^{Image: Level Infinite}

Honor of Kings finally gets a global release, but is it worth checking out for MOBA fans?

Don’t be deceived by Honor of Kings’ recent global rollout, because this isn’t a new game by any stretch of the imagination. Level Infinite and Tencent Games’ mobile MOBA was originally released exclusively in China in 2015 before the two companies opted to release an international version of the game called Arena of Valor in 2016. While Arena of Valor wasn’t exactly a flop, it certainly wasn’t a breakthrough hit outside of China either. I can only assume the game’s less-than-rousing success is what has led to this year’s global rollout of Honor of Kings, which finally allows everyone outside of China to play the now nine-year-old game - with a few amendments, of course.

However, Honor of Kings is now (re)launching on a platform dominated by MOBA games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), Pokemon Unite and League of Legends: Wild Rift. Does this game have anything unique to set itself apart, or is it headed the way of Arena of Valor?

Wait, what’s Honor of Kings again?

Honor of Kings is a free-to-play MOBA with 5v5 PvP gameplay, though the title has also launched with 3v3, Boot Camp and AI simulation game modes on top of that. It plays fairly similarly to Wild Rift, with onscreen touch controls allowing players to push and pull characters as they move across the map, or activate and upgrade their abilities. The game’s map looks very similar to League as well visually, with the usual three lanes for players to conquer depending on their roles.

As always, the objective is to topple the enemy team’s towers while safeguarding your own in each of the three lanes. Once enough towers are down, your team can make a push into the enemy’s home base and destroy it to claim victory. This usually takes time, however, as players spend most of the game farming kills and gold, upgrading abilities, and poking at towers. Level Infinite claims that the 5v5 mode makes for relatively short 15-20 minute matches, but in my experience, your playtime will largely depend on the coordination of your team.

My first few games went up to almost half an hour each, as players wandered about without focusing on objectives. This might have been down to early-day woes as inexperienced players - myself included - are all figuring out this game together. However, those 15-20 matches will be a big selling point for anyone seeking a condensed on-the-go MOBA experience, so it should be noted that this game is inconsistent on that front.

Buying items and picking heroes

Even if you don’t play a ton of MOBAs, Honor of Kings seems like a pretty welcoming game to ease into this genre with. The game refers to its three map lanes in very specific terms, such as the top lane being the Clash lane and the bottom lane being the Farm lane. The names themselves tell you what you’re meant to do by playing these lanes, and the heroes you pick are specifically sorted into lane and class categories - such as mages (ranged magic users) and fighters (melee weapon users).

This streamlined terminology ends up being pretty useful, as the game has a whopping 85 playable characters in total. Even if some of them have to be purchased before use, you still end up having to sort through a ton of potential mains to pick your immediate favourites. For further ease of play, you don’t even have to customise each character’s build. Each character comes with a few pre-selected builds, along with information on the lane they’re best used for. You really don’t have to put much thought into picking your heroes and coming up with a strategy before starting a match, but the option is there nevertheless.

In gameplay, upgrading your abilities and buying items couldn’t be easier. You simply tap the ‘+’ sign next to your abilities on the right side of the screen, and look for new items to pop up on the top right when you have enough gold. There aren’t any menus to navigate unless you’re going for a specific custom build, so new players can simply focus on playing the game by frantically clicking on pop-ups. Most of the time, that wins them the game. There is something to be said about the devaluation of tactics in MOBA gameplay that’s been this watered down, but mobile players don’t require anything quite so intense anyway.

Honor of Kings’ hero count doesn’t quite meet the standards of MLBB, but 85 characters seem quite sufficient for a new-ish game. In fact, it’s damn near overwhelming, with specific lore, ability kits, and skins attached to each of these heroes, tempting you to single any of them out from the masses. Angela was my starting pick for the game, with burst and stun abilities that work well together to combo enemies into submission. I also played quite a bit of Hou Yi, who ramps up in usefulness in the late game as he has a rather powerful ultimate.

I wish more games would take the Overwatch approach of allowing players almost-instant access to all playable characters, but this isn’t one of them. You’ll have to grind to unlock most of Honor of Kings’ heroes or cough up real money to speed things up, and the latter is almost certainly what Level Infinite and Tencent are gunning for you to do. The game is constantly bombarding players with a horrific number of pop-up messages on the home screen, alerting them of daily log-in rewards, shop changes, event updates, and more. It’s all a bit too much for me, but the intent is clearly to keep players engaged on a daily basis until the end of time. That just isn’t my jam.

Verdict

If you can stomach its visual clutter and an overwhelming number of playable heroes, Honor of Kings is a decent pick for both newcomers and veterans to the MOBA genre on mobile platforms. I specify mobile platforms here; the game does away with the complexity of PC games like League and Dota 2 specifically to give players shorter and simpler matches, so it really isn’t comparable. Your experience may vary depending on your gaming device of choice, but I did notice some freezing and framerate drops in a few of my matches too. This might be mitigated by checking through the game’s visual settings if not outright resolved.

If you’re looking for another MOBA to kick back with, there’s no real reason to avoid Honor of Kings. For a new-ish multiplayer release, it’s feature-rich and bursting with content - as one would expect a technically nine-year-old videogame to be.

Impressions: Honor of Kings is a decent MOBA with almost too much content