S2 Games' Heroes of Newerth is a huge step forward for DotA while still preserving all that makes DotA great

As well, S2 Games has also been making big steps in keeping separate from DotA, although not so big that HoN becomes something completely different. Already, S2 has confirmed that they will no longer be "porting" heroes over from DotA, meaning that they won't be simply copying heroes into their game. Instead, S2 has been pumping out new and unique heroes that utilize some fairly innovative game mechanics that DotA couldn't even dream of, mostly due to the fact that DotA is, and always will be, inhibited by the Warcraft III engine. To give an example of some of their more innovative heroes, there is "The Chipper," a Chipmunk that runs around in a wire-frame robot, spewing tar on his enemies and then setting them on fire with his rockets, or my personal favorite, Pandemonium, a kung-fu Panda master who wields a bamboo stick and smacks his enemies around in large arcs.

But the one thing that has impressed me beyond the polish of Heroes of Newerth is just how dedicated developer S2 Games is to their product. This is clearly a team that understands its gaming community, and it's comforting to realize that while HoN is a very pretty game, it's not just a pretty game. Responsiveness is a huge criterion for many gamers, and HoN is silky-smooth in its play; the client itself loads up and alt-tabs faster than your average game of Solitaire (ok, maybe not that fast, but it's still surprisingly fast).

In the end, what made Defense of the Ancients such an incredible success was simply because it was an amazing idea combined with an amazing game, and, for the whole of its existence, it's been developed and maintained by passionate players who were gamers first and developers second (Eul, Guinsoo and IceFrog (incidentally, IceFrog now works for Valve)). Heroes of Newerth is a true successor to the DotA name not because it uses the DotA mechanics (anyone can copy that!) but because it follows the same formula for a truly classic game: HoN is an amazing game that's been taken one step further, and the whole time it's being backed by a team of passionate gamers. It's simply staggering to see that Heroes of Newerth costs a mere $30, especially given the fact that you will most likely get more playtime out of HoN than almost any other game you can think of. Expect to see big things from this instant classic!