Let me cut to the chase, Allstar Heroes is the best mobile game I’ve ever played, and this is coming from a guy who otherwise loathes the world of bus stop/lunch break gaming. For me it’s difficult to list mobile games that I’ve enjoyed playing as most of the time the only ones that are spat out are boring, “freemium” games that try every trick in the book to unnecessarily part you from your cash. These atrocious acts of gaming terrorism start off enjoyable and easy until suddenly … BAM!! You can’t progress any further without having to cough up more than just virtual currency. Loading Allstar Heroes up for the first time I groaned at its familiar presence, the depleting energy bars, the special currency, the random character drops and thought “jeez it’s gonna be another Dragon Age Heroes isn’t it”, however unlike that monstrosity, I’m still playing it … 12 hours later!
Allstar Heroes is a brand new fantasy MOBA title created by Lilith Games and releasing soon on iOS and Android devices. Originally releasing 12 months ago in China, Allstar Heroes very quickly became the most downloaded and highest grossing mobile game of that year, which now sees it tackle the western audiences. Its premise is simple; you control 5 legendary heroes who must scour the land defeating the evil that stands in your way. From the off you are knee deep in battle until all of a sudden each one of your comrades are killed except for ‘The Captain’, who suddenly loses his memory and flees from the carnage. Within the first chapter of the game you gradually recruit 4 more warriors to fight by your side and then the rest is up to, defeat enemies and completing objectives for money or gems to unlock stronger companions. The combat couldn’t be any simpler, your team attack automatically and at random and you only have control of when they use their powerful special abilities, however the strategy comes from your choice of heroes and how they are placed in battle. Having a team of physical brawlers will make you powerful yet open to low defence and subjected to magic attacks, however a team of magic casters will give you a disadvantage against a barrage of physical attacks. The key to forming a strong team is by claiming weapons and accessories dropped by your enemies and bonding them with your allies, and once they are equipped with everything they can be promoted, thus giving them more strength, health and unlocking powerful new abilities. It’s a format which has been done to death but what is it about Allstar Heroes which makes it work superbly?
For a start there is a lot of features open for exploration, or at least there is once you’ve levelled up high enough to access them. The campaign mode, which features more than a dozen chapters to date, is where you’ll be spending most of your time. Each chapter contains a number of replayable missions that you’ll be revisiting to gather certain dropped items, and finishing each chapter unlocks the next difficult challenge. For those that strive for a tougher battle, ‘Heroic’ chapters become available and completing each of these will reward you with gems and rarer items to promote your heroes with. The coins you earn can be used to level up special abilities, purchase items from the Trader or used to buy an EXP Potion which can also grant you a rare item or Hero to go along with it; the same applies for gems which can be used to purchase EXP Potions with an even rarer item or Hero to go alongside. Though more difficult to obtain without using your debit card, Gems can be found by completing particular tasks and there are plenty of opportunities to gather them for free, so just think twice before you get your wallet out. Completing daily events and quests will earn you extra EXP and coins which will gradually level up your character enough to unlock more features in the game, which all in turn gives the player a much more fun and challenging experience.
Allstar Heroes features a very competitive Arena mode which sees you put your roster up against some online competition, and successful cruising through the leader boards will see some shiny diamonds fall into your mailbox, which also means more opportunities to buy stronger heroes. For a quick fix of challenging sword play, 3 additional game modes are unlocked which give you a brief window to collect valuable items and cash. ‘Caverns of Time’ gives you 2 chances a day to score some sought after EXP boosters and high selling items, whilst the aptly named ‘Challenges’ mode gives you 6 chances a day to score recipes and fragments to craft high levelling items. Out of all of them, ‘Crucible’ is perhaps the toughest, which pretty much is the MOBA equivalent of Challenge TV’s ‘Ninja Warrior’. Faced with 15 tough opponents, it’s up to you to defeat as many as you can without everyone on your team dying, and after each obstacle you gain an impressive amount of coins and dragon scales, which can be redeemed at the Crucible’s own gift shop. I cannot tell you as of yet what completing the Crucible grants you but with a team of 8 level 32 Epic Blue Heroes, I’ve only managed to defeat 7 people … it’s tough and you only get one shot a day before you must restart.
As it is still in its Beta stages there are still a number of features that are yet to unlock until the game sees its official release. With an ‘Epic Arena’, ‘Prophecy Pool’ and ‘Treasure Cave’ yet to explore, it’s fair to say that for a tiresome genre, Allstar Heroes is practically bursting at the seams. It’s also fair to say that this is the first mobile MOBA title I’ve found that doesn’t get overly difficult just to encourage you to spend your real cash, as I’ve easily put in a baker’s dozen worth of effort into the game and not once as it become discouraging, punishing and frustrating to the point that I refuse to play it again. There’s no doubt it’s a ‘Pay to Win’ game and those that foolishly want to throw their money at it are welcome to, but for those that just want to see what it’s all about then I cannot urge you enough. Allstar Heroes is a challenging and adorable looking game that offers a lot to its players and rewards handsomely the more hours that are put into it daily; I honestly can’t wait to see this game’s official launch.
Also the game is entering Android closed beta on March 26th, and players can sign up for in-game rewards at the following link: http://www.allstarheroes.eu/special/UKBetaTestEvent/?
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