

"The animations are crisp, and the levels are vibrant, with interesting and distinct locales however, the maps are sometimes a weakness of the game." Still, the maps are better more often than not these faults are just something to be aware of.


They also have a tendency to rely on chokepoints at spots, funneling players down a couple of narrow pathways to an objective, resulting in matches that can sometimes feel like chaotic bloodbaths. There’s a relatively small number of them, and some maps are definitely better than others. The animations are crisp, and the levels are vibrant, with interesting and distinct locales however, the maps are sometimes a weakness of the game. Each character has a distinct design, which makes them easy to spot on the battlefield, an important thing in any multiplayer shooter.

The characters are a huge part of the appeal of Bleeding Edge the character designs ooze personality, and help carry the already vibrant, cell-shaded visuals. No one character feels noticeably better than the rest, at least not outside their specialized roles roster balance is excellent here. It allows each character to feel developed and distinct, and gives the team time to balance the roster. The character list at launch is relatively small, but I actually think that’s a strength of the game. There’s also Maeve, easily the most mechanically interesting an elderly woman who can summon cages to trap foes in place, opening them up to devastating damage. Some of my personal favorites included Gizmo, an engineer who controls the battlefield with turrets and a long range machine gun Miko, a combat healer with a really cool tribal aesthetic and El Bastardo, a tank who lunges into battle with dual swords and a stunning ability. The classes are fairly self-explanatory, and the game does a good job of making the characters within each class feel mechanically distinct from one another. The different abilities are what define the characters, who are divided into three broad categories DPS, Support, and Tank. "The controls, while fairly simple, never quite became intuitive the layout is just so different from any other game like this, and it doesn’t feel like it makes the gameplay smoother." Still, the controls are simple enough, and they never change between characters, so once you do master them, you’re good for the rest of the game. The controls, while fairly simple, never quite became intuitive the layout is just so different from any other game like this, and it doesn’t feel like it makes the gameplay smoother. A chargeable meter attack, kind of like your super in Destiny or an ultimate in Overwatch, is triggered with left bumper. Each character has a main attack that is triggered with the X button, as well as three abilities triggered with B, Y, and the right bumper. When you start up Bleeding Edge for the first time, you’re thrown into a brief tutorial that runs you through the basic mechanics of the game. Bleeding Edge is the latest game to enter the arena of arena shooters, and while it offers a solid experience with lots of charm, it just doesn’t quite do enough to stand out from the pack. Ever since Overwatch exploded onto the scene in 2016, we’ve seen a plethora of (mostly unsuccessful) attempts to enter the genre. Class-based arena multiplayer games are a dime a dozen these days.
