The Kuori Perspective

Oh hi there, didn't hear you come in. Welcome to The Kuori Perspective.

So as some of you may have noticed by now, on the weekends I'm often on and off, or just completely absent from the forums for long periods of time. And as some of you have figured out, much of that time is spent playing games.

Essentially this will be just like Zeri's game review thread, where I take a certain game I have played to an extent and well, review it. I will try to point out the good things that the game has and the flaws it possesses, so it allows for a fairer judgement on if the game is actually worth it or not.

However, I will hardly do reviews on big AAA titles. The reason behind that is simple, in order to review a game I must have at least played it to a certain extent first. And with these AAA titles I usually won't go out of my way to preorder it or buy it on release day, or anytime relatively soon after release day. And some AAA titles I just won't buy, usually this is because I'm not interested in most of the AAA titles nowadays. There are a few exceptions, like StarCraft 2 and the upcoming DotA 2. And yes, this also means that The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is off my review list too

~Table of Contents~

DotA 2

I believe this officially constitutes me as a hypocrite, when I said I wouldn't do many AAA titles and the first game I end up reviewing is a AAA title.

Overview:

Anyway, for those who aren't familiar with the game, DotA is a WarCraft 3 mod and stands for "Defense of the Ancients" and is one of the first Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games ever made. To break down the game, you are in control of one character called a Hero, fighting alongside four other Heroes. The main objective of this game is to kill things, level up, gain gold to purchase items, and ultimately defeat the opposing team of five Heroes by destroying their main base structure, the Ancient. Now this sounds ridiculously simplistic, but it's not. DotA is one of the e-Sports that require teamwork and strategy if you don't want to get your arse kicked in the first fifteen minutes of the game (average length of a DotA game is 30-50 minutes).


Like so. This is a pretty short game too, only 26 minutes.

Design:

DotA 2 is, unlike most other sequels of popular games, simply just a remake of the original DotA. While there isn't any new stories or mechanics introduced in DotA 2 it also makes sure that the sequel doesn't ruin the series like so many other sequels out there. The graphics were heavily improved along with the UI, which was now free from the restrictions of the WarCraft 3 game engine. And while I am rather pleased that VALVE decided to remake the game I loved so much back during my WC3 days, I have to scratch my head at some of the Hero model designs they decided on.


"Not to fear! Omniknight Chuck Norris is here!"

However there are several Hero models that I absolutely love, one of which is Sand King. Plus, DotA 2 has one of the most epic main themes I've heard from a game in a while (yes it's on par with the Skyrim theme). The music is just so fitting for the game and incredibly well made. Some parts of it bear a strikingly close resemblance to the original DotA music, which is bound to bring back a feeling of nostalgia within players such as myself who have played DotA before. Yet at the same time the theme is also very different from the original music, so that one, they don't get sued by Blizzard since the original DotA soundtrack is one from the WC3 engine, and two, it gives a fresh new feeling so that people don't just disregard it as "another MOBA game" and go back to playing Heroes of Newerth.

Content/Gameplay:

Like most MMOs DotA 2 does not have a storyline of any sort for you to play through, however each Hero does have his or her own background story. Now some of you may be asking "So how much does this game cost a month?" Answer is nothing! Unlike most MMO games where you have to pay a subscription fee in real money to even play the game, and then pay even more money in order to unlock everything, to play DotA you simply need to purchase a copy of the game and you're good to go. All the Heroes are also already unlocked for you, that's currently over 100 playable Heroes that you don't have to pay out of your pocket for (unlike in HoN or LoL). While they currently don't have any cosmetic stuff like skins that LoL and HoN do have, but...


You're paying real money to get a skin that turns this...


...into this. Worth it?

And so far out of all the MOBA games I've played, DotA 2 is by far the most balanced game out of all of them. Note that I did not say DotA 2 is perfectly balanced, because it's not. However, one must bear in mind that it's nearly impossible to balance a game this complicated that has so many Heroes all having completely different abilities. In HoN, whichever team has Amun-Ra has a 90% chance of winning.


Throw a Scout in there and the chance immediately becomes 99.9%

Personal Experience:

Now I've been playing DotA 2 for a good 300+ hours, though it's very time-consuming, it is also incredibly enjoyable. Even more so if you have a friend or two, or three, or four, playing with you. I've learned from personal experience that in games requiring teamwork, it is much more fun playing with your buddies and people you know. Then if you pull off something incredible, you have someone to share the joy with, and if you get your arse kicked, you guys end up laughing it off anyway. Unless one of your friends is this guy.


"Do you really need help placing a fucking ward? Here let me draw it for you."
"Whichever hero Chachi plays is automatically a 6."

Conclusion:

Basically, DotA 2 is an incredible game. Keep in mind that DotA 2 already has enough content to stand up to either HoN or LoL, and they haven't even put in the entire Hero pool yet. This game is currently still in Closed Beta, and the only way to get in is with a Beta key. And since the game is still in Beta and therefore has no set retail price, I can't give you my thoughts on if the game is worth the money or not. I'm assuming the game will be $60 on Steam at most, and if that is the case then yes, DotA 2 is completely worth that money. And if anyone tells you otherwise they are lying through their back teeth, and will suffer divine punishment at the hands of Roshan.


And this is one of his more pleasant days.