Addictive and fun at times, but ruined by an absolutely horrific online community. Not for the faint of heart.
- Better graphics
- Tools like being able to reconnect if you disconnect
- A matchmaking system that judges player levels to create games
- New and redesigned heroes
HoN retains many of the fun aspects of DOTA, namely being able to play with a competent team and beating the enemy team through teamwork and tactics.
Unfortunately, the game also brings with it the very negative aspects.
The community in HoN is absolutely awful. It is filled with pre-pubescent angry nerds who will lash out at teammates and enemies alike for just about any reason you can think of.
Did that person just charge in and die because of their own stupidity? It's his team's fault obviously.
Is that person getting completely owned by a better player? Well obviously the better player is either a hacker or using an imbalanced hero.
Did the new player just make a mistake? Well too bad, he's going to hear it for the next 45 mins about how crap he is from the angry nerd.
Is this player losing the game badly? Yes he is, and apparently it's completely his team's fault. He might ragequit in the middle of it after a few deaths or AFK at the starting fountain to ruin it for his team.
I could go on for days, but I won't. If you play this game, expect the usual tirade of tired and weak insults like noob, virgin, and much more vulgar being tossed around casually.
It's not that I can't handle the flaming, I've lived most of my life with internet access and I'm now more or less immune to the usual immaturity and blatant ignorance you can find on the internet. But it really kills the fun factor of the game when a teammate is constantly typing in insuts and crying his eyes out.
It also leaves a terrible first impression to new gamers, who will often be yelled and insulted at into submission because of the inevitable mistakes they will make. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them abandon the game because of this.
Overall, the only reason I still play this game is because I do so with friends, and I advise that you do the same if you want to play it.
The HoN community is truly horrific, and if this is what our new generation of adults is going to be like then I fear for the future of humanity.
OVERALL: 7.0/10 Good arena game mired by a terrible community and being very unfriendly to beginners.