Before I start this review, let me state that I am relatively new to Dota-style games, such as Heroes of Newerth (HoN) and League of Legends (LoL). I do not claim to be an expert of these games; however, after watching some of these games played competitively, especially MLGs League of Legends tournaments, I have grown fond of the genre. They led me to try HoN, one of the more popular games in this genre, for myself.
First of all, a huge draw to the game is the ability to play for free. Players are able to download the game relatively fast, and get right into the action without spending a dime. The game also offers a wide variety of unique and fun heroes for players to play, allowing players to have new gaming experiences. These characters are unlocked using coins that players earn while playing. These coins can also be purchased, allowing plays who want to spend the money to get more coins, while players who do not want to spend the money are not forced to.
Heroes of Newerth is also a fun game because the controls are rather simple. With only 4 skills per character, players are able to quickly understand what abilities they have to choose from and how to use them. Moving is also simple, with a simple click to move mechanic. These controls allow players with little experience in this type of game to quickly pick up what they are able to do, while more advanced players are still able to have numerous amount of skills.
These simple controls are complemented well by the pretty good graphics. For a game that is free to play, Heroes of Newerth has some of the best graphics in the gaming industry. These graphics make some of the big fight scenes that this game presents even more exciting. Many times while I have been playing this game I have felt my heart racing as a huge 5v5 battle commences. These graphics are by no means ground breaking, however, they are much better then I expected to see in a game that is free to play.
A flaw I find in the game is the lack of help given to new players. Yes, there is a tutorial that helps players get used to the basics of the game. However, this tutorial seems to be lacking the chance for players to get used to what it is like the play against other players. After the tutorial players need to play games against other players, who are usually much more experienced. This makes learning the game very frustrating. The game is lacking a way to practice against computer controlled heroes, similar to how League of Legends has “bot” games that players can practice with.
Also for new players to be competitive they need to spend quite a bit of time outside of the game to get better. Learning which items to get when is probably more important in the game then understanding how the hero you are playing works. This means players must spend time learning how their class works, what items to buy, and what abilities to get first, or else they will not be able to compete against others. This does not seem like a huge deal to most gamers, myself included. Some players though do not want to put this sort of time into a game that they just started playing.
Overall HoN is a fun game but it caters to a specific audience. This audience being players who are already experienced in the games genre. If players already know what is going on, and are willing to put the time in to study the game, HoN offers countless hours of fun. However, to new players, HoN can be very time consuming and often offering little reward. This makes trying to become a diehard fan of this game hard, however, if you think you are up to the challenge Heroes of Newerth has the potential to be a very entertaining game.
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