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Vainglory is a multiplayer online battle arena
(MOBA) video
game developed and published by Super Evil Megacorp for iOS and Android devices. The game is a
simplified version of the PC-based
genre wherein two opposing teams of three players fight to destroy the enemy
base by controlling the path between the bases, which is lined by turrets and
guarded by AI controlled enemy creatures. Off the path, players battle for
control points that supply extra resources. The game was released for iOS in
November 2014, after being soft-launched for over half a year, with the Android
version being released in July 2015.
The game's development started in 2012 upon the forming of Super Evil Megacorp. The game was unveiled at Apple's
September 2014 iPhone
6 announcement event to demonstrate the platform's Metal
graphics API. Super
Evil Megacorp attempted to make a game that would entertain players for hours and
encourage in-person multiplayer experiences similar to that of a LAN party.
Vainglory received generally favorable reviews. Critics praised the
game's graphics, characters, and level
design, but criticized its lack of team communication features. Reviewers
disagreed on the game's degree of accessibility to newcomers, part of the
reason why it received mixed reviews.
Vainglory is a multiplayer online battle arena
(MOBA) game in the style of popular MOBAs League
of Legends and Dota 2 but designed for smartphones and tablets.[1]
As standard for the genre, two opposing teams fight to reach and destroy the
enemy's base while defending their own in a tug of war
for control of a path, the "lane", which connects the bases.[2]
In addition, there is a "jungle" beneath the lane, which contains
creatures and objectives that can be killed or captured.
In Vainglory, teams have three players who each control an avatar, known as a "hero",[3]
from their own device.[4]
Weaker computer-controlled
characters, called "minions", spawn at team bases and follow the lane
to the opposite team's base, fighting enemies and turrets en route.[2]
Lining the lane are turret towers that repel the flow of minions and enemy heroes.
The player's objective is to destroy the enemy turrets and the "Vain
Crystal" in the enemy team's base.
There are two PvP modes of Vainglory: Standard, in which the whole map is
available, and Battle Royale, in which progression is faster and the battle is
limited only to the lane. Players can play ranked Standard games to increase
their in-game ranking, or casual Standard games, in which their rank is not
affected. In the game client, ranked play duration is listed as 25 minutes,
whereas casual play is 20 minutes.
As of December 2016, there are 30 hero options.[5]
The developers of the game continually add new heroes, each with different
skills but balanced for fair play. For example, a hero
may have high damage but poor mobility, or strong melee abilities but no ranged
option.[3]
Players choose between three abilities that upgrade via a common technology
tree.[6]
There is a set number of heroes that are free to play, with the free to play
roster being renewed every week. The game uses two in-game currencies for in-app
purchases: one that can be earned through normal play and completing
missions, known as Glory, and one that can be purchased with money, known as
Immensely Concentrated Evil (ICE). Players can also choose to permanently
unlock any character for a certain amount of Glory.[3]
As of update 1.18.0, the player was able to get ICE from chests.[6]
Vainglory offers two main modes of in-game communication: team emoticons and
strategic pings.[3][6]
In February 2012, game developer "veterans" from Rockstar,
Riot,
Blizzard, and Insomniac
founded Super Evil Megacorp in San Mateo, California to make a multiplayer
online battle arena (MOBA) game for tablet devices, and thus began development
on their first game, Vainglory.[4]
Apple
chose the game to demonstrate the graphics capabilities of their iPhone 6 and
Metal
graphics API at the
iPhone 6's announcement event.[1]
The game was soft-launched for six months prior to this September 2014 event,[2]
and was released on November 16, 2014.[7]
Kristian Segerstrale, the founder of Playfish and
former head of EA Digital, joined Super Evil Megacorp as its COO.
Segerstrale expected Vainglory to popularize the MOBA genre like "Halo did for first-person shooters".[4]
Segerstrale stated that he hoped Vainglory would become something players
"will organize their lives around" rather than something to pass
spare time.[4]
The game is designed for tablets, which the company felt was the most fitting
platform despite its lack of "core games" (games that rewarded
"teamwork and strategy" over thousands of hours of play).[4]
They told Polygon that tablets were "inherently
social", "less alienating to new players", and "possibly
the best space for multiplayer play".[4]
Super Evil Megacorp CEO Bo Daly said he saw PC MOBA games as solitary
experiences and thought tablets could make the experience better for groups as
a reinvention of the LAN party, where players share a common gaming experience
in the same shared physical space on separate devices.[4]
The company also intended for the game to become an eSport.[4]
European eSports tournament organizer Electronic Sports League announced the
Vainglory Cup, a set of Vainglory competitions, to take place in June
2015.[8]
On March 5, 2015 at the Game Developers Conference 2015, it was
announced by Super Evil Megacorp that Vainglory would be getting an Android port. After undergoing a closed
beta, the game was fully released on July 2, 2015 on the Google
Play Store.[9]
One of the most impressive features of Vainglory is its artwork, which is
produced by a team directed by Carlo "Chainsaw" Arellano. Players are
also invited to guide the development of Vainglory by interacting with the
Developers through Livestreams on Twitch.[10]
The game received "generally favorable" reviews, according to
video game review score aggregator Metacritic.[7]
Reviewers praised the game's graphics, characters, and level
design, but criticized its lack of team communication features.[3][6]
While IGN's Mitch
Dyer wrote the game was accessible to newcomers,[3]
Matt Thrower of Pocket Gamer felt otherwise.[6]
The
Guardian named Vainglory the "best" iOS game of 2014.[11]
The game was one of ten Apple Design Award recipients in 2015.[12]
Matt Thrower of Pocket Gamer noted how the PC-based MOBA genre has
had issues adapting its precise controls to the mobile platform, but that Vainglory
trimmed features in the right areas.[6]
IGN's Mitch Dyer wrote that the game was its own "scaled down, rather than
scaled back" version of the MOBA genre, and not an attempt to
"approximate" League
of Legends and Dota
2 experiences for mobile devices.[3]
Dyer praised the game's character and map detail, and wrote that all ten of the
heroes had "fun" designs and were enjoyable to play.[3]
Thrower felt similarly about its graphics as most reviewers did.[6]
Dyer praised the iPad
controls, but felt "cramped" on the iPhone
6 Plus.[3]
TouchArcade's Ford described the controls as
"flawless" and felt that the game's tutorial was among the best he
had seen in iOS MOBAs.[2]
He added that he considered the game's in-app purchases "very fair"
and not "pay-to-win".[2]
IGN's Dyer reported his games to be about 21 minutes in length and noticed
that they tended to snowball out of balance by the time the Kraken
creature appears at the 15-minute mark. Dyer added that the advantages of
in-person team communication made games feel "lopsided".[3]
Pocket Gamer's Thrower wrote that the game's
"depth" was in learning how to use the individual characters, and
that beginners were subject to an "impenetrable learning curve",
especially without organized teams.[6]
Ford of TouchArcade said his only issue was with players leaving their
play session while the game was still in action, but felt this was mitigated by
the game's "Karma" matchmaking system.[2]
Ford otherwise reported that Vainglory played well as a whole as
"probably the best MOBA on iOS".[2]
