League of Legends Review page 2

08 Dec 2009 at 14:31:28 by Gunnar Petzall
Systems used to review this title: (PC)

What makes LoL special in this genre is the accessibility to players as both DotA and HoN can be very elitist. As a DotA/HoN player you are expected to know a vast number of statistics on Champions, items and item combinations to be good. LoL gives you the same gameplay feel but without many frustrations. It's simply often just more FUN to play.

In addition to the game, a player can customise his Masteries in the game lobby, a system of Mastery points almost identical to "talents" in WoW. Each point only increases a stat one or two percent, but it's fun to play around with and since you'll face opponents with the same level, it's still fair between players. This feature simply adds more customisation. You gain points as you level up, gaining a little experience after every game (even losses).

With each match, a player also gains Influence Points in the world of the League. Influence Points can be used to acquire additional champions (as you only start out with a few), as well as runes you can put in your Rune Book. Runes are another incremental improvement you can use in LoL, but doesn't change the gameplay significantly. A minor rune typically improves a game stat with a tenth of a percent or so, but you can use many runes and they can be upgraded to better ones.

If you are too impatient to accumulate IP, they are also available to purchase for real world money in the store. When I played, the store had not yet opened, so I do not know how it works exactly.  It sounds pretty straight forward, though.

The big problem of LoL is its "PvP.net" game lobby client. It has been a veritable nightmare for me trying to get in to games. My problem was always the PvP.net client and I have never had a single game crash in the actual game application. Unfortunately, because of these bugs I have probably spent more time trying to start a game than actually playing some nights. Should someone then disconnect when the game has finally started, it really ruins the experience.

This lobby has some good features, but can be awkward and weird. It doesn't fill up the whole screen so you don't feel like you're inside the game and it uses a fixed size window, appearing very different depending on the monitor. The login screen doesn't remember username or password a problem that would have been a minor one if I didn't have to restart the client so often because of the bugs.

On the other hand, the lobby is fairly clear to navigate, setting your Mastery Points or to start a game. You can also start practice games with decent AI players, which is great for newbies. In comparison: HoN's client is messy as hell, but not buggy at all; since DotA is a WC3 mod, it doesn't really have a proper lobby at all.

Despite the relatively low score I have given LoL due to the PvP.net client and bugs, I would strongly recommend you to try this game out and why not; it's free! The only caveat is that if you're expecting a release quality game then perhaps wait a month or two for Riot Games to sort out some the bugs, or perhaps you'll just be luckier than me.

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