Rui's review for "HoP: Brawl" (v6.8)
"Heroes of Pandaria: Brawl" is a map by CraZy.FroG that apparently is already known on Battle.Net. It is a Hero Arena (and not Arena, as selected in the map type). You choose one of many Pandaren heroes, each apparently with unique skills, and you fight in an arena.However, you also have a shopping area in an isolated part of the map, where you are invulnerable and you can purchase items that bolster your heroes' stats, damage, armor, attack rate, movement speed, etc. You are teleported here after you pick your hero, whenever you die, or you can purchase an item sold at a specific shop in the arena that can teleport you back. This shopping area also contains three circles of power which transport you to the northern, central, or southern part of the arena (from a diagonal perspective).The arena is large and quite interesting. It is not only a place for fighting, but also where you can creep. The most absorbing feature is definitely the spawning of items all around the arena. They can call a hero from the Warcraft world that aids the summoner in battle – either by damaging enemies, healing allies, or other sort of ability –, but cannot be selected or attacked. They can also be runes with the ability to cast various ordinary spells such as Storm Bolt, Entangling Roots or Unholy Frenzy...From time to time, a Pandaren flag will also spawn on the northern and southern edges of the river. If they are brought to the center of the arena, they give the player (or the team) a cash of gold. While carrying the flag, your hero's movement speed is reduced.It is also important to mention that the game contains some modes, among them the team modes (2vs2 or 3vs3).
The map is no doubt original or, at least, unlike any other I've seen. I don't like maps with big sizes, so this large amount of imported models was dispensable from my point of view, though I must admit that they indeed give a different feeling for the map.
A large amount of models for a large amount of heroes. This is where things turn grim: the balance on this game hangs by a string. A very thin and frail one.This map was not known to me, so I do not know what it started out to be, but a rush with lots of heroes and items never turned out good. Things need to start small and progress from there. You can't just thrown in a concept and expect it to work flawlessly.Once a teammate leaves, it is impossible to keep up. From there, we can assume that team modes work only when playing with friends. Let me go in detail: in a 2vs2 game, if a member stays alone, the other team can constantly bring the Pandaren flag to the center, gaining gold. Even though the banner carrier's speed is reduced, he can still use his abilities and attack, so they are still in numeral advantage.I didn't try solo, but it mustn't be very different. If a player's hero has advantage, the other will most unlikely be able to keep up.
That also reminds me that there was no item spawn or creep control on the map proportional to the number of players. I played my game with 6 people, and there were countless hero & monster-spawning items on the ground.My suggestion for creeps is that you increase the re-spawning time or remove a few creep camps depending on the number of people. I can imagine two players fighting creeps eternally and taking 30 minutes to finally meet and decide who's the strongest, ending the game.
Like I said in the third paragraph, I like the way the arena is structured, but the rest of the terrain (elevation, ground texture variation, and doodads-wise) is not impressive. Consider improving it.
In brief, this is an interesting map to explore, yet with flaws to be rectified on balance. Else I can only say I wish I had seen a multiboard, and... maybe some Mercenary Camps?Approved with a rating of 3,5 out of 5, which rounds up to a 4 (Recommended). Removed from Arena type and added into Medieval / Warcraft category.