Fans of the WarCraft III custom map Defence of the Ancients (DotA) will more than likely be aware of League of Legends from Riot Games. The public beta for the game has come to an end and it has entered into Pre-Season. The game is free of charge and available to all who wish to participate.

The Pre-Season will run until mid 2010, and is designed to encourage newcomers to familiarise themselves with the gameplay, and formulate clans and strategies before Season 1 begins.

Heading up the project are Steve “Guinsoo” Feak – former designer of DotA – and Steve “Pendragon” Mescon – former DotA support administrator. With this pedigree behind the game it’s no wonder that it has been well received by the community.

The game puts the player in control of a Summoner, which acts as a perpetual avatar. The Summoner will carry experience over from match to match, and can upgrade and equip newer and more powerful spells and runes as it levels up. There are currently three tiers of runes available, making for numerous combinations.

The Summoner is used to call a Champion unit to the battlefield before matches. Rune and spell sets can be customised before each match, and these will have an effect on the Champion unit, and in some cases allied Champion units on the battlefield.

Each Champion can gain up to 18 levels during a match, and will have five upgradable skills and abilities. The skill distribution will be familiar to DotA players, with three standard skills, one ultimate skill, and one passive skill. There are currently 38 heroes listed with plans to add many more as the game evolves.

Champions will be able to buy items with gold earned during the match. These items can often be combined or upgraded into more powerful artefacts.

There are 92 items currently listed, and many more will be added in the future.

There are currently two maps available to play on with more in the pipeline, and the gameplay is similar to DotA. The map will be divided into lanes, into which Minions spawn at a constant rate. The idea is to support the minions as they battle against enemy units, defensive structures and champions.

Ultimately one team will penetrate into the other’s base, destroying Inhibitor buildings which are present for each lane. The inhibitor building prevents the opposing team from spawning super minions in that lane, making it an obvious strategic target.

Once destroyed, the inhibitor building will respawn after some time. Ultimately, the goal of each match is to claim victory by destroying the enemy Nexus, which is the source of Minion spawning.

Visually, the game features colourful, cel-shaded graphics which give it a cartoonish appearance. The attack and spell effects are also suitably colourful, making the game a visual spectacle alongside the fast paced action.

League of Legends features a matchmaking system which will generate teams based on analysis of player statistics. Pre-made teams have an obvious advantage, so the system will try and place stronger opponents against them. The system is designed to protect newcomers from being annihilated by pros and create a fair and competitive gaming environment.

The system will also slot one into an available game if they have been waiting a while, but this will negate some of the balancing elements.

The game is free to play, and will be supported with micro-transactions in the form of Riot Points purchases. Riot Points can be used to upgrade a player’s Summoner. This does not preclude those who don’t wish to spend any money however, as they can earn Influence points in game which can be used to the same effect.

There is a Digital Collector’s Pack available for US$29.99 (±R235) which will provide 20 unlocked champions to play with, 4 powerful Summoner runes, and an exclusive skin for the Champion Annie.