'Realm Royale' Guide: Forge Greatness, Slaughter Chickens

Hi-Rez studios just released its latest game on Steam Early Access, Realm Royale. The company has made a name for itself by capitalizing on popular trends in gaming by releasing their own takes. There's SMITE (a MOBA with third-person controls), Paladins (a hero shooter with an Overwatch inferiority complex) and Hand Of The Gods (a card game that isn't Hearthstone ). Each of these games have built up a solid audience by being free-to-play and available on nearly every platform.

Realm Royale is Hi-Rez's second attempt at a battle royale. Paladins: Battlegrounds took the game's heroes and threw them out of a battle blimp and onto a map. The game never really caught on, with many players still choosing Fortnite over a game where they'd have to learn new heroes and an entirely new play style. The mode was only released in Alpha and has since been discontinued.

Out of Battlegrounds ashes rose Realm Royale , an entirely new take on the tired-out battle royale formula. The game still has the traditional aspects of every successful BR: you drop from an aircraft onto a map, opening chests to collect weapons or potions, while a giant cloud encircles the map, getting smaller and smaller until only one player remains standing. PUBG, Fortnite, H1Z1 and many more games set to be announced at E3 all use this formula, because it works so well.

The game has already caught the eye of the biggest streamer on Twitch, Ninja. The Fortnite superstar took a break from Tilted Towers to try the land of RR. He couldn't stop playing, prolonging the end of his stream just so he could get another game in and climb the ranked ladder. He ended at Silver IV, which only made him want to play even more.

There are a few changes that set Realm Royale apart from the rest.

No Empty Ammo- Weapons can be found in chests hidden in buildings throughout the map, and these chests contain weapons with random rarities. Once a weapon is picked up, it can be used indefinitely and never completely run out of ammo. You still have to reload your shotgun, crossbow or revolver and only have two slots to hold weapons.

Armor- You can also find various armor pieces inside chests or at the Forge. There's helmets, gauntlets, chest and boots, each of which must be obtained on its own. Each piece adds an amount of armor to your bar, offering a bit more protection.

Abilities and Classes- There are five different classes in the game, each with its own abilities and skill set. There's warriors, hunters, assassins, mages and hunters. Each class has a unique ability: the engineer can leap into the air and the mage can levitate. You can find extra abilities hidden throughout the map or have them crafted at the Forge to give you something new to use. The Mage can find an ice block, which immobilizes her while she heals, and the engineer can set up turrets or healing totems. It adds a new layer of strategy that most battle royales skimp out on.

Disenchanting and The Forge- The worst feeling in a battle royale is finding an awesome weapon with a poor rarity, forcing you to leave it behind. In Realm Royale , those pieces of junk can be disenchanted into dust, which can be spent on Legendary equipment at the Forge. The rarer the weapon is, the more dust you'll get to create other items. The Forge is a physical spot in the map where you can build items, but you have to stay within a small area for a minute. While waiting, you're a sitting duck and can be easily killed. It creates a fair balance between risk and reward; you'll have to be smart about what you do.

Map- Set in a fantasy world, where a giant planet hovers overhead, the Realm Royale map is an absolute wonderland. The battlefield is broken up into different sections, each with it's own climate. There's the desert, snowy mountains, forest and town that all offer different gameplay advantages. Sometimes it's better to snipe with the crossbow from the mountain top or you might need to head to town to create something in the Forge.

Chickens- When you're knocked down in Realm Royale , you transform into a battered chicken. Unlike in other games of the genre, RR allows you to resurrect yourself if you can survive for 30 seconds. If a duo gets knocked out in a fight, the pair can split off in two different directions and potentially save themselves. It adds a whole new level of strategy and hype, allowing smart players to survive if they know how to hide.

Duos/ Squads- There's no solo option in Realm Royale, so the game is way less fun without friends.

Realm Royale is a solid game from a company that knows how to make fans happy. It's still in early access on Steam, so it's full of bugs and the servers can be laggy as hell. But if you are looking for a new battle royale to try out with your friends, this is the game for you. A review score wouldn't do the game justice since it's still in testing, but for now I give it a thumbs up.