An introduction to Defense of the Ancients (Defence of The Ancients (PC))

Member Name: matthewhearn

Product:	Defence of The Ancients (PC)
Date:	12/04/09 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gives a great introduction in one of the largest RTS games in the community; gives links for sources

Disadvantages: Shows no imagery

Defense of the Ancients

Defense of the Ancients also known as DotA; is a 'custom game' of the popular game Warcraft III The Frozen Throne. DotA's concept was taken from Starcraft's 'custom game' Aeon of Strife; but quickly outgrew its predecessor in popularity.

DotA's popularity was thanks to its innovative RTS (real time strategy) one unit control; and combining this with a 5vs5 team game which made for great fun.

The gist of DotA - the general gist of DotA is to destroy the opponents base before losing your own; although the bases are guarded by heavy attacking structures and waves of creep spawns - AI units.

The game play itself - The game view is standard RTS view and each player controls one specific unit; or as the game calls them 'Heroes' - each hero within the game has a different combination of four moves, these moves can be skilled after the player has achieved a 'level' which is attained after being in the vicinity of the opponents dying creeps / heroes / structures.

Heroes - DotA currently has 93 heroes; these can be broken down into the three main groups of - intelligence heroes (heroes that use magic to damage the opponents), strength heroes (heroes that use their strength to survive the onslaught from the enemies) and agility heroes (heroes that deal high physical damage; but have weak health points). Each hero can level up until they reach level 25 which is their maximum; and can hold up to 6 items which improve the hero.

Items - DotA consists of hundreds of 'buyable' in game items; each item increasing the hero in some way - some of these items combine once bought in conjunction with one another - to form a more powerful item.
Items are bought using gold; which is attained by killing the opponents and their creeps.

I am going to have the end the review there; and let your imagination take over as the complexity of the game needs to be seen for yourself =)

Although a little more persuasion might help -

DotA is becoming a gaming phenomena; as it is the second largest custom game ever to exist. As the custom game uses the Warcraft III engine; the game itself can be bought for under $30 which in my opinion is a bargain.

DotA is one of the most complex RTS games in the gaming community; and i hope this review will persuade some of you to join the DotA community - which is already over 300,000 strong. You never know; you could become a sponsored professional and get paid to play; or even represent your country and the next LAN event.

For more information on DotA, or to see some in game footage go to: -
www.dota-allstars.com - the home of DotA!
www.dota-league.com - the league of DotA!
www.youtube.com - check some great vids!

Thanks for reading =)

Summary: DotA - love gaming; try it out for under $30