inGame footage of various games. In the future I hope to add reviews. ^_^

Heroes of Newerth:


(That's an older youtube vid I found. I'm not allowed to publish new material from the beta.)


A beta-leak video review of HoN (German). Shows you much of the lobby interface and other features.

 

League of Legends:


Gametrailers preview of LoL.

 


An official trailer for LoL.


A video review of LoL (english). Not sure if leaked or sanctioned.

 

DotA (Defense of the Ancients)

 


Some DotA video. I honestly couldn't find ANY good gameplay video for Dota. Most vids are simply my-dick-is-BIG demonstrations accompanied by some shitty trash metal soundtrack or something bombastic (like, US-marine corp recruitment orchestrals or Carmina Burana). Sorry. If you can recommend a good DotA video I'll put it up.

 

 

Demigod:


Demigod showcase video featuring Lord Erebus.

Demigod showcase video featuring Queen of Thorns. Probably not office safe.

 

For those that don't know what HoN or LoL are: Both are DotA clones. If you don't know what DotA is then google it.

First HoN impressions:

  • Graphics
    Looks like Warcraft 3 (i.e. old, cheap, candy colored comic look). Seems much smoother, though. Less jerky scrolling. Any comparison to Demigod would be unfair. It's like comparing Superman to Batman - both are great in their environment but if you'd match them up against each other Superman would wipe the floor with Batmans ass from two cities away.
    Has a limited zoom (i.e. you can zoom in a bit and back, but not out) and a functional minimap.
  • Interface
    Just like DotA, i'd say. Bottom quarter of the screen is occupied by artwork, skills, hero stats and the minimap. I'd call it functional but totally ripped of from Warcraft (which isn't necessarily bad). Very small icons and text. Hard to read and the tooltips have much text. Demigod is downright minimalistic in comparison.
  • Heroes
    A large selection of heroes ... too many to grasp the gist of them in the short time I played it. Not all heroes were implemented yet but it looks like they planned for a 60 heroes cast. Each hero seems to have four different skills you can improve as you gain levels, plus the ability to simply improve your attributes. The skills are either passive or active and have a cooldown timer similar to DG. But since some heroes can have several passive skills out of a set of four, that can mean that you are left with a meager single one active skill, like the tosser I picked (Magebane or something). Kinda like Oooze UB without foul grasp.
    However the skills some heroes have do things that are not seen in Demigod. Some manipulate the map (by planting obstacles(walls) and some move the enemy against their will. Some passive skills trigger a damage effect everytime you use an active skill.
  • Maps
    Think Warcraft again. Mazes with trees and rocks marking the boundary. Or think Demigod maps with boring graphics. They ain't really that different from the DG mazes ... just more "realistic" and much larger.
  • Players
    Lot's of open games in the lobby. Some fairly large ones, too (I think 5v5 is max). If you've played DotA before then you'll have no problems finding friends. If you only played Demigod before, then you'll think the HoN community is a bag of arseholes because you'll likely be taking your first stumbling steps with dota veterant that are not exactly renowned for their forgiving attitude towards noobs. Luckily there's a fuck-filter in the chat.
  • Economy
    Killing stuff earns you XP and gold. You can buy equipment in shops. No base building, but your base starts with several buildings that don't offer any interaction, though. Creeps spawn in certain buildings and run on lanes to the enemy base, which should sound familiar.
  • Death & Dying
    You get automatically resurrected after some time. You can, however, shorten the wait time by paying a moderate amount of gold, which is actually an interesting feature. Similar to DG, there's a Healing Crystal equivalent, something that had to be pointed out to me in the Demigod forum (thanks, dude).
  • Gameplay
    Weeeeeeeeell .... I sucked in my first game and got promptly verbaly punished for being a noob. This doesn't help endear you to the game, so my perceptions may be flawed. But my first impression was: I can't zoom out (I swear, after playing Demigod I think it's impossible to enjoy RTS games without a God-Eye-Zoom)!
    In addition to the fixed camera height you have a considerably larger map and a faster movement speed than experienced in Demigod and you can't help feeling confused and disoriented. The creeps are stronger in comparison to DG creeps (but then those puny heroes are no half-gods). There is no health crystal. I think the only way to heal up is to buy potions. At least you can buy more than three per slot.
    The game is fast paced but not so fast that you'll experience instant death right from the start. You'll have plenty of time to decide that a battle is a lost cause and run for the towers.
    And your job? Easy, kill and destroy. No flags, no warscore (although there are other gamemodes that might have something similar). The only thing you can do is find creeps or heroes and kill them. And find enemy buildings and destroy them. That's it.
  • Game Modes
    There are only custom games. No skirmish or pantheon. No single player mode and (currently) no bots to solo against. Many possible options to setup a custom game. And the features the lobby offers are something to be seen. Feels like a database browser (i.e. comfortable and powerful).
  • Replays
    They work. Take that, Demigod!
  • Community
    It's a new game so you'd expect the community to be new also. But it's not. It's mostly DotA veterans that got a bit frustrated with the aged Warcraft 3 engine and wanted something, er, newish. Someone in the HoN forums summed it up pretty much: "I'm actually pretty surprised by this community. So far it's been very hard to find nice people. Most players - particularly those with Dota experience are incredibly rude to all players."
    The Demigod community certainly has it's share of unfriendlies, but as a whole it's quite amiable. Maybe this will change with the rise of competetive play.

Bottom line: Graphically it's definetly a step down when compared to Demigod. But noticably better than DotA. It's really really running smooooooothly. If you consider the small DG roster Demigod's biggest drawback, then HoN might seem attractive. The complexity and detail of each hero is lower than that of any one Demigod. It's also extremely beginner unfriendly. And even though Demigod didn't have any kind of tutorial either, you grasp the gist of DG way faster than that of HoN. HoN is clearly aimed at DotA players. It looks so similar to DotA that fanboys might as well stay there.

It's still in beta so many things will change. The strongest point of HoN is it's large hero rooster. Apart from that I don't think the Demigod has much to fear.

But since it's an early test phase, I'll certainly give it another try. I can endure the "F*CKING _NOOB" for a time, hehehehe.

 


Comments (Page 11)
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on Aug 05, 2009

pseudomelon
One thing I can say for certain about HoN: I hope in the future, other games will learn from its AMAZING matchmaking.
I wouldn't bank on it, they're the first ones to even learn from b.net.

on Aug 06, 2009
i tried hon last night ... hmmm .. after playing demigod, i dont think hon comes close to being as good as it. personal opinion
on Aug 06, 2009

Aroddo


These, more than anything else, demonstrate the absolute superiority of Demigod over any other RTS game currently available in regards of artwork and graphics.

 

 

In fairness, the video doesnt visually do LoL justice. "Absolute superiority" is debateable and it sounds like your bragging about this really awesome house built on weak foundations. Imho graphics is probably the least important feature when it comes to these types of games moreso in Demigod as you probably play like most (super zoomed away) and missing out in its detail glory. The maps themselves are pretty plain.

Someone simply needs to come along, take the best of all three and make some new super mega Dotigod: Klash of Newerurth with up to 20 v 20 and psyonic link chat. These types of games need their own special genre name. They feel different enough than RTS... maybe like HeroRTS or TCG (Toixc Community Games).

on Aug 07, 2009

Bloodsoda

These types of games need their own special genre name....     TCG (Toixc Community Games).

Love it!!!

on Aug 07, 2009

Bloodsoda
In fairness, the video doesnt visually do LoL justice. "Absolute superiority" is debateable and it sounds like your bragging about this really awesome house built on weak foundations. Imho graphics is probably the least important feature when it comes to these types of games moreso in Demigod as you probably play like most (super zoomed away) and missing out in its detail glory. The maps themselves are pretty plain.

Well, in fairness' return, the reason I started playing Demigod in the first place was because I loved the genre, but the DOTA graphics made me hurl after so long, also, the resolution and zoom bothered me so much that I didn't want to play it anymore. So no, graphics are not paramount, but still can be a big reason to like the game.

Someone simply needs to come along, take the best of all three and make some new super mega Dotigod: Klash of Newerurth with up to 20 v 20 and psyonic link chat.

Brave idea, but it's not going to work. Not only has the game industry proven that they can never do something 100% right (no offense but it's true), but also it's probably impossible to begin with. You just can't please everyone at the same time. You chose option X, people that wanted option Y will bitch about it and trash the game. There simply is no middle road and therefor there isn't such a thing as "the best of all three".

But this isn't a critisizing (spelling?) post, so I'll add that on the big points I agree with you. It would be awesome if a game studio could take the best elements of all games to make one superlative game. Too bad most studios go for the quick cash of already popular games and not for the eternal glory of making that truly awesome game.

on Aug 07, 2009

I expect we'll see a dozen or so really really bad TCG games (the acronym must be continued!) in light of the popularity of Demigod, LoL, and HoN.

on Aug 07, 2009

I agree, much in the same way as FPS are over-saturated, I'm guessing we'll see a few people trying to cash in on the TCG Model.

on Aug 08, 2009

These types of games need their own special genre name.... TCG (Toixc Community Games).

Unfortunatly I dont think it will take off as TCG already stands for Trading Card Game...

 

on Aug 08, 2009

RowSkin

These types of games need their own special genre name.... TCG (Toixc Community Games).
Unfortunatly I dont think it will take off as TCG already stands for Trading Card Game...

 

Damn, I hate it when you're right.

on Aug 08, 2009

RowSkin

Unfortunatly I dont think it will take off as TCG already stands for Trading Card Game...

 

 

Somehow I knew some party pooper was going to point this out.

If LoL can mean Laughing out Loud and League of Legends we should be fine... jokekiller.

on Aug 08, 2009
I've been in the HoN beta for a couple days now, and despite the item system being incredibly obnoxious, I think I've been enjoying it. Demigod was my first TCG, so the differences do take some getting used to, but things like the limited camera don't destroy my impression of HoN.
on Aug 08, 2009

I have had the HoN beta for a few weeks now but there is a bug which stops me joining or creating games so I haven't played actually yet

on Aug 09, 2009
What I'm not seeing in HoN is why anyone would play that instead of DotA. Is there any real difference other than a few ability tweaks?
on Aug 09, 2009

Primal Zed
What I'm not seeing in HoN is why anyone would play that instead of DotA. Is there any real difference other than a few ability tweaks?

 

You would have to try to see.  I think HoN has better looking graphics and a better user interface.

Gameplay is intended to be very similar, but to me it feels as if HoN is 'slower'.

 

Try the beta, if you haven't already.  If you need a key, PM me your email address.  I have 3 keys left.

[Edit: 2 keys left]

on Aug 09, 2009

Aesir Rising

Quoting Primal Zed, reply 163What I'm not seeing in HoN is why anyone would play that instead of DotA. Is there any real difference other than a few ability tweaks?
 

You would have to try to see.  I think HoN has better looking graphics and a better user interface.

Gameplay is intended to be very similar, but to me it feels as if HoN is 'slower'.

 

Try the beta, if you haven't already.  If you need a key, PM me your email address.  I have 3 keys left.

 

If you (or anyone here) wants the key, please also post in this topic your intent - so others can see when I've received requests for the 3 keys I have left.  I'd like to avoid a flood of PMs in my inbox where all I get to say is "I'm all out of keys, sorry."  Because that is boring for me. 

Just sent you a PM (two actually, you'll see why)

My intent is really simple, I'd like to try the HoN beta since the concept of the game is basically the same of DotA. I liked DotA and this could be a way to check myself if HoN is at the same level or better, and possibly provide some feedback and thoughts to the devs.

Quacko

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