League of Legends

Graphics

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena or MOBA game where you control one of 100+ high fantasy champions, from knights and mages to dragons and demons, each with a set of unique combat abilities. You will fight against a team in a bordered arena battleground and try to destroy their base before they destroy yours.

Champion avatars have a default look to them with additional skin options, which are basically costumes that you unlock via cash shop purchases or accumulated play points. For example below, Garen can transform into a Dreadknight and handful of other forms. While these skins provide no battle boosts, they give dedicated rpg fans an option to switch the look of their favorite champion once in a while. (This is the only way you can change the look of a champion; weapons and armor bought during the match do not change your champion’s appearance.)

Arena maps, what few there are, look vibrant and are intricately laid out. Still, champion avatars are highlighted so they stand out from the background. This intentional so you can easily spot an enemy or ally. The user interface is clean and unobtrusive, which lets you focus on the battlefield rather than be distracted by stats and numbers on-screen.

Sound

Each champion in League of Legends has a unique voice, which you can hear during character selection. During the battle, there is also a battle commentator announcing the latest death or kill. You may opt to play without the sound though since the screen also displays the most critical battle information. The soundtracks are intense and amplify the adrenaline rush you feel while fighting.

Story

All the playable champions in League of Legends come with an extensive lore background. You can spend hours reading up their bios, which range from heroic to endearingly quirky. You get a better sense of why each champion has this or that power, and helps tremendously in getting you attached to specific champions, so much so that you might just be compelled to purchase their new skin at the cash shop.

Gameplay

Where League of Legends truly triumphs is in its action-packed combat. Matches can last as short as 15 minutes or as long as an hour or more, depending on the game mode chosen and the skill of the players involved.

Champions run around the map destroying enemy structures and champions with the help of their allies and bot-like minions commonly called as creeps. These creeps spawn from the base in regular intervals.

Killing a structure brings you one step closer to your final goal, and will sometimes upgrade the minions which spawn from your base. Killing a champion puts him or her out of commission, which means you can spend that time destroying structures and ganging up on the remaining foes.

Coordination is absolutely crucial in League of Legends. Scattered teams who go on their own way will easily get picked off. There is no little time to type and discuss strategy though, so usually instructions will be in the form of a terse "up" "down" or "mid" command – referring to where you should go in the major lanes of the map – or a click on the map which will show whether you should converge or avoid the pointed portion of the map.

These basic rules apply across the three game modes. PvP is the classic mode with two available maps, the 5v5 Summoner’s Rift and 3v3 Twister Treeline. Here you will fight against human opponents and is considered to be the most competitive game mode.

That's not to say that the computer AI, which you battle in Co-op vs AI mode, is a walk in the park. It's just that human players simply have a higher skill cap. I’ve seen games where a champion controlled by a single human player decisively wiped out three champions controlled by the computer.

The last mode is Custom Game which allows you to tweak the team size, game mode and even set a private password so only your chosen friends can enter the game. This mode is usually used when playing in a Friday night when you and your friends decide to team up remotely or via a LAN network.

League of Legends can get a bit frustrating though when a human ally goes AFK or gets disconnected. The match carries on without replacing the missing champion, which means your team will have to work doubly as hard to make up for the handicap. This can lead to a few epic games where you manage to win despite a 3v5 disadvantage, but, more often than not, it will result in a disappointing loss.

The League of Legends cash shop follows the trend of most AAA mmorpgs, which is to offer cosmetic microtransactions as well as consumable battle buffs. Champion unlocks and champion skins are the most popular purchases, costing several dollars each.

One good thing about League of Legends is that unlike other free rpg games it does not limit your playtime or content access in order to force you to shell out cash. You can keep on playing the game for free, although prepare to get jealous as your peers use champions that you haven’t yet unlocked through grinding.

Unique Fun Factor

Not too long ago League of Legends made the grand claim of being the most played videogame in the world, beating the likes of console games and mmorpg behemoths like World of Warcraft for number of hours played -- and it’s easy to see why. The game is extremeley addicting, period. You want to win more matches, accumulate more play points, unlock more champions and simply score better on the kill boards.

Part of its popularity also stems from how it accommodates new players with topnotch tutorials and a forgiving learning curve, while still fostering a hardcore competitive scene.

Freshly minted summoners still grappling with the concept of what a "lane" is and how to use their skills are forced to start at the beginner brackets. With more matches under their belt, players will unlock higher difficulty brackets, allowing them to test their skills with increasingly deadly opponents. Meanwhile, MOBA veterans can jump right into the cutthroat tournaments.

It's this consideration for players of all skill levels – from clueless casuals to exceptional elites – that makes League of Legends a delightfully inclusive game for everyone with a PC.

Pros

Very newbie-friendly with clear tutorials and helpful strategy tips
More than 100 playable heroes, each with unique skills and customizable outfits
Minimal wait times before matches due to large, active player population

Cons

Occasional, inevitable brush with jerk teammates
Prepare for a very long grind to unlock all champions if you do not pay for microtransactions
Can be frustrating when allies go AFK or get disconnected