Review: League of Legends

Genre: Massive Online Battle Arena

If you’re bored of the games you already have, chances are you’ve tried some free ones online. In general, nearly every single one of these titles are either only fun for a short amount of time, end up costing money, or are just plain horrible. League of Legends is the rare exception.

Gameplay

It’s very possible that you’ve never have encountered a game like League of Legends. It combines the action of a role-playing game with the tactics of a turn based strategy game. Basically, there are two teams each with 5 or 3 players, depending on which map you play on. You select one of the dozens of unique characters to play. The game takes place on one of two maps, and the goal is to destroy the other team’s base by destroying its surrounding towers. This is accomplished by killing the other team so they cannot defend their base. What makes League of Legends very fun is that in each new game, you level up your character and buy upgrade items for them. There sheer variety of items to buy combined with a tactical approach to purchasing can really make each game unique.

Where league of legends shines the most is in its combat and skill system. As your character levels up from killing enemies, you can choose certain skills to level up, skills that are unique to your certain character. Which ones you choose to level can impact your game substantially because more points in certain abilities make them more effective. After ten of fifteen minutes into the game when you have decent items and skills, the general focus is to kill as many enemy players as possible. This can be done in many ways depending on your character. You can catch them off guard by waiting them to enter part of the map not visible to them or just have your entire team fight all at once. The only downside to gameplay here is that your progress in game is largely determined by your team mates. If one or two people really screw up badly, you can forget your hopes of winning. Besides this though, League of Legends is thoroughly enjoyable.

Graphics

League of Legends can run on nearly any computer. It looks decent on low settings and very nice on high settings, however it is nothing too spectacular. What really makes it enjoyable to look at is all of the bright colors and crisp textures. Nothing is blurry looking, except maybe when zoomed in completely. For a free game graphical quality here is high.

Conclusion

            League of Legends manages to be free yet entertaining for months at a time. You can purchase in game things with real money, such as new character appearances, but unlike most other free games with real money shops, purchases made in League of Legends do not give buyers advantages over free users. With its bright graphics, excellent combat system and zero dollar price tag, League of Legends is an excellent game that anyone with an internet connection should try out.

 

Gameplay: 8.8

Graphics: 8.0

Lasting Appeal: 9.0

Overall: 9.0