Heroes of Order & Chaos – Multiplayer Online Game Review

Our rating:

By: Gameloft

Version #: 1.1.1

Date Released: 2012-11-21

Developer: Gameloft

Price: Free

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There are many genres of games that have had a hard time breaking into the mobile scene in a big way. While there are RTS games on the iOS, They are few and tend to lack the general appeal of their desktop counterparts. While gamers that enjoy the desktop gaming have a desire to play the genres they love on the go, it can be difficult to translate them effectively onto a touch screen. One genre in particular hasn’t seen any love in the mobile space. Multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) games like League of Legends and Defense of the Ancients has enjoyed explosive growth on the desktop in both players as well as spectators in the E-sports arena. One game that has finally taken a stab on bring this genre to the iOS is Heroes of Order and Chaos by Gameloft. While it definitely has the polish and backing of a major developer, the question remains if they can successfully translate this game into the mobile space.

MOBA games are a bit of a hybrid game that picks two teams of heroes against each other in an arena where the object it to destroy the opponent’s base. To accompany the heroes are endless streams of minions that follow predetermined paths toward the other base. These minions are mostly cannon fodder, but the players must utilize them to control the opponent’s stream as well as upgrade them to give them an advantage on the battle field. The heroes themselves also need to upgrade with unique abilities and attacks that when used in combo with teammates can decimate your foes. Games on this genre are hectic and require a large amount of multitasking to keep up with the many tasks you must complete.

Heroes on Order and Chaos follows fairly close to the format on League on Legends. You can a rotating series on free heroes to choose from to play in arenas against others or on teams against a computer AI. You may also pay money through a IAP to purchase characters and equipment to customize your particular character. In the arenas you must fight you earn money that is used to purchase upgrades and you must rally your forces to take out your enemies strongholds. Each character has several small attacks and one or two large “nuke” attacks/abilities that can either do massive damage or give your teammates a temporary boost.

Heroes of Order and Chaos succeeds in so many ways. It is a faithful reproduction of an insanely popular desktop title. It provides a robust online battle system and provides an opportunity to customize and expand user’s characters. The problem with Heroes is twofold. Firstly, the characters become difficult to accurately control in larger battles. There is such a mess of enemies and friendlies on the screen at once that mis-tapping is almost a certainty and will delay or ruin any strategy you had. Secondly, and more metaphysically, Heroes fails to provide gamers with anything unique. It is like watching a movie studio rip off the latest summer blockbuster. Yes, the movie may be decent, but it really only serves to remind you of the original and you wonder why you are not just watching that. I don’t feel like playing more Heroes when I finish a match, I instead feel like I really should be playing League of Legends. It was a valiant effort on Gameloft’s part, but I really feel they could have done better. Heroes on Order and Chaos is a free game that can be played at a basic level without IAPs so if you want to give it a go, then you won’t have to put anything but time on the line. Perhaps you will enjoy it especially if you are not familiar with the games from which it derives.