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Heroes of Newerth

RP
  • 5 Player(s)
  • Developer: S2 Games
  • Publisher: S2 Games
  • Genre: Action
more info

Heroes of Newerth

In Defense of The Ancients

Preview
by Meagan Marie on March 03, 2010 at 11:10 AM
3,302 Views
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[Welcome to Indie Week at gameinformer.com. We’ve got a full seven days of indie game coverage leading up to the 2010 Independent Games Festival Awards. Check the hub daily for new previews, interviews and other coverage of the top independent games of the year.]

Fully deserving recognition for technical prowess, the size, scope and avid community supporting Heroes of Newerth make it an intimidating game to infiltrate. A large scale, session-based, multiplayer action-RPG, Newerth was heavily influenced by the popular Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of the Ancients. S2 Games believes that the familiar play style coupled with graphical and gameplay improvements will excite fans.

In Newerth players divide into two teams of five, all hero units. Players have a diverse roster of heroes to choose from, both Legion and Hellbourne, each with a focus on agility, intelligence or strength. After selecting a team, AI-controlled armies aid you in your cause, helping destroy the opposing team’s base. Players gain experience and gold with each skirmish, which can be traded for upgrades and items to improve the strength of your character – fairly standard RPG stuff.


Since team play is such an integral part of Heroes of Newerth, S2 Games focused heavily on implementing a strong matchmaking system, in-game Voice-Over-IP controls, and clan support. Heroes of Newerth also supports a stat-tracking system and ladder rankings.

On the technical side, S2 touts several engine advantages, such as game reconnection (so that games aren’t forfeit if someone loses their connection), leaver protection, client-server netcode, re-bindable hotkeys and the aforementioned built in Voice-over-IP.

One of the more deep and complex IGF finalists, it’s easy to see why Heroes of Newerth is being recognized for technical achievements.

[Additional Game Details]
Platform: PC Release: Currently In Beta Price: TBA Website: Link

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Comments
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  • by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 11:26 AM

    They need games like this on PS3 and 360. I'd buy it if they get the controller-mouse & keyboard interface fixed.

  •
    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 11:33 AM

    I am currently in the beta. The game is great overall when going from DotA on WCIII to this. The only thing that is pretty bad is pathing, but that will take a while - S2 doesn't have years of Bliz experience, but it is still sufficiently playable. The characters look amazing, environment looks great, animations are also very good. Overall, its a fun game to play.

    The PSR (Player Score Rating) system for players is often abused and fickle. However, it is an attempt to create an even playing field by dividing players based on some sort of skill tier -- the idea is good but needs perfecting.

    Overall it is fun and I enjoy the game, having been dedicated to DotA for 4 years.

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 11:49 AM

    so its basically DOTA in warcraft in its own game?

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 11:51 AM

    Looks pretty fun.

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 12:40 PM

    Been playing this game for months now.  Really good.  The heroes aren't really diverse or interesting enough, and the PSR system needs a lot of work, but it's probably the best DotA clone available

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 01:08 PM

    this game looks pretty sweet.

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 02:43 PM

    There's already too many RPGs for me to try and find the money to pay for, so I'll have to pass on this one.

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 07:59 PM

    I was able to get a beta key from one of my friends for this game.  It is a a great way to spend an hour or two, which is the average duration of a balanced match.  They handle lag exceptionally well and the system appears to work great at minimizing lag spikes.  The developers added humorous pieces throughout and nothing is more hilarious then hearing the game shout out "Rage Quit!" when an opposing player disconnects after getting owned.  It has a lot of potential as a team based fast action RPG/RTS.

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    by Wednesday, March 03, 2010 at 08:42 PM

    Looks pretty cool.

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    by Thursday, March 04, 2010 at 02:16 AM

    Ive played and rather enjoyed this game. i got tired of DOTA and went to HoN. Few things they need to fix, but if you can get the Beta key than i highly recommend that you get this game. Also if your a newb at DOTA than youll be a nub at HoN.

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    by Saturday, March 06, 2010 at 06:41 AM

    looks like it could be pretty cool, have played a game like this in a while but i may have to check it out

  •
    by Saturday, March 06, 2010 at 06:20 PM

    Doesn't seem like the sort of thing I would play, but a cool game nonetheless. I can see the appeal.

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    by Wednesday, June 02, 2010 at 04:09 PM

    i love this game, been playing for about 7 months now and its really addicting, though i still suck. my only complaint is with the community, which is a problem that is out of the developler's hands

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    by Friday, June 25, 2010 at 06:35 PM

    This is an Indy game?!? I never would have guessed