SMITE is already well known as one of the more easy-to-pick up MOBAs on the market. Released last year, the game was developed by Tribes Ascend makers Hi-Rez Studios, and utilised a fairly robust free-to-play model. Now, SMITE is heading to Xbox One, and we were able to get a sneak preview of the game’s latest appearance on the system during the closed Beta.

The game still looks and feels much the same as it does on the PC, although the main attacks have all been mapped to the face buttons of the controller, with triggers used to access other abilities and combinations. The Xbox One version promises to be updated just as regularly as its PC counterpart, with updates lagging on a little behind their PC releases.

The game’s free-to-play model is refreshingly simple and welcome. New players can choose from a rotating roster of mythological gods and creatures, still having full access to the game, but having only a small selection of heroes to choose from. You’ve got your obvious choices like Ares, God of War, and Hades, King of the Underworld, but there are also picks from less common mythologies, like Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, and Kukulkan, the Mayan serpent deity. However, kicking in a one-time Founder’s Pack fee of US $29.99 will unlock the entire roster, not only for the time being but for all future updates as well, which is certainly attractive for anyone looking to really spend some quality time with the game.

Like most MOBAs, SMITE focuses on hero-led gameplay, with minions spawned to support your fighter as you battle down three paths. However, unlike most MOBAs which give you a top-down view of top, middle, and low paths, SMITE  brings the action into a third person view, where the traditional paths become left, middle and right. It seems like a small thing to shift, but it obviously has a big visual impact and does a lot to endear the game to newcomers and to help it stand out from the crowd.

Along with the traditional ‘Conquest’ mode, there are faster-paced ‘Arena’ deathmatches to engage in, ‘Joust’ single-lane matches for up to 3v3 and the ‘Assault’ randomised single-lane mode.

We’ll have a more in-depth look at SMITE in the coming weeks, but so far the Xbox One version is shaping up to be just as addictive as its PC counterpart. Stay tuned for more!