My persistent quest to find a suitable DotA replacement has led me to a game called League of Legends. Really, this game should have been my first attempt. However, I will get to that later. 

For those that don't know what DotA is, the description for League of Legends gives a good general description. "League of Legends is a session-based, multiplayer online battle-arena game where rival teams compete against one another for victory on highly stylized battlefields and landscapes. League of Legends combines elements of the role-playing and strategy genres with addictive battle action.  League of Legends brings accessible, replayable and endlessly competitive gameplay that deepens with the player's commitment."

I am going to be get straight to the point, this game just works beautifully. It is a blast to play. It has depth. 

The first thing to notice is the graphics. While not cutting edge graphics, the graphics are suitable. The art style is fantastic. You can definitely see that the game takes some of the elements from its origins. The game is colorful and pleasantly so. 

The maps are well done as well. The ones I have played thus far vary enough that they don't seem repetitive. They seem to be pretty well balanced. And, there are enough elements in them to provide some strategy. For instance, the bush idea is pretty amazing. Essentially, you can only see enemies in the bush if you are in the bush. The side quests also an alternative element that can not only help you and your team but provide more alternatives.

The heros are what you would expect from a game like this. You have your various types such as caster, ranger, and warrior. Each has their own unique special abilities. 

The abilities are upgraded as you level. You can choose which ones you want to start leveling but they only can be leveled up so far based on your level. So ultimately, you you start investing in other abilities. Overall, I would consider this a positive even though it does limit customizability. At the beginning of each match, you can select which non class based abilities you want. For instance, there is one that heals, one that revives, and one that does damage to an enemy. There are more obviously but those give you an idea. I do wish there was a more tree type structure with skills. This I feel would complete the customization.

As with most of these style of games, the true customization is with the armor, weapons, trinkets, etc. And really, these will make or break your hero. You pick the wrong combos or don't even bother with upgrading or even buying and you are sure to fail in every way possible. There is an upgrade path with these as well. Instead of just buying an item and paying for the upgrade of the weapon, you can combine different items to make an even better item. However, these upgrades can be bought outright. So, the upgrade paths are not critical but they can help with getting the better items without having to buy and then sell all the time. I just find myself buy items that I feel fit my character and they almost never end up being the items required to upgrade to a better one so I end up just buying and selling. 

Now, I feel there is one very specific reason why this game captures the essence of DotA. The people who created DotA were apart of the process of the League of Legends development! This is the reason I should have tried this alternative first.

Overall, League of Legends feels like a well polished game with an active community and user base. Best of all, it is free to play! I highly suggest you Play This Game!