As a 4-year player of DotA (almost to the date) I had very high expectations for HoN. It has disappointed thus far.
User Rating: 7 | Heroes of Newerth PC
We are S2 Games. We are going to make an actual genre called DBG, DotA-based game, and then not expect everyone to judge our game that is the first in this new genre at the same level as DotA. Sound like a really good idea? Didn't think so. HoN is the stereotypical predecessor to the classic in any scenario, whether it be CS to CS: Source, Halo 2 to Halo 3, and now DotA to HoN, all flash, not nearly as much substance. Every, single, item, is the same as DotA, a solid portion of the characters are the same as DotA, the map layout is the same as DotA, the boss is the same as DotA. This is DotA, with a sliver of the playable characters, confusingly bright and distracting colors, bad unit selection options in comparison to the much more refined WC3 engine (try Ophelia, try), and the most noob squash community ever conceived. All of the additions in this game would be absolutely fantastic for DotA, such as in-game voice chat, built in stats, leaver stats, future matchmaking. But gameplay wise? Far cry, undoubted far cry. Its not like the game is such a festering turd that a team of agility carries can take on a well balanced team, but the minute details are not there. Last hitting and denying are much easier than in DotA, images are SCREWED UP, intelligence heroes such as Necrolyte (or whatever he's called in this game) are extremely difficult to build because just about every hero in the game so far can counter him. These are a few complaints, really, a slim few. Every team is comprised of a few key units, every other one is simply situational. This is not something that occurs in DotA due to the vast selection (I am speaking purely at the pub level, don't lecture me about pro-DotA, I know the ropes)
THE FINAL WORD
This game is underdeveloped and needs a lot of work. I am talking about the kind of work that took DotA years to achieve. This wouldn't be a big problem if this game was a year out, but its coming in pretty soon here. Sooooo instead of buying this game, you can get WC3. Ok, so it's not as pretty, but the game is so darn polished. And that game that comes with it? You know? Warcraft III Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne? Those are really fun games too, with gripping stories and fun custom games of their own. Overall there is no reason to get 1/8 of the product with HoN.
