Apotheon Arena: Free Mythological Multiplayer Murder
Greek Lightning
Greek god-a-thon Apotheon has released a free multiplayer standalone named Apotheon Arena [official site]. "For know that no one is free, except Zeus," once said Ancient Greek tragedian Aeschylus. Well, aye, except Apotheon Arena, mate, I just told you that was free. C'mon Aeschy, keep up!
When Pip murdered her way through Greek mythology back in February, she enjoyed Apotheon's art style yet didn't get on with its combat, noting that "the blows and parries aren't nearly as satisfying as they need to be." I'd mostly agree and felt that - although I personally enjoyed the game's conflicts overall - combat felt a wee bit weightless at times. I was apprehensive, then, about how this would translate to a multiplayer game.
Somewhat surprisingly, it works well. Yes, Apotheon's combat probably could do with being less clunky, but it serves to add excitement and tension to fast-paced battles, particularly when characters harness an otherwise impressive move set. What's more, once the main game's largely flimsy story is dropped in favour of all-out, dogged warfare, the game's colourful silhouette-woven backdrops become fab battlegrounds.
It's worth noting that some folks appear to be having problems connecting or staying on servers, but having dived in and out of several games throughout the day I've not experienced any issues myself.
You can grab Apotheon Arena for free via Steam, or within the main Apotheon game if you already own that. Here's the launch trailer:
