Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2)

Genre(s): Massively Multiplayer,
RPG (Role Playing)/MMORPG,
Action/3rd Person,
Strategy/RTS (Real Time Strategy)

Metacritic Rating: 90 (out of 100)

IGN Rating: 9.4 (out of 10) “Amazing”

Price: Free-to-Play

Link(s): http://store.steampowered.com/app/570/

Description:
Defense of the Ancients 2 (DotA 2) is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game (MOBA) and the stand-alone sequel to the Defense of the Ancients (DotA) mod.

Unlike League of Legends (and most other MOBAs), Dota 2’s free-to-play structure is no pay wall between you and the game’s 100 characters. All the game’s characters are available at no cost. Money transactions are only required on different weapons and armor to give them a visual flare that will make your hero stand out.

Each match of Dota 2 is independent and involves two five-player teams, each of which occupies a stronghold at a corner of the map. Located in each stronghold is a building called the “Ancient”; to win, a team must destroy the enemy’s Ancient. Each player controls a “Hero” character and focuses on leveling up, collecting gold, acquiring items and fighting against the other team to achieve victory.

Development of Dota 2 began in 2009, when DotA developer IceFrog was hired as lead designer. Dota 2 was praised by video game critics, who lauded it for its rewarding gameplay, enhanced production quality and faithfulness to its predecessor. However, the game was criticized for its steep learning curve and inhospitable community. Dota 2 has become the most actively played game on Steam, with daily peaks at over 800,000 concurrent players.

Publisher: Valve Corporation

Developer: “IceFrog”

Release Date: July 9, 2003

Players: Massively multiplayer online

ERSB: N/A. No ESRB rating.

Sample Gameplay Video(s):