Chaos Heroes Online

Chaos Heroes Online is a 3D Fantasy MOBA published by AeriaGames and aims to be the spiritual successor to "Chaos DotA" in Korea. Choose from over 70 playable heroes and battle your opponents on one of two maps. The game is based on the popular Warcraft 3 map "Chaos".

Publisher: Aeria Games
Playerbase: Small
Type: MOBA
Release Date: Oct 2, 2014 (NA/EU)
Status: Shut Down in February, 2015
Pros: +70+ Heroes to chose from. +Tons of skins. +Unique crafting system. +Unique shop system. +Balanced.
Cons: -Poorly designed item system. -Clunky gameplay. -Terrible bot AI. -Uninspiring music & visuals.

Overview

Chaos Heroes Online Overview

Chaos Heroes Online, or CHO, is a localized version of the Korean game Chaos Online. When Eul stopped developing the original Warcraft 3 custom map "DotA", a game called "Chaos DotA" surged in popularity in South Korea and only South Korea. The rest of the world played IceFrog's "DotA-All Stars". Chaos Heroes Online is Aeria's attempt to bring a local sensation from Korea to the global stage in English. Choose from over 70 playable heroes in an action oriented MOBA. Visually, the game leaves a lot to be desired, but Chaos Heroes Online brings its own unique spin to the popular MOBA genre. Some key differences between Chaos Heroes and other MOBAs are:

  • The ability to shop anywhere in game without returning to base.
  • Everyone can teleport while invulnerable back to base with no risk of dying once every 5 minutes by hitting "Z"
  • Consumables play a key role in the game. They have low cooldowns and can be purchased repeatedly
  • Hard game time cap of 50 minutes. Games that drag on automatically end at 50 minutes and a winner is decided based on team stats.
  • No wards of any kind. Potential for a lot more ganks.
  • Trees can be A-clicked and destroyed. Opens up unusual pathways for ganks

Chaos has been around for 10+ years in Korea and given that Chaos Heroes Online is based off of it, the game is fairly well balanced.

Chaos Heroes Online Screenshots

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Chaos Heroes Online Featured Video

Chaos Heroes Online Core Features Trailer

Full Review

Chaos Heroes Online Review

By, Omer Altay

With the immense success of MOBAs like League of Legends and DotA 2, it's no surprise that more and more gaming developers are rushing to cash in on the growth of the genre. Despite the growth of the genre, it looks like only a handful of these games are capturing sizable audiences. Unlike SMITE, Chaoes Heroes Online does little to differentiate itself amongst the crowd of new MOBAs. Two teams of five battle it out and whichever team destroys their opponents primary structure wins. Chaos Heroes Online was developed by the Korean developer Neo Act and is published by Aeria Games in the West and Asiasoft in the East.

Some History
Chaos Heroes Online, called simply Chaos Online in South Korea, is supposed to be the spiritual successor to the popular “Chaos” Warcraft 3 custom game. What's “Chaos”? Well, it's basically the Korean version of DotA. While DotA-All stars became popular in North America, Europe, China, and South East Asia, Chaos became the go-to Warcraft 3 MOBA in South Korea. Chaos Heroes is a remake of “Chaos” with its standalone client. I've played quite a bit of DotA on Warcraft 3, but never knew that the Korean version was something completely different.

Starting Out
Upon logging in for the first time, players are prompted to create an in-game handle. First time players are required to complete the game's basic tutorial before they can jump into an actual game. This process can only be skipped if a player was “invited” to the game by a previous user, but it's not that big of a deal since the tutorial takes less than 10 minutes to complete. There are three different tutorials from Beginner and Intermediate to Advanced training. Beginner training teaches players how to control their hero while the more advanced tutorial is useful to learn basic strategies to win games. Having played both League of Legends and DotA 2 for years, with thousands of games under my belt, I didn't feel the need to finish any of the other tutorials, so I just jumped right in.

Gameplay in Chaos Heroes – Immortal Legion vs Divine Union
Heroes in Chaos Heroes Online have four abilities with their fourth one being an ultimate which can be learned at level 6. Gameplay isn't materially different from other MOBAs as two teams of 5 battle it out to destroy their opponents main structure, the “Obelisk”. The game features over 70 playable heroes, which gives the game quite a bit of replay value and variety. Each hero has numerous different skins as well which can be purchased for real life cash. The game has a surprising quantity of skins too, with some heroes have nearly a dozen different skins. After picking a hero and getting into the loading screen, I found it interesting that the game lets you chat while waiting for other players to load. Nothing like some pre-game smack talk to get your mind focused! Heroes max out at level 23 and unlike most MOBAs, the ultimate skill can only be leveled twice. Once at lvl 6 and again at lvl 12. Other abilities can be leveled 3 times with the exception of “Stat boost”, which can be leveled 12 times. Much like in DotA, Players should typically level their other abilities before sinking any points into stat boost.

As far as pacing goes, Chaos Heroes is supposed to be more action oriented than other MOBAs. The game discourages passive farming by only spawning 3 minions per wave. Those looking for a DotA-like experience may be disappointed though, as there's no creep denying mechanic. It's also worth pointing out the Chaos Heroes has a hard time limit of 50 minutes per game, which means players can't drag the game out. Once the 50 minute time limit is reached, the game will end and a victor will be determined based on their team's collective kills, levels, and objectives. The game's main 5v5 map, Ancient Forest, also doesn't feature a Roshan or Baron style boss, but does have jungle camps. One aspect of Chaos Heroes that I actually really liked is that the game has no wards. This basically means everyone has to be on constant high-alert if they want to avoid getting killed. This actually differentiates Chaos Heroes from other MOBAs quite a bit.

The Item Shop....
It is worth mentioning though that the game isn't identical to other MOBAs, as Chaos Heroes doesn't have a singular shop where players can only access by going back to their base. Aside from being able to buy gear, players can purchase various consumables at any time as well. These consumable items are actually displayed next to your regular abilities for quick purchasing via hotkeys. Throughout a game, you'll be purchasing dozens of these consumables as they're extremely cost effective. Low on health? Don't spend time going back to base, just hit “3” to instantly purchase a “rejuvenation potion” which heals your hero over 15 seconds. I found myself backing away from fights and constantly healing through rejuvenation potions. After every “trade” with my opponent, I'd buy one of these potions to stay near max health. Oddly, for such a useful item the gold cost was negligible. A single minion yields almost twice as much gold as you need to buy one of these potions, so you'll basically never have to base to heal. The other consumables were also extremely cost efficient, so I found myself buying them all the time. Magic Immunity for 15 seconds for the cost of 2 minions worth of gold? Sign me up! Oddly this magic immunity can be dispelled by another consumable for even less gold, so anytime you see an opponent purchase magic immunity, you can just dispel it by purchasing the dispel wand. Several of these consumable items look eerily familiar to the Warcraft 3 icons for similar items. I guess that's supposed to pay homage to the game's roots.

The entire consumable item system in Chaos Heroes Online just felt odd to me. Aside from that, the game's “recall” system also felt really weird. Players can retreat back to base in one of two ways – either running all the way back or hitting the “Z” key to activate their recall. Players can recall once every 5 minutes, but unlike recalling in other games, the recall in Chaos Heroes cannot be interrupted. On top of that, players are immune to damage during the recall, so if you're ever getting ganked, hit that Z key! It's basically an uninterpretable get-out-of-gank free card. Sure it has a long cooldown, but playing against this is extremely frustrating. It's frustrating in League of Legends to see your opponent flash over a wall to escape, but at least in League you can flash chase after them or run around the wall, but in Chaos Heroes there's zero chance of catching a recalling opponent. As soon as that animation goes off, they're gone. It's extremely frustrating to see a well coordinated gank go to waste.

Game Modes
The traditional game mode that most MOBA players are familiar with takes place on a map called “Ancient Forest”. A single game takes on average about 40-50 minutes, which I found to be a bit longer than a typical League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth game. Those looking for a shorter game with more action can try battling on the “Shrine of Life” map, which typically takes only 20 minutes. Shrine of Life is basically a team deathmatch style game. Each team starts with a set number of points and every hero kill results in a loss of a point. Whichever team hits 0 first loses. Consumables are limited to repel potions (magic immunity) and dispel wands (removes magic immunity and buffs) on the Shrine of Life map. I find it odd that the game even gives you these two consumables, as the dispel wand cancels the magic immunity out. Any time you engage an opponent in battle, there's no reason not to dispel his magic shield if he has one up, as the cost is negligible and not doing so will likely result in losing the duel.

Crafting in a MOBA?!
One aspect of Chaos Heroes Online which is sort of creative is the game's crafting system. At the end of each game, players are rewarded with crafting materials which can be used to craft special items. These special items can then be purchased in-game, but only for the person who crafted it. The stat bonuses vary depending on the item and the cost of the item increases with strength, so it's not imbalanced. This certainly adds some variety to the game, but I feel like it also makes the game imbalanced. Those who crafted all the gear simply have access to a larger pool of items to purchase in game than those who didn't.

Wrapping it all up
It's hard to imagine Chaos Heroes Online being able to compete with the bigger names in the MOBA genre. The game just doesn't measure up with the competition. Sure, there are plenty of heroes to keep things varied, but the item system doesn't seem well thought out at all. I actually do like the fact that wards don't exist in the game. This requires players to be on high alert at all times and allows more gank opportunities, assuming your opponent's “get out of jail free” teleport is on cooldown isn't up of course.

Final Verdict – Fair
There's little reason to play Chaos Heroes Online over established MOBAs, but those looking to try something new might find something to like. The game is definitely aimed at a more hardcore crowd than League or Tome: Immortal Arena.

Screenshots

Chaos Heroes Online Screenshots

Videos

Chaos Heroes Online Videos

Playlist: Chaos Heroes Online

System Requirements

Chaos Heroes Online System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP
CPU: Dual Core 1.6 GHz
Video Card: GeForce 6600 GT 128MB
RAM: 2GB
Hard Disk Space: 1.5GB

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows 7 or Windows 8
CPU: Dual Core 2.6 GHz
Video Card: GeForce 8600 GT 256MB
RAM: 2GB
Hard Disk Space: 1.5GB

Music

Chaos Heroes Online Music & Soundtrack

Additional Info

Chaos Heroes Online Additional Information

Developer: NEOACT
Closed Beta Date: September 15, 2014
Open Beta Date: October 2, 2014

Foreign Releases:

South Korea: February, 2012 (Published by SESI SOFT)

Development Background

Chaos Online Heroes Online, AKA Chaos Online, is the standalone version of the popular Chaos DotA game (Warcraft 3 map). The game was developed by the South Korean gaming studio NEOACT and published by SESI SOFT in South Korea. Development for Chaos Online began when NEOACT first announced the game back in December, 2009. Aeria Games licensed Chaos Heroes Online for Western markets and launched the game on October 2, 2014. The game was later launched through Steam on January 8, 2015. The original Warcraft 3 map Chaos DotA has been popular in South Korea for over 10 years.