Evercore Heroes provides competitive play without PvP frustrations

The MOBA genre has the reputation of being one of the most enjoyable, yet competitively intense genres out there. It’s that nature that has caused many to hesitate to get into the MOBA world, and something that was heavy on the minds of Vela Games when developing Evercore Heroes. A competitive MOBA that focuses on PvE encounters. I had the chance to get a taste of what the developers are cooking up in a recent preview.

Better together

In Evercore Heroes, players compete in teams of four to defeat NPC enemies as they adventure through arenas set in the magical land of Lumerea. Before you jump into the game, players pick from a roster of playable characters, each falling under one of three classes: Tank, Damage, and Support. The characters in each class feature unique playstyles such as ranged, melee, and spellcasting. I was a big fan of Cynder, a fire-wielding attacker, and Fyn, a stout defender that can put up a shield to mitigate incoming damage.

It was immediately clear to me that team composition is a key to success in Evercore Heroes. We would assign jobs to each other based on our character advantages, and it was fun to experiment with different hero combos to see who played best with who. You pick a single ability at the start of the game, and can unlock and upgrade more as you earn experience.

Cross-dimensional battles

While you aren’t fighting enemy players directly, Evercore Heroes uses PvE elements to add a competitive element. For example, one portion of a match requires teams to protect the Evercore, a massive gem at the center of the map. All teams are doing this simultaneously, and the onslaught of enemies doesn’t end until one of the teams is defeated. You can actually see the remaining health of enemy teams’ Evercore at the top of your screen.

One of the final confrontations in Evercore sees teams dropping down to a lower area of the map to fight some of the toughest foes in the game. As you defeat brute enemies, you can actually send them over to fight other teams. The better you perform, the harder things become for other players, and vice versa. You can also inadvertently help them by hitting their monsters from across the dividing border.

To the endgame

Vela Games is carefully constructing Evercore Heroes to hit all of those MOBA buttons, without some of the aggression and toxicity that’s become synonymous with the genre’s biggest titles. There’s a clear grasp on the formula and what works, and I look forward to seeing how it all comes together in the full release.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_