OVERVIEW
As a major league gamer it is my duty to keep up with some of the most competitive video games out on the market. You may have heard a recent uproar in people using the term LOL. No it is not the term "laugh out loud" used by everyone today while texting. This stands for "League of Legends," a free to play PVP video game where two teams of 5 battle it out to destroy each others bases. The game has a type of World of Warcraft or Runescape feel to it. Players are allowed to select a wide set of characters who have different abilities and are more powerful then ever. WARNING: Go on Youtube and learn the game lingo or do some research on this game. I was lucky enough to have friends who were experienced in playing the game. I highly recommend that you play through the tutorials before jumping right into to the game against real people otherwise you will suffer.
GAMEPLAY
There are multiple game modes to pick from, the more popular game modes are "Summoner's Rift" a 5 on 5 battle or "Twisted Tree Line" a 3 on 3 battle. When a match is found players are brought to a character selection screen. Once a character is selected no one else can select that character among your teammates. You are also allowed to visit a page known as the "Masteries" page where you select certain skills that can assist you in damage dealt by your character, to how much damage you take, or how fast your character will attack. You are also allowed to select two abilities which can assist you in the game such as heal, revive, barrier, ghost, etc.
There is also a page for "Runes", which also help you improve your characters abilities and powers. All ten players are given about 60 seconds to customize there player loadout. Once the game has begun each team has 14 turrets used to defend against other players or enemy minions, three inhibitors, and there base beacon. When spawned in players have one minute to set up where they would like across the map and wait for there enemy and there minions to walk on by. You are spawned in with a total of 475 gold coins and are used to buy certain items to help improve their characters along with the choice of one ability to be used. Each team spawns an endless amount of minions to aid you in your battle. Killing minions is necessary to level up quick along with earning money faster. Some characters are better at killing minions faster then other characters and when those characters are selected it is best to keep an eye on how many you kill. Each team is to push forward and destroy the opposing teams turrets to make a push into the enemy base. Players will soon battle it out against
each other where one wrong click can get you killed. While in battle if minions are nearby they will assist you in either attacking enemy minions, turrets, or players. As you level you are allowed to gain 3 more abilities one at a time or further increase the level of each ability that you have currently learned. A Summoner has a certain amount of Health and Mana. Mana is used when you cast abilities and is slowly regenerated. If you are running low run on either health or mana run back to where you spawned to fully regain both. I highly advise that you check out www.moabfire.com for help on building your character to be strong and perform at the top level. It gives you details on everything and is great for brand new players such as myself who have no idea how to build their character. Communicate as a team all the time, do not push on an enemy base alone. You're just asking to be killed quickly and will level up your enemies faster making it harder for them to be killed. Each player can level up to lvl 18, and at lvl 6 you are allowed to learn your ultimate attack which can aid you in very important battles where there are multiple enemies and teammates fighting. The more strategic you are about your attacks the better, but this will take time to learn and master. Games last anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.
CONTROLS
The controls will definitely take some time getting used to. Instead of left clicking to move to a certain area or perform a certain action such as attacking has been switched to the right mouse button. All players use the same hot keys for the most part QWERTFD, but can be customized except the right mouse button. The game is better played with a mouse, so if you are on a laptop I highly recommend you use a mouse. It is vital that you pay attention to where you are clicking otherwise you could take a turn for the worse and lose you life.
PROS:
Great game
Fun with friends
Challenging
FREE!
Does not require a computer for gaming
CONS:
Controls
Not easy when you have no idea what you are doing
Games are time consuming
