Amazon's Crucible is a very unique game that adds features that have never been seen in the FPS genre ever. Even though Crucible has only been released for about a week, fans have already found so many things that they love or strongly dislike about the game and its mechanics.
Although there are some mechanics that are great, such as the cast of characters, there are others that are less than stellar, such as the unlockables for each one. Hopefully, some of the more negative things will be improved upon, while the more positive things will be given even more of a spotlight in the future of Crucible.
10 Players Love – Character Selection
The character selection in the FPS is top-notch, and although there are only 10 different Heroes to choose from, they all have distinct abilities and unique looks.
Characters include interesting themes such as a fishwoman, a bumblebee robot, and an alien from another world. These characters all feel different from each other and their fun to use abilities make Crucible a blast to play, especially during combat.
9 Could Improve – Overpowered & Unpowered Abilities
Although Crucible has a superb selection of heroes, it also has its fair share of overpowered and underpowered abilities, as tends to be the case with most team shooters. It seems that Amazon could have spent a bit more time creating the different heroes and making sure that all their abilities mesh well with each other.
Abilities such as the electric plants of Bugg and the powerful flame thrower that Summer wields make some fans annoyed when they die quickly and without much chance to defend themselves against their much stronger enemies. Hopefully, some balance will be added to the game in future updates, and there's no doubt that some changes will be made within the next few months.
8 Players Love – The Battle Pass
The battle pass was a very interesting concept to be introduced into the video game industry, and players were glad that Crucible got one as its main reward system. This battle pass consists of skins and other collectibles that can be earned by leveling it up with XP.
There are also notable free rewards that can be earned within the battle pass, along with microtransaction credits to buy skins within the shop. Overall, this battle pass is definitely worth it, and fans get it for free if they sign up right now because every player starts with 1000 credits.
7 Could Improve – Unlockables Outside The Battle Pass
Crucible's battle pass is great; however, outside of it, there isn't much to earn after the player levels each character past the first few levels. There are enough level up collectibles to keep players interested for a few weeks at best; after that, players will find that there is very little to actually earn within the game. Crucible is especially lacking in this department in comparison to a game such as Overwatch.
Luckily there will be seasonal battle passes that players can buy, but that doesn't change the fact that currently there isn't enough content to earn for players that enjoy reward systems. This issue doesn't break the game, but it would be nice to see a few more skins added for each character.
6 Players Love – Creating Alliances In Alpha Hunters
Creating alliances in the Alpha Hunters game mode adds a unique spin to the battle royale mode that has never been seen in any other major release in the battle royale genre.
This is worth noting because players have been using alliances over the past weeks to team up with enemies once their teammate dies, and it has proved to be a fun mechanic that fans hope to see in more future battle royals. It's surprising that Crucible is the first game to implement this mechanic because it is a hero-based shooter, but it is very enjoyable all the same.
5 Could Improve – Game Chat
Game chat isn't present in Crucible at all currently, but fans are hoping that it's added soon because it hinders their ability to communicate with teammates that are not their friends.
Because of the lack of game chat, players are forced to play with only friends, and random matches can be quite awkward if they choose to load into a match with unknown players. Every player of FPS games knows that a game chat is essential, and hopefully, Crucible will introduce it in the coming weeks.
4 Players Love – Map Design
The map design in Crucible is absolutely stellar, and the interactable objects are very fun. It isn't just the graphical ambiance of these maps that is enjoyable, the AI enemies and things to unlock such as health kits make for a much more enjoyable experience than the static maps of other team-based shooters.
The maps add a unique dynamic to the very static layout of other games. Hopefully, other games in the future follow suit and implement similar maps to the one seen in this team-based FPS game.
3 Could Improve – Hive Spawns
Hive spawns are unfortunately not loud enough, and lots of players fail to realize when they are happening because they are so busy fighting an enemy player or killing AI enemies around the map.
This could be improved by creating a louder sound when the hives pop up and adding game chat, as previously mentioned, so a teammate could alert everyone on their team. Hive spawns definitely need to be improved because so many players miss them completely when they spawn into a map in the Heart Of The Hives mode.
2 Players Love – Variety Of Gamemodes
In the genre that Crucible belongs to, it is common for a game to launch with only one main game mode and a more competitive version of said mode. Crucible has Harvester Command, Heart of the Hives, and Alpha Hunters, which are all completely separate game modes with different mechanics.
Harvester Command allows players to capture a ton of harvesters to defeat their enemies. Alpha Hunters is a battle royale mode with a unique alliance mechanic and fun spin on the oversaturated genre. Finally, Heart of the Hive allows teams to capture hearts, and whichever team captures three first will win the match. Crucible's variety of game modes is great, and it is fantastic that Amazon included all three of them straight from launch.
1 Could Improve – Health Kits
The health kit mechanic in Crucible is good; however, the one major problem that players seem to have is that there are never enough scattered around the map at one time. Players are able to claim these help kits at different stations found scattered throughout the layout of the map.
There are usually only a few active at one time, and many players will find themselves running away from a fight with no health kit to heal up, which will result in their inevitable death. Hopefully, this will be updated in the future, and more health kits will spawn at one time because it can be a major hindrance to players when they get out of combat but have no way to get their health back up to max.