Heroes of the Storm: A Great Game Even Though…
So you want to play Heroes of the Storm… Why though?
Bottom-line-upfront, because it’s still fun! It’s sad but true; they (Blizzard) are not updating the game anymore. However, if you think of it like a game of chess, they don’t update chess anymore, yet people still play relentlessly. Games don’t always need to be updated to have entertainment value. It seems that some games just get to a point where the playability is enough where it is. Heroes of the Storm did have other reasons for why development stopped, but the end result, the one we are left with, is a solid game with tons of replay value.
What is HOTS Vs. League Of Legends?
Heroes of the Storm is a MOBA game like Defense of the Ancients and League of Legends, but it’s called a hero brawler. Unlike League of Legends, the developers have stopped adding characters since they reached (90) unique characters to play. League of Legends is over at least double that by now.
I personally stopped playing League of Legends a while ago, and unfortunately, I don’t recognize many of the characters anymore. It’s much too hard to stay current with the game unless you’re a daily player. League of Legends has also slowly changed how their game looked over time. It has a soft look with a plethora of pinks and purples and an almost washed-out look graphically. In addition, they are adding cute creatures to the roaster, which may appeal to other players, and for whatever reason, League of Legends looks more like candy crush now.
League of Legends released their story (Arcane) on Netflix recently (2021), and it was pretty good, in my opinion. The show increased game awareness for the most part, which is great for MOBA games in general.
Heroes of the Storm has a much more contrasty art style. The art is in the Blizzard theme, where Games like World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm are known for their fantasy-themed art style, which often features detailed and colorful character designs, landscapes, and special effects. This style of art is commonly associated with the fantasy and RPG (role-playing game) genres. It is characterized by its use of vibrant colors, exaggerated proportions, and fantastical elements such as magic and mythical creatures. When compared to League of Legends, HoTS has a much more punchy look.
Playability
Major differences, like the in-game store where you have to power up your character during a match in League of Legends, were something that we didn’t miss. The amount of time spent just setting up a purchase list before a match for the store in a match was a little much. It did take you away from a lot of the action and force you to keep making your characters return to the main base and store throughout the match.
Another option League of Legends has that I wish HoTS had is the “surrender” button. Halfway through your match, you may encounter a team that has no idea what they are doing and wish you could vote to surrender. However, ironically, after winning so many matches where we could catch up and win, I no longer think the option would help HoTS. League of Legends had more of the old early Mario Kart syndrome where, once you start to lose, you will lose all matches, and there is no catching up.
Damn Your Team!
Playing team-based games like Heroes of the Storm often requires finding friends or playing with four random teammates who may not communicate well with each other. This can lead to a lack of coordination and a solo player attitude, resulting in angry messages in the chat during the game. These messages often stem from players who are behind in the match and want to blame the game or innocent teammates for their lack of success. To avoid playing with these types of players, it’s best to find friends to play with through the matchmaking system.
Oh, the Scandals…
Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, and Blizzard Entertainment, the developer of World of Warcraft and Heroes of the Storm, have both faced a variety of legal issues over the years. Some examples include:
- In 2019, Riot Games faced a class-action lawsuit in which current and former female employees alleged that the company fostered a “bro culture” that led to discrimination and harassment. The lawsuit was settled in 2020, with Riot agreeing to pay $10 million to eligible employees and make changes to its hiring and promotion practices.
- In 2020, Blizzard faced backlash from players and politicians after it suspended a Hong Kong-based professional Hearthstone player for expressing support for the Hong Kong protest movement during a tournament. The incident led to calls for a boycott of Blizzard’s games and criticism of the company’s perceived support for the Chinese government.
- In 2020, Riot Games was again in the legal spotlight, this time for an ongoing lawsuit over the use of a character from the game League of Legends, which was alleged to be a copy of an existing character.
- In 2021, Blizzard faced a lawsuit over how it handled the release of the game “Diablo Immortal,” which was alleged to be false advertising and consumer fraud.
The reason I wanted to discuss the scandals is that, even though there are issues with leadership, the developers have delivered on the promise. It means the game doesn’t have to suck even when leadership makes a mess of things.
In My Experience
The game Heroes of the Storm we’ve always called Hots, is a challenging team game I’ve been playing with my friends for over a few years. I’ve almost hit 10,000 games played so far. We used to play a lot of League of Legends, and the differences in the game length and the speed in starting and playing a game are very obvious.
Heroes of the Storm (HOTS) is a popular and entertaining five-on-five team strategy game. My favorite character in the game is “The Lost Vikings”, which is labeled as “very hard.” Out of the 90 characters in the game, The Lost Vikings are considered the most challenging to play. They can only auto-attack enemies and often need to run away from other players to survive. The main difficulty in playing them comes from the need to switch between Eric, Olaf, and Baelog, who are all different characters. Getting kills with The Lost Vikings feels much more satisfying because of the added challenge. Winning a match with them is an amazing feeling, and getting the MVP title on top of that is a bonus. Even if you lose, getting the MVP title can be funny and confusing. Playing The Lost Vikings also requires the other four players on your team to work together. Even if you are blamed for the team’s failure, you will understand the true value of The Lost Vikings. Some players might see HOTS as similar to other MOBA games like League of Legends, but the travel time between lanes and the amount of jungle NPC management is different.
In conclusion, despite the popularity of other MOBA games, Heroes of the Storm is still worth playing. The game offers a fun and entertaining five-on-five team strategy experience, with a wide variety of characters to choose from. The game also requires players to work together and communicate effectively, making it a great team-building experience. Overall, Heroes of the Storm is a great game for players who enjoy team strategy and a unique MOBA experience.
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