Heroes of Newerth: Now with Full Cast

I have to admit that while I thoroughly enjoyed the time that I have spent playing the Heroes of Newerth beta for the Personal Computer - with one such occasion being an all-nighter - there's a bit of dread that actually comes with participating in the online matches. This game is not friendly to those who are learning the game because its community is mostly filled by those who have played Defense of the Ancients before and they are pretty fanatical about winning in that religious holy war level. It's hard to find enjoyment in the game when your teammates constantly barrage you with insults via text or voice throughout the game when they should be encouraging you to get better at it. The bad thing here is since communication is key, you are pretty much stuck with the ridiculous amount of abuse throughout the game. What makes this worse is that whenever a game room is entitled "Noob Only", 90% of the time this means that the host - usually with a bunch of friends - is a noob to HoN but not a noob to DotA which technically means that the host - and those friends, mind you - is not a noob. This is the reason why I haven't been on the game as addicting and fun as the game is. Thankfully, the game does have a local play option which I assume would allow you to face yourself against bots to really practice the ins and outs of the game without losing your sanity but this is yet to be enabled in the beta since the focus is really about the online stability and the balance, or lack thereof, of the game's many characters.

You can play this game for a lifetime!

I haven't played the game in a while so I thought it was long overdue, especially after the recent return to its distant cousin, Demigod. I am surprised to see that all the character boxes are now filled up so the game contains a whopping total of 60 characters - variety is an area where Demigod is severely lacking. I do prefer the gameplay of Demigod better because it features a more complex level up system but you can't beat the amount of gameplay you get from the amount of characters in HoN. Another cool new feature I discovered is the ability to watch replays of the game's matches - this is another game that's fun to watch as it is fun to play, especially with the robust replay controls. HoN is the type of game that I wish I could play with close friends. I have a competitive spirit but camaraderie and respect are just built-in to my system. I like winning but I don't mind losing and it frustrates me to play with those who lack that kind of mentality - especially when a game is just filled with those kind of people.