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Mirage: Arcane Warfare

Mirage: Arcane Warfare is a fantasy themed FPS where player use weapons and magic to defeat enemies in objective-focused arenas. Choose between six classes with specialized abilities and defeat players with a mix of melee combat and skills.

Developer: Torn Banner Inc.
Playerbase: TBA
Type: Arena Combat FPS
Release Date: May 23, 2017
Shut Down Date: May 31, 2018
Pros: +Arabaic & Persian influence. +Objective-focused gameplay. +Dynamic gore.
Cons: -No planned Mac/Linux support. -Limited information. -Abilities prioritized over melee combat.

Overview

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Overview

Mirage: Arcane Warfare is a skill-based fantasy FPS where player use weapons and magic to tear each other players apart limb-by-limb. The game is set in a world influenced by ancient Persian and Arabic aesthetics, featuring colorful levels and character designs. Choose between six distinct classes, from a sneaky assassin to a lumbering brute, each with their own set of magical abilities that can be mix and matched to personalize your playstyle. Two factions wage war over magical resources and the use of magic. Matches are objective oriented, tasking players with stealing magical objects, escorting a payload, or earning more kills in a team deathmatch, as either a member of the Bashrahni Emirate or The Azar Cabal. Players can target specific limbs with their weapons and magic to rip players apart thanks to dynamic gore effects. The game is created by the Torn Banner Studios, the same company that developed Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Key Features:

  • Six Classes - choose between six classes with their own set of unique abilities, catering to a multitude of playstyles.
  • Two Factions - fight for one of two factions waging war for the use of magic.
  • Objective Gameplay - compete in objective based maps, such as escorting a payload or
  • Dynamic Gore - limbs, heads, and blood will fly and spurt in chaotic battles.
  • Deep Combat - designate where you attack, what limbs are cut, and parry, dodge, roll out of the way, for an intense fantasy combat system.

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Screenshots

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Featured Video

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Gameplay - Sunday Funday Round 85

Full Review

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Review

The following is a Closed Beta impression and will be updated when the game releases.

By, Baruch Spinoza

The most popular six syllable phrase to describe Mirage: Arcane Warfare is undoubtedly “Chivalry with magic.” When I first heard the description I thought, “well, I’m sold. What could be better?” After playing Torn Banner Studios’ newest title I realized that, while Mirage is clearly inspired by Chivalry, it is ultimately its own game, a title that takes the concepts presented in Chivalry in a different direction: a horizontal direction rather than a vertical one. That in itself isn’t good or bad. But it does mean we have to answer the question, “does it work?”

How It Feels Behind The Mouse

At its foundation Mirage: Arcane Warfare’s gameplay is familiar to anyone who’s cowered while watching a knight charge at them yelling “For Agatha!” You’re on a map, an enclosed space, swinging at each other with your weapons to kill the player wearing an opposite colored nametag with unrelenting brutality. All your mouse buttons are bound to a move: swing, swing up, swing low, swing sideways, block. As expected, timing is everything if you want to gut your enemy. That’s the Chivalry formula, and in Mirage it is just as satisfying, anxious-inducing, and comical to sneak your attacks past an opponent’s defenses and send their ragdoll flying. So far, so familiar, but wait there’s more.

You’re not just a class with a melee weapon, but a distinctly designed character with your own weapons and abilities. After all, Mirage is set in a high fantasy Arabian Nights universe, or something akin to that. And what would Arabian Nights be without magic, or Jinn, or Aladdin? When you pick your class, you’ll customize your ability loadout, choosing three out of six skills—choosing one skill between two options for three choices. Those skills define your combat approach and are fairly diverse: an overweight Sultan rides a magic carpet, the Vypress has a hook reminiscent of Overwatch’s Widowmaker, the Alchemancer casts powerful spells. So, not only do you run into battle with a character-defining weapon, but you’ll also sling abilities.

Abilities are arguably the major horizontal pivot for Mirage. Using them wisely will earn you skill over skillful weapon-play, though finesse helps. My main complaint is spells make the game feel less tactical, less involved. It's not how well you parry and repose but picking the right abilities and using them situationally to gain the upper hand: a big brute pressing a button to whirlwind to rack up kills doesn’t evoke the sensation of being killed by skill. It feels more like a hero shooter, where abilities are your primary attack. I admit many abilities are neat looking, and interesting, but they're presence in a fight dulls weapon-play.

A Cluster Map

There are multiple game modes but regardless of which you choose the maps have a similar design. They’re constrained, made up of more hallways and tight corridors than open spaces: limiting the size of player bouts. As you charge into battle, looking right and left, all you’ll see is walls or a drop into water, or air, or anything that won't support your character. I wanted battles. But maybe big open spaces for big epic battles don’t exist because of the magic abilities. I’m not sure how a cluster of players casting and slashing would in a field would play out, if some spells dominate large groups or not.

Regardless, matches are too small. The max match size is 10v10, which may also explain the compact maps, and while some interesting and brutal fights take place, 10v10 is too few for a sense of grandiosity. It’s a deathmatch between two teams, not a war. It might as well be free-for-all earring on some of the maps. I know this isn’t going to bother everyone, but I expected a sense of scaled rather than two gangs meeting in an alleyway to settle a turf war.

Disney Or Grindhouse?

Mirage’s universe is aesthetically happy-go-lucky; it feels like an arena where Mickey Mouse and Goofy would rip off each other’s arms. Maps are rich and vibrant, with bright, almost lurid, colors which, while pretty, form a rough juxtaposition for the brutality that unfolds on the floor. And I’ve noticed that the game is not as gorey as Chivalry. Seems the devs had the same thought and toned down the blood spurting out of someone’s gaping wound. Also not as noticeable is when limbs are blown off. Maybe that’s due to the sunny side-up color palette—or the violence is a bit toned down—but getting a kill does not feel as satisfying when your opponent falls motionless.

There’s something off-putting too about the character designs. It’s too cartoony, too Paladins, too Overwatch, too kiddish. The friendly outfits of your teammates don’t stand out against the environments either: purple and orange outfits bleed into purple and orange walls and texture. Nor are the colors bold enough to be memorable. There’s no sense of identity to your team, no name, no union, which I like to blame for why I continually attacked my teammates thinking they were enemies.

Final Verdict - Good

Mirage: Arcane Warfare is fun. I had some laughs while I played and pulled off some satisfying slayings, but at the end of my time I couldn’t help but wonder who Mirage: Arcane Warfare is for. This horizontal step is fine—it’s good—but it’s a little too different, feeling more like a classic Team Deathmatch (regardless of game mode) than the big epic battles brimming with gore and stories so prominent in Chivalry. Mirage is a different direction, but not different or epic enough to keep me coming back for more.

Screenshots

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Screenshots

Videos

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Videos

Mirage: Arcane Warfare - Teaser

System Requirements

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP 32 bit
CPU: Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4GHz or Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5200+
RAM: 2 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce 8600 GS or Radeon HD 3400 Series
Hard Disk Space: 7 GB Free Space

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU:Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz or Athlon II X4 615e
RAM: 4 GB RAM
Video Card: GeForce GTX 460 768MB or Radeon HD 5850 1024MB
Hard Disk Space: 9 GB Free Space

Music

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Music & Soundtrack

Coming Soon!

Additional Info

Mirage: Arcane Warfare Additional Information

Developer: Torn Banner Inc.
Publisher: Torn Banner Inc.

Game Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Closed Beta: March 27, 2017
Release Date: May 23, 2017

Shut Down Date: May 31, 2018

Development History / Background:

Mirage: Arcane Warfare is developed by Torn Banner Inc., the same studio that developed Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Development began in Spring, 2014. The game will adopt a buy-to-play model and be sold for $29.99. The game is designed using Unreal Engine 4. Mirage: Arcane Warfare entered Closed Beta through Steam on March 27, 2017. Anyone who pre-purchased the game gained instant access to the testing phase. Mirage: Arcane Warfare fully released on May 23, 2017.

The game shut down on May 31, 2018 due to "GDPR" according to Torn Banner Inc.