Ace Force is basically Overwatch for mobile

The new hero shooter from Tencent also draws from Apex Legends and Borderlands

Reading Time:4 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Ace Force is basically Overwatch for mobile

Josh Ye

Published: 10:13pm, 15 Aug 2019Updated: 9:11am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Tencent’s newest first-person shooter game Ace Force is basically Overwatch lite for mobile. But on closer inspection, it’s also reminiscent of both Apex Legends and Borderlands. And it might be as good as a hero shooter gets on a smartphone.

Before the game was even released this week, Ace Force racked up more than 13 million pre-registrations in China. Once released, it jumped to the top of the iOS download chart, and it’s already one of the country’s top 25 highest-grossing games on Apple devices.

Even after several rounds of beta testing, the game from Tencent’s MoreFun Studio Group isn’t quite finished yet. The game will eventually feature four different modes, but only two are playable right now: Deathmatch and King of the Hill. The two upcoming modes are battle royale and bomb defusal.

As an anime-style mobile game, it’s a visually appealing and enjoyable bite-sized version of Overwatch on the go. But the game lacks depth and interaction between characters, so it can sometimes feel flat and often left me wanting for more.

This “Genius Kid” from Ace Force is essentially a clone of Overwatch’s Torbjörn. (Picture: Tencent)

The similarities with Overwatch are not subtle. The game’s starting character is effectively Soldier 76 with a male Tracer skin; a no-frills, all-around shooter who can launch small rocket shots from his assault rifle... with goggles perched on his forehead. Characters are unlocked as you progress, and you quickly get a female sniper similar to Widowmaker and a short turret builder just like Torbjörn before reaching level 5.