14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard finally revealed to its fans at the BlizzCon event during the weekend the full details on its upcoming Blizzard DOTA release, which aims at bringing together some of the most impressive heroes from Blizzard’s own properties, like Warcraft, Starcraft or Diablo, and throwing them one at another in combat.
The MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) genre, kicked off with the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III, has certainly gotten crowded these days, with lots of titles like League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth fighting for supremacy, while big companies like Valve or Blizzard are getting ready to debut their own DOTA releases.
After hearing that Valve's own Dota 2 will enter open beta testing soon, Blizzard has also revealed the first concrete details about its own DOTA edition, which is shaping up to be a huge release for any fan of the popular studio.
Basically, Blizzard DOTA is a custom game scenario based on StarCraft II, that sees heroes from across the variety of games made by the company fight it out in battle arenas, in the traditional style of the genre, but bears a strong tongue-in-cheek attitude while simplifiyng a lot of the mechanics.
"Blizzard DOTA is a new official custom game for StarCraft II, inspired by the Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) custom map for Warcraft III. Much like other DOTA-style games, Blizzard DOTA is a team-based competitive game in which each player controls a powerful hero with unique abilities, and works with his or her team to invade and destroy the enemy team's base. We're taking a fun approach to Blizzard DOTA and hope that players enjoy battling each other with heroes from across the various Blizzard universes."
As you'll see in the video and screenshots below, characters range from Warcraft's Arthas, to Starcraft's Zeratul or Queen of Blades, not to mention Diablo's Witch Doctor. The fighters are grouped into four categories, Tank, Support, DPS (Damage per Second), and Siege, while the game focuses and rewards teamwork, sharing experience points with everyone on the battlefield, not just those who take out actual enemies heroes or units.
Blizzard simplified a lot of things for its DOTA title, grouping stats into Damage, Health, and Mastery, and items into Stat Boosts, Consumables, Items, and Artifacts, in order to make jumping in and out of matches a simple affair.
There's still a pretty consistent 'metagame' in Blizzard DOTA, as the studio emphasis that you can also engage in a variety of other things, except battling with enemies, like:
- Territory control and merc camps -- Find and control map locations to gain merc support and send them out to strengthen your creep waves and push lanes. - More exciting map bonuses like the new Stone Zealot -- Conquer this behemoth and he’ll join you in destroying all that gets in its path. - Multiple maps -- It’s not the same old map anymore; things are changing and so will the map choices with a change in terrain and new ways to approach the enemy. The possibilities are endless.
Blizzard DOTA is expected to see a beta test be held soon, and its release will happen, according to the company, around the launch of the new StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
Until then, check out the massive amount of screenshots, artwork and the trailer for Blizzard DOTA below.
