Dota 2 is an upcoming MMORPG game by Valve Corporation and is the sequel to the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, a multiplayer online battle arena mod, and its expansion pack, The Frozen Throne. The game will be free-to-play, will run on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X and will be released to download by Valve’s content delivery platform, Steam.

Gameplay

Dota 2 draws many of its gameplay elements from  Defense of the Ancients. The game melds leveling and the itemization of a Role Playing Game with the real time strategy you get from a top-down perspective (bird’s eye view of the game).

The has two distinct warring factions called the Radiant and the Dire. Gamers can choose to take on the role of one of the 98 characters. These “heroes” are powerful and strategic units with special abilities, who progress to a maximum level of twenty-five by gaining combat experience. Each heroes will have one of three primary characteristics (strength, agility, or intelligence) that heavily influences the avatar’s combat style.

Combat

Located at each end of Dota 2’s geographically balanced map are the “Ancients” , or strongholds that contain critical structures, which are connected by three roads, called “lanes”. These roads are guarded by defense towers and lesser units referred to as “creeps” which travel the lanes and fend off the enemy faction.

Players are divided into two teams of up to five players each. The teams compete against each other, defending their own faction’s Ancient and battling through the other team’s defense to demolish the opponents’ Ancient.

Release Date

Dota 2’s release date is to be announced this year, but is currently in the open beta phase of its testing. If you would like to be involved in the game’s open beta, you will need an invite. You can sign up for your invite by clicking on this link and following the prompts.

[Image via wallpaperpassion]