League of Legends: Clash of Fates
League of Legends is a new title
by Riot Games that is similar, and considered by
many die-hard fans to be a sequel, to DotA
.
During the Game Developers Conference
this past week in San Francisco we had a sit down with the League of Legends
development team and had a chance to play the game! We've posted previously
about League
of Legends Screenshots and an Exclusive
League of Legends Video Trailer, so excitement for the game here has been
growing. Sitting down and actually playing it was a great experience, we played
a 3v3 match on a map very similar to the picture on the right.
Playing the game
The game starts each summoner with one champion at the designated respawn
point which is also next to an item shop. The item shop provides upgrades as you
gain experience and gold from killing enemy summoners and minions. You can also
obtain several types of items and combine them to make super items towards the
end of the game. Each side (Red VS Blue) has several buildings inside their main
base area that offer services to the champions. A few buildings spew out rows
and rows of minions that do battle in the center of the map; their primary goal
is to defend your towers and area of influence. Left alone, minions from both
sides will continue to clash without much progress either way, but when you
combine the help of champions with their powerful spells and abilities and they
become a force to be reckoned with.
There are also defensive towers and a few buildings that control upgrades for
your minions. Defensive towers for each side are spread across the map and help
keep enemy minions at bay, as they're destroyed the enemy progresses and there
doesn't appear to be any way to rebuild them (Which is good unless you want a
game to last forever). The buildings in the main base area benefit the minions
and champions as long as they stand and they level with the champion. If they're
destroyed the bonus is lost and you'll see the results. In the demo we played
our own building was destroyed and our minions became much much weaker then the
competition, resulting in our imminent defeat. The total game lasted about 30
minutes and had very little downtime after the champion hit the ground.
Features
League of Legends will have several features not seen in similar predecessors
that will make playing League of Legends much more exciting and less aggravating
than anything you've played before. Here's the list of the new features:
- Champion Options - Dozens of champions to choose from, each with their own
style, unique skills, and abilities.
- Enhanced item shop - Very simple to use and upgrade items, even in the
heat of combat.
- Hand Crafted Battle Arenas - Several highly stylized and unique handcrafted battle scenarios.
- Summoner Avatars - Persistent Summoner avatars and customizations as you
progress in the game.
- Persistent Summoner Ranking and Skill Accumulation - Ability to
advance your Summoner in rank and power to gain skills and abilities to assist the Champions you summon as they do battle.
- Practice Modes - Practice new strategies and learn how to play by engaging intelligent single player Bot-AI and by playing Practice Games online.
- Persistent Unlockable Content - Unlock new content through persistent gameplay and mastering the game.
- Integrated "Leaverbuster" technology - Prevent people from quitting
the game and ruining your experience.
- Massive focus on community - Web-enabled game technology allows for close interaction between the in-game and out of game community.
New Screenshots
We also received some special, never before seen, screenshots of the newest
game level for your viewing pleasure:
