LOL! No, I'm not laughing out loud. Gaming journalism is a grim and solemn business and editors routinely beat those of us who appear to be having fun. LOL stands for League Of Legends and is a game I've been playing quite a bit of lately. It can best be described as an inverted tower defense game built upon a PvP concept. Curiously enough this title was originally a Warcraft III mod which became a full game. Oh and it's free. As in you don't have to pay to download and play it. Nor do you have to own Warcraft III for it to work, so once you are done reading you can go and check it out for yourself.
The idea of LOL is simple. There are two bases in the opposing corners of the map. They are connected by three roads with wilderness and various monsters in between. Roads are defended by towers. Each base spawns computer-controlled minions which follow the roads towards the enemy team's base and attack anything in their way. You control a champion that has a number of upgradable special abilities. The goal is to destroy the enemy's minion-spawning structure, but to get to it you will have to do a lot of fighting and destroy a lot of towers. To even the odds every match starts with all heroes at level one.
During the course of the game your champion can level up to a maximum of level eighteen which makes his attacks stronger and unlocks new ones. You also earn money by killing anything that moves and doing things like ending someone's killing spree. You can then spend the dough on various equipment to improve your champion's damage, armor, mana and other statistics. As in any PvP game you have to make sure your team's champions are balanced in their roles, select the right gear and use the correct tactics. Teamwork will always be rewarded and communication is vital for success.
Aside from your champion's level there is also your summoner's (player) level which persists from game to game. Various possibilities become unlocked as levels increase. You gain access to supplemental spells, receive talent points and unlock rune slots. Talents work via three trees reminiscent of WoW or Torchlight. New spells become available at set intervals. Rune slots unlock with each level for a total of thirty, although runes are not yet fully implemented. All of this gives you a lot of customization options. There is also a store, where you can buy runes and even cosmetic upgrades with either points you earn by playing or with real money.
LOL is bright, pretty and pleasant to play. Being a direct decedent of Warcraft III it appears to be using the same engine although a bit more polished. Controls are intuitive with right mouse button sending your champion to his destination and assigned keyboard keys firing off the spells. Any new player should feel comfortable slipping right into the game, but for those who aren't, a very functional tutorial is provided. The sound aspect of the game is also done well. Speech, music and special effects feel appropriate and never annoying. Even though the game is still not entirely finished I have not experienced any crashes or bugs.
I've been having a great time playing LOL. It is a very well made game that is challenging, exciting, and between its many champions and numerous upgrade options offers nearly limitless replay value. A truly solid title in its own right, it becomes an absolute winner when you couple it with the fact that you don't have to pay a single penny to play to your heart's content. Realistically I can't think of any reason not to get it.
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