Our SMITE 2 review is a collaborative effort from our community of avid players. Most are veterans from SMITE 1, a number of whom are streamers and involved in the SMITE 2 esports scene, so between everyone, there are a lot of in-game hours racked up. That means there are few communities on the internet better suited to tackle this review so if you're wondering whether it's worth playing, you've come to the right place.

If you played the original SMITE, the sequel will be familiar. But for newcomers, the elevator pitch for SMITE 2 is that it's essentially a MOBA - think League of Legends or Dota 2 - but every playable character in the game is based on a mythological god or hero, and your point of view is third-person rather than top-down. It’s also worth stating from the off that SMITE 2 is still in development. We’ll update this review periodically as major milestones are hit, but with plenty of playtime racked up and patches applied since its first tests in summer 2024, our community has had plenty of time to form some authoritative opinions. So let’s get into them!

A rough start but a smooth recovery

SMITE 2 debuted to the world in a series of pre-alpha playtests, and it must be said that it didn’t make the best first impression. Feddboii explains that "overall sentiment was in the toilet", and Inters3ct adds that "the game was rough when it initially launched into the weekend tests. It looked very 'default Unreal Engine 5', the strength and intelligence mechanics weren't as refined, there were a lot of issues with the general feel of the gameplay, and the god roster felt small and poorly chosen."

However, since then, Inters3ct explains "the game has gotten ten times better: there are more gods (and better choices available), the environment has received a huge visual overhaul, the Ascension Pass system is great, the gameplay feel has been improved massively, and there's plenty of potential on the horizon. Not to mention the target set by the devs of having 50 gods in the game by the time free-to-play launches.

"Already the game is far more interesting than its predecessor, and has a much more solid foundation both in terms of being built on a modern engine with a fresh code-base but also in the core mechanics of how it works. Strength vs intelligence and hybrid builds are super interesting, active items make builds more varied and gameplay more fun, and the god changes that make them more dynamic have been mostly good."

Gods, builds, and mechanics

Speaking of the changes to gods, celestewish describes them as "great", because a lot of the SMITE 1 kits are "outdated". This is because "the older gods worked when they were first released, but with newer and more complicated gods to compete with, the older gods struggled to hold their own. In SMITE 2, the devs have done a terrific job updating these kits while maintaining their identity, so they still feel like the gods you know and love, but a little easier to play while also competing in the meta."

One aspect that goes hand-in-hand with god kits is their particular builds - the ways in which you solidify the potential of a god’s kit by picking abilities during a match - and Celestewish nominates these as another part of the game that has drastically improved: "While more complex at first glance, it's easy to pick up and offers more flexibility than the first game. You can stick with simple builds, including those you found success with in the original, but you now have more options for pathways, allowing you to personalise your builds further. I like figuring out my own builds and the new scaling system is also excellent for the same reasons."

Feddboii is a big fan of how it's easier to directly counter an opponent in SMITE 2 compared to the original: "I'm hoping that as the game grows and more items are added, there's a counter to every mechanic in the game, so it becomes a 'rock, paper, scissors' style counterplay where having to cover all bases or anything in-between are all viable options. Make the game so that players have to adapt to not just the playstyles of the opposing team but also active abilities and items that make a team think outside of the box."

Part of the Unreal Engine 5 upgrade includes a graphical overhaul, which NiteDark considers "significant" due to the "improved textures, smoother animations, and refined effects" which "make the game look modern and immersive while preserving the mythological atmosphere." Celestewish also praises how the "ability icons and the way hitboxes are shown before you channel an ability are a lot cleaner," and LeoMo describes the game as having "improved textures, animations, and fluidity."

Ironing out the kinks

The community appears split on the topic of performance on PC, the platform where MOBAs typically find most of their audience. LeoMo explains that "performance has improved a lot since the early days of the closed Alpha," and ROZEPOP agrees, explaining the performance is stable enough to stream the game on Twitch, which they couldn't beforehand. However, both of them agree there's still room for improvement, especially for those with lower specs.

Balance - an endless well of discussion in most MOBAs - is another talking point on SMITE 2, both in terms of some gods being overpowered and the mechanics themselves. Celestewish dives into the latter by saying "damage and defence feel off compared to SMITE 1. Tanks don't feel particularly strong in the late game, and overall gods deal more damage than you'd expect." Meanwhile, NiteDark thinks "some gods are overtuned, especially with new abilities that dominate certain lanes". LeoMo goes further, saying that right now, "some gods are very broken".

Matchmaking doesn't seem to be working quite as intended yet either, as Celestewish explains they "regularly get teammates who don't understand how the game works, while the enemy team is competent". Celestewish does acknowledge this may be due to fluctuating player populations ahead of the free-to-play launch, but they also reckon they experienced "better" matchmaking during the earlier playtests. LeoMo echoes this by saying games have "strange pairings", and Rozepop also thinks this is due to the current number of active players.

Overall though, the sentiment among this most demanding and expert of playerbases is extremely positive. Feddboii considers SMITE 2 to be "a long way ahead of where SMITE 1 was in the same lifespan", LeoMo thinks it "has a great future as it surpasses SMITE 1 in several aspects", and Inters3ct summarises both of those points by saying the "potential could be absolutely massive if the game keeps receiving patches and updates so frequently". 

What are your thoughts on SMITE 2? Have you played yet or are you waiting for the free-to-play version to launch? Let us know in the comments below and if you are getting stuck in, make sure you check out our top SMITE 2 tips to help you on your way.

Some text has been edited for brevity, clarity, or spelling, punctuation, and grammar. You can find the original wording here. Image credit: Titan Forge Games