by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

I will readily admit that I am not the biggest fan of MOBAs and that particular style of game play. I will also admit that my interest went from 0% to 100% once I saw the trailer for Blizzard’s upcoming Heroes of the Storm. Calling the game announcement exciting might be the understatement of the year. Following Hearthstone, this is now Blizzard’s second free-to-play release in its current line-up.

The introductory video shares how the game changed over time, and arrived at the current state we are about to experience.

From the Press Release:

What is Heroes of the Storm?  

Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play online team brawler starring your favorite Blizzard characters. In Heroes, the epic battles between the champions and villains of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo aren’t settled with last hits and kill-stealing—players are distinguished through the accomplishments of their team.

Whether you’re a hardcore WoW raider, a demon-slaying Barbarian, or a Bronze league Terran, you’ll find a customizable hero from across the Blizzard multiverse to suit your play style. Grab your buddies and engage in fast-paced mayhem across varied battlegrounds that impact strategy and change the way you play every match. When the mightiest characters in gaming history clash, only you can decide who’ll come out on top!

Arthas, Illidan and Diablo duke it out.

Who are the heroes?

Characters like Thrall, Kerrigan, Diablo, Arthas, Zeratul, Tyrael—powerful warriors from Azeroth, Sanctuary, the Koprulu sector, and beyond—have been sucked into the Nexus, a transdimensional storm. Stranded in a strange limbo of clashing universes, these combatants are joined by the same fate—to engage in pulse-pounding combat, to team up in a deadly struggle for survival . . . and to answer the age-old question…

Who would win?

Heroes represents more than 20 years of Blizzard gaming history, settings, and iconic characters, all mashed up into an epic, action-packed team-based strategy game. Fight out classic showdowns such as Tyrael vs. Diablo, or settle those late-night debates you’ve had about who’s the stronger leader—Raynor or Thrall? Could Kerrigan and Zeratul take down the Barbarian and Demon Hunter from Diablo III? Could Uther in his prime give Arthas the punishment he deserves?

Each customizable hero offers a wealth of tactical options and unique strengths that reflect their abilities in their respective games. Bringing these considerable powers to bear in the same setting opens limitless possibilities for previously impossible matchups and mind-blowing team combinations.

Arthas raises an army of the undead.

What is the Nexus?

This isn’t your run-of-the-mill transdimensional vortex! The Nexus plunges the greatest warriors and strategists of the Blizzard multiverse into one of several unique battlegrounds for a no-holds-barred melee. Conquer mercenary camps to recruit powerful allies to your side, such as siege giants. Unlock the mysteries of each battleground, including ghostly pirate ships, the fickle Raven Lord, and massive grave golems to achieve a glorious victory.

Diablo and Nova face off with Kerrigan and Raynor.

Smash your enemies in style!

Distinguish yourself and your team in battle with dozens of unique heroes, skins, and mounts. Then choose from among multiple heroic abilities, enabling you to dish out ruin in the form of orbital bombardments, strafing frost wyrms, or all-consuming hellfire—to name just a few of the many ways you’ll be able to visit destruction upon your enemies. Good players win. The great ones make it look good, too.

Maps

Q: What is Heroes of the Storm?

A:  Heroes of the Storm is a free-to-play online team brawler, starring your favorite Blizzard characters. Build and customize heroes from across every Blizzard universe to suit your play style. Team up with your friends and engage in fast-paced mayhem across varied battlegrounds that impact strategy and change the way you play the game.

In each match you can select from an array of Blizzard heroes and join a team to battle against enemy players, with the ultimate goal of destroying the enemy base. You’ll have the opportunity to stage classic showdowns such as Raynor vs. Kerrigan, or mix and match heroes from different games to fight together and against each other.

Each hero starts the game with a set of powerful abilities and traits, and over the course of the battle you’ll have the ability to customize your hero with unique talents and heroic abilities. While each hero has certain core strengths, the talents you select can greatly change the way your hero fights. Support heroes like Uther for example, can be played as almost a pure healer, or can take on more of a damage dealing role.

Q: What makes Heroes of the Storm different?

A: Heroes offers a uniquely Blizzard take on the genre. You’ll choose from an array of different Blizzard heroes, each of whom is customizable through a versatile talent system. One of these talent options is a selection between different ultimate heroic abilities. Arthas, as an example, can choose the ability to call Sindragosa, a giant frost wyrm, to do a strafing run. Or he can raise an army of the undead to swarm the enemy. Which one is better? Well, that’s like asking if dragons or zombies are more awesome—that’s up to you. Cool choices like these exist in each hero’s unique talent array.

The game also offers a selection of different battlegrounds to fight on. Each battleground has a special secret that can affect the overall strategy of the match. In Blackheart’s Bay for example, a ghostly pirate ship has taken up residence in the center. Treasure chests of gold coins spawn periodically on either side of the battleground. You can collect these coins or steal them from enemy players to pay tribute to Blackheart. Pay enough bounty and he’ll train the ship’s cannons on enemy fortifications for terrible, terrible damage. The Cursed Hollow battleground offers a different challenge. Here, the fickle Raven Lord holds sway. During the fight, tribute totems will spawn periodically — collect enough of them and the Raven Lord will curse the opposing team, disabling their towers and weakening their minions for a period of time.

Many of the battlegrounds share environmental features, like forts, which are sprinkled along the pathways between each team’s base. Each fort includes structures such as gates to prevent enemy movement and healing fountains for health and mana regeneration, in addition to a protective guard tower. Capturable watchtowers also mark important positions on many battlegrounds, offering vision on key areas.

Another differentiator with the game is match length. With a target game time of 20 min, Heroes of the Storm concentrates the intense battles and back-and-forth gameplay of online brawlers into fun, quick, action-packed matches, the perfect length to knock out a few games on your lunch break.

Q: Which heroes are in the game, and what roles do they play?

A: 18 heroes are available for battle in the BlizzCon demo of Heroes of the Storm, but this is just the first group of characters that have been sucked into the Nexus. Many more heroes will join the battle over time from Azeroth, Sanctuary, and the Koprulu Sector. But who knows? The Nexus may draw from other dimensions in the future as well.

Each hero offers different strengths and weaknesses depending on their role. Warriors such as Diablo can dive right into a melee, soaking up damage and dealing it back. Assassins like Kerrigan deal tremendous damage and can pick off unsuspecting enemies, but must choose their battles carefully, as they can dish more than they can take. Support heroes like Uther can swing the tide of battle, assisting with healing, buffs, or other abilities to manipulate the battle in the favor of allies. Other types include the siege and commander heroes, which are more specialized roles that bring different strengths as you build a team.

Q: Heroes of the Storm is free-to-play—what is available for sale and what can be earned in game?

A:  We’ll discuss more details about how the business model works in the future. What we can say is that you will be able to unlock heroes and other content just by playing the game. Cosmetic upgrades like skins, equipment, and mounts will be available. New heroes will also be released over time, along with new battlegrounds, though battlegrounds will probably be freely available to all players. It’s also possible that additional talent options for existing heroes could be available as unlockable content.

Q: What kind of post-launch support is planned?

A: We will announce specific plans for post-launch support at a later date. But we can say that the Nexus is quite a powerful dimensional storm—new heroes are arriving all the time. That being the case, you can expect to see regular drops of new content throughout testing, as well as after the launch of the game.

Q: Is it required to have StarCraft II to play? 

A: No. Heroes of the Storm will be a standalone game, separate from StarCraft II.

Q: On which platforms will Heroes be playable?

A: Heroes is being developed for PC and Mac.

Q: Will there be a beta test? When will it start? How can I apply for the beta?

A: Yes we do intend to run a beta test for Heroes of the Storm in the first half of 2014. We’ll announce more details at a later date. Now is a great time to visit the Heroes of the Storm website and sign up for the closed beta as we begin preparations.

Q: When will Heroes of the Storm be released?

A: We don’t have a release date we can share at this time. We’ll have a better idea for a release window after we start beta testing.

Q: Is there something else you can tell me about the game?

A: Not right now.

Q: Seriously?

A: Yes, really.

Q: But…

A: Keep eye on the official Heroes website at http:/www.heroesofthestorm.com for updates. You can also follow the game on Twitter @BlizzHeroes, and on the official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BlizzHeroes.