League of Legends is one of the first big multiplayer online battle arena games. Even though it was created five years ago, League of Legends is still brilliant. With its amazing choice of Champions to play as, intense strategic team play, and rewarding progression systems, it quickly hooked me and refused to let go. The addictive, competitive spirit combined with a free-to-play approach, and constant updates from Riot Games, has created one of the biggest and liveliest gaming communities anywhere. Like most MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games, League of Legends’ main attraction is its five-on-five matches on its main map. This map, called Summoner’s Rift, is brightly and amazingly designed. It creates a distinct play style with the way its dense brush allows you to become invisible, able to pounce on enemies. The choice between directly engaging the other team or attacking their resources allows a team to create interesting strategies and depth beyond fighting until a Champion is dead or a turret is destroyed. Inside each team’s base, there is an inhibitor, which if destroyed, causes the opposing team to spawn super minions. It’s another strategic method to sneak into the enemy base to destroy the inhibitor, which speeds up the win, because the super minions help immensely. From Gnar, the adorable little fox, to Vladimir, the blood lord, it is exciting to decide with your teammates who goes to which lane with League’s cartoony and lively Champions. They each have a passive ability that helps make them more dynamic without increasing the already difficult management of the other abilities. Teemo’s passive, for example, is a camouflage power, which is great for sneaking up on unsuspecting enemies. One of my favorite parts of the Champions are their quirky comments which make the Champions impossible to forget. I can’t help but laugh every time the adorable Lulu exclaims, “Yep! That tasted purple!” As free-to-play games go, League of Legends is a model of generosity. Even though it does not give away everything like some games do, it provides a weekly rotation of ten Champions for free. You can also purchase and play any of the 117 Champion roster for a cheap price if you do not want to save up influence points. The Champion rotation is a nice way to try out Champions before you buy, and it helped and prevented me from wasting my influence points (a means of buying things, like in-game money) on Champions that I liked the look of, but not how they played. When the free rotation changes, it is exciting for everyone and pushes the community to try fresh Champions and new strategies. If you want to go a step further, you can purchase cosmetic skins for any character you want. They can be pricey, but each skin has tons of details, and some even come with unique, special animations or spells.
In the match, each Champion can attack with low-level auto abilities to farm minions with. Unfortunately, unlike some MOBAs, you cannot kill your own minions to prevent the enemy team from getting gold and experience, but that makes it simpler to focus on other tasks. It definitely takes away a competitive tactic, which is sometimes upsetting. I really enjoy how often the abilities are available in-game; it is wonderful to be able to constantly attack and annoy the opponents rather than having to wait for an important moment to bomb them. You do not lose any money when you die, and you can die as many times as you want; there is no limit. It makes it easier to be able to save up and buy items in the in-game shop. The item shop has tons of things, but most players all stick with the regular items such as the Rabadon’s Deathcap and The Frost Queen’s Claim. To get the most power possible, you build large items with smaller, cheaper ones. It is easier to build when you can talk to your team with a form of voice chat to make sure you get the proper and best items. The only ways to voice chat with your team are through Skype, TeamSpeak, and programs like that; there is no way to actually do it in League. That really sucks, because there are always moments when I need a teammate, and my pings or messages in the message chat go unnoticed. Each win or lose, you gain IP (influence points) that you can save up to buy things in the shop, such as champions. Leveling up my summoner profile gives me a motivation to keep playing, because once you reach level thirty, you can begin playing ranked games with some of the best players in the League community and unlock summoner spells to use in-game. Some of these summoner spells are very important, and can save you from dying in some cases, or get a kill as well. When you need a break from Summoner’s Rift, there are a few other models to choose from, which are more fast-paced. These are pretty quick, which last around twenty minutes, rather than the normal forty. They are still very competitive, but with the smaller map, it ends quicker. Even though you play on the same few maps and types of games, there is so much depth and strategy involved, and no matches in League of Legends are nearly the same. Learning how to properly play Champions can sometimes be challenging and frustrating, but once you’ve learned, it’s incredibly rewarding to work together and destroy opponents in this wonderful MOBA.
Carly M.
ReplyDeleteLeague of Legends
League of Legends is one of the first big multiplayer online battle arena games. Even though it was created five years ago, League of Legends is still brilliant. With its amazing choice of Champions to play as, intense strategic team play, and rewarding progression systems, it quickly hooked me and refused to let go. The addictive, competitive spirit combined with a free-to-play approach, and constant updates from Riot Games, has created one of the biggest and liveliest gaming communities anywhere.
Like most MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games, League of Legends’ main attraction is its five-on-five matches on its main map. This map, called Summoner’s Rift, is brightly and amazingly designed. It creates a distinct play style with the way its dense brush allows you to become invisible, able to pounce on enemies. The choice between directly engaging the other team or attacking their resources allows a team to create interesting strategies and depth beyond fighting until a Champion is dead or a turret is destroyed. Inside each team’s base, there is an inhibitor, which if destroyed, causes the opposing team to spawn super minions. It’s another strategic method to sneak into the enemy base to destroy the inhibitor, which speeds up the win, because the super minions help immensely.
From Gnar, the adorable little fox, to Vladimir, the blood lord, it is exciting to decide with your teammates who goes to which lane with League’s cartoony and lively Champions. They each have a passive ability that helps make them more dynamic without increasing the already difficult management of the other abilities. Teemo’s passive, for example, is a camouflage power, which is great for sneaking up on unsuspecting enemies. One of my favorite parts of the Champions are their quirky comments which make the Champions impossible to forget. I can’t help but laugh every time the adorable Lulu exclaims, “Yep! That tasted purple!”
As free-to-play games go, League of Legends is a model of generosity. Even though it does not give away everything like some games do, it provides a weekly rotation of ten Champions for free. You can also purchase and play any of the 117 Champion roster for a cheap price if you do not want to save up influence points. The Champion rotation is a nice way to try out Champions before you buy, and it helped and prevented me from wasting my influence points (a means of buying things, like in-game money) on Champions that I liked the look of, but not how they played. When the free rotation changes, it is exciting for everyone and pushes the community to try fresh Champions and new strategies. If you want to go a step further, you can purchase cosmetic skins for any character you want. They can be pricey, but each skin has tons of details, and some even come with unique, special animations or spells.
In the match, each Champion can attack with low-level auto abilities to farm minions with. Unfortunately, unlike some MOBAs, you cannot kill your own minions to prevent the enemy team from getting gold and experience, but that makes it simpler to focus on other tasks. It definitely takes away a competitive tactic, which is sometimes upsetting. I really enjoy how often the abilities are available in-game; it is wonderful to be able to constantly attack and annoy the opponents rather than having to wait for an important moment to bomb them.
ReplyDeleteYou do not lose any money when you die, and you can die as many times as you want; there is no limit. It makes it easier to be able to save up and buy items in the in-game shop. The item shop has tons of things, but most players all stick with the regular items such as the Rabadon’s Deathcap and The Frost Queen’s Claim. To get the most power possible, you build large items with smaller, cheaper ones. It is easier to build when you can talk to your team with a form of voice chat to make sure you get the proper and best items. The only ways to voice chat with your team are through Skype, TeamSpeak, and programs like that; there is no way to actually do it in League. That really sucks, because there are always moments when I need a teammate, and my pings or messages in the message chat go unnoticed.
Each win or lose, you gain IP (influence points) that you can save up to buy things in the shop, such as champions. Leveling up my summoner profile gives me a motivation to keep playing, because once you reach level thirty, you can begin playing ranked games with some of the best players in the League community and unlock summoner spells to use in-game. Some of these summoner spells are very important, and can save you from dying in some cases, or get a kill as well.
When you need a break from Summoner’s Rift, there are a few other models to choose from, which are more fast-paced. These are pretty quick, which last around twenty minutes, rather than the normal forty. They are still very competitive, but with the smaller map, it ends quicker.
Even though you play on the same few maps and types of games, there is so much depth and strategy involved, and no matches in League of Legends are nearly the same. Learning how to properly play Champions can sometimes be challenging and frustrating, but once you’ve learned, it’s incredibly rewarding to work together and destroy opponents in this wonderful MOBA.