DOTA 2
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X
Released: TBA, Open Beta-testing
Genre(s): Multiplayer online battle arena
Publisher(s): Valve Corporation, Perfect World (China), Nexon Co. Ltd. (Japan)
Developer(s): Valve Corporation
Sahil Arora says:
I would go as far to say that I may have clocked about 150 hours on the first DOTA, which was just a mod map for Warcraft III. When Valve announced that it had hired the DOTA creator IceFrog and taken over the rights from Blizzard to develop DOTA 2, I was kind of skeptical as to what Valve would make of it. Of course, it would seem as though Valve couldn’t go wrong with anything considering all of their games are works of genius, but then again, with no experience whatsoever in point-and-click action-strategy games (PS: ALL of Valve’s games are first-person), I didn’t really expect much. Although I remember telling myself a handful of years ago that I’m never touching DOTA again, I ended up downloading my DOTA 2 Beta on Steam, and the epic continues again.
I have now clocked just about 200 hours playing DOTA 2, which is even more than what I clocked on Skyrim (173 hours). This, although an alarming stat, seems to surprise me. Valve has done a superb job with DOTA 2. You can’t give them enough credit because DOTA 2 is not a Valve concept, but applauds go to them for providing a super-polished standalone version of DOTA. a job done with precision. From entirely revamping hero dialogues (which are awesome, by the way) to neat graphics and cool effects, DOTA 2 is a gem of a game, and hell, it’s still in beta testing. What’s even more alarming is that this beta project is already one of the most played online competitive games, second only to Starcraft II. A skillful and team-oriented game, DOTA 2 definitely deserves to be in our Top Games of 2012 list.
Sidharth Beckaya says:
Imagine a world where all the evil and good comes alive, heroes from Alchemist to Zeus redefine strength, agility, and intelligence; gold, weapons, and abilities make or break a hero—that is DOTA 2. One player, one hero, 25 levels to go, 11 towers to break, 5 enemies to kill, multiple powers to master, killing sprees to embrace, and an ancient to bring down—all this in every single game. DOTA 2 redefines teamwork, speed, and godlikeness. The evergreen thing about DOTA 2 is the sheer number of heroes and the massive amount of mastery a player requires, a thousand hours may not be enough; and playing with friends and in clans brings out the gaming devil in you, makes you want to play on and on. A perfect recreation of the original DOTA with better graphics and a much smoother gameplay pushes DOTA 2 in the top games to play list of 2012.
