SMITE 2 is a unique, third-person MOBA from Hi-Rez Studios and Titanforge games featuring gods from various pantheons duking it one in a divine arena. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn't do well, and if it's worth buying.

SMITE 2 Review Overview

What is SMITE 2?

SMITE 2 is a mythical clash between titans, gods, heroes, and demigods from various pantheons, all battling it out in intense third-person combat! As the direct sequel to Hi-Rez Studio's breakout 2014 MOBA hit, SMITE 2 brings a host of improvements to the original experience, including a revamped new player experience, fresh gods in the roster, and an overhauled item system that’s sure to excite both veteran and new players alike.

In SMITE 2, the gods are locked in an eternal war for divine supremacy across the realms. Will your chosen deity rise above the rest? Discover the outcome of the epic clash between the mortal and the divine in SMITE 2!

SMITE 2 features:
　⚫︎　23 playable gods with more to come in future updates
　⚫︎　Brand-new practice mode
　⚫︎　Overhauled UI and improved graphics on a new game engine
　⚫︎　Simplified stat system
　⚫︎　Improved queueing system for ranked play
　⚫︎　Overhauled shop and item system
　⚫︎　Major balance changes across the board

For more gameplay details, read everything we know about SMITE 2's gameplay and story.

Digital Storefronts
Steam		PSN		Xbox		Epic Games
Free-To-Play

SMITE 2 Pros & Cons

Pros	Cons
Improved Queueing System New Item System Hits Amazingly UE5 Is Doing The Game Justice	Absolutely Buggy Mess Basically The First Game Again Founder’s Pack is a Scam

SMITE 2 Overall Score - 78/100

SMITE 2 is in a bit of a weird spot right now with its closed alpha open to people who purchased any of its Founder’s Editions. On one hand, the game looks fantastic, introduces a new item system, and successfully breathes new life into one of Hi-Rez’s standout titles. On the other hand, some players, including myself, question whether it truly needs to exist as a sequel. While the game shows promise, calling it SMITE 2 feels like a stretch, especially given its strong ties to the original and its unfinished state. Maybe it’ll be more defined come its full release, but for now, it’s a demigod among Olympians at best.

SMITE 2 Story - 6/10

SMITE 2’s narrative is almost nonexistent in the closed alpha, and I doubt that will change much by the time of its full release. While the game boasts a vast and diverse universe, filled with hundreds of divine backstories and cinematic narratives full of potential, the gameplay falls short of showcasing this rich world-building properly. Admittedly, MOBAs aren't known for their deep storytelling, but I do appreciate Hi-Rez's efforts to push the game’s story beyond what little the gameplay mechanics can convey.

SMITE 2 Gameplay - 7/10

SMITE 2’s promos might suggest that it’s a true sequel to Hi-Rez’s most successful title of the past decade, but the similarities to its predecessor are too strong to fully support that claim. While the game has introduced graphical and mechanical innovations—especially in its item system—many players, myself included, are still unsure if it truly warrants the title of a sequel. That said, it’s still a solid game, just not the complete ground-up overhaul that the trailers might lead you to expect.

SMITE 2 Visuals - 9/10

SMITE 2’s transition from Unreal Engine 3 to Unreal Engine 5 certainly elevates its graphics, and not just in terms of higher definition. While SMITE has always excelled in character design, SMITE 2 takes it further with improved god models and a sleek new UI that places it on par with League of Legends and other top MOBAs in terms of design quality.

SMITE 2 Audio - 8/10

SMITE 2’s audio brilliantly captures the divine essence of its gods, with grand choral chants and fanfare that could make even Apollo blush. The sound design is so rich that it wouldn’t feel out of place in a majestic temple in the countryside. However, the various audio glitches present in the closed alpha do detract from its overall quality, bringing it down a few notches.

SMITE 2 Value for Money - 9/10

What can I say? When I see "Free-to-Play," I’m pretty much sold on a game’s value. Whether or not you consider SMITE 2 a worthy sequel, there’s no denying the bang for your buck—especially when it’s as free as a sermon on the mount. With rotating gods, no pay-to-win content, and a strong focus on accessibility, there’s no reason not to give SMITE 2 a shot. Just give the game’s Founder’s Editions a wide berth and you’re good to go.

SMITE 2 Review: A Demigod-like Second Coming

As a longtime fan of SMITE, I had high hopes for SMITE 2. The trailer promised a "ground-up" realization of the original, coalescing new features with improved graphics powered by Unreal Engine 5, aiming to create a sequel worthy of Hi-Rez’s beloved title. In hindsight, I should have tempered my expectations for a closed alpha, but what I experienced wasn’t entirely disappointing anyway. SMITE 2 is genuinely fun—about as enjoyable as its predecessor, which is both a blessing and a curse, as I’ll explain—but this alpha build falls short in areas that you wouldn’t typically expect.

While it’s expected to encounter bugs and performance issues in a closed alpha, SMITE 2 also leaves me questioning its legitimacy and necessity as a sequel. Don’t get me wrong, matching the quality of the original SMITE is no small feat. But with all the hype surrounding this release, it feels like an awful lot of fanfare for what essentially amounts to a graphics update, an item shop overhaul, and a handful of new gods. League of Legends has introduced similar updates but there isn’t a League of Legends 2, is there?

All jokes aside, let’s move on with the review and dive into what makes SMITE 2 divine, not-so-divine, and whether it truly deserves the title of a sequel to the penultimate third-person MOBA.

Let’s begin with the promised greatness of SMITE 2. Like its predecessor, the game retains the distinctive third-person, over-the-shoulder MOBA gameplay that has long set it apart from other titles in the genre. This unique perspective introduces its own set of challenges, gameplay mechanics, and a notoriously complex targeting reticle, all of which have contributed to the game’s appeal among MOBA enthusiasts for years. SMITE 2 faithfully brings these elements to a modern audience, along with some new mechanics that enhance the experience.

Most are already familiar with the premise of SMITE—and by extension, SMITE 2—but for those new to the series, both games revolve around divine skirmishes played out on laned maps typical of the MOBA genre. Depending on the game mode, a map can have anywhere from one to three lanes, each with varying concentrations of interactable areas, jungle camps, and objectives scattered throughout. Players take control of gods from various pantheons as their champions, battling minions, jungle monsters, and other gods with skills and abilities uniquely designed for the game’s third-person perspective. That’s the essence of both SMITE and SMITE 2 in a nutshell. However, SMITE 2 brings a few new elements to the table.

One of the key updates that SMITE 2 puts forth is its newly simplified stat system. Rather than overhauling the stats entirely, SMITE 2 streamlines them into two core categories: Strength and Intelligence. Strength now represents physical ability scaling and basic attack damage, while Intelligence covers magical ability scaling and cooldown reduction. This change isn’t about dumbing down the game per se. Rather, it’s about adopting a design paradigm that makes items, abilities, and kits more intuitive. With everything scaling off one or both of these stats, most kits can be understood at a glance, allowing new players to jump right in without worrying much about the optimized item setup.

This simplified stat system also ties into the revamped item shop. Beyond an updated GUI, the shop now features new items, enhanced sorting filters, and efficiency-optimized tabs tailored for different roles. Moreover, many existing items have been reworked to incorporate the new Strength and Intelligence scaling, allowing for more versatility in crafting builds and easier navigation overall. Both the simplified stats and the new item shop represent Hi-Rez’s new design choices for SMITE 2, which focus on the "New Player Experience". As such, other features like auto-buy loadouts, rebalanced god stats, practice mode, and pop-up tups have been implemented as well.

SMITE 2 has even improved upon the original’s often frustrating ranked experience by making it more accessible and streamlining skill-based matchmaking. For those who enjoy Conquest Mode, the jungle area has been overhauled with a new Infamy mechanic, which rewards players for efficient jungling by upgrading jungle camps the more they are cleared. These updates encapsulate what SMITE 2 aims to be—a fun, godlike MOBA experience that everyone can enjoy.

However, this is where the game hits a bit of a snag. Despite these updates, I’m still on the fence about whether they justify calling this a proper sequel. At its core, this is still the same game. It’s prettier, smoother, and better in almost every way, but the fundamental gameplay hasn’t changed significantly. And for a new title to truly be considered a sequel, I believe that kind of evolution is crucial. This isn’t an expansion of the original idea—it’s more of a full realization of what SMITE was meant to be from the start. New gods bring fresh faces and shake up the meta, but they’re still designed with the same principles in mind.

That said, the game is free, so I’m willing to cut it some slack when it comes to its status as a sequel. Even if you find yourself questioning its legitimacy in that regard, there’s no denying that SMITE 2 is a beautiful game that’s worth trying, even in its current state. I’m confident it will continue to improve as development progresses, potentially adding some defining features that will help it stand apart from the original. Until then, though, it’s more of a demigod trying to contend with the Olympians.

Pros of SMITE 2

Things SMITE 2 Got Right
Improved Queueing System New Item System Hits Amazingly UE5 Is Doing The Game Justice

Improved Queueing System

One of the biggest frustrations with the original SMITE was its restrictive Ranked Mode queueing system, which essentially forced players to form a full party of five just to participate. Thankfully, SMITE 2 has addressed this issue in a major way. Now, Ranked Mode not only supports solo queueing but also allows groups of two, three, or five to join the fray. Additionally, the updated matchmaking system ensures that teams are matched with others of similar size, eliminating the unfair advantage of superior coordination. While some might see this as a minor tweak, it’s undeniably one of the most impactful improvements SMITE 2 has brought to the game.

New Item System Hits Amazingly

Hi-Rez really nailed it with their shop overhaul in SMITE 2. As a player who’s past his prime, I was fully immersed in the "New Player Experience," and this time, the shop wasn’t the headache it used to be. The newly simplified stat system makes it much easier to grasp how items scale, and the updated UI allows you to visualize builds on the fly. While there are still some compatibility issues for console players, overall, this change stands out as one of the best improvements SMITE 2 has delivered.

UE5 Is Doing The Game Justice

What can I say? The game looks absolutely stunning in Unreal Engine 5. SMITE was already one of the more visually striking MOBAs, thanks to its unique POV and the creative way it implemented skills. But UE5 has taken the visuals to a whole new level. With the upgraded engine and a revamped jungle, Conquest mode feels like a completely fresh experience, even for seasoned SMITE veterans.

Cons of SMITE 2

Things That SMITE 2 Can Improve
Absolutely Buggy Mess Basically The First Game Again Founder’s Pack is a Scam

Absolutely Buggy Mess

Bugs are expected in a closed alpha, but SMITE 2 is really testing my patience with its frequent freezes, crashes, and glitchy UI elements. The rawness of this build is palpable, with stray lines of code in ability descriptions and a practice mode that seems particularly prone to breaking. It’s frustrating, but there's not much we can do at this stage except wait for patches and hope these issues are ironed out by the time the full game is released.

Basically The First Game Again

Echoing my earlier point, SMITE 2 feels like SMITE all over again—just with better graphics, smoother gameplay, and a functional queuing system instead of the mess from before. There’s nothing wrong with improving a game, especially on this scale, but for something billing itself as a sequel, I was expecting a more dramatic transformation. New game modes, revamped gods, or a fundamentally overhauled core gameplay loop would have made it feel more like a true sequel than fixing what players have been complaining about for most of the original game’s first run.

Founder’s Pack is a Scam

Currently, the game's Founder's Pack rewards are not functioning as intended—some rewards appear in the player’s inventory, while others don't. This alone could make the Founder's Pack seem like a scam. Considering the actual contents and the steep price of the Deluxe and Ultimate Founder’s Editions, there are plenty of reasons to think twice before purchasing. To be perfectly blunt, a handful of skins, an avatar, and a title are hardly worth an extra $20, let alone $60.

Is SMITE 2 Worth It?

Absolutely—It’s Free to Play!

Love it or hate it, you’ve got to admit that SMITE 2 is hard to pass up when it’s free-to-play. Sure, it’s still buggy and could stand to be more distinct from the original, but I’m willing to overlook those flaws and give it a shot because, at its core, it’s still a great game. It’s especially fun when you’re squadded up, and with the game now optimized for that experience, it’s definitely a must-try if you’re itching for a new MOBA to dive into.

Digital Storefronts
Steam		PSN		Xbox		Epic Games
Free-To-Play

SMITE 2 FAQ

Will SMITE 1 Skins Transfer to SMITE 2?

According to the game’s developers, most "most SMITE 1 content will not directly transfer to SMITE 2", although SMITE players will be rewarded for their time, money, and achievements through Legacy Gems and Divine Legacy. In addition, new skins added to SMITE 1 in Season 11, along with some limited other cross-gen skins, will transfer between the games.

Will SMITE 1 Still Be Supported When SMITE 2 is Released?

Yes! According to the game’s developers, SMITE 1 will continue to receive regular updates, and servers will remain supported for the foreseeable future of SMITE 2’s concurrent development.

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SMITE 2 Product Information

Title	SMITE 2
Release Date	August 27, 2024 (Closed Alpha)
Developer	Titan Forge Games
Publisher	Hi-Rez Studios
Supported Platforms	PC(Steam, Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre	Action, MOBA, Strategy
Number of Players	Online PvP (5v5)
Rating	ESRB T
Official Website	SMITE 2 Official Website

Aaron Bruce Albert..

A massive fan of roguelikes, turn-based RPGs, and open world adventure games. His gold standard games include The Binding of Isaac, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Dragon Quest Monsters Joker.