Paragon Beta PC Performance Review

Conclusion

Let’s be honest, Paragon is in Alpha and as such should not be recommended for purchase for all but those who really want to jump headfirst into this new game in its current early and incomplete state. 

As an early access release Paragon does a lot of things well, having a fully functional and complete core gameplay loop and clearly defining aspects of the game that are incomplete and in need of improvement. From the start Paragon performs very well on modern hardware, especially with the kind of visuals that this game delivers, showing that this game is not just for those with modern and shiny new systems, but also for lower end PC gamers that are perhaps using some older hardware.

While the game is incomplete what is finished is done to a mirror shine, with some amazing visuals and great performance, allowing us to easily achieve 100+ FPS on average on even our R9 380 and GTX 960 GPU, with 60+FPS being possible at even high settings.

While the games performance is good on modern hardware it is still something that clearly needs improvement, with AMD GPUs having noticeably less performance than their Nvidia counterparts and the game suffering from low minimum framerates on both sides, showing need for future optimizations. That being said this game still performs well, delivering both amazing visuals and high average framerates, but we hope that this will improve further over time. 

The standard lane pushing gameplay of Paragon is very engaging and polished experience, playing distinctly like other MOBA titles but from a 3rd person perspective, allowing you to feel much more immersed and in the action than in standard MOBA titles like LOL or DOTA, but other places like the Jungle sections of the map still need a great deal of content and polish. 

Right now the game only has a single map and lacks any tutorial to help newcomers learn how to play, but thankfully the game has a good bot system that allows them to play alone of with friends against AI opponents that will give players a nice place to learn how to play Paragon without the stress of competitive multiplayer. 

Unlike many other early access titles Paragon gives us a good idea of what is coming, telling us that each of the characters will gain their own tutorial in time and clearly marking some of the content in game as “Alpha content” in order to show what will be improved in time. Hopefully those who found the game will be able to get some more content soon, but at least we do know that most of the game will be ready in time for the summer’s Open Beta.

When judging Paragon as an early access title we can say that the game is pretty good, clearly marking a lot of content that is to come and having a clear schedule for when the game will be ready for the public (this summer’s open beta). When looking at the games performance we find the the game performs very well considering the graphics that it delivers, but still has plenty of room for future improvement before the games final release, especially when it comes to minimum framerates.

Like all early access titles you need to bear in mind that what you are purchasing is an incomplete product, with future releases of the Paragon promising to be more feature rich and balanced. One thing that needs to be considered is that there will be an open beta in the summer, so you need not pay any money before you know how if you like the gameplay.

If you want to jump into the game right now know that what is finished in the game shows a good level of polish and the performance is fairly good on modern hardware, but also remember that what you are purchasing is a promise of what is to come, which is a promise that might not be as good as the final game. 

 

You can join the discussion on Paragon’s PC performance on the OC3D Forums.