So after waiting with anticipation for two months I finally got into the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft beta this week. I’ve known of its existence, but had no idea just how significant of a game it is until I attended BlizzCon last month. There were more journalists I spoke to who asked me if I’ve played Hearthstone than any other game. They all seemed enthralled by it.
Okay, so Hearthstone is a digital collectible card game. That might turn you off if you’ve never been into Magic: The Gathering or other trading card games, but don’t be fooled. This is a game all about thought-provoking strategy and awesome collectibles. When you put those two qualities together it spells an incredible addictive experience.
Despite its digital style, Hearthstone has the same allure that physical card games have. You slowly amass an army of cards over time by playing and purchasing card packs (earned with ingame or real-life currency). Whether or not you’re into collecting things you’ll quickly grow an appetite for obtaining powerful rare cards. In the event you find yourself unlucky, you can synthesize cards you have (particularly duplicates) into arcane dust to build a card of your choice. The flexibility is really nice.
The game mechanics are rock solid. You choose between one of nine classes to play as that are all taken from World of Warcraft‘s nine vanilla classes (Warrior, Priest, Mage, etc.). Not only does your class choice define what ability you can use outside of your available cards, but it also changes which class cards you have access to. Really, what this means is there are nine very different play styles that breathe flexibility and play value into the experience.
Using your custom-built deck of 30 cards, you take on another player or A.I. The side which takes out the opponent’s hero character first is declared victor. The road there isn’t easy, though. Similar to chess, you’ll need to think about what your opponent is doing. If you lose focus for even one turn the tables can turn very quickly.
A gameplay video narrated by Blizzard showing what the game is like to play.
As fun as the game is to play, its presentation is what really sets it off. It feels like a Blizzard game with its true-to-heritage look and tone. Using cards results in visual and audio cues that Warcraft fans recognize. Using an Arcane Blast card destroys weakened enemies with a pulse of magic, and healing a minion with Healing Touch is just like saving a raid member from dying to Onyxia. When you end a turn, classic Orc quotes like “Job’s done” can be heard. Even the heroes are portrayed as well-known characters like Thrall and Uther the Lightbringer with good voice over work, too.
More than anything I’m excited for mobile support. At BlizzCon it was announced that Hearthstone will run on Android and iOS devices at launch. This is really the perfect game to play on the go, and I can see myself being heavily distracted by it.
I really hope Blizzard considers some form of co-op play, because as much fun as playing with a friend is, expanding the choices so it isn’t 100% focused on 1 vs 1 competitive play would be nice. Also, it would be incredible if the game were somehow integrated into World of Warcraft. Meeting players in the game world and being able to jump into a battle similar to pet battles would be mind-blowing.
Unfortunately, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft won’t be out until next year, or at least Blizzard hopes. That’s a real bummer, but at least we have a beta.
You can sign-up for the Hearthstone beta and check out more about the game on its official site.
