This Review is going to take you through the "in's" and "out's" of the highly anticipated new RTS release:
General
Game: Heroes of Newerth
Genre: Action, Fantasy
Developer: S2Games
Cost: $30 USD with no monthly fees
Available on:
PC
Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is a new take on the classic, the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne custom map called DoTA (Defense of the Ancients). Heroes of Newerth takes on the role of DoTA superbly, taking the famous game with a long history into a new place. HoN is the most similar game too the original DoTA competing against other games such as League of Legends (LoL).
Story
The story of Heroes of Newerth is an extension too the popular game Savage. Where you the player get taken into a brand new world were you are able to play as the Heroes of the Mystical land called Newerth. Heroes of Newerth uses many of the original heroes in the FPRPS Savage aswell as a vast variety of heroes who have joined the battle of Hellbourne VS Legion.
Code:Windows Minimum: Processor - 2.2GHz Pentium 4 / AMD 2400+ or faster RAM - 1GB of RAM Video Card - GeForce 5 and ATI 9800 w/ 128 MB VRAM Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 Network Connection Required Recommended: Processor - 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo / AMD 3500+ or faster RAM - 1.5GB or higher Video Card - 256MB Geforce 7800+ or Radeon X1900+ Network Connection Required (Broadband) Linux Minimum: Processor - 2.2GHz Pentium 4 / AMD 2400+ or faster RAM - 1GB of RAM Video Card - 128MB fully OpenGL 2.0 / GLSL 1.20 compliant Geforce or Radeon Network Connection Required Recommended: Processor - 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo / AMD 3500+ or faster RAM - 1.5GB or higher Video Card - 256MB Geforce 7800+ or Radeon X1900+ Network Connection Required (Broadband) OS X Minimum: Processor - Intel Processor RAM - 1GB of RAM Video Card - 128MB fully OpenGL 2.0 / GLSL 1.20 compliant Geforce or Radeon OS X 10.4 or newer Network Connection Required Recommended: Processor - 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo or faster RAM - 1.5GB or higher Video Card - 256MB Geforce 7800+ or Radeon X1900+ Network Connection Required (Broadband) Supported video cards: OS X 10.4: Geforce 8600, Radeon HD 2400 or higher OS X 10.5: Geforce 7300, Quardo FX 4500, Radeon X1600 or higher Note: Integrated Intel GMA 950/X3100 is not supported
The graphics are very rich with the developers at S2Games always making improvements. Heroes of Newerth's graphics are very stable and in the five months that I have played the game I have yet too see a fault.
The Game has a well developed sound base, with each Hero having his own unique voice and sayings. Every spell has a feel of "epicness" to it with every spell engaging the audience into an action packed fight to the death!
Heroes of Newerth has very few maps at this point in time, with a highly anticipated Map Editor coming out in the future. Along the Dream Hero Creator, Heroes of Newerth is set too overtake the more popular League of Legends. Heroes of Newerth's main map of choice, Forest of Caldavar is taken directly from DoTA. It is a well symmetrically organized map containing two opposing player bases, with three lanes, and several towers guarding each lane along the way. Each base spawn periodically NPC's (Creeps) and patrol each lane toward the opposing team's base. The main objective in the game is based upon killing creeps and enemy players to earn money, and purchase upgradeable weapons and armor. Using combinable items "Item Recipes" your hero has the potential to become powerful enough along side your team to destroy the opposing base, or they concede the match. Naturally the opposing team will object to this notion, and they are also accumulating wealth and equipment. Equipment plays an important role in the game, since a significant portion of your hero's killing power will come from hoarding equipment.
Heroes of Newerth also has a PSR "Public Skill Rating" system, which allows you too gain Rating very similar too the way the Arena System works in World of Warcraft. HoN also provide KDR "Kill to Death Ratio" which shows your average kills, deaths and assists. This allows if your PSR is lower due too losing via playing with your friends, a chance too show that you are truly a skilled player.
Graphics: 9
Sound: 9
Replay Value: 8.5
Value: 8.75
The graphics are suburb, and the sounds take Heroes of Newerth to a whole new level of immersion to enhance competitive play. The booming voice over of the announcer at many important moments during each game, highlights achievements and objectives reached both by an individual and their team. The overall quality of the game is amazing and the immersive environment makes it fell like you are playing live in a competitive cyber sport. With an online community that provides full support, such as Add-Ons, Replays, Tournaments, Ladder stats and much more. Heroes of Newerth will become the new Mainstream replacement for the Classic DoTA.
Review by
Jackie Moon