Heroes of Newerth Re-Review

The last time I reviewed Heroes of Newerth I was overwhelmed by two things. The first was that it was the first time I’d played a MOBA game and I was amazed by just how much fun the genre could be. There’s something about a life or death struggle for domination that is totally and utterly enjoyable and having it happen multiple times over the space of 45 minutes is just great. The second thing that overwhelmed me was just how unpleasant the community was. Here was a group that had an exciting, tactical game and they hated losing so much that they’d insult anybody new who happened to venture into their circle.

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Never before had I come across such a pleasant experience mixed so rapidly with such a terrible experience. Now, for the video review, I returned, and I didn’t expect anything to have changed.

Heroes of Newerth - Video Review

The Most Addictive Game in Town – The MOBA genre is incredibly addictive, and that addiction is based in solid, enjoyable gameplay. Destroy the enemy while defending your own structures, level your hero and make the most of it – it’s a genre that hasn’t changed much over the years but hasn’t really needed to and Heroes of Newerth keeps up that tradition fantastically.

Senses – Heroes of Newerth looks and sounds decent enough that you’ll really enjoy exploring the maps presented to you almost as much as you’ll enjoy battling within them. Graphics are good, music equally as good and they really help to shape the experience.

Plenty to Do – Heroes of Newerth boasts three maps, a host of different character selection processes and a ton of heroes. Every game is almost guaranteed to throw in something different and the way you react to that is what makes things interesting. It will take you weeks, even months to find and see everything and that’s an awful lot of gameplay for a free-to-play game.

Living the Dream – Each different match offers, in a way, its own storyline. You’ll have rivals, boss fights (that one player who just doesn’t seem to be able to die), twists, turns, internal team struggles and much, much more. Each game is like a fantasy novel, and how much you enjoy this game in the long run might be based on how much you can enjoy each team-up in terms of those around you and what’s going on.

The Store – If you plan to buy things from the Heroes of Newerth store, make sure you have an overdraft. Most items start at around the ten dollar mark and only go up from there. Items available include costumes, name changes, stat resets, avatar and profile vanity items – everything you can think of that changes the game, without actually changing the game. To me these things seem a little expensive and the only reason that this is in the neutral section is because you don’t always need real cash for an object, you can work and save towards them with in-game money. It’d take a while, but at least it’s not purchase-only.

Learning Curve – If there’s one thing I’ve learnt playing MOBA games it’s that knowing how to play really isn’t enough. The goals, the objectives of each match, are simple to understand and controlling the character and communicating with others is easy as well. Get a hero you’ve never used before, however, and watch your entire game fall apart. The learning curve for each individual character is massive and you can expect to struggle until you know exactly when and how to level up your heroes.

The Narrator – Like other games in the genre, you can expect the narrator/commentator to annoy the hell out of you. It’s there for a reason – to keep you aware of the goings-on in the game – but you can expect to hear the same phrase umpteen times in every single match and by the end of it you’ll be hearing the guy’s voice in your sleep.

The Community – I didn’t play Heroes of Newerth for a long time after I’d finished my first review and that was because of the community. I loved the idea of the game, I loved playing it, but being met with disdain by people I’d never met before (or since) because of the occasional mistake just completely put me off. Heroes of Newerth has one of the worst communities I’ve ever come across and it’s massively, massively off-putting.

Heroes of Newerth - Conclusion

Heroes of Newerth is a good game, an excellent example of the MOBA genre and a must-play for anybody unable to get into the DotA 2 beta. You’ll enjoy a multitude of different battles that always feel fresh and exciting, but the payoff from your teammates if you fail is likely to frustrate and make you move on. For the time you’re playing though (so long as your teammates are silent) you’ll enjoy every second of it.