The moment of truth has arrived, Valve has been streaming the first ever Dota 2 tournament live since morning. With almost six years of Dota playing behind my back, here are my impressions of what I saw.
The Terrain
The terrain on the sentinel’s side is absolutely wonderful. However, I have to say that the scourge terrain in this game reminds me of Heroes of Newerth. It is hard to tell if the area you see on the screen is visible or is the Fog-of-War (On the scourge side). In fact, this issue existed even in the old game and even in HoN now.
The mirror image reflection in the river is new, and is very attractive. The vegetation and other details in the environment really bring the map to life.
I noticed that characters in Dota 2 made no footprints. That’s a big let down but perhaps Valve will include them with the final version. I’m really hoping I get to see the burning footprints left behind by Terror Blade.
Overall, people may argue that the graphics are more cartoon-ish. However, light graphics are best for long hours of play. Heavy graphics bore you soon enough; and after all, it is always the mechanics of the game that matters eventually.
The Models
Now I am not sure if there is a copyrights issue here, but if they could simply re-create the same old models, that would have been just perfect. Eventually everyone will get used to the new hero models but as a first impression, most of the Dota players are truly disappointed. Rather than changing the models entirely why couldn’t they just pimp up the old models with better details?
Another problem comes with the size of the models. The creeps are just too large. The size of the creeps and the catapult is very distracting. A slight overall reduction of the size of these creeps, and to the attack-animation of the catapult would really make it even better.
Colors, here’s our big problem Valve. The colors seem to blend with each other. The colors from the terrain, character models, creeps and even sometimes abilities all blend into one massive goo during a team fight after which it’s almost impossible to realize if your character is dead or still breathing. Here I bring the same point again, the models need to be re-vamped. In Dota every character could easily be differentiated, in Dota 2 that does not seem to be the case. This is a problem faced in HoN as well but LoL (League Of Legends) is free from it though.
The UI
I just love the four lights under every ability, the mana tags on each spell and the regeneration figures in the health bar. I love how they have removed the Move/Attack basic options and instead improved the size of the inventory items. This way, beginners may even use their items with a simple mouse click, which seems impossible at the moment in Dota. Also the very new features of adding a Mana Bar to every hero is delighting for many. The bar on top of the screen is also a great feature, you no more have to open the stats window to check the death timer.
Some players are disappointed because they miss the old Wine-stem HUD from the first Dota but that is just a matter of taste. Something that would interest the players would be Valve giving them options to select from a variety of HUDs. Valve may even put these HUDS on sale and I am sure most would love to buy a HUD of their own choice. However, I know I speak for everyone when I say that the large empty space in the HUD is just making it bland. It would be great if the HUD got a more prominent look, perhaps displaying info like attack speed, attack range, etc.
The Animation
Character animation is really smooth, better than the first I’d say. The abilities used by characters have received a good amount of tweaks and now come with pretty particle effects.
Overall
Valve currently owns the competitive game scene, so to speak. Counter-Strike 1.6, Counter-Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2 and now Dota as well; Valve is behind each game and it’s played by millions through out the world. With such a strong presence I really was hoping something extra-ordinary from this stream. I’m not saying that Dota 2 looks bad but Valve really needs to give it a once over.
If there is one thing I wish for, it would be new models. I am sure if Dota 2 releases as a one-time buy; releasing new skins, HUDs, many other features and options for sale would make it an amazing experience for both – the company and their fans.
By the way fans would be happy to know that even though the whole game got a face lift-off, the announcer is the same from Dota.
