Spellbreak

Genre: Third-Person Shooter

Players: 42 Competitive (Online), 42 Team Competitive (Online)

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Review:

(Note: This game is no longer available)

WARNING: THIS GAME HEAVILY PUSHES MICROTRANSACTIONS

Spellbreak is a free-to-play online-focused Third-Person Shooter in the vein of other Battle Royale games like Fortnite and Realm Royale. However, while Fortnite had resource-gathering and structure-building to set it apart, and Realm Royale had crafting, Spellbreak distinguishes itself with its different magical attacks, all of them not only distinct from each other, but able to combine together in interesting ways.

Visually, Spellbreak takes a bit of a page from Fortnite and Realm Royale in having a colorful, slightly-cartoony aesthetic that’s both appealing and somewhat hides how the visuals are somewhat lacking on the technical side. However, even there you’ll find some issues. Other than characters, textures are bland and don’t feature much detail, framerates are mostly okay but occasionally dip when action gets heavy, and I even found myself contending with occasional lag issues that saw opponents and myself both stuttering around as we moved. It’s not a constant problem, and it’s not so severe that it breaks the game, but it definitely is noticeable and brings down the overall experience.

In terms of gameplay, the best thing this game has going for it are its various elemental magical attacks, which not only provide a really good variety in and of themselves, but make for interesting dynamics when combined. Some elements pair well with others, allowing for a combination that strengthens your attacks when you use them properly. There are also some elements that act as an effective counter to specific others. It can also make for a shifting battleground situation for players who are resourceful enough to both understand how these abilities interact and respond accordingly.

There’s also a fair amount of strategy in the opening of each match as players jockey for position to get the best loot. Do you position yourself right next to it, and almost certainly set yourself up for an immediate fight for those valuable resources? Do you find a good spot at the outskirts of those areas, hoping to pick off those who were weakened in said struggle? Or do you pick a spot out in the middle of nowhere, where you can collect lesser caches of resources without much feat of a struggle with others? I can say I definitely appreciate the game setting up these strategic choices.

Having said that, the game’s setup of three-man squads feels really uneven, as you’ll likely find yourself paired with other players who have no clue what they’re doing, don’t bother to revive downed teammates, or go off on their own rather than sticking to a group. And as we all know, the Switch definitely isn’t the best platform for online games, which means communication with teammates isn’t likely to be optimal… unless of course you get paired with players on other platforms (as the game supports cross-play).

In addition, I’ve gotten into a few situations where, right at the start of a match, a player I was fighting felt far too overpowered for so soon in a match, either taking too many hits or doing far too much damage too quickly. I’m not sure if this is a balance issue or if players have already found ways to hack the game, but in either case, it feels like there are definitely kinks that need to be worked out here.

Overall, as Battle Royale-style Third-Person Shooters go, Spellbreak is a decent entry in the genre, and one that does enough things differently to set itself apart from others in the genre. It’s well worth looking into for those who want a good online competitive game, but make no mistake, it has a number of issues that still need to be ironed out.

tl;dr – Spellbreak is a Battle Royale-style Third-Person Shooter where players use different elemental magic abilities that combine in interesting ways. The core gameplay here is strong, with enough elements to set it apart, but there are a number of technical and balance issues that keep this game from being on quite the same level as the likes of Fortnite.

Grade: B-

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