Call of Champions

Call of Champions Review

By, Herman Y.

Call of Champions is a free-to-play, mobile Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Spacetime Studios, the company behind the popular MMORPG, Arcane Legends, as well as the other Legends games series. With the popularity of the MOBA genre on the rise, Spacetime Studios brings to mobile a new MOBA game that sets itself apart from the rest. Although there has been many new MOBA games on mobile over the last 2 years including The Witcher: Battle Arena and Vainglory, Call of Champions manages to mix things up with many unique features that differentiates itself from these games as well as from PC MOBAs. With a 5 minute match limit, unique Orb system, and fast-paced gameplay focused on destroying towers, Call of Champions redefines the MOBA genre and creates an amazing multiplayer experience for quick bursts of fun.

The Rules of the Game
Call of Champions currently offers 1 mode and 1 map which features 3 vs 3 on two lanes (with unranked and ranked matches). Before beginning a match, players queue up similar to Heroes of the Storm in which they can select a Champion before matching up with other players, which gets rid of the team Champion selection phase. Once in the game, the objective is similar to most MOBA games on the market but with a greater emphasis on destroying towers rather than killing enemy champions. Each team has a Power Node to protect, which is protected by two towers on each lane. Teams get points by destroying towers, which revolves around an Orb system (will be explained more in the next section). Each game has a 5 minute limit so in most cases, teams won’t have enough time to even make it to the other team’s Power Node. Instead, the goal is to destroy as many towers as possible, which grant one point each, and the team with the most points in the end wins. If both teams have the same number of points after the time is up, the team with more champion kills wins. Although the game is quicker and more simplified than most MOBA games, it still requires a lot of teamwork, strategy, and skill.

Unique Orb and Track System
Call of Champions’ most unique feature is its Orb and Track system which separates it from the other MOBA games out there. Each lane has an Orb, which replaces minions seen in most MOBA games, and the Orb acts as a tower destroyer, making it a very important aspect of the game. Orbs will move toward the enemy tower- along a track on the ground- if players stand near it, and it will move faster if multiple players on the same team stands near it. The objective is to move the Orbs on both lanes toward the enemy towers so that the Orb can attack the towers. However, it isn’t as simple as it sounds because fights will regularly break out between competing teams in each lane for control of the Orb. Therefore, the game has a tug-of-war feel to it as the Orbs constantly go back and forth due to both teams battling for control over them. Unlike other MOBA games in which minions can tank towers for the player, the Orb cannot take damage from towers and does not protect players from damage if they are within the tower’s range. Therefore, players will take heavy damage as they bring the Orb into the enemy tower’s range but moving the Orb directly under the tower will greatly reduce the tower’s damage. Within attack range, the Orb will continuously attack the tower, but deals less damage than Champions and usually won’t attack for long before an enemy Champion comes by to move it away.

A Simplified Mobile MOBA
Call of Champions is a simplified version of the MOBA genre. Heroes of the Storm to League of Legends is like Call of Champions to Vainglory. The game focuses on its casual aspect, making it easy to pick up and play, without giving up its competitive aspect. Because each game has a 5 minute limit, each game is guaranteed to be short (considering 5 minutes is short for a MOBA) which is actually a good thing for most mobile and casual gamers. There aren’t any items to purchase in-game, therefore no item builds or last-hitting gold farming, and no leveling so Champions and abilities do the same damage in the beginning of the match as they do in the end of the match. This gets rid of the “fed” and “snowballing” aspect from killing enemy champions and makes the game purely focused on the skirmishes, team fights, and objectives (destroying towers). The map is smaller than in most MOBA games so after dying, players can quickly return to the action without having to waste time running around resulting in 5 minutes of intense, non-stop action. Overall, the game feels casual, but it is very action-oriented, objective-based, and easy to pick up and play.

Graphics and Controls
The graphics in Call of Champions are outstanding. It looks very similar to League of Legends and has a colorful and cartoony look to it. The 3D models and environments are very crisp and detailed, and the animations are smooth with many frames of animation. Each ability and attack is bright and flashy and continuously gives off colorful bursts of light throughout the battlefield. Currently there is only one map which resembles a grassy, forest-like area. Call of Champions is definitely one of the best looking mobile MOBA games thus far.

The controls are also very good. The game has tap controls, which matches the clicking in PC MOBA games, and each tap is accurate and precise on the touch screen. Players can move by tapping the ground and can use skills by tapping on the skill and then choosing the direction to shoot it off in by tapping the screen (if it is a directional skill). Tablet users may have a slight advantage due to being able to play with both hands (index fingers), which results in quicker ability usage, but using one finger on a smaller phone screen works very well as well. Overall, the game has excellent graphics and controls resulting in a very high quality and responsive experience.

Champions and Their Roles in Battle
Call of Champions has a good selection of Champions with many more to come in the future. Each Champion is one of five classes: Tank, Fighter, Assassin, Mage, and Support. Each Champion plays very differently due to their varying abilities so their class doesn’t completely limit their play styles but generally, Tanks are frontline warriors with high defense and health and usually with stunning or snaring abilities, Fighters are melee combatants balanced in attack power and defense, Assassins are swift rogues with high attack power, low defense, and great mobility, Mages are powerful but fragile sorcerers with explosive spells, and Supports are combat medics with ally healing and buffing abilities. Again, despite the defined classes, each Champion plays very differently and has 5 unique abilities. The 5 abilities are all active skills that must be activated and none of them are considered an “Ultimate” as seen in other games. They require no mana or stamina to activate but have cooldowns ranging from 4-20 seconds each. Each Champion also has Talent Tiers which give slight bonuses to their combat power that can be unlocked with Champion Experience and gold. The large variety in different Champions, abilities, and play styles add a lot of variety, strategy, and replay value to the game.

Cash Shop/In-App Purchases (IAP)
Like most MOBA games, Call of Champions was designed in a way that simply cannot be pay-to-win. Each Champion is supposedly balanced and spending money cannot make them stronger in any way. The main use of money is to unlock new Champions, and potentially buy Champion Skins (currently not in the game). One big setback to the game currently is that Champions take a very long time to unlock with in-game gold. Each Champion costs 400,000 gold to unlock and each match gives around 1,000 gold, although there are daily quests that can give 2,500-20,000 gold each day. However, it would still take large amounts of matches or many days of playing just to unlock one new Champion. Although there are free Champion rotations every week, people may have to spend money to unlock new Champions if they are not willing to play hundreds of matches or wait several days (for completing daily quests). There is also a Premium service players can purchase which gives 1.5x bonus experience and gold for each match. Overall, the game is not pay-to-win so spending money is not necessary but due to how long to takes to unlock one Champion, spending money may be necessary for players who want more variety in their Champion choices.

Final Verdict – Great
Call of Champions is an entertaining mobile MOBA game with many unique features that makes it stand out from the rest of the pack. With an interesting Orb and Track system, 5 minute matches, lots of Champions to choose from, and brilliant visuals, Call of Champions is an intense and action-packed MOBA game for quick bursts of fun on the go or for long gaming sessions at home.

Call of Champions Screenshots

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Call of Champions Videos

Call of Champions Links

Call of Champions Official Site
Call of Champions iOS
Call of Champions Android Download Instructions
Call of Champions Official Reddit

Call of Champions System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Android 4.0 and up / iOS 8.0 or later.

Call of Champions Music & Soundtrack

Call of Champions Additional Information

Developer: Spacetime Studios
Publisher: Spacetime Studios
Platforms: Android, iOS
Release Date: September 17, 2015

Shut Down: January 11, 2018

Call of Champions was developed and published by Spacetime Studios, an Austin, Texas-based mobile game developer most known for creating Arcane Legends and the other Legends MMORPG game series. Call of Champions is Spacetime Studios’ first MOBA game which launched exclusively for iOS on September 17, 2015. However in early October, Spacetime Studios began beta testing for the Android version of Call of Champions which can be downloaded from their official website. Call of Champions debuted at TwitchCon 2015 with a competitive focus which eventually led to many Spacetime Studios’ hosted competitions among its players. Spacetime Studios is also the publishers of the popular mobile strategy games, Battle Command! and Arcane Battlegrounds. The game was shut down on January 11, 2018.