I'll be honest, I'm not really a MOBA guy. I've never got into the PC or console ones, and the big mobile releases like Vainglory have left me feeling a little cold.
Which is why Call of Champions came as such a pleasant surprise. It's a MOBA that feels like it's been built from the ground up for quick mobile play, and that's made it more accessible, more interesting, and a lot more fun.
TeamingThe game is a 3v3 battler that takes place on small maps. The aim of the game is to move a ball along a preset path.
There are two balls on either side of the map, and you need them to protect you from your enemy's towers. Attack a tower without rolling the ball into it and you'll be cut down pretty sharpish.
Once you've knocked out all of the offensive towers you can push the ball to your enemy's base. Here it'll explode and knock down their defensive wall.
From there you can smash up their main tower. Smash up the tower and you'll win. But the game is capped at five minutes, and often neither side gets a chance to finish it off in that time limit.
Instead the winner is decided by the number of offensive towers destroyed. And if that's a tie it goes by the number of heroes each side managed to kill.
It makes for some frantic play as you each try and push the ball towards your foes, while trying not to die too often. Working as a team is key, but jumping into games with friends is remarkably easy.
Everything is controlled with taps – you attack automatically, and unleash your special moves with buttons along the bottom of the screens.
Different characters have different skills, and building a team that compliments each other can be the key to success.
Full of characterWhile the game is easy to pick up, there's a surprising amount of depth here once you get a few hours in. Learning different play styles and figuring how to work best as a team is all part of the fun.
Call of Champions feels like the first true mobile MOBA, rather than an experience that's been squidged into somewhere it shouldn't fit.
If you've been reluctant to give the pocket-sized versions of the genre a go, then this is a brilliant place to start.