MobBoss
Off-Topic Overlord
In the latest issue of PC Gamer, this game got the 'best free to play game of the year' for 2010. So I decided to give it a go, and it does deliver as advertised.
A detailed description:
It is indeed an action/RPG game in the 3rd person. You, the 'summoner' engage in a contest, either a 3x3 or 5x5 match, and choose a 'champion' that you will control in the game. The game itself is based on a map with 'lanes' which are paths to the enemy base. The victory condition of the match is to destroy the enemy 'nexus' which is a structure in their base. Your own base will periodically produce monsters as well that are not controllable and will automatically attack the enemy monsters and structures.
As your champion kills enemy monsters, they gain gold and exp. Each champion has 5 skills. 1 passive skill, and 4 that you can improve as your champion goes up in level. 1 of the 4 skills is a overpower type of skill with a much longer cooldown time due to its power. There are about 68 champions in the game to choose from, and are unlockable via IP (explained below) or rage points (which is what you buy with real currency - explained below). There are always 10 randomnly selected heros 'unlocked' for free players every month or so. If you have no unlocked champions these are the ones you have available to you.
In addition to those, there are also 2 spells from a pool of 12 or so that the summoner chooses at the start of a match. These can range from an enemy debuff, to a self-speed buff, AoE heal spell, or an instant revive if you get ganked.
The gold you gather is spent at your base at the equipment manager. Your champion has 6 slots for equipment that will give various buffs and abilities to your character. The better/stronger items need to be 'constructed' by buying certain smaller items which combine into the better one. All buffs stack except for unique abilities.
Further improvements are made via a generic summoner skill tree that appears rather WoW-ish in nature, and is divided up into attack, defense, and support. Your summoner goes up in levels as well by getting exp from battles, and you get 1 skill point to add to this tree as you level.
The game also implements a glyph system for further character tailoring. As you fight, you gain a form of currency called IP, which can be spent in the online store for glyphs. These add minor and stackable buffs to any champion you control in a fight. They can add crit percentage, extra armor, extra armor pen, etc. You get an extra slot for every level your summoner gets.
The online store uses either rage points, which is what you buy with your real cash, or the already mentioned IP points, which you earn by playing matches. I didnt see anything in the store which you couldnt buy with both.
It is a fairly steep learning curve as there are a lot of options and things to consider. Also, finding a champion that meets your playstyle could take a bit as well. As a newbie, I played roughly 10 games or so last night and won between a third and half of them. Several of the losses were simply because someone on your team disconnected and you were left shorthanded. But thats always a potential pitfall in any team oriented PvP type of game. Overall, I found the graphics, pace, play-style and complexity of the game enjoyable. I will give this a go for awhile and see where it takes me.
A detailed description:
It is indeed an action/RPG game in the 3rd person. You, the 'summoner' engage in a contest, either a 3x3 or 5x5 match, and choose a 'champion' that you will control in the game. The game itself is based on a map with 'lanes' which are paths to the enemy base. The victory condition of the match is to destroy the enemy 'nexus' which is a structure in their base. Your own base will periodically produce monsters as well that are not controllable and will automatically attack the enemy monsters and structures.
As your champion kills enemy monsters, they gain gold and exp. Each champion has 5 skills. 1 passive skill, and 4 that you can improve as your champion goes up in level. 1 of the 4 skills is a overpower type of skill with a much longer cooldown time due to its power. There are about 68 champions in the game to choose from, and are unlockable via IP (explained below) or rage points (which is what you buy with real currency - explained below). There are always 10 randomnly selected heros 'unlocked' for free players every month or so. If you have no unlocked champions these are the ones you have available to you.
In addition to those, there are also 2 spells from a pool of 12 or so that the summoner chooses at the start of a match. These can range from an enemy debuff, to a self-speed buff, AoE heal spell, or an instant revive if you get ganked.
The gold you gather is spent at your base at the equipment manager. Your champion has 6 slots for equipment that will give various buffs and abilities to your character. The better/stronger items need to be 'constructed' by buying certain smaller items which combine into the better one. All buffs stack except for unique abilities.
Further improvements are made via a generic summoner skill tree that appears rather WoW-ish in nature, and is divided up into attack, defense, and support. Your summoner goes up in levels as well by getting exp from battles, and you get 1 skill point to add to this tree as you level.
The game also implements a glyph system for further character tailoring. As you fight, you gain a form of currency called IP, which can be spent in the online store for glyphs. These add minor and stackable buffs to any champion you control in a fight. They can add crit percentage, extra armor, extra armor pen, etc. You get an extra slot for every level your summoner gets.
The online store uses either rage points, which is what you buy with your real cash, or the already mentioned IP points, which you earn by playing matches. I didnt see anything in the store which you couldnt buy with both.
It is a fairly steep learning curve as there are a lot of options and things to consider. Also, finding a champion that meets your playstyle could take a bit as well. As a newbie, I played roughly 10 games or so last night and won between a third and half of them. Several of the losses were simply because someone on your team disconnected and you were left shorthanded. But thats always a potential pitfall in any team oriented PvP type of game. Overall, I found the graphics, pace, play-style and complexity of the game enjoyable. I will give this a go for awhile and see where it takes me.
D). There are some champs(Anivia, Ez for example) whose skillcap is quite high, but some champs are very simple to learn and play(Sivir, Ashe, Annie to name a few). LoL is by far the easiest dota spinoff I can think off, because of its relative lack of skillshots. Wanna learn a dota game? Play LoL imo before switching to another one.
