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[ianfreddie07]

I used to play some DotA before playing other high-profile PC games. At its current stage, DotA is a map with an original idea with a lot of thrilling moments, but gameplay is a bit on the shallow and repetitive side. And IMO, it's also on the overhyped side.

Graphics wise, it's Warcraft 3. Which means you'll be seeing special effects galore.
Score: 7.5/10

Sounds are also the same, but added commentary from Unreal Tournament makes this a good sound package.
Score: 8/10

Gameplay wise, Hmmm... This is a tough one. Let's start with the pros. First, there are over 90 heroes, with half of them divided in 2 factions, the Sentinel and the Scourge. There are also a lot of items, and you can try out different item builds for the hero. Icefrog did a good job on that. Once you pick your hero and add the initial items, you're good to go. The premise is simple. Destroy the opposing side's main building (World Tree, or the Frozen Throne). What blocks your path are enemy heroes, creeps and towers. Then the gameplay gets a bit shallow and repetitive here. At the first few levels, you mostly kill creeps and inflict damage to the 1st tower until it goes kaboom. Then you move to the 2nd. This hack-and-slash like style is addressed by hero-hero fights. Sometimes, it comes down to be a "first to use skill wins" contest, other times a battle of numbers, and in other times it's a tense showdown of who is the better player among the pack. One player could change the outcome of the game. Overall, the gameplay has a lot of thrilling moments regardless of being a bit shallow and repetitive.
Score: 7/10

Replay Value: Well, the going gets tough in the early stages where you're still a noob, and that might turn some off. But this is a map with a good replay value for those who stick to it.
Score: 7/10

Total: 7.2/10

[_r.u.s.s.]

you treat that map for warcraft 3 like it were completely different game

it's not a whole game, it's a user made map, that's big difference. and it is a good map, it's a fun map. the fact that you think of it as of completely different game and then get disappointed doesn't make it bad. i even dare to say that it's way more balanced and fun than any of the official ones in original warcraft 3. you don't mark some random map off campaign in warcraft3 with gameplay 3/10 because "it gets old when you play it over and over" of course it does, it's just a map.

Plus you get hero-hero clashes, which aren't tense, but are contests of who presses the button first. Plus... There is absolutely NO strategic element in DotA. It's simply a get the better hero and items no-brainer beat-em-up game with a few Action RPG elements

i hear a noob talking. it is tense, you're not supposed to stand still and click at one place, you're supposed to use strategy that most of amateurs don't use because they of dota as of warcraft typical hero fight, it's not. watch some pro gamers replays. if you meat someone who is better in dota you can have as much awesome items as you want+be 3 levels higher but he will still beat you, because dota is about good strategy in mixing your combat skills, items and micro-ing your heroes.

it is all about strategy, the fact that you're not "using" it doesn't mean there is not. it's like i installed command and conquer, then built as much units as i can and send them over to enemy's base and then i make a lame review about how command and conquer lacks strategy in the game.

this is a terrible review. typical "review" of someone who doesn't know how to play the game properly and then complains about the game being stupid

[ianfreddie07]

OK. Let me revise, if you think it's really stupid.

[_r.u.s.s.]

why should you, it's your opinion
edit: oh you did already

[TotalAnarchy]

[Acethor]

You were a bit biased against DOTA from the start already Ian which ended up in a negative review... but some important things to remember:

1. DotA has come a LONG LONG way and has evolved infinitesimally more than any other custom map ever has.

2. Just keep in mind: It's a freakin custom map!!! And yet it has even gained official recognition from Blizzard as its first Spotlight Map entry in the Battle.net Hall of Fame, not to mention is being honoured and recognized in many tournaments around the world including Blizzard Entertainment’s Blizzcon, Asian World Cyber Games, as well as the Cyberathlete Amateur and CyberEvolution leagues.

3. I don't understand how you could say it's repetitive... when the very reason people KEEP COMING BACK is because there are so many different heroes to play, so many different items to build, and so many different techniques to try.

4. It is constantly evolving and CONSTANTLY changing... heroes are rebalanced, items/skills are removed/added/or merged with others, new graphics are implemented, etc etc.

Anyways you call it "over-hyped" because it is popular? So it's a great game extremely popular all around the world and loads of fun... and we all want to play it.... so that makes it overhyped??

And yes the game is very strategic and very tense... but it only depends if you are playing casually or playing competitively. The game does not have "shallow and repetitive" moments, every moment of it is tense and you are supposed to be trying your best to boost your team to victory. There is a good deal of teamwork emphacized in this game, and NO its not about who press the button first or picks the right hero... it's about good strategizing and good teamwork. The hero is nothing compared to the player behind the helm, if he's really good he can own with any hero.

And don't tell us here what "you mostly do at the first few levels"... anyone can do whatever they want in the first freaking levels... or any time during the game for that matter. They don't have to attack the tower, they don't have to make it go kaboom, alot of heroes like Troll, Spectre, Phantom Assassin etc need to farm all game therefore they wouldn't be joining in team fights often and would be seen most of the time farming at the neutral creeps. The point being: Don't put gameplay in a box saying it all follows a certain pattern. See Chen? He can start from level 1 in the forest and gather creeps till lvl 6 not helping at all in lanes if he wants... Axe frequently does the same thing.

If you mean organizing ganks/raids/ambushes when you refer to repetitive gameplay then thats as dumb as saying in Starcraft why do you keep sending wave after wave of your men in the enemy's base, so repetetive right? Or in UT why do you keep just spawning and running around same map and killing the same person over and over and over again? That's really repetitive so therefore its a dumb game?

And I do agree with _r.u.s.s on everything he said... though as he mentioned it is your own opinion but shouldn't be posted as a review because it certainly is extremely biased against DotA.

[Fubb]

I dont have Warcraft, so i can't play that map. Or whatever game you need to play it :\ I just feel like sayign this:

This isn't overhyped. The Twilight film is over hyped.

[ianfreddie07]

D'oh.

[Tulac]

I don't understand why it's just that one map, couldn't you make many maps and just use the same system as that map is using?