Spellbreak has the potential to become a top competitor in the battle royale genre

Over the past few years, the battle royale genre has formed and grown far beyond what anyone could have predicted. But with most of these games we see a common theme: shooters. Spellbreak is a game that puts down the gun and picks up a casting gauntlet—a fight between mages. Developer Proletariat sets itself apart by putting a fantasy spin on the genre.

That said, this game isn’t skating by on a gimmick, and it also doesn’t stray too far from the genre. Spellbreak builds enough on existing battle royale mechanics that you will be able to have a handle on it going in. Those familiar mechanics include Common through Legendary rarities/tiers, having multiple weapons, looting, choosing a dropping location on a large map, having teams of three, healing items, and closing rings.

But there’s a lot more going on too. Here’s a look into some of the biggest differences and unique features in Spellbreak.

Choosing your playstyle

Setting up before a battle is less about choosing a character and more about choosing a class. Of course, you can choose what you look like, but it has no impact on gameplay. Instead, you choose your class to determine which class will rank up after a battle and what gauntlet you will start with.

Gauntlets

There are six types of gauntlets that determine what spells you can cast: Frost, Lightning, Stone, Wind, Fire, and Toxic. Your class determines which gauntlet type will always be with you, while you can also carry any different type of gauntlet you choose in your off-hand. These will determine your left and right click base attacks, as well as a stronger attack each with a cool-down time.

Runes

One of the coolest things about Spellbreak is that your ultimate-style attack is determined by runes you can pick up. Whether it’s a higher jump, invisibility, or straight-up flight, these runes can tilt the battle in your favor if you know how to use them.

Healing

Unlike in many other battle royales, you can’t count on health items to give you that instant full heal in battle. When you use a health or armor item, it will gradually heal you over time. This is good for when you are caught outside of the ring, but it makes things difficult when you are caught in an ambush.

Overall, Spellbreak is already breaking down the walls of what a Battle Royale has to be and could be carving a new path for future things to come.

Spellbreak is currently in its second closed beta and is cross-platform between PC and PlayStation 4.