Heroes of Newerth Goes Casual in 2.0
A patch so big it's practically a relaunch of the game...

Heroes of Newerth has been out since last May, but the overhaul it's getting sometime in December, called 2.0, is changing it substantially. Matchmaking, a map editor, and a new mode focused on "Casual" players are just some of the bigger, more immediate changes players can expect.

Check out our exclusive trailer for 2.0

For those who've missed it, and apparently there's a lot of you since they're updating it to lure in more players, Heroes of Newerth is an action strategy game designed after the popular Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients. Each player on a team controls a single hero, leveling them up and using their abilities to help their AI controlled monsters push against the other team. It's a delicate dance of timing, advancing, and tactical retreating as players see who can push into the opposing side's base first.

The biggest feature 2.0 brings to Heroes of Newerth is Casual mode. Casual replaces the generally hated Easy mode, and alters the Heroes of Newerth in ways that developer S2 hopes will teach people to play the game. To this end Casual removes all gold penalties for dying, increases the range at which players gain experience off enemy AI monsters, and increases the importance of mid-game play by slowing the leveling pace after the first few ranks. The goal is to rapidly give players the skills they need to learn how to play, while not implementing punitive measures that'll discourage them from taking risks. Casual mode is a tool that should teach players how to be good at all modes of the game, but one that S2 feels will be loved by hardcore and newcomers alike.

Casual mode will no doubt make for faster matches, but 2.0 is also addressing the time it takes to find a game by adding matchmaking. Based on stats like their performance and amount of games played, players will be able to search for games in both Casual and Normal mode. Friends will also be able to band together in pre-made teams, giving players a feature that seems like it should have been in from the start.

With matchmaking in place, players can search for games in the new three versus three map included in 2.0. It's a small map with only two main pathways on the sides (meaning this is where your AI controlled monsters will push), leaving the middle area open for players to use for flanking. The very center of the map also has the stage's only Rune (a temporary spell that gives benefits to a player or team), meaning that players will have to battle it out in the center even if they aren't fighting over a lane.

Matchmaking? And with friends? Hell yeah!

If you don't like the five versus five or three versus three map in 2.0, you can create your own with Heroes of Newerth's upcoming map editor. Players can design their own scenarios and maps, submitting them to S2 for evaluation. The best ones are put out for players to download and play, and can be voted on to become official maps that players can search for in matchmaking.

Like a lot of other competitive online games, Heroes of Newerth is also adding an in-game store in the upcoming patch. Players can obtain the currency by either exchanging real life money, or by simply playing matches. The in-game currency is then used to purchase aesthetic items like skins or sex changes for their favorite characters, as well as new voices and animations. You can even customize your audio experience by purchasing new voice tracks for the announcer, the one on display changing him from sounding tough to sounding "flamboyant" (read: a gay stereotype, and a kind of offensive one at that). The point of the purchasable items isn't to alter gameplay, but to allow players to customize their experience to be as silly as they want it.

Heroes of Newerth 2.0 comes out soon -- as in probably within two weeks of when this article is published. The substantial changes it's bringing will hopefully grow the audience beyond the hardest of the hardcore PC players, but I'm curious to see how their current audience responds. Prepare yourself, Heroes players, Casual is coming your way whether you like it or not.

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/113/1139247p1.html