League Of Legends

When I Was asked to team up with a bunch of mindless automatons in an attempt to take over the world, I thought I'd got a job at Starbucks. Turns out I'd been asked to review the latest real-time fantasy strategy game on the block, League of Legends.

The idea isn't a new one: your team -including a heroic champion - battles across a fantasy map in an attempt to destroy an enemy's base, which, every few seconds, churns out a horde of minions. It's their thankless task to trundle across the world to face inevitable doom, as they try to destroy their opponent's defensive towers.

Your champion gains unique abilities as it levels up throughout each game. Winning games earns you Influence Points which allows you to unlock more powerful champions and to find spells and runes. These give your heroes a distinct advantage, but this is balanced by restricting the number of each you can take into battle. While the game is very easy to play, there are so many combinations of powers and abilities, it's difficult to master.

Strategic Abuse

Being an online title, it stands to reason that the worst thing about this game is the player base, which is among the rudest and most intolerant I've ever encountered. The amount of abuse I suffered in my first few games for not "pulling my weight" was alarming - not a positive aspect for a game that relies so heavily on an influx of new players to sustain it.

Accordingly, it's hard to find a random game for while the server lists are full, most are password-protected (presumably to avoid the horde of foul mouthed gamers, eager to insult their own teammates). At its heart, this is Defence of the Ancients with a graphics overhaul and a dry sense of humour. If you liked the original, and can tolerate the other online players, then there's plenty here to lure you in. At least until StarCraftll comes along. If not, the limited game play options might not be enough for many gamers.