[Disclosure: Review keys were provided for the contents of this article]
Dropzone, a free-to-play title exclusively for PC through Steam Early Access, is an interesting sci-fi take on both RTS and MOBA games. In the distant future of the 22nd century, you play as a group of mercenaries piloting giant robots called Rigs, tasked with fighting against the insectoid alien swarms of the Kavash as well as other mercenaries, all in the pursuit of glory, valuable resources called Cores, and cold hard cash.
The gameplay starts out as your standard drag-and-click RTS fare, but with the incorporation of MOBA elements your control is narrowed down to 1-3 units depending on the mode. You can kill Kavash and enemy mercenaries to level up your pilots (12 to start with in 4 class types) and unlock their unique abilities in-game, activate visibility nodes to reduce the fog of war, and grab and turn in Cores to increase your score. You want to be careful, though, because the enemy can always run interference on you and take what’s rightfully yours.
Even after getting eased into the mechanics through the tutorial campaign and additional training campaigns, the game’s features are all very easy to navigate thanks to the simple menus. Whether you want to launch a quick match, edit your Rig and equipment setup, practice your setup, spectate on matches, or buy new gear, it’s all as simple and seamless as a few clicks.
However, for a free-to-play title, Dropzone can seemingly get quite graphically intense for your settings with all the special effects, unit animations, destruction and high intensity combat taking place, so be sure to optimize things before you get into the meat of the game.
If you’re looking to get into a MOBA but are being put off by the super-competitive nature in current titles, Dropzone may just be able to get you started. While hard to master like other MOBA titles, it’s still fun to play and easy to control. Drop in, squash some bugs, and make bank.
