Categories:
Pros:
- Wide range of playable champions
- Interesting game modes that will keep players entertained
- Enjoyable regardless of how experienced players are when it comes to MOBA games
- Items and champion combinations make for a wide array of strategies
- High skill cap and great ladder system provides strong replayability
- Seasonal meta changes offer constantly evolving gameplay
Cons:
- Even though it can be enjoyed by new players the community itself is highly volatile towards players who are new
- Players must spend real cash if they wish to acquire a decent roster of effective champions in a time efficient manner
- Some players may get turned off by its cartoony graphics
- Meta changes frequently and those who play infrequently can be at a huge disadvantage if they don
League of Legends (LoL) is regarded as being one of the first stand-alone commercially produced Defense-of-the-Ancients-styled multiplayer game to be released on the market. It was essentially designed as a successor to a popular DOTA player-created map and is now regarded as the biggest and most legitimate esports MMO.
Gamemodes And Classes
League of Legends feature over 100 champions that are categorized under six separate classes: Assassin, Fighter, Marksman, Mage, Support and Tank. Even though every champion can be purchased permanently, every week a rotating set of select champions are made available for the player to utilize free of charge. Players of the game are referred to as Summoners. Each Summoner gradually gains permanent progression which unlocks a variety of bonuses such as runes, masteries and spells.
Overall all, there are 4 different maps that are featured in two separate game modes within this esports MMO. The first game mode, Dominion, occurs on the Crystal Scar and requires players to engage in a capture the flag type match where players have to hold a majority of the capture points, so that they can damage the enemy’s nexus. The second game mode (typically referred to as Summoner’s Rift) is the classic game mode which requires players to protect their nexus as they attempt to destroy the enemy’s nexus.
Summoner’s Rift is where the big esports matches happen between professional teams, as well as where most ranked players spend their time. Balance and meta changes from the developers first and foremost consider this game mode and the meta does shift frequently.
Gameplay
The learning curve of LoL is significantly shorter than its counterpart, DOTA. Compared to other MOBAs, League of Legends strikes a strong balance of players being able to carry an entire team single-handedly. Whereas in DOTA, some characters can potentially become so strong they are near unstoppable and in Heroes of the Storm, a team must always nearby to get anything done. In League of Legends, players can carry games with strong play but it is difficult to do so without team support. This adds a nice balance between team and individual play.
Gameplay in the classic mode is exactly what you would expect with a standard MOBA game in the sense that you farm minions to acquire gold as well as experience, as you periodically fight your opponent. You can also gain additional gold and experience by slaying champions as well. However, unlike DOTA, players do not lose their gold when they die. Instead of brutalizing the killed player, it’s up to the enemy team to take advantages by killing towers or taking other objectives.
Ultimately, LoL is setup as a game that tries to force players more on taking objectives such as towers, dragons, or wards rather than killing players or farming. The latter goals are an important means to an end to power up, but focusing on objectives will typically provide a cascading effect of bonuses. As such, it’s really an exciting game when your team is working together and an extremely frustrating game when your team is not.
It’s also worth nothing that one of the other mechanics that set this esports MMO apart from other MOBA games is the fact that players cannot ‘deny farming’ which is a tactic older DOTA players utilize by killing their own minion before they get killed by an opponent to deny them gold.
Graphics And Sound
Many players have complained about the fact that the graphics of this esports MMO is a tad bit too cartoony and unimpressive to say the least. However, as opposed to gong for the most visually appealing modern looking graphics they could create, the team behind the game, Riot, utilized a ‘timeless approach’. Basically they intentionally chose a cartoon style, so that it would age well, which in itself is key to longevity as far as the lifespan of a game goes. For example, if you take a look at Warcraft 3 or Zelda: Wind Waker, even though those games were released 10 years ago, due to the cartoony graphics that they consist of, you would never be able to tell that they are well over 10 years old.
As far as the sound goes, the login music changes frequently and is as high quality as anything else you’ll find in an online game. The music during the game itself doesn’t change though and can become pretty repetitive after so many games, even though it’s very much background music. Each champion that the player selects has their own set of voice-overs and their skills have their own distinctive sound effects.
