‘Heroes of the Storm’ Needs Your Attention

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‘Heroes of the Storm’ sets itself apart from other MOBA games.

There are so many video games, and some of them go unnoticed or forgotten. One of those is the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game “Heroes of the Storm” from Blizzard Entertainment.

“Heroes of the Storm” launched in 2015 and took heroes from every Blizzard game (even some old classics) and pitted them against each other in teams of five. Characters from “World of Warcraft,” “Warcraft,” “Starcraft,” “Overwatch’” and “The Lost Vikings” all make appearances.

It wasn’t until 2017 that the game really came into its own with a large-scale update. The 2.0 version completely revamped almost every system in the game, breathing new life into it and setting itself up for a promising future.

“Heroes of the Storm” sets itself apart from the other popular MOBA games, such as “Dota 2” and “League of Legends.” Instead of leveling up individually and buying items, the team levels up together. Unlike similar games, “Heroes of the Storm” doesn’t have items. Instead, each hero grows stronger with talents as they level up.

This team-based leveling system allows for a more team-oriented play than its competitors. Each of the 15 maps, inspired by various games, have objectives that activate after a certain amount of time. Once a team gets control of an objective it will then have the upper hand.

The objectives are both diverse and drenched in Blizzard lore. One such objective has players pay a pirate gold doubloons at Blackheart Bay to rain cannons down upon enemy forts. Another objective is to push the payload in Hanamura, where the team who brings it to their lockdown point gets a nice 10-shot cannon to also rain down upon forts.

There are other objectives like “Tomb of the Spider Queen,” where you collect shards that can call three giant spiders down to fight with the heroes for a short time.

These objectives force teams to abandon the two or three lanes, leaving them open for attack. It adds a more strategic aspect to the fight by forcing players to prioritize their attack.

Not every map has a core that players can attack directly and destroy to win. Alterac Pass replaces the core with bosses, similar to a boss from “World of Warcraft,” which this map is based on, and these bosses must be fought to zero health to win.

“Battlefield of Eternity” doesn’t even allow players to come near the core. Instead, you must capture forts and activate altars to make your base fire upon the enemy base. Once all forts are captured, the base will constantly fire upon the enemy base until it is either destroyed or a fort is taken.

All these objectives and the variety of maps create a game that is never the same twice. With 85 heroes, you’ll definitely find a hero you like.

Heroes come from every game, and there is even an original hero for “Heroes of the Storm.”

Each of the 85 has their own play styles and mechanics to learn. Get 16 heroes to level five and you can go play the ranked battles (where the actual fun begins).

Recently, Blizzard cancelled all esports and pulled lots of developers off the game, essentially putting it on life support. That does not mean you should just give up on the game, however.

Blizzard needs to be shown that “Heroes” has a spot in the future of gaming. The esports were actually really popular, so it’s still confusing why they dropped it. If enough people actually cry out and demand Blizzard to save “Heroes,” then it could be brought back.

Try out “Heroes of the Storm,” even if you are not a fan of MOBA games. This game has something for everyone, and you won’t be disappointed. It’s also free to play, so there isn’t a reason not to.

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