When playing a MOBA like League of Legends or DOTA 2, players are bound by the characters they choose. Each warrior has set abilities with set attack powers and attributes offering little to no wiggle room in how to approach each match. Super Evil Megacorp, the team behind Vainglory, is trying to shoot a hole in that format with Catalyst Black, a game that's as much a loadout shooter as it is a MOBA.

The hook of Catalyst Black is customizable loadouts; players will earn new weapons, abilities, and items that can be equipped to create a near-infinite amount of combinations. Main weapon choices include assault rifles, shotguns, and other standard weaponry. Heavy weapons are rocket launchers, mortars, sniper rifles, and more. My loadout for the majority of my time in the game was a flamethrower in the main weapon slot and a minigun as a heavy weapon, making me a defensive stalwart when protecting objectives. Other equippable items to customize include Trinkets that grant special powers and stat increases, as well as spell-like Abilities that can heal or buff your character in battle.

The most impactful equipment, however, are the Masks that give you access to the Primal of your choice. Primals are massive monsters with incredible strength, and when a player's mask timer hits zero they can transform into one of these beasts, becoming an instant threat to the entire opposing team. If a Primal's health is reduced to zero, the player transforms back to their human form and continues fighting. Each Primal can also be paired with a Power--a boosted attack with a cooldown--and a Relic that acts like a Primal-specific Trinket.