Battle Bay is a free to play MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) where, instead of fighting on land like in popular MOBAs such as League of Legends or Dota 2, in Battle Bay you fight on the sea using your small weaponized ship. Made by Rovio Entertainment, the developers of the highly successful, number 1 downloaded mobile game of all time, Angry Birds, let’s take a look at what their first real-time MOBA has in store for us.
Battle Bay Gameplay
The game throws you into the training grounds right after it finishes loading. It then lets you know that it’s important to place both thumbs on the screen, as good grip is important for Battle Bay. To move your ship you have to hold the virtual analog stick on the left side of the screen and move it in the direction you wish. You can swipe anywhere on the screen to move the camera around. As you move it, a circle will automatically lock on to an enemy. Once the circle is green you are free to tap the fire button on the left side of the screen to shoot and sink that enemy ship. Hold it to aim at the enemy ship when it’s moving around.
Battle Bay Controls
After the game explains you these simple controls, it lets you have a nice quick fight against 5 enemy opponents alongside your teammates. Once you are finished sinking all the enemy ships you can assign your name as the newly appointed captain and change it later if you wish.
Now the game clearly notifies you with a message that Battle Bay contains In-App Purchases and points out the minimum age required to play. Then you can take a look at the decent looking main menu screen, where you can for example go and train your crew. Training crew members is important, as it helps you earn XP and it unlocks their talents. These training’s take up real life minutes or hours, but if you don’t want to wait then you can speed up the process using a currency called Pearls.
Once a crew member has finished its training session, you can then assign it to learn a new talent. Talents include things such as damage boosts. To unlock new talents, you’ll have to level up. Weapons can be upgraded using parts that you salvage during battles.
Battle Bay Shop
Battle Bay features a shop which gets a new shipment every 6 hours. In it you will find items, parts or crates, which include new weapons and other items. Apart from the free crate that you can open every 6 hours, you also have a Star Crate which you can unlock using Battle Stars that you earn at the end of each battle.
A max of 3 Battle Stars can be earned, depending on how well you play. Items that you don’t need, such as the duct tape, can be scrapped for parts that are used to upgrade your weapons.
Battle Bay Objective
So what is the objective in each battle? Well, it’s a bit different compared to other popular MOBA. Both teams consist of 5 players as usual, but in Battle Bay there are no lanes, no towers to destroy and no base to reach. Instead, there are capture points which if you hold long enough to reach 100%, wins you the battle. But, you don’t have to go for that objective. Most players don’t actually go for that objective at all. You can simply destroy every enemy ship to win.
That’s what makes it different from your regular MOBA. Battle Bay also features 8 arenas, each with their own unique style and level design. Each arena has various places you can hide to as you wait for your cannons to reload as well. Music in these battles isn’t anything special and not everyone will like it. Fortunately you can simply head to the Options screen to turn it off which you can find by clicking the button on the top left part of the main menu screen.
Battle Bay Quests & Guilds
On the main menu screen you can find Quests, which may include earning Battle Stars, playing a specific amount of battles or destroying a specific amount of ships. Completing Quests gives you rewards such as Gold or Sugar, a currency used to upgrade crew members and level up items. You can also try and complete various different Achievements, which once completed allow you to claim Pearls.
Battle Bay also features Guilds which anyone can join. Here you can chat and meet new friends, or keep in touch with your old friends. You can also take a look at the Leader-boards, which includes global, local and guild stats, as well as one where you can take a look at how well you’re doing against your friends.
There are VIP Subscriptions which give you benefits such as no ads, an increased amount of rewards after a battle, decreased time it takes to train a crew member and exclusive access to a VIP chat.
Positive
⦁ Fun, simple game play.
⦁ A fresh take on the MOBA genre.
⦁ Battles are quick and sometimes intense.
⦁ Responsive controls.
⦁ Stylish graphics.
