Fangs is a new MOBA from former developers of DOTA and League of Legends. It started in Early Access on November 30th and can be played for free on Steam and the Epic Store. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch took a look at it and reveals exactly what to expect.
What kind of game is this? In Fangs you choose a champion and fight with him in entertaining and action-packed PvP matches. The special highlight: You start directly with all skills and there is no shop where you can buy items. This has two advantages:
Fangs puts its focus much more on the “skill” of the players and teamwork in the fast-paced 4v4 battles. Because the arena in the new MOBA is also much smaller than in the previous top dogs, so there are constant fights.
For the tactical depth there are the so-called “heirlooms”. These are various passive effects that you can equip to enhance your skills, for example, similar to the rune system in LoL.
What is the aim of the game? Each match is played in best-of-5, with a round lasting between two and eight minutes on average. To win a round, you have two options:
By the way, you can exchange the heirlooms after each round. You have 60 seconds to do this before the next round begins. Overall, the game is reminiscent of a mixture of LoL and Battlerite.
This trailer gives you a first glimpse of the gameplay:
Fangs – Gameplay Reveal
Unfamiliar controls, but cool arenas
I spent about two hours in Fangs yesterday at the start of Early Access. The first big surprise I experienced was directly with the controls.
I move my characters with WASD instead of the usual mouse clicks I’m used to from MOBAs. Instead, there are two attacks on the left and right mouse button. Other abilities are by default on Q, E, Shift and the Ultimate on R. There is also always an ability on the spacebar that I use to move, for example to the destination or as an evasive roll away.
There is currently no option in the options to put the movement on the mouse. However, I can remap any key, including W, A, S and D.
However, you get used to the other controls surprisingly quickly.
I think the design of the arenas is positive. Although they are kept small, they offer many options to disappear from the enemy’s field of vision, such as walls or other objects. There are also bushes as hiding places and healing effects at the edges.
Another interesting mechanic always lies in the north of the map: the shard. If I bring them to my own base, my team gets a buff. On the other hand, if I bring them to the opponents, they will be weakened.
Even though the maps are so small, there is also a mount that gets me from A to B faster, but also has a short cast time.
The arenas basically ensure that I always have something to dobe it surviving in battles, escorting the NPC, or quickly securing one of the side objects.
The matches are fun, the champions aren’t at times
Of the six matches I played, five were really fun. Only one round clearly ended 3:0 for the opponents, otherwise it was a constant back and forth, three times it even ended 3:2.
A small mistake can decide a round, but not lose the entire match. This is the big difference to LoL and DOTA 2, where a lost team fight can mean the end directly. I really like the basic game idea.
Currently in Early Access I can play in a normal match, in custom lobbies or in a training mode. The ranking list will be activated later.
But I have problems with the champions. There are currently only 14 different characters to choose from, of which I only have direct access to 6. I have to unlock the rest first. For comparison: LoL started with 40 champions at release and always offered at least 10 of them for free.
For me, as a fan of long-range fighters, it’s particularly unfortunate that only Rayo suits my playstyle. There are officially four ranged fighters, but three of them are mages. Rayo is the only “classic AD carry” with a gun. Not enough to inspire me in the long term.
Also, many champions bear a strong resemblance to those from LoL, which is certainly not completely avoidable. But other titles like Battlerite or DOTA 2 have developed their own styles that have stood out more than Fangs.
The German localization is also really crazy. The champions are our “stock”, the match history is called “career” here, the shop is translated as “save”, and if I want to select a champion or an heirloom, I have to “block” it.
The developers definitely need to improve this and if you want to play Fangs, you should definitely switch it to English.
Free2Play with the same fair system as LoL
Fangs can be played for free and is financed through a shop. In the shop you can buy skins for your heroes or mounts for real money. Champions, on the other hand, are available for both real money and in-game currency. You can also buy new passive effects, the “Heirlooms”, using the in-game currency.
If you still want to leave a little money in the game, you can buy a Battle Pass. It contains new stickers and icons for your account and brings a special skin at the very end.
Fun for in between, but is that enough?
Fangs is quite fun after the first two hours. There’s action right from the start, the laps are short and the fact that there are two paths to victory adds some variety. In addition, the developers are already planning the first tournament, with prize money of $25,000.
But the game still lacks a bit of depth, the choice of champions and somehow also the great specialty. Although the rules and controls are adjusted, I still don’t have the urge to leave LoL for it. And I guess I’m not alone in that.
On Steam, Fangs clocked in at 2,700 concurrent players on its first night, which is decent but far from outstanding. Even if I like the concept, I’m afraid that it will go under against the big competition from LoL, DOTA 2 and Smite, as well as Battlerite, Paragon or Master X Master.
Alexander Leitsch
Editor at MeinMMO