Occasionally here at Player2.net.au, we will play something that deserves your attention but probably doesn’t need a full review written for it. Be it DLC for the latest AAA title, a little indie game or even an Android/iOS title. We play these titles for a blockbusting amount of time (2 – 5 hours) and report back to you the reader on what we found. So grab your popcorn and settle in for the latest episode of Blockbuster Gaming.
Blockbuster Gaming – Hyper Universe
Combining an action-packed 2D brawler and a cast that’s completely over the top, Hyper Universe is the latest to throw its hat in the ring of online competitive brawlers currently flooding the market. That’s not a hyperbole either, the scene is actually, ironically, quite competitive and simply being a good game isn’t enough to get it over the line. So where does this leave Hyper Universe? And will it survive in this current shark tank of a genre? Let’s find out.
For those already initiated with what a MOBA is, you’ll find a lot of similarities here. You and a team of four heroes battle against an opposing team to take out a series of turrets in order to win the game. The heroes on offer are your standard affair of classes such as Tanks, Support and Blasters, all of which have special abilities and a combination of each is likely to boost your team’s chances of winning. Your hero of choice can have their stats slightly modified with different items you select from your pre-designed loadouts, each of which assists your preferred style of play. This is pretty much where the similarities stop and the game becomes its own, the biggest and more glaring aspect is that it’s played in a 2D perspective. Initially one might think that this will drastically change how the game is played and potentially allow for less surprise ganks, amongst other things. After a few mere sessions though you quickly find out that although the new perspective allows more of a focus on spacing, getting surprised by the enemy is still possible with how the multi-level maps can still allow the enemy to do the sneaky when you least suspect it.
Despite having a tutorial giving you the very fundamental basics and understanding of Hyper Universe, there’s quite a steep learning curve which new players are inevitably going to have to overcome before you start feeling like you’re being effective in a game or simply doing more than mashing your buttons. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, knowing just what’s effective and how the game is meant to be played is going to be a trial of fire for any players who are a little green with this one, it was clear that the more advanced players on my team were doing well and their end of game stats reflected this. Any game that rewards experience and skill over time is going to have a longer appeal than those that simply rely on luck and 50-50’s.
Now for the downside and oh boy is this a big one and a potential deal-breaker for many out there. Hyper Universe relies heavily on good spacing and reactions, slipping up once can mean the difference between getting a good pick on an enemy or getting picked off yourself. The key ingredient to this is having a good netcode and a good ping … sadly, for Australians, you get neither. To start with, there aren’t any local servers with a decent enough latency. The best region is Asia but I quickly found out that it was lacking every time I jumped into a game. The way the netcode works makes the game feel like its playing on a TV with some dodgy input-lag, to get a feeling of what this is like, imagine using a pointer in a presentation but it’s made out of rubber. This forced me to play more predictively and sometimes even navigating the map could be a frustrating ordeal.
There’s a general feeling that Hyper Universe could be a really good game, but it’s going to take time and investment to get there. Sadly, unless local servers become a thing (and lucky you if you have one), you’ll constantly be downed by people with better pings who can react better and win encounters more consistently. This is definitely one to download and check out in the future if that becomes a reality, until then it’s probably not worth your time.
Adam Rorke
