Beta Review: Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

Announced at PAX East last year, Hearthstone is an upcoming free to play card game set in the universe of Warcraft created by Blizzard Entertainment. Having just announced the open beta, I really wanted to get my hands on this since I've been dying to play this anxiously hoping to get invited when beta testers were chosen via invite only. If you're a fan of the Warcraft lore such as myself be it from the classic games or playing the MMO World of Warcraft then you will most likely have a blast at this game.

The main objective is to deal damage to your opponent all the way down to 0 with each player starting out at 30. When you first start the game, you are guided through a 5 battle tutorial to familiarize yourself with how the game plays. Afterwards you are given the opportunity to face off against the remaining heroes/classes to unlock them and create your own deck. The Mage class (represented by Jaina Proudmoore) is the first one available and who you play as during the tutorial. Other heroes that represent the other classes include Garrosh Hellscream (Warrior), Uther Lightbringer (Paladin), Gul'Dan (Warlock) etc. All classes are playable except for Death Knights and Monks.

Choose your Hero.

Basics of the game are simple at first but gets more in-depth customization as you unlock more cards. Each hero has class specific cards as well as access to Minions which are Neutral. Every card consists of a mana cost that must be payed in order to play a card. The start of the game has each hero start with 1 mana and it refills + increases by 1 as the game goes on to a maximum of 10. Minions have an attack and defense and can freely attack your hero unless the ability Taunt gets in the way. Also each hero has a unique ability that costs 2 mana and can only be used once per turn. Whether you lose or win it doesn't matter as you gain experience and level up which gives you access to more cards. Every hero starts at level 1 with all their "Basic" cards unlocked after level 10.

The level of your character does not in any way affect your health or how much damage you can deal, only unlocking more cards. The game gets very addicting after you play each match, I know I can't get enough of it! The game modes you have are Play Mode where you face against other players, Practice which pits you against the computer and Arena  where you are thrown into a gauntlet after you create your deck via 3 cards at a time. Deck limits are set at 30 cards. You can also purchase packs for more cards with either real money or gold which is earned through winning matches and completing quests given out each day.

How a regular match looks.

Should you Play this Game?
Yes, it's very addicting and the gameplay is very simple that anyone can pick up. It's even more of a treat for fans of the Warcraft series!