Strange Matter Studios is doing its best to resurrect 2016 Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Paragon under the new name Fault.
Video game developer and publisher Epic Games threw in their bid at the MOBA genre back in 2016 with Paragon, a futuristic third-person multiplayer title that played kind of like Hi-Rez Studios’ Smite.
Unfortunately, the fledgling game’s journey was short-lived, with Epic deciding to shut down its servers during the first quarter of 2018.
Luckily enough for Paragon fans, Canadian studio Strange Matter is attempting to bring the MOBA back from the dead along with some big improvements. Now known as Fault, the online game was released on Steam last week as an Early Access title.
Early Access Servers are officially live!
This would not have been possible without everyone here; we are grateful to have such a fantastic community.
Please read this very important announcement regarding the different packs https://t.co/2fVl2mhi8r#playfault pic.twitter.com/clwbnXw3fu
— Strange Matter Studios (@Strange__Matter) July 17, 2020
Paragon with some extra oomph
With Fortnite suddenly skyrocketing to fame, Epic Games saw little reason in wasting resources on the failing Paragon. Instead, they opted to release the majority of the game’s assets for the development of Unreal Engine 4 titles free of charge.
Since most of the members of Strange Matter Studios were avid Paragon enthusiasts, they saw this as an absolute win and went right to work on the MOBA’s grand comeback.
On the surface, Fault looks and feels very similar to its predecessor, though the Studio’s plan is to make the game “competition-worthy.”
As with most successful MOBAs, such as League of Legends and Dota 2, Fault now has a role system that ensures every team is comprised of members with a specific job, eliminating scenarios where players argue over a certain position.
The devs have also revamped Paragon’s deck affinity mechanics by fusing it with League’s rune options, creating what the team is calling the “Aspect/Faction system.”
On Fault’s official website, Strange Matter stated that their main focus as of the moment is the game’s mechanics. Once polished to their liking, they’ll move on to the narrative and aesthetics. Which is why the multiplayer title currently feels bare-boned, lacking lore and art.
Steam’s Fault reception
As of this writing, Fault is sitting on an overall “Mixed” review rating on Steam, based on 1,283 reviews—864 positive and 419 negative.
The general consensus of the red reviews is that the game feels like more of an “Alpha” build rather than an Early Access one since the game is plagued with game-ruining bugs and performance hiccups.
Some Paragon fans also harbored a great deal of animosity towards Strange Matter Studios for capitalizing on resources that were released for free.
Fault is officially in EA out on STEAM !! First EA game first clip @Strange__Matter #playfault pic.twitter.com/LE9lRqCLB8
— Pizzazz (@imPizzazz) July 17, 2020
On the flip side, most of the more recent reviews were actually positive, with a significant number of gamers asking the community to give the devs a shot at making the game they envision it to be.
Fault is expected to remain in Early Access for a year and is slated for release during the first quarter of 2021.
Featured image courtesy of Strange Matter Studios/Twitter