Riot Games has posted a video for a new mode of play for their ever-popular multiplayer online battle arena game and, of course one of my favorite games ever, League of Legends. Other MOBA developers, be prepared to get pwned:
This very World of Warcraft looking "The Crystal Scar" map features a capture/defense gameplay instead of the typical destroy the base focus of the MOBA genre and it is definitely going to create imitations across all other MOBAs. The official statement specified that there will be 5 capture points on the map that the players will have to take control of to indirectly destroy the enemy nexus. If you look carefully, there are creeps in the video so it seems like there may be a level-up process during the battle on this map as well and it will be interesting to see how that is going to implemented. One of the main reason why I play WoW is to play in the Arathi Basin as well as the Eye of the Storm battlegrounds (I know there is one more for Cataclysm but I have not gone back to try it) which are also capture/defense player-versus-player maps and with this now announced, it looks like there will be no reason for me to go back to WoW. Unfortunately, there is no timeline given to when we can expect to play the new map. With many competitors emerging and Heroes of Newerth suddenly being free-to-play, I am sure that they are working hard to get this out soon or risk having the idea mimicked before they get the chance to release it themselves. You can keep track of this new LoL development by visiting the official Dominionweb site or if you are lucky enough, you can even check the mode out live if you attend the Gamescom and PAX conventions that are scheduled to take place later on this month.
