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Despite Blizzard's bluster about avoiding the term 'MOBA' and wanting to make something different, the alpha of Heroes of the Storm still leans heavily on staples of the genre: two teams of five use the unique traits and skills of their heroes to repeatedly bash each other to death while gradually knocking down defensive structures. The complexities that bubble up in-between add the texture that makes MOBAs fascinating, but the core remains compelling and easy to understand: infinitely spawning waves of opposing AI 'creep' armies meet in the middle of the map to fight each other, but won't make any progress without help from players; destroy the defences that stop your AI guys from getting to the other side, and you've won. Peek beneath all the sorcery and blood, and you're basically playing American football.The traditional back-and-forth is still here, but it quickly proves little more than a red herring. It's something to do when you aren't busy with roaming around to recruit mercenary camps, or fighting over map objectives, sure - but focussing purely on towers and creeps is a sure-fire way to rapidly lose.
Rather than embedding long-term appeal in a roster of strange and nuanced characters, Heroes of the Storm wants to keep things fruity by offering a wide variety of maps. At the heart of each map is a unique gimmick that largely dictates the flow of the match, encouraging players to drop what they're doing and focus their efforts on something else. Ghosty McPirate wants yer booty doubloons! There's a cursed idol to collect in the woods! Control the shrines and activate the statue to turn yourself into a beastly man-dragon!
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