Heroes of the Storm (abbr. HotS) is another one of the popular MOBAs, but it has been declining steadily in the past years. Is it due to it being a bad game, or is there another reason?
The review will per usual have a storyline, gameplay, graphics & SFX and finally, personal thoughts section. Without further ado:
Table of Contents
Storyline
There is a big, multi-dimensional storm called the Nexus. The Nexus itself can destroy universes, but it can stabilize others.
Those stabilized inner universes are called Realms, and each Realm has its own lord. Some Realm lords fight with each other for dominance.
In order to wage their wars, they use the heroes that are transported there from the universes of Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft. The heroes themselves can’t die; their death is only temporary.
The lore isn’t something too big if you want to get into it, and it only recently started forming.
Gameplay
The gameplay is the classic MOBA one, on its basis at least. Blizzard decided to change it up a bit, so the game could be independent, not just another usual MOBA.
One of the main differences in HotS is that it doesn’t have a stable game mode, rather there are different maps with different layouts and strategies.
Another difference is the game structure. HotS is not reliant on grinding for gold and experience, on the contrary, HotS doesn’t even have a shop and items. The experience is shared among the team, which means that no one player can snowball and carry the game.
The game is also very objective focused. Each map has its own big objective (like holding an area for some time, or killing some minions, or even escorting the payload!) which helps a lot toward winning the game. These objectives are almost always heavily contested which makes the game very fast-paced.
There is a
Overall, HotS tends to be a very teamwork-oriented game and quite fast-paced too. It can, many times feel like you are being dragged down by your team.
There are also some weird heroes that totally bend the rules, but that is more fun than not.
The SFX are what you’d expect. You can understand what’s happening and the announcer never confuses you.
What’s really good is the fact that you can see and hear your favorite characters from any of Blizzard’s popular games with new lines and their iconic traits and skills, albeit a bit renewed and rebalanced.
There are also many announcers to choose from, all heroes within the Nexus.
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Visuals
The graphics are a little more polished than its would-be competitors DotA and LoL, which means that by a small margin, it’s harder to run. It’s nothing too obvious though.
Other than that, the graphics are good, there is never a cluster of effects to confuse you and you can understand what’s happening. The maps look very good, it is Blizzard after all.
There are also many maps based on the universes from the popular games and Blizzard did an excellent job at reimagining them.
Personal Thoughts
Generally, HotS is a very fun game, fast-paced and teamwork-oriented. The bonus of characters you already know and love makes for a very good combo. In fact, as I have stated before, it is my favorite MOBA. Alas, it comes with negatives.
Firstly, HotS is very casual. There is no other way to see it, the game is not as intense as the other MOBAs.
That is fully evident now that the esports scene is no longer supported, and thus, doesn’t exist anymore. Which is another con.
No matter how good you are, you can’t profit, and you will not be rewarded for your skill.
The future of the game seems stable, but with a game that doesn’t have an endgame, no goal, and is doomed to be played just for fun, it really doesn’t seem sustainable.
The game is free to play (which is very weird, considering we’re talking about Blizzard), and the company is pouring money for it. If they see that they are only losing money, they will slowly cut it out. They won’t delete the game or anything, but they’ll stop supporting it with further updates.
I’m very sad about this development, as I really thought that HotS had potential. But I still do recommend you to play the game.
If you don’t want an intense experience and looking for the meta and the optimal strategies and builds, or if you just want to get in touch with some of your favorite characters, I wholeheartedly support this decision.
The game is worth it while it’s still supported, so I recommend it to anyone willing to look past its flaws.
Final Verdict
Storyline: 7.0
Gameplay: 7.5
Visuals: 6.8
General Rating: 7.1
That’s it for my review. Have you played HotS? Do you enjoy the game and its wackiness? Were you disappointed when you heard about the cut in esports? Let me know in the comments below, and I will get back to you.
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