“League of Legends” is a free video game by independent developers Riot Games in which the player fights in a twisted, magic-infused realm while controlling one of a myriad of champions that range anywhere from a yeti-riding miniature mage to a mutated giant armadillo.
The first incarnation of “League of Legends” was, surprisingly enough, in a different game. “League of Legends” is based on a similar game called “Defense of the Ancients,” a custom scenario in Blizzard’s game “Warcraft III”. Some of the developers from the series split off and formed Riot Games.
Both games have the player control his or her selected champion in an effort to destroy the enemy champions in an opposing base. The keys to game are the items, skills and, most importantly, the teamwork between players. For example, if a teammate charges into the enemy base alone (warning: language), holding aloft his or her plus-15 damage sword, they will quickly meet their death.
Character choice is very important as well, and also serves as one of the most unique parts of “League of Legends.” There are currently 50 playable champions, each one with its own unique play style that can be broken down further into different options with various choices of items.
Sorcerers, warriors, assassins, archers, pirates, ninjas, trolls, dwarves, humans, animals, monsters and whatever else one could possibly think of are controllable in the game, each one playing incredibly differently from the other choices. Even if there are two of the same champion, they could be playing in completely different styles, which leads to varied and frantic game play.
“League of Legends” is a metric-ton of fun, being one of the most addictive games that a select few testers on the Speakeasy Entertainment staff have ever played. Homework is pushed aside, girlfriends are ignored and the night is always considered young – even at 5 a.m.
When things do not go in a favorable direction, however, the game can turn into one of the most enraging things a gamer will ever play, (Note: that happens about 50 percent of the time.) especially when the player is paired up with random players across the Internet, who could range anywhere from newbies who skipped the tutorial to seasoned “Field of Justice” veterans who are capable of dealing death in a few seconds.
A single game can last anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour, though it is time pleasurably spent, especially considering a player’s profile will still gain experience points even in a loss. Also, once enough points are gained from playing various games, a player can also use them (or actual money) to buy new champions to play with, runes that add slight bonuses and new (often hilarious) costumes for the champions and much more.
One minor problem with the game? It is currently only available for Windows. Eager Mac owners only have to wait a little longer, however, a version friendly to their operating system will be appearing sometime during the fall fiscal quarter of this year.