New MOBA MMORPG hybrid Corepunk arrives on PC with early access

What’s a genre hybrid you’d have thought was impossible to crack? For me, it would be combining the sprawling and immersive nature of an MMORPG with the competitive, tactical excitement of a MOBA. Are these two genres at odds with each other? Well, that’s exactly it Corepunk strives to conquer and cleverly mixes elements from League of Legends and Diablo 4 to create something all its own.

Now available on PC in Early Access via a dedicated launcher, Corepunk takes a look at both the best MOBAs and the best MMORPGs in one fell swoop with its unique mashup. It’s a top-down isometric multiplayer game that at first glance looks similar to the existing MOBA like League of Legends and Dota 2 – it even has a similar interface and fog-of-war to hide the map. Take a closer look, though, and you’ll find that Corepunk is actually much more of an ARPG MMO.

First, Corepunk takes place in a seamless open world with different points of interest to find, secrets to uncover and even quests to complete as you roam the already diverse biomes during Early Access. With this in mind, the iconic MOBA fog of war is perfect for adding a layer of mystery and surprise as you explore.

Corepunk also includes a leveling system reminiscent of both MOBAs and MMORPGs. You begin by leveling your character to level 20 to unlock new abilities, passives, and weapon specializations, before branching out and refining your build. This is supported by a deep crafting system for weapons and upgrades that rewards your open world looting.

Combat is where you’ll see the biggest MOBA influences, with responsive action that rewards perfect timing and clever use of abilities – whether you’re competing in a PvE or PvP activity. While PvP in the overworld is often optional, there are contested areas and specific PvP modes (including an extraction mode coming in the future) where you can focus your bloodlust. If you’d rather keep things civil, you can climb the leaderboard as you min-max your build by conquering dungeons both alone and with a party.

Unfortunately, Corepunk isn’t available on Steam, so if you’re intrigued by its unique genre mashup, you’ll need to download a separate launcher. Importantly, Corepunk has adopted a buy-to-play model with an in-game cash shop exclusively for cosmetics. Corepunk costs $36 / £29 for the most basic early access edition, with the highest level costing $68 / £54.

Nevertheless, Corepunk has the potential to be one of the best multiplayer games out there, as there is little in the way of direct competition. Plus, more updates and additional content will be added during the Early Access period, so it’s only up from here. If you’d rather wait for the full release, why not dig into some of the best PC games in the meantime?

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