League of Legends is, without a doubt, one of the most popular, well-known and highly regarded MMO’s on the market today. And with good reason. Not only is it incredibly addicting, entertaining and generally just a blast to play, but the gameplay mechanics and overall structure are arguably one of – if not the – best in the game today. Extremely intuitive to newcomers and deep enough to warrant even the most hardened veterans hours upon hours of strategical research and study years after they’ve started playing the game, this game, at the very least, should be experienced by absolutely everyone at least once.
Pros: Vast variety of diversely different heroes from which to choose from (100+); varied gameplay and mechanics; unique and extremely entertaining mix of both strategy and RPG components; each match feels genuine, standalone and different; excellent interface; superb tutorial; multiple array of different game modes.
Cons: Relatively poor, clunky lobby interface; a tad too team-oriented (a la, one bad player can quite literally ruin an entire match); insanely difficult to truly master; won’t necessarily appeal to everyone (if this can even be considered a “con”).
GAMEPLAY
League of Legends will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s played any other MOBA-style games. The key (and perhaps most entertaining) difference, however, lies in the fact that the game takes full advantage of its champion system. While certain champions will have abilities that help them to survive the battlefield in direct combat with other players, still others specialize in primarily defensive and/or support-style roles. It’s incredibly varied and deep, and – as we discussed in the pros and cons – quite literally takes an extremely long time to master.
As matches start up and progress, players will receive gold with which they can use to kill minions, jungle creepers, towers and – of course – other champions. The gold gained is used throughout the match to purchase items that can increase champion’s stats and offensive, defensive or support abilities. When matches run on for a long period of time, champions will become incredibly strong and every team fight will no doubt end in various and multiple champion fatalities (along with other accomplished objectives).
GRAPHICS
The graphics in League of Legends are extremely well done. Certain champions definitely need a graphical touch-up in a perfect world, but it’s certainly nothing that hinders one’s enjoyment of the game. All of the various maps look excellent – save for perhaps the Summoner’s Rift, which is a 5v5 map.
Riot Games will actually go in and brush up various maps, effects and other character details if they feel – or here from the LoL public community – that it needs a makeover. The various champion and their skins are also well done, offering a bit of variety for those players who utilize a small handful of specific champions often and are looking to mix it up a bit visually.
THE BOTTOM LINE
When it’s all said and done, League of Legends is so popular and highly regarded for a reason. It may very well even arguably be the greatest MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) style game of all time. Or at least out of any MOBA style games that have been created thus far.
If you’ve yet to try out and play League of Legends – or any MOBA style game for that matter – then you certainly owe it to yourself to give it a go. Not only will you not be sorry, but you’ll also more than likely catch the infamous League of Legends addiction bug that so many current players talk and speak of so fondly.