For those of you who’ve played Warcraft III (2003), and more specifically the mod Defence of the Ancients (DOTA), you will have probably heard about Heroes of Newerth (from now on HoN). For those of you who don’t know what this game is, or for DOTA players who’ve yet to try it, I hope this article will shine some light on a title which is shaping up to be a real RTS gem in 2010.
Now there are several qualms that I need to get out of the way before I can get to the juicy, shall we say prime-cut stuff! First and foremost, you have to like Real-time Strategy. Second, you have to be of a patient temperament – if you don’t have experience in this genre you will be ‘owned’ in your first game, and probably tenth thereafter. Finally, you need a friend who can invite you because I’m afraid ladies and gentlemen this game is still in the beta stages.
Gameplay – A delicate mix of Counter-Strike, Dark Age of Camelot, and Warcraft III – If that’s at all possible.
HoN is an up-to five versus five online RTS experience, where you control one character or ‘hero’ from a pool of sixty. Each hero has a unique selection of four skills, which can be ‘leveled up’ as the characters overall level increases (up to a maximum of 25). These skills can then be used to defeat enemy heroes or creeps (the AI computer controlled NPCs).
At the start of the game, each team spawns on either side of the map in their respective bases. Th
e teams are split into Legion and Hellbourne (depending on your preference for almighty good or the armies of hell). The overall objective is to work your way into the enemy base and destroy the central building (World Tree for Legion, Sacrificial Pit for Hellbourne). This is done by attacking in one of three ‘lanes’ en-route to the enemy base. Each lane has a number of towers to destroy along the way, and while pushing the ‘lane’, AI-controlled creeps run from each base and can be killed to gain experience and gold advantage over the other team.
Throughout the game gold is obtained automatically every second, or by killing enemy creeps and enemy heroes. The money is then used to purchase items to make your hero stronger, harder, faster and better. Items can then be combined to create your very own Sword of a Thousand Truths.
Think miniaturised fantasy-themed transformers battling it out in a well organised 5v5 matchup. Essentially I like to equate HoN to a player versus player game of World of Warcraft, condensed into an hour’s session (for those of us who just can’t keep up with all that grinding and leveling).
Visual Presentation - Why can’t a competitive title that prides itself on engaging gameplay also have kick ass graphics?
Well, it can. Despite some DotA players accusing HoN of overindulging in graphical prowess, what we are essentially presented with is an extremely visceral and well-polished engine. The landscapes are full of vibrant colours and the various spell/ability effects pop out of the screen like James Cameron’s latest 3D cinematic epic Avatar.
Yes things can get a bit overcrowded when all hell breaks loose and ten heroes start going at each other, but it still works, and the fact that the game looks great certainly doesn’t distract the player from the fundamental objective of beating down your foe with an extremely large war hammer.
The texturing is obviously a step up from Warcraft III (considering how old that game is now), and I think people will be surprised with what a good job S2 Games have done with essentially a ‘mod game’.
Team Play – Two hands are better than one..
Like DotA this game prides itself on its team-play aspects. Like many of my fondest multiplayer experiences, the game revolves around using your hero’s abilities to compliment your teammate’s skills. You won’t win games unless you work as a team, and S2 Games have introduced some nice features to encourage this. The ability to use in game voice chat is a welcome addition to spamming your team in text chat, or ‘pinging’ on the map (highlighting areas on the mini map for your teammates to see).
Conclusion – Give it a try
As far as improvements on DotA go see a list here. My overall feeling is that if you like competitive games, and more specifically don’t mind RTS, then you should definitely check it out (providing you can get a key). As far as a release date goes – it looks like sometime within the next few months.
If you’re a DotA player sitting on the fence – I felt the same way even after a few games of HoN. But like any of these things, it took time and patience before I really started to appreciate what a great game this is turning out to be.
