Heroes of the Storm
| System: PC |  |
| Dev: Blizzard Entertainment | |
| Pub: Blizzard Entertainment | |
| Release: June 10, 2015 | |
| Players: 1-10 | |
| Screen Resolution: 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p | Crude Humor, Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes |
Blizzard Mash-up
by Sean Engemann
Oh, to be a fly on the wall at Blizzard Entertainment’s strategy and design meetings. The grand plans they surely salivate over. Looking at their most recent endeavors, it would appear they are not only treading in new pools, but diving into the deep end with a giant murloc splash. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft now effectively dominates the digital realm of the collectible card game genre; Overwatch is gearing up to overtake the shooter battlefield; and their current roster of Diablo , StarCraft , and World of Warcraft continue to reign supreme in the categories of action-RPG, real-time strategy, and MMO, respectively.
Blizzard’s entry into the MOBA arena, Heroes of the Storm , more or less reinvents the wheel already chiseled to smooth contours by the likes of League of Legends and Dota 2 . However, Blizzard’s signature aesthetic, clever use of humor, and approachable format entices a sizable audience to give their entree a nibble, which inevitably leads to a second or third thousandth helping.
One of the game’s most clever design choices is the integration of the developer/publisher’s three behemoth franchises into the action. Familiar heroes and villains from Azeroth, Sanctuary, and the Koprulu Sector ( WoW , Diablo , and StarCraft ) all find themselves whisked away to the Nexus – a place where worlds collide and the best and brightest (or darkest) wage war in 5 vs. 5 matches on condensed battlefields. Despite the more serious overtones found in the Diablo and StarCraft universe, Blizzard has opted to inject a slightly more whimsical approach scattered throughout the World of Warcraft -centered script. Hearing Diablo whine about teaming up with a nephalem (your hero in Diablo ), or even going back to the tutorial where renegade commander Raynor matter-of-factly corrects the lord of terror on the impossibility of literally devouring fear keeps a chuckle handy during the fast-paced action, while drawing in greenhorns to the multiplayer online battle arena genre.
The objective is simple: take your team of five from your home base down two or three main alleyways to the enemy base and destroy their core building. Each character has a unique power set, with three primary abilities, a choice between two heroic abilities (once you’ve reached level 10) and a passive trait. It’s a simple selection that will keep your hand locked in a tight hotkey group without having to memorize a confusing mass of button combinations, though don’t mistake it as lacking in strategic girth. As your character levels up during a match you will be presented with ability upgrade choices, and these choices hold tactical weight depending on your team composition and the battleground’s unique features and objectives.
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