Demigod follows the basic premise of the popular Warcraft 3 map DOTA – that is two opposing teams of powerful heroes face each other off while being supported by waves of AI controlled ‘creeps’ that follow predefined ‘lanes’.
The basic game concept is the same, however Demigod offers more styles of play than DOTA. Common to both is the objective of destroying the enemy teams ancient or in the case of Demigod the enemy teams citadel. Demigod also offers a ‘slaughter’ game mode, where the first team to kill a set number of enemy heroes is the winner, a ‘dominate’ mode similar to domination in unreal tournament where there are flags throughout the map that can be captured that accrue points over time with the first team to reach the limit being the winner, and finally a ‘fortress’ game mode, which has a number of small fortresses belonging to each team spread around the map – the winners being the team that destroys all enemy fortresses.
Additionally, Demigod only has 8 heroes compared to DOTA's 95, however this is not a negative as the low number allows each hero to be more unique and better balanced, with a better defined role. Each hero can also be played in a number of different ways as their skill trees allow for a number of specialisations, for example the Torch Bearer hero has a frost line of skills and a fire line. The frost line of skills is geared towards crowd-control, and fire which is geared towards dealing direct damage. A skilled player can also have a hybrid skillset which allows for flexibility during the game.
Players can also help the AI's war effort by spending their gold on upgrades at the citadel. This allows the player to add new kinds of creeps to the teams attack waves and upgrade their strength and abilities, as well as provide other benefits such as regenerating health for buildings and increased experience for fellow players.
One of the best aspects of the game is the high quality and engaging music, which really draws you into the game and gives a sense of being in the heart of the battle. The voice-overs for the game are given by a Christopher Lee sound-alike that delivers lines such as ‘SMITER’ with perfect impact, reminiscent of the voiceovers in the original Unreal Tournament game, but tuned up to give an Epic feel.
Since launch however the game has been marred by connectivity issues affecting the online multiplayer component. This is a major downside as the focus of this game is on online multiplayer. The singleplayer AI of heroes even when playing on the hardest difficulties is poor. They will constantly run into the line of fire of enemy towers and get themselves killed by not retreating when surrounded by enemy heroes or when on low health. Despite this I have found the singleplayer to a very fun experience, even though at times it can be quite frustrating.
The team at Stardock have been extremely forthcoming about the issues surrounding multiplayer and have been very open with the community about the progress that is being made. At the time of writing the majority of connection issues have been resolved, however for us players in New Zealand you may want to wait another month before buying this game to avoid frustration. They have also sent out online vouchers to purchasers of Demigod for a discount on any prpduct on their online store Impulse as a way of apologising for the issues, and will continue to send out discounts for players that play the game online.
Overall Demigod is a very enjoyable game, and once the online connectivity issues are fully resolved it will meet the potential that it has. Stardock has it's reputation for a reason, and the actions they have taken in response to this game's issues at launch further cement that – they will continue to support this game for a long time and are not simply going to let it drop off the radar.