Games worth discovering

I've Fallen Back in Love with T3 Arena, and It's All Thanks to Sindri

32K View2022-09-24

When I reviewed T3 Arena back shortly after its launch in May, I mentioned that despite some misgivings related to its monetization and issues with bots, I expected to keep playing the game. But as often happens, I ended up getting distracted by other stuff. One thing led to another, and before I realized it, I hadn't logged in to T3 Arena in months.

I decided to fix that this week, and boy, am I glad I did. Not only has T3 Arena made some dramatic improvements in the few months since launch, but I've managed to discover a new personal favorite character to play as.

First, the improvements: In addition to continuing to expand the game's roster and improve on how (and how often) rewards are doled out to players, the devs behind T3 Arena have fixed one of the biggest complaints I had in my review. Instead of each game mode rotating between a single map throughout the day, players now just choose the mode they want to play and can get queued into any map for that mode. This is a huge improvement, in my opinion, that makes for more variety between rounds and also pushes players to learn each map in the game. Love it!

And you know what else I love? SINDRI. As mentioned, T3 Arena has introduced a handful of new playable characters since launch, and Sindri is...not one of them. In fact, she's been in the game since beta, and I definitely spent some time with her when I reviewed the game. Clearly not enough, however, as playing with Sindri this week felt like a breath of fresh air.

Sindri isn't a particularly unique character in the world of hero shooters. She follows the archetype that I'd call the "engineer," calling back to my beloved Team Fortress Classic. That means her primary weapon is a relatively underpowered pistol, but she also has the ability to toss down a stationary robot (known as the "Rage Ball") that acts as a turret, auto-targeting any enemies that get nearby.

Engineer classes have never really been my thing, but for some reason something with Sindri just clicked for me this week, and I've been playing her non-stop and having an absolute blast. Between the casual way she throws out and recalls her robo-pal, and the almost insultingly playful skip-walk she uses to get around the map, she has a casual vibe that makes it feel like I'm actively mocking the players opposing me.

How demoralizing must it be to get taken out by a scowling robotic sphere and then see this cutesy girl skipping past without a care in the world. "Oh, did I just score my eighth K.O. in a row? No big deal. 😜"

Sindri is particularly great in control mode, which has coincidentally turned into my favorite game mode in T3 Arena. Tossing my robot buddy down on the control point and then waiting safely around a corner for enemies to come waltzing in has been astoundingly satisfying. And despite Sindri ranking fairly low in most of the player tier lists I've checked in on, I've been winning like crazy, which has reminded me just how much I enjoy the way that every character in this game feels playable.

One last important thing about Sindri: She has a "Mecha Rooster" skin. I haven't unlocked it yet, but I, uh, really want to.

If you haven't given T3 Arena a shot yet—or haven't tried it out recently—now is a great time. Even better, the game should be getting a big boost to its player base soon, as it will finally be releasing on the Google Play store. I mean I don't know why anyone wouldn't just download it on TapTap, but hey! More players checking out a great game can only be a good thing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to queue into another match with my robot friend.

Mentioned games