Ingvar, why are you not recommending this even though it's a 9/10?
Go read the Experience tab.

Story
SMITE is a MOBA, set on the battlegrounds of the Gods. You play as characters from various mythological pantheons (such as Ares, Medusa, Baba Yaga, Guan Yu, Artio, etc.) fighting together with your team to take down the enemy team's titan or beat the living hell out of each other in an arena. There are a few gamemodes out there, something for everyone. Conquest for that classic 5v5 MOBA feel with a jungle and three lanes, 3v3 with a smaller map, and a 5v5 team deathmatch in a Colosseum-shaped arena.

Storyline length
It really varies. I've had rounds last over an hour, and some rounds last about 7 minutes. Arena, however, usually doesn't take longer than 15 minutes. The games can be a real back and forth, and even when it seems you have lost with your titan at around 2HP, you can always turn it around and turn a 20 minute game into a whole hour.

AI
Other than the absolutely atrocious bots used in Co-op, AI is very standard. Minions who run forth and die, jungle camps that stand there and die just to give you buffs, and jungle bosses who actually do hit back hard and give you huge buffs.

Experience
I used to love this game. I really did.
SMITE was at one point my favourite game and something I'd play all day, every day. Recently, however, it's turned into an even more toxic sh!tfest excuse of a game. In the past month, I have not played a game in which there was SOME form of positivity on my team. From people (and, just an observation, it is mostly Russians doing this) just sh!ttalking people ON THEIR OWN TEAM to straight up DDOSing when things didn't go their way, it's really made me realise why I took a long hiatus from this game.
This used to be the game I'd come to after university or work so I could relax, so I could enjoy my time at home and shoot the sh!t with my friends. It's just impossible now. Even in a mindless 5v5 in arena you will always encounter some form of toxicity or trolling or people leaving games before they even start, so in more competitive gamemodes you can only imagine what goes on. Since I've started playing, I've only seen this problem get worse and worse and worse.
Yeah. It used to be my favourite game. I'm genuinely saddened to see how bad the community's become.
Like, genuinely. Would it kill you to just not write what you're thinking? Or if you have to write something, would it f@cking kill you to say 'Aw man, it's just not your game huh? Better luck next time'?
Seriously, this game, as a community, needs to get a f@cking grip on life and recognise that the rest of your team are just like you.
- Your teammates will have bad games, bad days, just like you.
- Your teammates are human and have emotions, just like you, and are trying their best or, like I did before, just trying to relax a bit.
- Your teammates just want to play some SMITE without being bothered, just like you.
So, for the love of all that is holy...


But on a more 'Yeah, yeah, tell us about the game and stop your ranting' point of view. It's a good enough game. Every god feels very fleshed out and very clearly have their own personality with their own unique abilities and passives. There's truly something for everyone. From assassin-type one-shot gods to pacifist healers to unkillable tanks, it's there. The maps you play on are very distinct and very enjoyable to play on. Even in a big, overwhelming, scary map as conquest - it's just fun. Nothing beats lasering a god from 100-0hp as Anubis, or hitting an insane cross-map snipe as Janus.
As I have been a bit short on free time recently, it is difficult to keep on top of all the new items and relics and upgrades, but what I can say is that there is a counter-build item for every situation. No two games you play will ever be the same in terms of build or god matchup.

Graphics
At a glance, it is very easy to tell which gods have been there since the start of the game, like Hun Batz. That monkey looks like he was imported straight from the PS1. The actual game itself isn't too bad. The maps are very fleshed out, full of detail (especially the sky) and the characters have many minor details in areas you wouldn't even bother looking like jewelry or pieces of gold.

Sound
This is a huge part of SMITE. Every single ability in the game has its own unique sound, to the point where if you're not looking at an enemy, you can predict what will happen and play accordingly just by sound. Ra's ultimate has a solar charge up sound to it. Thanatos' ult has a quieter doom-inducing sound of wings.
Voice packs are a real hit or miss. Sometimes you can tell that the VA put their heart and soul into the voice pack, but at times it seems very monotone. Sometimes when you say [VH1] (Help left lane!) it sounds like 'Help... Left lane.' instead of the panicked 'Help left lane!!'. It doesn't really break immersion, but it does sound unnatural.

Overall
As I already said, this game used to be my favourite game. It's just a cesspool of toxicity now, even in the most casual gamemodes. Ignoring the community, however, it's a great game. SMITE has a huge learning curve but it honestly isn't the most difficult one to tackle. I got the hang of it within the first 30 hours of playing. You sort of sense a pattern in abilities (3 is usually a dash or a leap, for example).
Achievements are either incredibly easy or incredibly difficult/borderline impossible, which makes it a challenge for even pro players, and welcoming to beginners.

Do I recommend this game? Very hesitantly: Sure, I guess. It can be fun, and maybe I'm just very unlucky with my matchups, but it is insane how toxic this game is. It used to be way more relaxed. It's a fun game to try out, but do mute people and don't talk back to trolls - it only encourages them :P

Specs
Runs very smoothly on the highest settings.

Intel Core i5-10400F @2.9GHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
16GB RAM
Windows 10 Pro

[h1][b][i][u]SMITE - 9/10[/u][/i][/b][/h1] [b]Ingvar, why are you not recommending this even though it's a 9/10?[/b] Go read the [u]Experience[/u] tab. [u]Story[/u] SMITE is a MOBA, set on the battlegrounds of the Gods. You play as characters from various mythological pantheons (such as Ares, Medusa, Baba Yaga, Guan Yu, Artio, etc.) fighting together with your team to take down the enemy team's titan or beat the living hell out of each other in an arena. There are a few gamemodes out there, something for everyone. Conquest for that classic 5v5 MOBA feel with a jungle and three lanes, 3v3 with a smaller map, and a 5v5 team deathmatch in a Colosseum-shaped arena. [u]Storyline length[/u] It [i]really[/i] varies. I've had rounds last over an hour, and some rounds last about 7 minutes. Arena, however, usually doesn't take longer than 15 minutes. The games can be a real back and forth, and even when it seems you have lost with your titan at around 2HP, you can always turn it around and turn a 20 minute game into a whole hour. [u]AI[/u] Other than the absolutely atrocious bots used in Co-op, AI is very standard. Minions who run forth and die, jungle camps that stand there and die just to give you buffs, and jungle bosses who actually do hit back hard and give you huge buffs. [u]Experience[/u] [b]I used to love this game. I really did.[/b] SMITE was at one point my favourite game and something I'd play all day, every day. Recently, however, it's turned into an even more toxic sh!tfest excuse of a game. In the past month, I have not played a game in which there was SOME form of positivity on my team. From people (and, just an observation, it is [i]mostly[/i] Russians doing this) just sh!ttalking people [i]ON THEIR OWN TEAM[/i] to straight up DDOSing when things didn't go their way, it's really made me realise why I took a long hiatus from this game. This [i]used to be[/i] the game I'd come to after university or work so I could relax, so I could enjoy my time at home and shoot the sh!t with my friends. It's just impossible now. Even in a mindless 5v5 in arena you will always encounter some form of toxicity or trolling or people leaving games before they even start, so in more competitive gamemodes you can only imagine what goes on. Since I've started playing, I've only seen this problem get worse and worse and worse. Yeah. It [i]used to be[/i] my favourite game. I'm genuinely saddened to see how bad the community's become. Like, genuinely. Would it kill you to just [i]not[/i] write what you're thinking? Or if you have to write something, would it f@cking kill you to say 'Aw man, it's just not your game huh? Better luck next time'? Seriously, this game, as a community, needs to get a f@cking grip on life and recognise that the rest of your team are just like you. - Your teammates will have bad games, bad days, just like you. - Your teammates are human and have emotions, just like you, and are trying their best or, like I did before, just trying to relax a bit. - Your teammates just want to play some SMITE without being bothered, just like you. So, for the love of all that is holy... [h1][b]CHILL THE F@CK OUT.[/b][/h1] But on a more [i]'Yeah, yeah, tell us about the game and stop your ranting'[/i] point of view. It's a good enough game. Every god feels very fleshed out and very clearly have their own personality with their own unique abilities and passives. There's truly something for everyone. From assassin-type one-shot gods to pacifist healers to unkillable tanks, it's there. The maps you play on are very distinct and very enjoyable to play on. Even in a big, overwhelming, scary map as conquest - it's just fun. Nothing beats lasering a god from 100-0hp as Anubis, or hitting an insane cross-map snipe as Janus. As I have been a bit short on free time recently, it is difficult to keep on top of all the new items and relics and upgrades, but what I can say is that there is a counter-build item for every situation. No two games you play will ever be the same in terms of build or god matchup. [u]Graphics[/u] At a glance, it is very easy to tell which gods have been there since the start of the game, like Hun Batz. That monkey looks like he was imported straight from the PS1. The actual game itself isn't too bad. The maps are very fleshed out, full of detail (especially the sky) and the characters have many minor details in areas you wouldn't even bother looking like jewelry or pieces of gold. [u]Sound[/u] This is a huge part of SMITE. Every single ability in the game has its own unique sound, to the point where if you're not looking at an enemy, you can predict what will happen and play accordingly just by sound. Ra's ultimate has a solar charge up sound to it. Thanatos' ult has a quieter doom-inducing sound of wings. Voice packs are a real hit or miss. Sometimes you can tell that the VA put their heart and soul into the voice pack, but at times it seems very monotone. Sometimes when you say [VH1] (Help left lane!) it sounds like 'Help... Left lane.' instead of the panicked 'Help left lane!!'. It doesn't really break immersion, but it does sound unnatural. [u]Overall[/u] As I already said, this game used to be my favourite game. It's just a cesspool of toxicity now, even in the most casual gamemodes. Ignoring the community, however, it's a great game. SMITE has a huge learning curve but it honestly isn't the most difficult one to tackle. I got the hang of it within the first 30 hours of playing. You sort of sense a pattern in abilities (3 is usually a dash or a leap, for example). Achievements are either incredibly easy or incredibly difficult/borderline impossible, which makes it a challenge for even pro players, and welcoming to beginners. Do I recommend this game? Very hesitantly: Sure, I guess. It can be fun, and maybe I'm just very unlucky with my matchups, but it is insane how toxic this game is. It used to be way more relaxed. It's a fun game to try out, but do mute people and don't talk back to trolls - it only encourages them :P [u]Specs[/u] Runs very smoothly on the highest settings. Intel Core i5-10400F @2.9GHz NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 16GB RAM Windows 10 Pro