Celebrating 7500 hours in Dota, I decided to update my lackluster review to something more elaborate.


Dota 2 is a mix of RTS and RPG, or so-called "MOBA" with a normal match duration of about 35-50 Minutes or a short match duration (turbo mode) of about 20-40 Minutes.

Within the genre, Dota 2 is one of the more complex games with slightly longer individual match duration.
Because of many mechanics that are small but not to be underestimated, it also has quite a high skill ceiling (denying creeps, turn rate, complex ability interactions).

Save for a few exceptions, matches are found using a matchmaker that attempts to group people of similar behavior, skill and time played, together and heroes are chosen within a found match and unique on a per-match basis.

There are a multitude of game modes that revolve around different interpretations of the base game, mostly changing hero pick rules.

The game also possesses an 'arcade mode', the ability to create and play custom games that can be virtually anything that uses the Framework that Dota 2 provides. Custom games are also hosted on Valve's gameservers. It is very similar to custom games in Warcraft III.

Additionally, there are regular events that provide additional things to do and digital goodies to be added, though they prove to be overwhelming at times up to feeling like being a chore. These events are usually during the summer (Battle Pass/The International), Winter (Frostivus), and Chinese New Year (New Bloom).


While not a main focus of the gameplay, the story is actually quite expansive. Heroes interact with each other (mostly with taunting and banter) and have a backstory. Clicking on the hero you're playing multiple times in a row also reveals some of their story.

The overarching plot of the 'Dota Universe' ist mostly told by heroes, in the various seasonal events taking place as well as sometimes in item descriptions and other games within it (Artifact, Underlords).

Additionally, each new hero released adds new lore to the game, as they come with interactions with many heroes, a backstory and sometimes 'reason' for that hero to appear.

I would say that the story deserves 9/10 points but it really is not the focus of the game as it could essentially be story-less. Since it gives the game a nice flow with the voice lines and I find it quite interesting, I set it at 8/10.


Strictly speaking, the objective of the game is to destroy the enemy main building (Ancient). For this to happen (and to count as a victory), at least three towers in one lane (there are three lanes) and two 'T4'-towers need to be destroyed or the entire enemy team must leave and abandon the match after 5 minutes (or first blood in ranked).

A normal match consists of 10 players, 5v5, on two teams (Radiant and Dire) on opposing sides of the map (bottom left and top right corner).

The game is viewed (and controlled) from an RTS-style isometric perspective and each player usually controls one hero (although it is possible to share controls in a limited manner, allowing a fellow team member to cover in case of inconvenience) and potentially a few controlled creeps (mostly summoned units).

Barring custom games (which can be very entertaining as well), heroes usually have four but can possess up to six abilities that can affect mostly other units in the game with some even manipulating the terrain, though each hero has a predetermined ability pool. According to some people, the skill and usefulness of a player is determined by their kills and low amount of deaths.

As with all (co-op) multiplayer games, the gameplay is also heavily dependent on your fellow players.

I would give the gameplay a 9/10.


Using the Source 2 engine, the game supports OpenGL and Vulkan, the latter requires the free Vulkan DLC to be enabled and downloaded.

Overall, the game tries to maintain a 'soft' look with mostly cartoony/fantasy style elements.
All newer hero models and newer items have a high quality. Community content is curated to try to ensure the latter.
Sadly, some cosmetics have a bad balance in terms of quality, for example an item with an unusually high polygon count that has a comparatively low resolution texture on it.

Each hero has a theme-dictated color scheme as well as a custom artwork for every ability. Moreso each ability has a unique animation and effects.
Status effects of the same type can share artwork elements or animations, some abilities with similar or the same effects share artwork elements as well.

Almost all looks can be changed with collectible/purchasable cosmetics. This is the main monetization in the game and quite popular. Some of those items change animations and ability icons, sometimes the model of heroes (persona), although the latter is something that is currently only obtainable during the Battle Pass season. Some of those items can break the color scheme or 'glance-value' of a hero.

These items can change the appearance (and sometimes sounds) of pretty much everything in the game.
The map is very detailed but it lost some of it during the conversion to a tile-based map. Cosmetics that change the appearance of the map or weather might carry a slight advantage or disadvantage with them as they can make details more apparent or obscure.

Censored versions do exist, most notably the Chinese version which prohibits the show of skulls and gore.
Some German licenses have weak low violence, namely green blood effects. However, valve support assisted me in changing the license to one that has normal graphics. Current F2P licence should not have LV.

I am overall very pleased with the graphics but they are a bit dated at some points and glitches do exist, so I decide to set 7/10 points.


Audio is localized for English, Korean and Simplified Chinese.
Hero capitons are available in game.

Overall I'm very pleased with the sound design. As with the graphics, each ability has a unique sound and there are great variations in loudness, effect and significance. The ability 'Global Silence' even muffles sound for the enemy team.

There are also announcers in game mentioning (mostly) important events and all heroes are fully voiced and will comment on most actions (even back-and-forth banter between some heroes). Some cosmetics also change that.

There are some minor bugs causing ability sounds to be played repeatedly if rapidly losing and regaining vision.

It deserves a sound 8/10 points in my opinion.


Pro

• Versatile
  
• Challenging
  
• Fully voiced
  
• Community content
  
• Tutorial and playground (demo mode) available

Neutral

• Low violence content exists
  
• Requires team coordination
  
• Native build for Linux/Mac/Windows
  
• Game is fairly stable/infrequent crashes outside of gameplay

Con

• Time-locked exclusive (monetized) content
  
• Dota Plus and some cosmetics can give a competitive edge
  
• No Steam achievements
  
• Matchmaking sometimes unresponsive
  
• Controls can sometimes be overwhelming

Over the course of years my most favorite game on steam. There are times when I don't want to play it anymore because it is straining and stressful but I always come back to it. Overall, I'd give it a 8/10 when I wake up and a 5/10 when I've played it a few hours in a row..

Celebrating 7500 hours in Dota, I decided to update my lackluster review to something more elaborate. [h1] Introduction [/h1] Dota 2 is a mix of RTS and RPG, or so-called "MOBA" with a normal match duration of about 35-50 Minutes or a short match duration (turbo mode) of about 20-40 Minutes. Within the genre, Dota 2 is one of the more complex games with slightly longer individual match duration. Because of many mechanics that are small but not to be underestimated, it also has quite a high skill ceiling (denying creeps, turn rate, complex ability interactions). Save for a few exceptions, matches are found using a matchmaker that attempts to group people of similar behavior, skill and time played, together and heroes are chosen within a found match and unique on a per-match basis. There are a multitude of game modes that revolve around different interpretations of the base game, mostly changing hero pick rules. The game also possesses an 'arcade mode', the ability to create and play custom games that can be virtually anything that uses the Framework that Dota 2 provides. Custom games are also hosted on Valve's gameservers. It is very similar to custom games in Warcraft III. Additionally, there are regular events that provide additional things to do and digital goodies to be added, though they prove to be overwhelming at times up to feeling like being a chore. These events are usually during the summer (Battle Pass/The International), Winter (Frostivus), and Chinese New Year (New Bloom). [h1] Story [/h1] While not a main focus of the gameplay, the story is actually quite expansive. Heroes interact with each other (mostly with taunting and banter) and have a backstory. Clicking on the hero you're playing multiple times in a row also reveals some of their story. The overarching plot of the 'Dota Universe' ist mostly told by heroes, in the various seasonal events taking place as well as sometimes in item descriptions and other games within it (Artifact, Underlords). Additionally, each new hero released adds new lore to the game, as they come with interactions with many heroes, a backstory and sometimes 'reason' for that hero to appear. I would say that the story deserves 9/10 points but it really is not the focus of the game as it could essentially be story-less. Since it gives the game a nice flow with the voice lines and I find it quite interesting, I set it at [b][u]8/10[/u][/b]. [h1] Gameplay [/h1] Strictly speaking, the objective of the game is to destroy the enemy main building (Ancient). For this to happen (and to count as a victory), at least three towers in one lane (there are three lanes) and two 'T4'-towers need to be destroyed or the entire enemy team must leave and abandon the match after 5 minutes (or first blood in ranked). A normal match consists of 10 players, 5v5, on two teams (Radiant and Dire) on opposing sides of the map (bottom left and top right corner). The game is viewed (and controlled) from an RTS-style isometric perspective and each player usually controls one hero (although it is possible to share controls in a limited manner, allowing a fellow team member to cover in case of inconvenience) and potentially a few controlled creeps (mostly summoned units). Barring custom games (which can be very entertaining as well), heroes usually have four but can possess up to six abilities that can affect mostly other units in the game with some even manipulating the terrain, though each hero has a predetermined ability pool. According to some people, the skill and usefulness of a player is determined by their kills and low amount of deaths. As with all (co-op) multiplayer games, the gameplay is also heavily dependent on your fellow players. I would give the gameplay a [b][u]9/10[/u][/b]. [h1] Graphics [/h1] Using the Source 2 engine, the game supports OpenGL and Vulkan, the latter requires the free Vulkan DLC to be enabled and downloaded. Overall, the game tries to maintain a 'soft' look with mostly cartoony/fantasy style elements. All newer hero models and newer items have a high quality. Community content is curated to try to ensure the latter. Sadly, some cosmetics have a bad balance in terms of quality, for example an item with an unusually high polygon count that has a comparatively low resolution texture on it. Each hero has a theme-dictated color scheme as well as a custom artwork for every ability. Moreso each ability has a unique animation and effects. Status effects of the same type can share artwork elements or animations, some abilities with similar or the same effects share artwork elements as well. Almost all looks can be changed with collectible/purchasable cosmetics. This is the main monetization in the game and quite popular. Some of those items change animations and ability icons, sometimes the model of heroes (persona), although the latter is something that is currently only obtainable during the Battle Pass season. Some of those items can break the color scheme or 'glance-value' of a hero. These items can change the appearance (and sometimes sounds) of pretty much everything in the game. The map is very detailed but it lost some of it during the conversion to a tile-based map. Cosmetics that change the appearance of the map or weather might carry a slight advantage or disadvantage with them as they can make details more apparent or obscure. Censored versions do exist, most notably the Chinese version which prohibits the show of skulls and gore. Some German licenses have weak low violence, namely green blood effects. However, valve support assisted me in changing the license to one that has normal graphics. Current F2P licence should not have LV. I am overall very pleased with the graphics but they are a bit dated at some points and glitches do exist, so I decide to set [b][u]7/10[/u][/b] points. [h1] Sound [/h1] Audio is localized for English, Korean and Simplified Chinese. Hero capitons are available in game. Overall I'm very pleased with the sound design. As with the graphics, each ability has a unique sound and there are great variations in loudness, effect and significance. The ability 'Global Silence' even muffles sound for the enemy team. There are also announcers in game mentioning (mostly) important events and all heroes are fully voiced and will comment on most actions (even back-and-forth banter between some heroes). Some cosmetics also change that. There are some minor bugs causing ability sounds to be played repeatedly if rapidly losing and regaining vision. It deserves a sound [b][u]8/10[/u][/b] points in my opinion. [h1]Additional Aspects and Summary[/h1] [b]Pro[/b] [list] [*]Versatile [*]Challenging [*]Fully voiced [*]Community content [*]Tutorial and playground (demo mode) available [/list] [b]Neutral[/b] [list] [*]Low violence content exists [*]Requires team coordination [*]Native build for Linux/Mac/Windows [*]Game is fairly stable/infrequent crashes outside of gameplay [/list] [b]Con[/b] [list] [*]Time-locked exclusive (monetized) content [*]Dota Plus and some cosmetics can give a competitive edge [*]No Steam achievements [*]Matchmaking sometimes unresponsive [*]Controls can sometimes be overwhelming [/list] [table] [tr] [th]CPU[/th] [td]AMD Ryzen 5 3600 @ 3.60GHz[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]GPU[/th] [td]NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]RAM[/th] [td]32GB @ 3200MHz[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]FPS[/th] [td]~120 with limiter[/td] [/tr] [tr] [th]OS[/th] [td]openSUSE Tumbleweed | Linux[/td] [/tr] [/table] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] Over the course of years my most favorite game on steam. There are times when I don't want to play it anymore because it is straining and stressful but I always come back to it. Overall, I'd give it a 8/10 when I wake up and a 5/10 when I've played it a few hours in a row..