Heroes Of The Storm At PAX Prime 2014

Blizzard’s 5v5 hero brawler was at PAX Prime 2014, and I had a chance to take one of the three new heroes out for a spin. Azmodan, Chen Stormstout, and Anub’arak compose the new batch, and I settled on Azmodan.

Azmodan is a crazy lane-pushing monstrosity, so if you have enjoyed other push-centric heroes like Gazlowe get ready for a treat. Through a mix of area of effect damage and powerful summons, Azmodan can take out lanes with unbelievable speed.

In fact, during the round I played while other heroes went to battle during the “forced” team fight in the mines, I stayed in the lane and caused serious damage. Even though I wasn’t there for my teammates inside the mines, the amount of destruction Azmodan delivers makes staying in an undefended lane worth it. Objectives fell quickly - It may have been the fastest game of Heroes of the Storm I’ve ever played.

Azmodan is a ton of fun to play and adds some much needed playstyle variety to the ever-growing roster of popular Blizzard characters available in Heroes. With all the “staple” characters in the mix, it’s nice to see niche roles like summoning-pusher become available for players looking for play experiences outside the baseline building block templates.

While we’re probably still a ways away from launch, Heroes of the Storm continues to impress by serving up an accessible take on one of PC’s most popular genres.