Paladins , an objective-based team first-person shooter, has been unveiled by Hi-Rez Studios and is slated to launch in 2016.

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In development for PC and current-gen consoles, Paladins is rooted in a colorful sci-fi fantasy setting featuring unique champions that have their own fire-function and abilities. Combat in Paladins is also nearly entirely projectile-based, meaning shots can be dodged.A match of Paladins unfolds as two teams fight over king of the hill-style point capture objectives. When one team successfully captures the point, the match evolves as the team tries to push a siege engine through three layers of the enemy base.Though each champion has its own personality and core abilities, a movement ability, and a mount -- to get around Paladins' much larger, wide open maps -- the real character variation comes from a deckbuilding card system that augments a champion in different ways.Cards do things like modify a champions shots and abilities with new effects or increased damage, add utility based augmentations like increasing your health regeneration when near an objective, or just help you to stay alive.All cards have five tiers of effectiveness, and the level you are when you draw the card dictates the strength of the card. This adds a strategy element to the system in that some cards are good at lower levels, while some you'll want to skip for a shot at the stronger version later on in the match.You can find gameplay footage of Paladins and all its systems in action for six of the revealed characters: Fernando Pip , and Grohk Anyone looking to get into the upcoming beta can do so by signing up on the Paladins official site , though specific dates have not yet been announced.

Brandin Tyrrel is an Associate Editor at IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @BrandinTyrrel