Ever since the Warcraft III mod, Defence against the Ancients (or as its come to be said, Dota) became a smash hit, “Dota-clones” have spewed out from all corners. Once being born from the forges of a real time strategy, Dota has created its own video game genre, producing a unique hybrid between RTS and RPG. We’ve come to know these games as Dota games - And there are quite a number of them out there. However, Valve, along with the help of Dota lead designer “Icefrog”, have put their heads and their coffers together to bring to the world what Dota could have been if it were made as a stand-alone title – Dota 2!

Dota is a very unforgiving game. It is quite difficult to get into, but once the initial ‘n00b’ phase has been crossed, it’s quite rewarding. This aspect of the game has been emulated into other titles which play the same. Demigod was the first title I remember ever trying to emulate Dota, but I do not know how big it has gotten. In the west, however, there are two great titans that have emerged from Dota: League of Legends (aptly named LoL) and Heroes of Newerth (or HoN, for short). Both share great similarities, but the two games differ greatly in mechanics. The two games have a very large player base, as well as hosting a number of competitive events.

However, Dota 2 is now chugging along the development aisle. We have yet to see any form of actual gameplay, but from what I believe: Dota 2 is going to become a huge player in the genre. Many Dota players began to play HoN to escape from Warcraft III’s dated graphics, but compared to Dota 2, I am not sure if it can provide anything different to the playing field. HoN does have a host of its own unique characters, but most of its heroes are directly modelled from the Dota champions. LoL, however, shares many of the same aspects of Dota. But its gameplay is simplified, taking away the meddlesome ‘deny’ from Dota, as well as ‘animation cancelling’. Many of the players who play HoN are accustomed to Dota, but on the flipside, a large number of people who play LoL surprisingly have only ever heard the name, and consequently relate it solely to a popular single by Swedish musician, Basshunter.

I predominately play League of Legends now, and unfortunately, my hands have numbed a little to its father title. The question on a lot of gamer’s minds is whether or not Dota 2 will rid the world of all these other titles which have spawned from its popularity. To that I say, “Who knows?” I know I’m still going to play LoL, and will slowly get into playing Dota 2 when it comes out. Some people flock to the new title, and some will just sit comfortably enjoying the game they have now. Just because Dota started the craze, it does not mean that it will dominate the world.  I do not think the genre will die so quickly. Just as there are thousands of different FPS shooters, a ghastly amount of racing games, RPGs, the list goes on. As long as developers are truly innovative in what they do, and provide something novel and forged with quality, I doubt there will be any threatening changes to Dota-games.

Dota 2 is set to be released around Q2 2012.