Epic Games, the creator of the successful franchise “Gears of War,” has started early access for a new third-person cross-platform MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) called “Paragon.”

The game is beautiful, fun, and difficult. With some polishing “Paragon” has the possibility to rival the top MOBAs being played now.

Like most MOBAs, the main objective of the game is to destroy the enemy team’s main structure. For “League of Legends” it is the enemy nexus. For “SMITE” it is the enemy titan. For “DOTA 2” it is the enemy ancient.

As for “Paragon” it is the enemy core. The map consist of three lanes and a jungle. Each lane has two towers, and one inhibitor.

Being a MOBA, “Paragon” has a lot of similarities to the other, aforementioned games. However, it is a beautiful game that adds a lot of new mechanics to the already solidified genre.

First of all, “Paragon” has by far the most visually appealing graphics in the genre. Like most of Epic Games’ products, “Paragon” uses the Unreal Engine 4, a software developed by Epic Games that produces high quality visual graphics for video games and other media. The graphics of the map and characters are the most realistic looking out of all the other games in this genre.

Not only is the map breathtaking to look at, but it also adds a complex new mechanic of verticality to MOBAs. In all other MOBA games, the maps are flat.

In “Paragon,” the map has ledges to jump from and the jungle is lower than the rest of the other lanes. Having such verticality adds a layer of tactics to ganking, which is surprise attacking the enemy. The verticality of the map in “Paragon” is one way Epic Games is differentiating itself from other companies in the genre.

One other way “Paragon” has deviated from the genre is adding a card system, rather than sticking to the traditional item system. In most MOBAs players have access to all the items in a match, all players have to do is get enough of the currency to purchase them.

In “Paragon” players don’t have access to all the cards, instead players have to purchase or earn packs of cards to place in their deck, so they can purchase them in a match.

To purchase them in a match, players have to level up their card power, which gains experience by obtaining amber. It is a rather complicated system, and in the early stages of the game, it still needs a lot of work.

The developers need to look into ways of obtaining card packs and what cards players could get. Because as of now, the system is very random. One player will have all the necessary cards, while another is still struggling to get any good cards after opening several card packs.

Of course, there are other problems in the alpha phase of this game. Such as overpowered heroes, bugs and glitches, and PS4 players having very limited ways of communicating.

However, on the bright side, Epic Games has been slowly addressing these issues with each new patch that comes out. And they have been heavily listening to the players to help improve the game.

Although “Paragon” is still in early access, it is by far a highly enjoyable and competitive game that adds a lot of uniqueness to the MOBA genre. It is a beautiful game that can definitely compete with popular games like “League of Legends” and “SMITE”.

The game is still in early access, players have to buy a founder’s pack of varying price, the cheapest being $20. If gamers don’t want to pay, another option is to wait for the free open beta in the summer of 2016.