14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard plans to introduce a brand new battleground to the alpha version of its multiplayer online battle arena game Heroes of the Storm, the ominously titled Garden of Terror.
The upcoming map is a brand new, three-lane battleground that features a day and night cycle that has various gameplay ramifications. One such gameplay-altering consequence of the inclusion of night and day mechanics is the fact that come nightfall, the normal mercenary camps will disappear from the map, to be replaced with horrific abominations.
"Garden of Terror provides us with the opportunity to feature our dynamic lighting. During the night, we turn down the brightness of your hero's vision, so the map becomes much darker. We recommend players to stay alert and keep your allies close, night is the perfect time for enemies to strike and take advantage of your reduced visibility," the official description on the Heroes of the Storm reads.
The night sequence will not end until all horrors of the night have been killed. And since the way the map changes and the day and night cycle are controlled by players, the mechanic becomes an integral part of the team's overall strategy, introducing a new layer of decision-making.
One of the objectives of the new map is to grab seeds, which is done by killing the small Infested Servants scattered throughout the garden, as well as the massive Flowering Shamblers. After collecting 100 seeds, any player can then click on the Fertile Soil mound inside their base in order to summon the mighty Garden Terror.
The player will then become the Terror himself and will use the immense power of the beast himself, to his team's advantage. As the summoned Terror expires after a certain time limit, assessing the proper moment to make use of its abilities is critical gaining the upper hand.
Aside from its phenomenal brute force, the Garden Terror has two cool abilities with strategic implications. The first one, Plant Horror Overgrowth, disables and damages all buildings inside a certain area. The second one, Spore Queen's Curse, an area of effect polymorph ability, enables players to turn their enemies into slow and weak Plant Zombies.
Heroes of the Storm is currently in closed alpha testing, and Blizzard promises that it won't be just another MOBA or "action real-time strategy game," but that it will offer a fresh experience, enabling players to pick a prominent figure from the lore of the company's biggest franchises, StarCraft, Diablo and WarCraft.
