We’re all used to Blizzard’s flagship title such as Diablo 3, World of WarCraft and of course, StarCraft II. This time around Blizzard has decided to create something unique called Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft.
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a digital trade card collecting online game that is set in the WarCraft universe. We’ve got the chance to play the Hearthstone beta and we’re happy to say that our impressions have been positive so far. First let’s discuss the presentation of the game a little bit and the gameplay mechanics.
Presentation
Blizzard never fails when it comes to high-quality production values for their games. Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft is full of lovely personality, beautiful art and fantastic particle effects that make a trading card game come to life.
"Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft is arguably the best looking online trading card game I have ever seen and played. "
If you’ve been a long-time of WarCraft or been playing World of WarCraft for the past few years, then Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft will make you feel right at home when it comes to iconic characters and art-style. There is a ton of vivid colors, great voice acting as always and just beautiful art all around.
Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft is arguably the best looking online trading card game I have ever seen and played. It’s charming, attractive and most of all, addicting. Developers should really look at Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft and look at it as art inspiration when it comes to creating online trade card collecting games.
Gameplay
Hearthstone: Heroes of WarCraft gameplay is simple and addicting. If you’ve played trade collecting games before, then you know what to expect. However, in the game you can play as different classes that take inspiration from World of WarCraft. If you decide to play as a Warrior class, then get ready to some exciting abilities and tactics that are inspired by the massively online multiplayer game World of Warcraft.
"What I love about the gameplay of Hearthstone is that there is a deep strategy involved all-throughout. You really have to get to know each Hero, their class cards and when and which cards to use against your opponents."
The game offers 9 different playable classes including the Warrior, Druid, Rogue, Paladin, Priest, Warlock, Mage, Hunter and Shaman. A specific hero plays each class, for example, the Paladin’s hero is Uther the Lightbringer. Meanwhile, the Warrior is Garrosh Hellscream and Warlock is Gul’dan. These heroes play a huge role in the Warcraft lore. If you’ve ever played the real-time strategy games or read Warcraft novels, then you’ll quickly fall in love all-over again with your favorite lore characters.
Blizzard did a great job at making each class feel unique and fun. Playing as a Rogue gives you cards that allow you to cast particular rogue abilities such as adding poison to your Hero’s weapons to do more weapon damage against enemy Hero. If you’re playing as a Warrior you can use class-specific cards such as Execute which allows you to kill an enemy card right off the bat if it already took 1 point of damage at 0 cost of mana. Another good example of a class-specific card is the Paladin’s Hand of Protection card. Hand of Protection casts a shield on minion card; this allows the card to take a hit without being damaged.
What I love about the gameplay of Hearthstone is that there is a deep strategy involved all-throughout. You really have to get to know each Hero, their class cards and when and which cards to use against your opponents. The game’s simple, but hard to master and that’s what I love about Hearthstone the most.
Conclusion
So far, I am quite happy with the way the beta is turning out. In the eta I was able to play against other players, practice matches against AI with different difficulty settings and even the Arena. The gameplay is deep, addicting and engaging, and that is an excellent thing for a trade card game. I personally cannot wait for the game to finally come out. I am super excited to play with my buddies and challenge new opponents.
"Matchmaking system will make sure that you have equal cards and that the match will be fair. I am looking forward to seeing if these promises lives up to Blizzard standards and how this free-to-play model plays out."
Hearthstone is also following the free-to-play model. Blizzard has said that the game will be fair to everyone and that micro-transactions will only apply for buying card packs. Blizzard has also assured everyone that the players will never go against an opponent that has put $100 dollars in the game. Matchmaking system will make sure that you have equal cards and that the match will be fair. I am looking forward to seeing if these promises lives up to Blizzard standards and how this free-to-play model plays out.
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is a new experiment for Blizzard, and so far, it has been a positive experience. Stay tuned for our full review once the game goes live later this year.