The mod that started it all: Defense of the Ancients. In a world where the biggest E-sport is basically a refinement of a mod of a Blizzard game, it was only a matter of time before they initiated a turf war with their own gang of pixels. League of Legends has done a tremendous amount of heavy lifting as far as elevating this genre and fanbase to the next level, but we must not forget its true roots. Once upon a time, before the behemoth known as WoW ruled the landscape, when 3D graphics were still blowing our minds with a bunch of sharp edged rectangles stuck together, there was the RTS series known as Warcraft. With each installment its reputation grew and it soon became a living legend.
The end and the beginning. In 2002 the third installment, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, introduced the game mechanic of having independent heroes with their own special abilities to the series. This led to the creation of the mod, Defense of the Ancients, which is pretty much credited for lighting the fuse of the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) powder keg. In 2009, LoL (League of Legends) was released and a monster was let loose. By 2012 no other game in either North America nor Europe was played more than LoL. After just over two years, over 67 million people were playing each month.
What's a few dollars per hero...right? LoL has been instrumental in blowing up the E-Sport world and proving that a game of this format (free to play with optional in-game transactions) could be wildly successful. Success breeds jealousy though, and I'm sure that Blizzard was watching this whole scenario very closely from the start. Since 2010, they have been on the path to create a more refined DotA and began to shape what would eventually become HotS (Heroes of the Storm).
Enough history! Lets get down to brass tacks. The beta phase of Heroes has been on us for some time now and I was finally able to secure a key (I never got one but my friend received five!). Like most of us, I had a background in LoL. I never got sucked up into the whole ranked world, but I knew enough to be dangerous to my opponents. This both helps me and hinders me. But first things first - if it sounds like a regular MOBA and looks like a regular MOBA then it must be a regular old MOBA, right? But it doesn't taste like a regular MOBA....
Finally! On the surface, they have the same basic map layouts and team setups, but one thing is missing off the bat - no store or equipment. In League your equipment is what determines your character build, since you always have the same iteration of spells. HotS has streamlined what can be an extremely confusing feature to newbs, and unnecessary time sink (going back to base to buy it) by giving your abilities different variants as you level within the arena. While you do have to level your hero to level four (this is displayed outside of the arena and is separate from your account's level) to unlock all of your abilities, this lets the player get accustomed to the character's play style without too many options to worry about. It only takes a few games to unlock everything, so while it can seem like an annoyance, it makes sense overall.
Fight as a team, level as a team. Speaking of leveling, your entire team levels up at the same time, with all of your xp going into a cumulative pot. There really isn't a downside to this as even if you aren't having a great game, your teammates can help you progress to the end. On the social side of things, this will also help a little bit in prevent players from being singled out and berated if they are lagging behind everyone else. Yes, we all want to play with people that know how to play, but we all started somewhere and unless its ranked play, most often people just need to chill.
Once the objective is complete, a player can be transformed into the monstrosity and fights with the monster's health bar. When defeated, the player appears with full health in the same spot. The next big difference, and why my LoL time hindered me, is that each map has a mechanic/gimmick that can greatly help your team win the match. During my first one or two games, I just relied on my old habits of strong lane pushing and smart pvp. I realized that something was gravely wrong, though. I had lots of takedowns and only one or two deaths but my teams were losing. The next game, I ignored my lane most of the time and hammered the gimmick when active. My team won. It was such a revelation and repulsion at the same time. It was genius in the fact that regardless of how your team was functioning, all of the players were together for a good portion of the game, engaging in team battles. It made me sneer at the fact that I could be kicking ass all game and still lose because the other team gathered more seeds or coins or whatever than mine did.
Ogres are one of the mercenary groups that you can "recruit". This is the razor's edge that my judgement balances on. While I did have a great deal of fun when I abandoned my strict lane play, I'm not sure if that's something that I want my entire experience based upon. I like the added element of being able to "recruit" super minions instead of just buffs (as in LoL) in the jungle as that isn't game breaking, but the main map mechanic can feel over-powered at times. Its not a one time means victory scenario but a dynamic game of capture the flag enough times in a row to wield a huge advantage. These can range from summoning a giant plant monster, having pirate cannons destroy enemy structures to casting a debuff on your opponents (with other variants as well).
There is always strategy in every scenario, but I feel that some of it is lost when a majority of your battles involve the entirety of each team. When guerrilla tactics are used more often, its these collections of smaller actions that lead to the rewarding climax of a team fight. Even too much of a good thing can lead to the luster fading away and that is what I'm worried about. If to have success in the game you have to be a map gimmick watchdog and all that that entails, I'm not sure about my future with the game. While I welcome a new flavor in the MOBA world, I feel that a happy middle-ground should be sought out (aka keep the elements but just buff/debuff appropriately).
I will admit, trouncing others as a giant dragon knight is quite glorious! For now I will continue to play and see what happens as the actual release date nears, whenever that may be. Even with the criticism above, wrecking face never gets old. See you in the Nexus!
RSS Feed