Yesterday saw the reveal of Project Loki, an upcoming game made by developers hailing from studios like Riot, Respawn, Blizzard and Bungie. I sat down with my sackful of MOBA fatigue and cynicism to watch the trailer, and was instead reminded of an old flame. The game promises to be a mash-up of "League, Apex and Smash", but I know better: Project Loki carries strong vibes of Battlerite, an action MOBA that had all development stopped in 2019.
Battlerite was—is, kinda, you can play it but it hasn't seen updates for years—an action MOBA that cut away all the chaff from the genre. Instead of last-hitting creeps and split-pushing, you got to the brawling and teamfights right away, duking it out in an arena that'd grow smaller as time went by. It was a smashing game. PC Gamer gave it a glowing review in 2017, calling it "one of the best team action games released" that year.
