For those of you kids these days what with your Dota's and your Meta gaming, Guns of Icarus is a MOBA game centered around teams of four which work together flying airships and battling other crews for glory and fun! The game has three classes: Engineer, Gunner, and Pilot, and seven different ship types to choose from: Pyramidion, Junker, Goldfish, Squid, Spire, Mobula, and Galleon. The classes are self explanatory, but where the game stands out is in it's necessity for constant and functional cooperation and the ability for teams to comeback in a moment, making most matches fun and high pressure. But that's not to say the game is just an endurance test in dealing with people, and in fact the cooperation makes it not only fast paced and engaging, but also instantly available to all players with the right teammates.
The core feature of the game that separates it is the ship. Where other MOBAS have a stationary crystal or base guarded by players which must be destroyed to win, the ship is both the base and the offensive capability of the team. Each ship has a certain amount of health before it is destroyed, as well as armor protecting it's health called hull. Since the ship is what is engaging in combat in place of players, the objective of the crew is to try and maximize damage to the enemy while keeping the ship afloat. As such, the individual skill of the player is no longer the only factor, but rather a part of the overall skill of the team. This is important to what makes GOI different, as it allows better players to pick up the slack while also not dooming a team if they have one or two less experienced players. And with the different weapons and ship types, a team can customize their vessel to best suite the dynamics of the team. A team whose very power fixated might take a heavier ship with only gunners, whereas another might take a more maneuverable ship with sniper cannons and engineers to pick off enemies from afar while remaining unharmed from the odd volley of cannons. Each vehicle is very different in design with the myriad of weapon types, and the odd bit of decor, so the game provides great customization options for each team and each players style.
But that's not the only customization factor in GOI, as the player is also fully customizable. Every character has slots for different equipment and for each class, as well as having ascetic options like clothing, hats, and dyes. And while many outfits have to be purchased, many are also unlocked through achievements and leveling up your classes. Ranging from putting on cow skulls and a diving helmet, or dressing like a regal commandant, you are likely to find something to wear.
That's not to say this game is perfect mind you. So get out your maracas and prepare to do the conga cause it's now time for:
The Parade of Nonsense!
To start with: Loading times. Yes I know that complaining about loading times for an MMO is like making a pinata out of a dead horse but still it warrants a note. In GOI you will spend a considerable amount of time in loading screens, waiting for the lobby to fill up, and hearing the audio skip as you go from game to lobby and back again.
Secondly, if you like grinding you are in for a treat. As I said before, the game is fun and interactive and each match is, for the most part, a fun time for all. But for many of the levels above the novice rank (Level 8 or above), you'd better be prepared to power through hundreds of games. And many of the achievements require you to perform various tasks, some rather absurd, in your matches to gain equipment and ranks. And while many are kinda fun, do I seriously need to repair my ship 30 times when not spotted on a specific map? Are my engineering skills somehow not up to snuff when the ship is just puttering around like Steamboat Willy?
And finally, the fact that sometimes the ship, as beautiful a piece of metal as they are, are your worst enemy. You may occasionally get stuck on pieces of trim, fall off the ship because chunks of metal which should logically be there are not there (who needs a piece of metal to cover this gaping hole and subsequent plummet to your demise?), and sometimes the set up of the ship actively tries to get the ship blown up (the wall between the hull and the balloon machines is like a piece of dry wall, while do I have to walk around the entire ship?!?)
But despite all of that, I do really love this game. It's fun, cooperative, and has gotten me back into the online community after being locked in single player for so long. I recommend it to anyone who wants to try and get into the online gaming scene without the burnout that comes with so much of the professional and meta gaming scene. It's on Steam, there are humble bundles for it occasionally, or you can purchase it directly from Muse Games (the studio who made it).
