Ever since the Smite beta released on PS4 and I began playing Overwatch, a thought has hovered over my mind. What if Sony made a MOBA based on the PlayStation universe instead of a fighting game? With the third-person perspective of Smite and some 3D platforming elements from past PlayStation games, I think this could be a fun free-to-play title for Sony to add to their catalog. Let’s look into this idea.
My favorite aspect of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale is how all the characters I grew up with came together into one game with their personality and abilities still intact. I was so excited when it was first announced because of this reason. I didn’t really grow up with Nintendo games, so I wasn’t as excited to try the most recent Super Smash Bros. game. But when PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was announced, I was thrilled. It’s odd to see Sackboy fighting Kratos, but hey, it’s a video game, and it’s supposed to be a fun love letter to the fans. However, the fighting game never fully came together. Here are my reasons why:
- Sony never got over the hurdle of being called a Super Smash Bros clone even though it had its own mechanics and ideas added to the mix
- The polish and quality of a typical fighting game wasn’t there—there were bugs and poor handling of the story, multiplayer, and menus
- SuperBot Entertainment and Sony included third-party characters that didn’t truly represent the PlayStation brand (Big Daddy, DMC Dante, Isaac Clarke, etc.), while Nintendo picked up the slack with the inclusion of Cloud in Super Smash Bros.
- The game didn’t include enough variety in the modes and the story.
- SuperBot Entertainment and Sony didn’t include the characters that people were asking for. Instead, we got Zeus…
What if Sony created a new platform for these fanboy dreams to come back to life? That’s where a MOBA comes in. From the typical third-person perspective that most of Sony’s catalog of games use, we could see platforming, third-person shooting, and MOBA gameplay come together. Kat from Gravity Rush could be an air-based assassin character who engages and begins encounters with less defense but more maneuverability, Kratos could be a tank that pulls characters in, and Ratchet and Clank could be a defense-type duo with turrets and long-range weapons with weaker short-range attacks. Combined, this would make for a more fitting character-driven game format than a fighting game.
The locations from the PlayStation universe would be perfect too. Metropolis from Ratchet & Clank, a Bloodborne stage, the devastated landscapes of The Last of Us, and the lost city of Shambala from Uncharted 2…I could go on, especially if third parties are involved. A Shadow of the Colossus stage would be fantastic too, in which the colossal creature becomes a hazard while in battle. These stages could go along with all the classic tracks we all know and love. From Parappa The Rapper, to Journey, to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, each locale could be given a stellar soundtrack that plays in the background as we fight in this fanboy’s dream.
Since Sony has a grand history of storytelling within their games—games like The Last of Us, inFAMOUS, and Heavy Rain—it would make sense if they also focussed on the narrative in this proposed PlayStation MOBA. It would be cool to have a tied-in story element to all these different characters. It would be like The Avengers of video games. Heck, even include some third-party characters who are relevant to the PlayStation brand.
And unlike PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, this MOBA could be regularly updated to support additional characters/patches, more community excitement, and a platform that showcases their best games and characters to the biggest audience in gaming right now: the MOBA crowd. I really hope something like this occurs in the future, as I love crossovers and MOBA’s, and that is why it is on our Dream Games List.
So what do you think of this crazy idea? Let me know in the comments below!