Mavericks: Proving Grounds E3 Preview
One of the latest trends in games these days is the popularity of battle royale-styled games. With Fortnite Battle Royale and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds being the top two players in the genre, is there room for new games to make their mark and take some of the market share? Mavericks: Proving Grounds takes aim at the rest of the genre with up to 1,000 players in their matches, but also looks to supplement the game with its persistent open world and MMO features.
Despite being firmly rooted in the battle royale genre, Mavericks: Proving Grounds incorporates MMO tendencies and experiences into their game. While having squads of 5 and up to 1,000 players in certain matches sounds awesome, that could be seen as some as simply more of the same. However, with a battlefield of 256 square kilometers with dynamic weather, a day-night cycle, wildlife, and more, Mavericks seems to take place more in a world than simply a map.
In addition to a large battlefield, Mavericks: Proving Grounds also features The Capital, the game’s own social hub city that offers social connectivity as well as trading. Its machine learning-driven quest and events system also proves to be a unique feature, hopefully being much different than the “Kill X enemies with Y-type weapons” found in some other games. It is clear that the battle royale-styled gameplay is the easiest comparison to make for Mavericks, but it also feels like the game is trying to evolve the genre and build an MMO world from the ground up.
Sure, Mavericks: Proving Grounds may seem to be “another battle royale game”, but what developer Automaton aims to accomplish with the game feels more like a pushing forward of the gameplay style and genre rather than a quick cash-in. While my hands-on time of the game at E3 2018 was quite limited, it feels like there is a solid base to the game and genre. If Automaton can accomplish what it sets out to do in terms of the world-building, social aspects, and more, it could end up being something very special.
Mavericks: Proving Ground’s battle royale mode is set to release at the end of 2018, and its persistent open world will come in 2019. To sign up for their closed beta, click here.
