Strinova is an upcoming hero shooter designed around the ability to turn your characters into paper-thin avatars. Read on to learn everything we know, our demo review, and more.
Everything We Know About Strinova
Strinova Plot
As a result of the Old World's disasters, humanity has decided to relocate to a multidimensional realm known as Strinova, where beings known as Superstrings, who follow various philosophies, fight for their beliefs.
You are thrust into this world as the Navigator, a respected and revered figure capable of stabilizing the minds of agents to prevent the onset of Collapse Syndrome. The Navigator can synchronize with the agents' senses and record their experiences, treating them as they see fit.
Strinova Gameplay
Strinova features third-person hero shooter gameplay with agents who have unique playstyles, upgrades, and abilities. Each agent also has loadouts that complement their playstyle, ranging from assault rifles paired with machine pistols to sniper rifles paired with submachine guns, and so on.
There are currently three active game modes. Team Deathmatch is a 3v3v3v3v3 arena-style mode where each team races to achieve 50 collective kills before the others. Escort is similar to Overwatch's Payload mode, where five attacking players must escort a vehicle through checkpoints while defending against five enemies until it reaches the end of the track. Lastly, Demolition resembles Call of Duty's Search and Destroy mode. It is a 5v5 team-based game with no respawn mechanics, where the attacking team must either plant a bomb at one of the defending team's two capture points or eliminate all defenders before the timer expires.
Strinova's unique gimmick is the agents' ability to turn themselves paper-thin, allowing them to glide through the air, walk along walls, dodge enemy fire, and disappear from sight.
Strinova Release Date
Strinova was released in China on August 3, 2023, with plans of a global release, though the release date has not yet been announced. We'll keep this page updated should it come up.
Strinova Review (Playtest)
Absurdly Addicting
I've played many shooters in my time, including Call of Duty, Battlefield, Overwatch, Paladins, and Apex Legends. All of them were addictive in some way, but none of them for the same reasons as Strinova.
Admittedly, I was already quite optimistic going into the game. Strinova's main gimmick—the characters' ability to turn into 2D models, along with the mechanics that revolve around that feature—is packed with potential. For example, how funny would it be on stream if an entire enemy team single-mindedly ran toward an objective while you're just walking on the wall, stalking them?
Ridiculous as it sounds, it actually happens quite often in Strinova. Because, as they say, gamers don't look up.
Strinova has a lot going for it. From a strategic perspective, its main gimmick is such a wildcard that there will be a constant flow of new tactics to use in the future. The character models are also quite stunning, with a few plain-looking ones here and there. The time it takes to kill someone, also straightforwardly known as Time To Kill (TTK), is well-balanced; it's fast enough to provide satisfying feedback from your attacks but slow enough that healers aren't rendered useless.
The main menu could use some work. There's not enough visual engagement to capture players' attention outside of combat. The default controls also suck, but at least they can be manually set after completing the tutorial.
There has also been some grumbling between players in forums and the Discord servers about the availability of agents since they are unlocked by spending in-game credits—something you can purchase with real money. It should be fine so long as they can also be purchased using currency that players can farm for, similar to games like Eternal Return and League of Legends. And thankfully, at least in the playtest, that seems to be the case.
Additionally, Strinova's gacha will only contain cosmetic items, which do not affect gameplay, unless you're the type to be dazzled and distracted by other players' outfits.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the game's current state. While I would’ve liked to be able to customize the agents' loadouts, it's not too major of an issue. At the very least, my friends and I had an extremely good time playing it without being bothered much by its shortcomings.
Main Gimmick Has Insane Potential
As mentioned earlier, Strinova’s main gimmick and unique appeal is that all of the characters are able to turn themselves into 2D. Predictably, being able to turn yourself into a 2D model and adhere to most flat surfaces (or even float in midair) can be used for more than what the tutorial suggests. The most obvious advantage is the ability to dodge most incoming fire, thanks to your severely compressed hitbox. Imagine trying to throw darts at a paper thin dartboard faced sideways. As a bonus, you can reload in this state, giving you a better chance of survival in the middle of a firefight.
Many players in Escort Mode also use their ability to stick to the wagon, which is highly effective. This tactic works especially well since most players aren't accustomed to identifying enemies when their forms don't make sense in a 3D space. As a result, teams often waste a lot of time trying to find enemies contesting the wagon when they're actually right in front of them.
Players also exploit common human habits in shooters, particularly in Demolition Mode, by attaching themselves to walls near corners. Since Demolition Mode doesn't allow respawning, enemies tend to be more cautious about checking corners but rarely check the space directly above them. This enables ambushes from above as enemies pass by. Additionally, this tactic reduces the chances of snipers hitting them if a small part of their bodies is exposed from cover.
These unique strategies are less commonly used in Team Deathmatch, where speed and aggression are critical. However, the number of encounters required to get kills makes dodging attacks and hunting down injured players more important than simply defending or attacking points. And since the maps are designed to allow shortcuts by walking on walls and gliding through the air, you'll need to master these techniques to succeed.
Of course, there's no doubt that other strategies involving the game's main gimmick will be discovered later on. It's such a unique concept that it's impossible to explore it thoroughly within just a few playtests. Oh, how I look forward to the cheesiest strategies players will come up with in the future. They're sure to be hilarious to witness, especially given how comedic the main gimmick is in the first place.
Game Modes Balance The Heroes
With the variety of skills and loadouts available exclusively to certain agents, they will naturally have modes where they excel and others where they don't. A great example of the latter is Audrey, whose Guns Blazing skill allows her to deploy a shielded machine gun and hold a point. However, because this skill also makes her immobile, she is difficult to use effectively in Team Deathmatch's chaotic 5-team battles, where mobility is essential. After all, you can't expect everyone in the lobby to converge on her location just so she can rack up kills.
Fuschia, a one-on-one specialist who specializes in picking off enemies, also struggles in Demolition because her passive ability relies on healing through kills and assists. But since Demolition doesn't have respawn mechanics, she can only use her passive to heal an average of four times per round, which barely justifies choosing her over another agent.
Naturally, the opposite is also true. Returning to Audrey, she is incredibly oppressive in Escort mode, where every player inevitably gathers in a single area. Meanwhile, in Team Deathmatch, with its widespread chaos of unlimited respawns and five teams battling it out, Fuschia's ability to see through walls and hunt down low-health enemies is extremely annoying.
But that's a great way to balance the game. It gives every hero a chance to shine in at least one mode while offering a variety of objectives for players to enjoy. If anything, I hope the developers continue with this approach rather than trying to create a hero that excels across all three game modes. Now, that would be overpowered.
There’s nothing like that at the moment, which is great because balance is crucial for many players’ enjoyment. It’s no surprise, then, that playing it was a very enjoyable experience, despite its faults.
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Strinova Product Information
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| Title | STRINOVA (CALABIYAU) |
|---|---|
| Release Date | TBA (Global), August 3, 2023 (China) |
| Developer | iDreamSky |
| Publisher | iDreamSky |
| Supported Platforms | Mobile, PC |
| Genre | Shooter, Action |
| Number of Players | 10-15 |
| Rating | ESRB Teen |
| Official Website | Strinova/Calabiyau Website |
