Heroes, Legends and Gods

Heroes of Newerth

Demigod

League of Legends

What do these three games have in common? They're all based on a cult classic mod for Warcraft III called Defense of the Ancients. I never played the mod, but my first experience with the concept of it came from Demigod. It was reasonably affordable at 40 bucks, and it was from Stardock, so it sounded like a pretty safe purchase. The game described itself as a tactical RTS with RPG elements. That's basically all you need to say about a title to have me interested.

There's something strangely intriguing about DotA based games, and so I'm highly looking forward to Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends. With three commercially published titles inspired by that Warcraft III mod, looks like we might be seeing a trend. It's hard in a way, to describe the overall game flow. If only because it's so unlike RPGs or RTS games you've played before. Multi-genre games are hard to do right, but LoL, HoN and Demigod seem to do it effortlessly.

If I had to sum up this kind of game, think of it this way: It's one part Diablo, and one part Command and Conquer. Throw in arena style maps, a huge cast of RPG characters and you have a fresh, addictive take on the RTS and RPG genres.

If you have yet to play this style of game, I recommend you give it a shot. It may not be for everyone, but it's a fun and competitive concept that will be interesting to see how progresses. Demigod was how I started, and would probably make a good start for you as well. The basic idea is to take your chosen character and lead its units to destroy towers and structures held by the enemy.

For the most part, you don't directly control your units, but rather support them with your own abilities and equipment. You have full control over the character you play, and that's where it resembles Diablo. You'll run around the battlefield slaying enemy minions and gaining XP. There are shops you can frequent where you can spend hard earned gold on new items and equipment.


Battles in DotA style games are tests of endurance, as each side struggles to chip away at the other. Hordes of minions will claw their way toward the defense towers while you do whatever you can to hold back their commanders. This is anything but another Warcraft or Diablo clone. It almost plays like an medieval version of Unreal Tournament. There's even an announcer (at least in Demigod and Heroes of Newerth) that will say things like "Ultra kill!" when characters repeatedly mow down their opponents. There's a real chess like feeling to the game, as everyone's trying to determine how to coordinate themselves effectively to break through to the opposing side's base and take it out.

League of Legends will be free to play, supporting itself on microtransactions, which I love. This is the perfect game for that system in my opinion. Demigod has been out for awhile. And Heroes of Newerth should be due out relatively soon, at 30 bucks. From what I've seen though, that's a fair price, and looks to be the most polished and deepest of other two at the moment.