PAX West: Dropzone Is a Deconstructed RTS Meets MOBA

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I really had no idea what to expect when I received an email to setup an interview with Dropzone. Frequent readers know I tend to be a sucker for science fiction. An earlier PAX West interview detailed exactly how much I’m a sucker for the real-time strategy genre. This means I was intrigued by the email, but still reserved. The MOBA genre is, as stated half a decade ago, quite competitive. Not to mention the RTS genre has been neglected for over a decade. It’s the pedigree, the game designers, artists and leaders behind Rise of Nations and Big Huge Games.

We sat down to the demo and saw a small handful of characters on the screen. Character that were drastically different, an obvious tank, a ranged DPS and a healer, that through different abilities out with clarity. The visual effects and animations made it perfectly clear that the characters under my control, or my clients were launching attacks, buffs or debuffs, and that they weren’t remotely similar. Moments after sitting down I knew this wasn’t a mess like a first glance at Marvel vs. Capcom or Shaktaji watching me heal a raid. See and learn for yourself after the cut.