Heroes of the Storm Review - Totally Not A MOBA

[Blade_125]

If you want to own every (or the majority) of heroes then this would get pricy. But if you are focused on getting 10 or so heroes it's quite possible to do without spending any money.

I've been playing the game for less than 2 months and I own 10 heroes. At least half of them cost 10k gold. I think I only own 1 that was 2k. The key is during the free rotations level every character to level 5 as you get 500 gold. It doesn't take that long to do either. Coupled with doing your daily quests then it is quite possible to have a good selection of heroes.

 

[EyeReaper]

Haven't played this yet, never really liked Mobas, outside of SMITE's coliseum deathmatches. Feel like I should give it a try though, this game has some of my favorite Hearthstone characters (Missing Ragnaros and Dr. Boom tho)

Hell, I'm probably going to have to play this just for that sweet card back

 

[elvor0]

What's more, the game doesn't feel very smooth or responsive to me. I hate using the mounts to get around in the game. And while they have gotten a little better, the pricing structure is still ridiculous.

What didn't you find smooth or responsive? I'm by no means a Gold IV player in LoL, but HoTS felt just as responsive as LoL did out of the gate to me. Skill shots felt the same, and I've never felt "I fucking hit that!" yet when I've missed, some ultimates have a little bit of a windup, but it doesn't feel clunky to me. Heftier might be a better description. Agree the pricing structure is a bit iffy though. A 10k hero=a 6.3k hero in LoL takes me considerably longer to get the gold for than it does in LoL, when comparitively they should take the same amount of time.

OT: I'm not really digging this description of MOBA for people who don't like MOBAs, HotS is a MOBA, it's just more relaxed in its gameplay than others. LoL is a lot less complex than DotA2*, but we don't argue that it isn't a MOBA, do we?

If you wanted to boil it down, DOTA 2 would require the most overall concentration, LoL less than that, and HoTS less than that. That's all. Do I want to play a highly concentration intensive game with the most complexities? I'll play DoTA, do I want to forgo some of that complexity in place of meatier combat and the better inclusion of jungling? LoL it is. Or do I want to have a chillaxed 20 minute game that's more objective based? HoTS for me tonight.

If you don't like the genre, this isn't going to be the game that gets you into the genre, because it still has most of the tropes of the genre. Okay it doesn't have a toxic community(yet), but just because its streamlined, I don't see how it would make the genre suddenly appealing to someone who doesn't like it.

*[sub]and I play LoL because I've never enjoyed the crafting system in DotA, last hitting feels tighter in LoL, I don't want to have to worry about denying in the way that DotA2 asks you to, and heroes are a /little/ too squishy for me in DotA[/sub]

 

[GladiatorUA]

I have three major issues with HOTS, coming from DOTA2.

Cosmetics. Not the price or lore-friendliness. There is zero consistency with how some characters look. With a skin and paintjob some times it's very hard to recognize the hero. Despite a lot of the bitching about certain "hats" ruining Dota2, general shapes and color schemes remain roughly the same.

Overall approach to balance in HOTS is not my thing. Weak and spammy skills with fairly large healthpools, short stuns, and lackluster crowd control. It barely has any moments when you can feel like a god amongst mere mortals. Ultimates, or however they are called in HOTS are on or maybe slightly above of the level of good non-ultimate skills in Dota2. Everything is so damn weak and there are nowhere near enough FUCK YEAH moments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXkzm5x8y0 <- This is dota2 not at it's craziest, but still quite crazy. And it's beautiful. Impossible in HOTS.

A lot of skills are visually and audibly indistinct. Too easy too miss things happening with them also being so spammy from the start. It also gets in the way of HOTS as an esport.

And non-ranked matchmaking... It sucks. It's not fun to lose from the moment you are matched with 4 other people and none of you is a healer/support or frontliner/tank against a team who has proper combination of characters. 5-6 matches in a row.

 

[Denamic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXkzm5x8y0 <- This is dota2 not at it's craziest, but still quite crazy. And it's beautiful. Impossible in HOTS.

This is also a good example of impossible things in HotS:

 

[GladiatorUA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEXkzm5x8y0 <- This is dota2 not at it's craziest, but still quite crazy. And it's beautiful. Impossible in HOTS.

This is also a good example of impossible things in HotS:

What? Something weird and not even funny? At least find something interesting.