Heroes of Newerth (HoN) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game that has two opposing teams faceoff against each other on various maps battling to take control of their opponent’s base.

The learning curve for HoN is steep, many first time players of the MOBA genre will be turned off to the difficulty quickly. Those who manage to stick with the game and put in the time and effort in playing and researching it, will be rewarded with a deeply satisfying gaming experience. Players will need to become familiar with over 100 playable characters, their skill sets, and the various items that can be purchased while playing, adding to the heroes attributes. The other essential piece to playing this game and MOBAs in general is the terminology and flow of the game. Knowing the difference between laning phase, mid game and late game is paramount to achieving victory along with being educated in the different roles, such as support, carry or tank to name a few. HoN brings all these variables into play doing a fantastic job of delivering the end product in a sleek and easy to understand interface. Control in HoN is very tight and well put together, heroes respond accurately to commands, and the ability to bind almost any action to any key solidifies the gameplay experience. The one complaint I do have is lack of bots (computer controlled heroes) to play with or against.

Now I have read that these are being implemented in an upcoming patch, but as of this writing none are to be found. New players can learn a lot about the basics of MOBA games with bots, rather than going live with other players right away. MOBA communities tend to be very unforgiving towards new players and mistakes in general (the chat in these games may discourage some players to keep playing).

HoN is free to download and play with the option for players to purchase cosmetic additions to the game. These cosmetic features add nothing to unbalance gameplay; eliminating the play to win scenario found in other free to play gaming models.

Graphically HoN looks amazing. The 3D models have a crisp and detailed look to them and the interface is also filled with animated renderings. The map environments in HoN are also well done. The trees, grass, rivers, particle effects and even weather options like rain and snow all add to the immersive experience that is HoN. For a free to play game, S2 put a lot of time and money into creating these fantastic visuals, and the end products shines with all the attention given to the graphic detail of the game.
Sound in HoN is done very well with grunts, wails, laughs and emotes are constantly being vocalized by heroes, while their abilities also have unique sound effects. Even the effects used in the options menu are done with lots of attention to detail, like the gritty sound of stones sliding together when different screens come up, or the deep voiced announcer informing players that battle is about to begin.

In addition to an already deep level of sound implementation, players can purchase additional voice packs for announcers and taunts (that also add new visual animations) for heroes.

Accessibility Review.
Mobility-4
HoN can be played with mouse alone as all hero commands can be activated on screen, although some loss of precision and speed will be noticed. Playing with the keyboard alone is not possible. The interface cannot be resized. Some MOBA games include an option called smart casting as part of their in game control modifications. Smart casting enables spells to be cast by location of the mouse curser as opposed to clicking the spell and selecting a target; this eliminates extra button pushes and is a great asset for gamers with limited range of motion. Unfortunately, HoN does not have this simple option and its overall score on mobility suffers. The game does allow for the complete remapping of buttons. A feature that helps mobility for players is the option to lock the camera on a hero, or center the camera with the push of a button. Players can also switch the position of the mini map to the opposite side of the screen.

Visual-1
There is no color blind mode. Frantic gameplay with lots of red and green will turn some players off to HoN. It is disappointing that it does not have this feature built in and its visual score suffers. Also the inability to resize the heads-up display does not help either.

Hearing-7
Sound is not needed to play HoN effectively. However, with the great work done with hero emotes and announcer sound effects the addition of subtitles would have been great to see implemented.