The multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, Hero Bash, can be downloaded for free on iOS devices. What that means is that if you’re a fan of the genre, it’s no hair off your back to check it out. Like popular MOBAs, there are two types of currency. One is gained through sweat and game time, the other from your wallet. Do not fret, Hero Bash doesn’t follow a pay-to-win model and real cash only gets you characters unlocked and aesthetic-only gear pieces.
Hero Bash is similar to other MOBAs in the sense that there are multiple characters you can pick from, unlock, and play with different skill sets. During the match, objectives and killing other characters will gain you experience to level up. You choose between upgrading your health, attack, defense, cooldowns, speed, and luck. You can max three points in each before being forced to move on. After each match your character loses these benefits and starts back at level one.
The game differs greatly than other MOBAs on several fronts. First of all the teams are only made up of four characters. The goal is to impress little dudes to bring them back to your side of the map. Sure killing is fun and necessary, but the team to relay the most little dudes first wins. What I’m saying here is that there is no tower defense aspect; no towers period. You murder other champs to sway their little dudes into thinking you’re cooler and take them back to your base.
The strategy is to either faceroll other champions and take the little dudes for your own, or to ambush other champions that have already collected a bunch of dudes on their way back to base. Certain champs excel at straight-on fighting, other on defense and taunts, others on stealth and ambushes, and then others support/heal. Your four man team should consist of a balance of these champs, each knowing their role on the field of battle.
Movement and combat are done through tapping the screen; a single tap is a single order while a swipe means your character will walk in that direction indefinitely. Your three abilities hover on the left side and on use items appear on the right. If you die, you respawn after a few seconds and you’re right back into the fray; having good team coordination, as expected, beats out other teams full of individuals. The three game modes consist of solo play (you with 7 bots), Coop play (4 humans vs. 4 bots), and PvP play (8 humans).
While your character can easily get stuck moving in and out of your base, the game is quite responsive in combat. Your champion has no issue sticking on and attacking others while using a full array of special attacks. I wasn’t the biggest fan of taking little dudes back to my base but without a healer type on your team, you have to go back anyways to tap off your HP. This feature is also unique from other MOBAs which is a nice change. Solo matches are instant but coop and PvP matches are difficult to get into. If Hero Bash can build up a fan base it has potential to spend mobile gamer’s time. Matches don’t take a long period of time to go through but the wait can be killer if you’re looking for a quick bout when you have some downtime. If you're a fan of MOBAs and free games, Hero Bash is worth a look-see.
