League of Legends – PC Review

Reviewed by Rich Banks on December 17, 2009

League of Legends - PC Review  | read this item

Online multiplayer – you’ve got to love it. Whether it’s shooting people in the face on Modern Warfare or a more direct assault on your time schedule in the likes of World of Warcraft, online gaming is often a draining part of today’s gamers playing experience. The PC has been the forerunner for such worldwide connecting gaming long before the consoles of today decided to get there slice of the money pie, and it’s still no exception. Yes, I know that most people will whack on their Xbox or PS3 to get there fill of multiplayer destruction, but let’s face it; there are still some games that were made for the PC, and most of all, multiplayer on the PC.

League of Legends is no exception, using the hugely popular Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III (a game that since I’ve started writing this review I’ve decided I miss drastically) as its foundations, this team based strategy title shows the early signs of a game that can rival most top games. League of Legends is a woefully simple concept, but it works exceedingly well. You choose a hero from a large array of oddball creatures and sorcerers and then take the fight online in teams of up to five a side, where you and your friends combine strategy and pure force to break through the enemy ranks to destroy their Nexus; the enemies headquarter building and their spawning point. There are multiple paths to both yours and your enemy’s bases, each guarded by turrets that will happily obliterate you if you get too close. Joining you on the path to victory are a whole host of none playable minions that will spawn at your base and run head first into the thick of things. Not only do these little guys help out by becoming cannon fodder, they can be used to help you create a strategic plan of action. Sometimes, for example, it’s best to let them lead the way while you hang back, waiting for enemy heroes and turrets to become weaker so you can deal the final strike. If you manage to destroy an enemy Inhibiter building, you gain the ability to create stronger, more challenging minions that even enemy heroes on a destruction streak will find tough to take down. Also, the more enemies you take down, the more money you earn. This money can be spent back at base on a whole host of weapons, armour and useful items. There’s a hell of a lot of customization tools at hand for you to work your way through – some require other items to be purchased first in order to unlock them, and some are available from the word go. You also get a few recommendations to which items will prove most useful for your chosen hero; a useful tool when wading through the masses of items. As well as enemy minions, heroes and turrets to fight your way through, each map holds a number of None Playable creatures that can be taken down for extra bonuses. Although the terrain is pretty samey and doesn’t lead to real status effects, long grass litters the maps and can be used to your advantage. If your hero hides amongst the grass, enemies will walk right past without knowing your even there. This can be used in your strategy plan to form ambushes, or even to sneak around the enemy to launch a full scale assault on their bases.

It’s a remarkably easy game to get into, and the controls mirror just how simple it is. Gameplay is a click heavy venture, mostly utilising the left click button to order your hero about and to summon their special powers. If you want to move your hero, you simple click where you want to send them on the map and they will trot along. Fog of war hides the enemy from your vision, but using the mini map in the corner you can see whatever your allies can, giving you a much larger view of the battlefield. Attacking is also done using the simple click system, whether it is a direct assault from your hero or a ranged attack from one of your special powers, all that’s required is a simple, quick, click. Some powers however require you to give them direction on map, most of the time within a radius. There’s nothing really challenging about the way League of Legends plays out, which is probably a good thing because sometimes online play can be punishing. Some players are just simply too good, and the fact that there’s no proper matching system means you can be lumbered with high level sorcerers on your first game. There is however a practice room to team yourself up with new members and bots, but it doesn’t really give you the same feeling you get when you play a proper, full game.

There’s a lot to be taken into account when it comes to choosing your hero. You don’t take on the role as a single hero in League of Legends, but rather make you choice of who you want to play as between each match. Obviously you can stick to the same hero every time you play if you so wish, but the choice is there to swap around whenever you please, giving you a real sense of complete freedom. The heroes also play differently to each other too. When you first play there’s a selection of about six heroes to choose from, with more being purchasable if you really want to. Each comes packed full with their own unique back story and personality, as well as attributes and abilities that none share with another. Nunu the Yeti rider, for example, packs some powerful, icy attacks that can cause enemies to slow right down as well as causing them chaotic amounts of damage. Nunu is incredibly different to characters like Jax, who has a massive knowledge of weaponry, meaning many of his powers involve improving his attack ability, as well as causing massive pain to all those that stand in his way. So, with so many choices, there’s a hero for everyone, no matter your fighting style. As well as each character having their own unique abilities, you can pick two spells that can help you through the battles ahead. Even though these aren’t character specific like most other stuff in League of Legends, there’s loads to choose from, but most players use both heal (for obvious reasons) and teleport, which lets you move to the position of an allied minion on the map. You can’t directly affect a hero’s abilities due to the constant character swapping, but you as a player earns level up points for doing well in-game. These points can be spent on improving spells, and the general strengths of whatever hero you choose to play as. It’s actually great that you haven’t got to limit your spending between each hero separately and can improve on them all as a whole. You can also get runes that act much like points, but directly affect your hero’s attributes like attack and magic statistics. Runes can be improved as well as combined with other runes to maximise your destructive ability. All in all there are loads to choose from, and it increases the emphasis on just how much you can customize in League of Legends.

The game is divided into two areas; ranked and unranked, although currently ranked isn’t available. Unranked is divided into solo and arranged teams, with solo chucking you into a game with anyone, and arranged teams pitting you against players of your choice. It’s around here that you begin to notice how little there is to do on League of Legends. As it stands there isn’t much up and ready, meaning your very limited with your options. There are currently only two maps, and although they can be played in either a winter or summer setting, they don’t do enough to keep the player interested in League of Legends for too long. Even if you choose to play out a solo match your limited to five a side teams with one gaming type available. It begs the question; why didn’t Riot hold back until League of Legends was a more complete package? At the moment, even though it’s a genuinely great title, it lacks in offering the purchaser value for money.

There’s no real problems with the game graphically, and the chosen style of art suites the title overall. It’s not going to blow you away with fancy graphics and amazing cut scenes, and there’s no way it can compare to many modern titles, but it’s not really a case of not meeting the standard; but rather not over doing it. The simple cartoony characters look charming, and they fit the bold and bright arenas they wage war in perfectly. It almost gives the game a magical feel that fits in with the games overall direction. It’s also a great way to aim the title at a wider audience. Take me for example; I’m playing League of Legends on my rusty old Dell Inspiron 1525 without a whimper of lag ruining my fun. Basically, Riot have made League of Legends look great without leaving players out who haven’t got top end computers. A great idea if you ask me.

So, is League of Legends worth splashing out on? Honestly, not at the moment, but in the future it’s a dead cert. There’s a free version available on the website that will probably tide you over until they’ve added the full features the game will eventually include, but until then there’s not enough here to justify the recommended retail price. The gameplay is outstanding and the content that is included in the game is near perfect, but the severe lack of maps and game modes ruins the overall experience. It has the potential to be marvellous, and it’s still a cracking, deep strategy that deserves your attention, but until some new content is chucked into the mix it’s best to leave this for a while and let it pack itself out with new stuff to make your online adventures that little more worthy of your money.

Tags: League of Legends, Online gaming, pc, PC Review, Riot Games, RPG, Strategy, THQ