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Dota 2

Dota 2 Review – From the coin arcades of the 80s to the present day LAN cafes, gamers have always been drawn to competitive formats that pit them against their peers. Over the years, competitive gaming has evolved into e-sports, and the biggest title in this domain is Defense Of The Ancients 2 (DOTA 2).

Dota 2

A Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, DOTA 2 is the successor to the highly popular Defense of the Ancients, which began as a fan-made mode for the game Warcraft III. Developed by Valve, the premise is deceptively simple: two teams of five players square off against one another and attempt to destroy a relic, known as an Ancient, situated in the opponent’s fortress across the map.

The game has been described as a combination of football and chess. Though the map is always the same, the possibilities are endless. Players choose their characters from a roster of over a 100 Heroes, each with their own unique set of abilities or spells. Players gain gold and experience by killing Non Playable Characters, known as Creeps, to buy items that augment their skills and gain levels. The map is divided into two halves, a river serving as a halfway line, and the approaches to both team’s bases are protected by fortifications within their own half.

Co-operating with team-mates is a must, as all five Heroes need to work together to defend their base and push towards the enemy’s. The game ends only with the destruction of one team’s Ancient, so it is not unheard of for a team that is lagging behind in kills to win a game.

From its original iteration as Defense of the Ancients to the DOTA 2 of today, it has always been one of the most popular titles at gaming cafes and tournaments. In fact, it’s quite possible that DOTA 2 will bring e-sports the legitimacy its fans crave. The fourth edition of the worldwide DOTA 2 championships, The International, just concluded and its final match was watched live by an audience of 10,000, with an online audience of 20 million. No mention of The International 2014 would be complete without pointing to the prize pool of $10.93 million, with the winning team receiving $5 million. Not a bad return for playing videogames all day!