Hands On With Dropzone
The RTS genre can be a little intimidating for inexperienced gamers, but Dropzone by Sparkypants is definitely a game that anyone can pick up and play. The premise is simple - at the end of a 15 minute match have more points than your opponent and you win. This is, of course, easier said than done, but nonetheless after a few matches most people will get the hang of it.
The first step in Dropzone is drafting your squad. You can select three pilots from five different classes. You can even pick three of the same class if you'd like, but the only restriction is that you can't pick the same pilot twice. During my demo the Gunner, Tank, and Mechanic were unlocked. The Gunner is quick and offensive, the Tank is strong and can take a beating, and the Mechanic can heal your party. These classes don't stray too far from what gamers would expect in any game, which makes it easily accessible for everyone.
There are multiple ways to score in Dropzone. The first and most common way to score is by destroying hives of enemies which drop cores and upload those cores back at the center of the map. The other way to score is by completing map objectives, which are randomly selected before every match.
One of the more surprising elements of Dropzone is that killing your opponent does very little to benefit you and really the only time you would want to kill them is when they are destroying a hive or uploading a core. Your primary focus should be on scoring and leveling up, which you can both do by killing enemies. The XP you gain is shared among your team, but you can only level one pilot at a time. When you level them, you receive extra abilities and new gear.
As I mentioned before, Dropzone is easily accessible for most gamers and will have casual style gameplay to prepare players for the intense battle they will eventually experience. For those who have experience with RTS's or MOBA's they will feel right at home with traditional controls.
Dropzone is a great game that allows you to get a quick gaming fix right before dinner or when you are pressed for time. Dropzone's open beta will be out by the end of the year and when the game launches it will have 2-3 maps with a new map every two months.