Last month, Luke brought us this little nugget of gold from the interwebs called 300 Heroes — a shameless League of Legends clone that offers users a chance to play as “over 300” different heroes from various intellectual properties. Despite the fact that it’s such a terrible case of copyright infringement and possible theft, the game is incredibly entertaining and possibly my favourite LOL clone.
Made for Windows only, this Chinese online game is exactly like LOL. Each of the 300 heroes in the game is pretty much a re-skinned version of actual LOL heroes. The gameplay itself is a copy of LOL’s (and pretty much every other online arena game’s). Players select a hero, pick their skills and then guide their hero from point A to point B all the while destroying towers and enemy minions.
But where 300 Heroes shines is the exact reason why it’s in such hot water. 300 Heroes only works because it’s such a shameless rip-off. LOL was never fun for me (mostly because I sucked) but 300 Heroes was incredibly fun because I got to run around as some of my favourite characters from film and anime. The game also has this really weird Naruto vs One Piece theme going on. The minions in the game are dressed in either the marine uniforms from One Piece or the Akatsuki robes of Naruto.
Early on in the game, the character roster is very limited. Only about 20 of the 300 heroes are available. As the player levels up, more characters are unlocked. The early characters include some fan favourites such as Kakashi from Naruto, Saber from Fate/Stay Night, Kirito from Sword Art Online and Boa Hancock from One Piece.
Being able to run around as Shrek, Wall-E, or Kakashi was a major draw, and the game was even able to work around the existing LOL skill set to give each character a unique attack. Most of it is cosmetic, for instance Kakashi’s signature “Lightning Blade” attack is basically a copy of Katarina’s “Shunpo” but visually reworked.
On top of the visuals, the game also has incredibly funny voice acting. Each character sounds almost exactly like they do in their respective Chinese dubs. Kakashi, for example, sounds just as lackadaisical as he does on TV. The best voice acting performance however comes in the from the announcer. I know it’s terribly wrong to make fun of the way foreigners speak English but this game is almost worth playing just to listen to the announcer say “shut down” and “god-like”.
It’s unknown how much longer this game will stay online in China. Having already been around for close to a year, it’s very likely that the game will last for a while longer; however Tencent’s recent acquisition of rights to the majority of Shonen Jump properties in China might mean the game will be shut down (Tencent is scary!). That said, enterprising western gamers can follow this simple guide to sign up for a ridiculous time. All you need is a Chinese ID to play this ragtag celebrity/character death-match MOBA.
Comments
13 responses to “This Is 300 Heroes, The Most Incredible League Of Legends Clone”
So it’s a clone of a clone? When does it stop :/
Care to tell us what LoL is a clone of?
I would assume he is referring to DOTA
Dear @informedgamer;
Sorry but I have to agree with @Mikka
What exactly is LoL a clone of? And if you’re implying it is a clone of DoTA what exactly makes DoTA the staple MOBA game?
You are aware LoL was created by 80% of the people who made DoTA, right?
To say a game is a clone of another is utterly stupid.
I bet you don’t call Saints Row or Just Cause 2 clones of GTA.
They are all part of the same Genre. Sandbox.
Just like DoTA and LoL are both MOBA’s.
Limes aren’t rip offs of Lemons but they are alike.
Based on your logic they must be.
However they are simply part of the same family (Citrus)
I apologize but arguments like these are the very ones which make me furious with the people of today. There is simply no argument behind it. It’s a dumb topic. People enjoy both titles for a reason, they are both amazing games.
Leave it at that.
Might want to consider changing your username, you appear to be a not-so-informed gamer.
I would say that dota is seen as the staple MOBA/ARTS cos as far as im aware it was the first MOBA/ARTS or at least the first one that got recognized. That being said i completely agree with what you said, just cos its the same genre doesnt make it a clone. Both are great games and are actually very different when you play them
I am not disagreeing with your argument itself, but I have to ask what differentiates LoL from Dota? (I ask because I play neither)
Comparably the difference between Dota and Smite or the difference between LoL and Awesomenauts is obvious.
From my perspective Smite and Awesomenauts are “inspired” by Dota. While LoL is a “Clone” of Dota.
I am not suggesting that a clone can’t be a good game, or that cloning is bad practice.
But (unless someone can tell me the difference between them) I view LoL as a clone of Dota.
Sure, LoL has borrowed many aspects from DotA (I mean, Guinsoo DID work on it as well), but it is an entirely different game altogether. Playstyles, mechanics, items, etc are far from being identical to each other. The only reason why people pull the whole DotA vs LoL argument to begin with is due to:
a) Wanting to feel superior for playing the original game
b) The fact that LoL playstyle is easier compared to DotA
c) epeen
I’m not saying that one is better than the other. Myself being a LoL player and having spent decent hours on the original WC3 DotA and DotA2 as well, I just prefer LoL overall.
It makes sense if you haven’t played any of these games before, that you’d probably come to that assumption that’s cool. I’m just sick and tired of people with their heads so far up their arses, that they can’t even realise that people have different preferences within the genre. Some like LoL over DotA and vice versa, some play both.
The main difference in my opinion is the mechanics/UI’s are more intuitive in LOL. they have taken the basic PRINCIPAL of DOTA, and streamlined it into a more cohesive and simpler to understand game.
The camera, skills, store and even the towers themselves, seem to make so much more SENSE in LoL. roles are more defined and the removal of creep-deny makesw it a more forward focused game, rather than nerfing yourself to nerf the enemy.
I do consider Saints Row/JC2 clones of GTA.
I’m well aware of the differences between dota/LoL/HoN but still, like many, consider Dota to be the original MOBA, and despite LoL’s sheer size and excellent involvement by Riot I will always continue to see LoL and HoN as dota clones. Don’t get me wrong, by saying so it doesn’t take anything away from the latter games, they are all somewhat different.
In reference to Mikka’s comment below, I personally still consider Dota (and I guess by extension dota2) a much different game to LoL simply due to the high level of skill required to play competitively. People arguing that removing the ability to deny prevents the game from being “forward focused” I’m not sure what you’re referring to at all, both are clearly forward focuses but denying introduces another mechanic that simply is not present in LoL.
tldr; LoL/HoN are clones of dota simply due to when they were released and the mechanics “stolen”/”borrowed”/”extended” from dota. I’m not saying they’re not good games in their own right.
Disregard the article’s main points ^
argue about trivial things.
Why we can’t have nice things
Sorry, but using ripped off intellectual property as a selling point is utter bullshit. Companies should be hiring artists and promoting new and unique character design.
+1, although, I would love to run around as my favourite anime characters.
Same here dude, but thats where licensed titles should be living up to people’s desire for content. Grassroots developers shouldn’t be wasting their time promoting a product that they legally and ethically have no right to sell; all that effort could be invested in their own intelectual property.
I would play this if they made Voldemort, Harry Potter, Thor, all those movie characters. Unfortunately all this anime crap pisses me off.