Move over DotA, here come MOBA

Video Games | League of Legends: Clash of Fates | Preview

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

League of Legends: Clash of Fates which is a game based on Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is probably close to coming out. The game calls itself a MOBA or Mulitplayer Online Battle Arena. Similar to DotA, you control a champion (hero) unit and use it to take down your opponent's base. Since it isn't a mod, the graphics and interface have been reworked but the general layout and gameplay appears to be the same.

An interesting fact is that the game is free to play. You can pay money in the form of micro transactions to buy certain help items like a lot of MMOs do. Your player character - the summoner system levels up while you play. The levels would then decide what runes you have and which heroes you are able to choose. Higher level players should have all 40 characters. I wonder if the game will come out over here at the Philippines considering that sort of payment structure works the best in this country. It has a great potential to become greater than DotA here since the graphics are updated and the gameplay remains true to the fast paced action.

The game consists of 40 characters which I think is better than DotA's 60+ as nobody will play every character. If they can make each character unique from each other, then 40 characters is certainly more than enough. There are other similar DotA games coming out like Heroes of Newearth however that game doesn't really change anything besides the engine. I think game balance would be far easier with less characters. However, the game does include a rune system which allows customization of your heroes so I don't know how that would affect balance but it will create differences between different player levels.

The biggest problem with multiplayer games is the community. Usually, the elite players will kill new players as they'd probably rant in chat how bad their teammates are and all. The irony of that is that the game developers want new players as it gives them a higher chance of players paying for something in game yet since the elite stop the newbs from getting in, the game developers can't support their game anymore. Soon, the game will end and the elite will now rant about the game ending which is their fault in the first place for creating a harsh newbie environment.

Check out the preview above from Gametrailers.com and check out the League of Legends official site.