Developer: CD Projekt RED S.A.
Price: FREE
Version Reviewed: 1.0.6
Device Reviewed On: iPad Mini Retina

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Welcome to the arena:
Are you having trouble figuring out which character suits you best, or just need some general tips to get started? Check out our beginner’s guide for The Witcher Battle Arena!

The Witcher Battle Arena is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) for people who have never played one before. It lacks the depth of most of the rest of the genre, as well as a few other features that would beguile you. Instead, it's a bit too simple to really recommend, although I guess it works as a gateway to superior offerings.

witcher3Unlike other MOBAs, each match is very straightforward with little opportunity for tactical play. Games are 3-vs-3, with teams having to capture the three checkpoints across each map in order to whittle down the opposition's tickets. Starting out with 500 tickets, games typically take around 10 minutes to complete but will sometimes run a little longer.

The Witcher Battle Arena only offers a choice of two maps, making the concept of a 'random map' button seem a little pointless. Both maps are quite samey too, as they're both tiny and getting to the checkpoints is incredibly easy. In theory this should produce a fast-paced experience, but in lacking the need for tactics it soon becomes quite tedious. You can't communicate with your teammates other than by tapping on a red exclamation mark to give them a heads up on, well, something. That makes The Witcher Battle Arena a quite lonely experience.

witcher9In a similar vein, there are no friends lists either so you can't even communicate outside of the game. It's all very solitary and means the differences between PvP, co-op, and practice (against AI bots) isn't as pronounced as it should be.

Further issues arise from frequent lag problems, plus the lack of an in-game tutorial (the tutorial leads you to a YouTube video) that just feels lazy. Customization options for your characters go some way to making you feel like there's a purpose behind The Witcher Battle Arena, but really, it's just not as fun as it sounds. Even the special skills that your character can use aren’t that inspiring. It's all a little too soulless and lacking in that all-important fun factor.