Blood of Heroes boasts catchy slogans, a dark world, and brutal close combat like in For Honor. But is it fun? Just in time for the beta launch, we at MeinMMO played it together with the developers and can tell you what to expect in the game.
What kind of game is this, anyway? Blood of Heroes features brutal combat scenes and the slogan “Kill them quickly and brutally!” It sounds like a hearty action game, and it is. Like in For Honor, you fight with medieval weapons in archaic arenas against other players and smash each other’s heads in (or off).
At first glance, the game resembles For Honor in its visuals and gameplay, but according to the developers, Ubisoft’s medieval slaughter was not the inspiration. Blood of Heroes was, according to their statement, already in development when For Honor had not even been announced.
Rather, the hardcore multiplayer mode of Dark Souls was the inspiration. Many players would have liked more of that, but Souls was primarily focused on single-player, and the multiplayer was more of an afterthought. Therefore, they at the developer Vizor devised a plan to develop a PvP multiplayer game that captures the feeling of Souls PvP.
Difficult to learn and hard to master – but good
So these were the first steps: Since I have the developers as wise advisors by my side, I skip the otherwise boring tutorial and jump straight into the battle. How hard can it be?
And indeed, it gets intense right away. I grab one of the three starter heroes – a grim dude in armor and shield – and stomp off. I immediately notice: Man, this guy is taking his time.
While in other games, agile elves flit lightly about, my warrior stomps through the bushes in his heavy armor like an elephant. You can feel every pound of steel covering his mighty body.
Here’s how the gameplay goes: But my hero doesn’t have to crawl around for too long, as my enemies kindly oblige by attacking me right away. Since the devs had just explained the basics to me, I hold down the button to block, and the opponents’ attacks bounce ineffective off my shield.
But I can’t celebrate for too long because one of the opponents winds up and delivers a heavy attack that breaks through my shield coverage.
“You have to dodge,” says a developer in the role of Captain Obvious dryly from off-screen. But dodging in Blood of Heroes is also a leisurely affair. While in other games, you can perform spectacular flips, the muscle-bound brutes in this game only minimally hop to the side. Every unnecessary movement is avoided. I’m used to something different, and I have to get accustomed to this movement economy.
Still, I evade most attacks, which is also due to the fact that I can temporarily make myself invulnerable. Each hero has 2 skills that help him in battle. My hefty tank-type has, besides invulnerability, a special strike that knocks down opponents.
In addition, there are various strikes and combos that can knock enemies over, kick them off cliffs, or stun them. If you don’t cleverly block or dodge and plan your own attacks – which often have very long animations – properly, you won’t win anything, let alone a glorious victory!
Every hero plays differently
Here’s how the different characters play: After actually winning the first round – I mainly tanked, and my two comrades flanked and hacked the enemies with their axes – I start further rounds and try out the other heroes.
They differ not only in appearance but are all also different in gameplay:
- There is a Viking guy with two axes. He is relatively quick and hits hard but is considerably more fragile than the tank-type.
- Another hero is a muscle-bound brute with a large axe, who dishes out heavily and is quite tough.
- Another warrior can engulf himself in flames and ignite opponents. Magic also plays a role here.
- There is also a guy with a staff who looks like a Viking priest and specializes in healing and support.
- The last hero for the start differs from the previous warriors as he is not a Nordic type but rather a kind of Zulu warrior who throws spears and is currently the only ranged fighter in the selection.
I try them all out and recognize a few fundamental truths of the game:
- Whoever doesn’t wear armor is very quickly dead – dodging and blocking become really important.
- Ranged combat is indeed tricky.
- Having the healer in the team who knows his craft gives a massive advantage.
- There is damn friendly fire!
Especially the last point is something that one has to understand first. Whoever mindlessly swings around while comrades are standing around them might hit them. And as you can only heal in the regular 3vs3 mode when a healer is also playing, every lost hit point is a catastrophe!
Also interesting: When you die, you can only respawn in the next round. However, the previous hero remains dead, and you have to play a different character from the selection. So the game forces me to grasp all heroes at least to some extent. There are therefore no pure “mains.”
This is how team play works in the domination mode: In addition to the 3vs3 and a 1vs1 duel mode, which I have not played, the developers want to show me the big domination mode. In it, 5 players face off against 5 players to capture magical locations in order to score points. The first to reach 1,000 wins the match.
You can also respawn during the round, and heroes that are dead for a while become available for selection again after a few minutes.
More than in the 3vs3 mode, tactics and planning are the focus here. Rushing around without a plan will get you mercilessly outmaneuvered. Pure combat successes pale in comparison to tactical maneuvers, where a clever rogue sneaks around and captures points. This way, I can log a win or two, even though I often lose in direct combat against the much more experienced developers and playtesters.
Customizable arenas and lack of women
This is what’s up with the arenas and crafting: Crafting and the arenas have been roughly touched upon. You can gather crafting resources through various challenges and achievements and then create all sorts of things.
These include cosmetics, new weapons, and arena modifiers. The weapons are not just decorative but also change the first skill you have with the corresponding hero. The arena upgrades, in turn, change the appearance of the arena, as every second battle takes place in your own arena, and you can then boast with your personal battlefield.
What is still to come? For the future, the developers are primarily planning new heroes from all sorts of cultural backgrounds. Unlike in For Honor, which takes place in a bizarre mixed world, the battles in Blood of Heroes, according to the developers, take place in “a proto-Germanic underworld.” So a kind of Valhalla, where the souls of dead heroes eternally beat each other up and go drinking between battles.
Therefore, in the future, there should also be heroes from Celtic, Roman/Greek, and even Slavic cultures.
What is there to criticize: The game already makes a solid impression, and I had to force myself not to keep playing one round after another. But if you want to play Blood of Heroes well, you have to immerse yourself in the tricky gameplay that forgives few mistakes and can end quickly in death. Casual gamers might not get as much out of it.
There were also a few smaller bugs, such as the fact that my hero sometimes had no head but still lived. Moreover, the camera perspective is sometimes a bit too close to the fray, making it hard to distinguish between enemies and allies, which is especially problematic in conjunction with friendly fire.
Curiously, all heroes are men. And although the setting could easily accommodate tough shield maidens and fierce amazons, there is currently not a single woman in the hero selection. When asked about this, none of the developers wanted to comment.
Conclusion – A game I’ve been waiting for a long time
Even the first trailers and images of Blood of Heroes piqued my interest, and I was not disappointed. The game has a rather leisurely and tactical feel, and you must engage with the material to achieve something.
Wild button-mashing rarely leads to anything, just like stubbornly hiding behind shields or cover.
Moreover, there’s the cool underworld Valhalla setting, which even explains respawns coherently in the world. If you are already an immortal warrior spirit who engages in battles for eternity, you can just go down for a while and then resurrect.
Additionally, there are countless possibilities to customize the heroes, their gear, and even the arenas themselves. So, whether you are into housing and fashion play (like me), you will have fun here, just as much as fans of hardcore PvP action like in Dark Souls.
Jürgen Horn
Editor at MeinMMO
When can you play it? From today, August 26, the open beta for Blood of Heroes has started, and you can check out the game for yourself and start playing.
