14 DAY TRIAL // Last week saw the debut of the closed beta stage for Heroes of the Storm on the PC platform, further establishing Blizzard's new title in the extremely crowded multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre.
Right now, this segment of the market is filled with a variety of extremely popular experiences, starting with Dota 2, arguably the title that started it all when it appeared as Defense of the Ancients, a mod for Blizzard's own Warcraft 3 real-time strategy game.
Besides Dota 2, there's League of Legends, a title that uses most of the same mechanics, while introducing a few different ones, not to mention a much better support from Riot Games, which produces big updates for the title at a more impressive pace than Valve.
A relative new face to the genre is Smite, which actually emphasizes innovation to portray the action from a third-person view. The focus on so-called skillshots is also quite important, as players who want to show everyone their skill can certainly do this in Smite.
Heroes of the Storm uses a different alternative
Meanwhile, Heroes of the Storm knows that it can't win over the hardcore market that's already dedicated itself to Dota 2, League of Legends, or Smite, especially since plenty of players have invested actual money in buying virtual items, skins, or other such things.
Instead, Blizzard is taking things in a simpler direction (a casual one, according to hardcore MOBA fans). In my opinion, the biggest thing that Heroes of the Storm has got going for it is that matches are a bit shorter than the ones seen in Dota 2, LoL, or Smite. Instead of going towards 30-40-50-60 minute games, HotS encounters are finished in a faster manner, from 15 to 20 minutes.
On some occasions and under certain circumstances, things might reach 30 minutes, but these are rare and usually see both teams try to complete battleground objectives instead of actually pushing towards the enemy base.
For me and quite a few of my colleagues, this is ideal as we can easily squeeze in two or even three games during lunch break, instead of hoping to finish just one Dota 2 match in the same time period.
The game is geared towards this faster pace
The fact that you don't have items to buy and that you must constantly fight against enemy creeps, over neutral mercenaries, or for objectives, further fuels the faster pace. There aren't any pauses in the action due to all these things, and the fact that the battlegrounds promote these encounters through their different objectives makes Heroes of the Storm slope extensively towards aggressive behavior.
Despite still being in a closed beta situation, the matchmaking is also a bit faster than in other titles, as the game can easily find teammates and opponents in a short amount of time. The blind pre-pick also helps make the matches fun, as instead of trying to pick or counter-pick, you're just thrown into a match.
Thanks to most of these factors, Heroes of the Storm has a big chance of dominating the entry-level MOBA genre, besides other aspects, like the easily recognizable characters or Blizzard's inherent popularity.
Have you had a chance to jump into Heroes of the Storm? Share your impressions in a comment below.
