had to be extra good to impress me).

The map features multiple objectives for a team to focus on; the game-changing events centre around two dragons, with one helping you fight if you capture it. Buffs for players spawn in between the lanes and add viability to having a player stay in the jungle. Lastly, the bases have all-new mechanics with armouries guarding the team’s crystal; if the crystal is destroyed, it’s game over.

Along with these two huge changes comes balance changes for many of the playable heroes, more changes to the game’s user interface, and bug fixes and tweaks. I was one of the few players lucky enough to play a preview of the map and, I must say, I didn’t encounter a lot of issues.

Super Evil Megacorp has released a product that fits its own niche beautifully, and they know it, too. From here on out, the developers will be looking at what to do with their professional league, and, knowing them, and with a new map and influx of players, it’ll be huge.

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