Dota 2

 PC
User Score
6.5

Mixed or average reviews- based on 11934 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7,265 out of 11934
  2. Mixed: 790 out of 11934
  3. Negative: 3,879 out of 11934

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  1. jhernandez89
    Aug 30, 2013
    10
    Don't let the fear of a steep learning curve keep you from playing this very deep, very challenging, yet very fun game. This was the first time I ever played a MOBA and I gotta say, I love it. Been having so much fun with it, also, the community really isn't that bad. Most of the time everyone keeps to themselves (oftentimes to the detriment of the team)
  2. asn0304
    Aug 29, 2013
    8
    Undoubtedly like everyone said, DoTA 2 has a steep learning curve. I recommend you only play this game if you're willing to put the time to understand the game in detail. The Basic structure of dota is to defend your base while destroying the enemy's base while controlling a particular character(termed as hero) in a team of up to 5 players. Dota 2 offers better graphics, animations as wellUndoubtedly like everyone said, DoTA 2 has a steep learning curve. I recommend you only play this game if you're willing to put the time to understand the game in detail. The Basic structure of dota is to defend your base while destroying the enemy's base while controlling a particular character(termed as hero) in a team of up to 5 players. Dota 2 offers better graphics, animations as well better voice overs and hero customisation(in terms of looks). Developed by Icefrog himself, who is the original creator of the DoTA-Allstars map for Warcraft III game, its all that and plus more. The DoTA Store is one of the prime features of the game, offering items for customising the hero looks as well as other appearance changing items like HUD skins, couriers, tournament passes, etc. You can play matches and earn items or you can buy them directly from the store or you can even trade items from other players. Valve has stepped up their matchmaking algorithms providing better-scaling of player skills. You can even spectate pro-matches(with tournament passes if need be) from inside the game. Icefrog takes suggestions from the community so that none of the heroes in-game are overpowered or underpowered and the game balance is maintained.
    If you do however, learn dota's basics, its a hell lot of fun to play casually with friends. The sheer number of strategies that can be employed, because of the hero pool of almost a 100 heroes(more to come) and more than 200 items, ensure that you will never be bored of repetition to say the least.
    DoTA is one of those games, that is here to stay. It will be played by many and it will be played for a long time until a better competitor comes into play. Overall I feel, DoTA 2 is a really fun game after you get the basics down. Its even more fun if you have friends to play it with.    … Expand
  3. AlpsStranger
    Aug 28, 2013
    9
    This is my first MOBA and I have to say it's pretty fun. The community can be a little harsh if you're part of "Facebook culture" and not used to the Wild West-y parts of the internet, but if you have a thick skin and learn fast it can be really fun. Those who are comfortable with a little trash talk will be fine.

    It's a cash shop F2P with absolutely no pay to win. What's not to love    This is my first MOBA and I have to say it's pretty fun. The community can be a little harsh if you're part of "Facebook culture" and not used to the Wild West-y parts of the internet, but if you have a thick skin and learn fast it can be really fun. Those who are comfortable with a little trash talk will be fine.

    It's a cash shop F2P with absolutely no pay to win. What's not to love about that?

    Seems a little imbalanced, but that's the kind of thing that can be fixed.    … Expand
  4. Zarafan
    Aug 28, 2013
    10
    Lets begging with the fact that the game is amazing. Real gamers will love it, its a challenge and never-ended tactics moba. That say, lets talk about Bad things:

    1. Matchmaking: Im a graphic designer, web developer and i know that coding is rly dificult, every fix bring 2 bugs. Match making is based on experience, records, roles, etc of a player, but some players as me, keep geting    Lets begging with the fact that the game is amazing. Real gamers will love it, its a challenge and never-ended tactics moba. That say, lets talk about Bad things:

    1. Matchmaking: Im a graphic designer, web developer and i know that coding is rly dificult, every fix bring 2 bugs. Match making is based on experience, records, roles, etc of a player, but some players as me, keep geting horrible teammates with bad behaviour, quiters, "reporters" (troll that report u for nothing), noobs, and first time players. making me lose, and getting a bad record, that send me more players like those... this must change.

    2. Server Locations & Filters: US, EU, LA, everywhere we get russians, (we all agree that rusians trolls can be rly insane), if i want russians i would pick RU server, why i keep getting them? dunno...

    Dota should have an auto critic bar, where i say witch my level is, so he can do a better job matchmaking. If the player is right about the level, then the bar stay still, if dont, it goes down.

    3. Reports: i know this have perma fixes and changes everyday, but we are not ok with the way it works atm. Actually u can be a pro and be banned by trolls whom report you. That its insane, there should be certain of restrictions on who, how, and when u report players with better record than you.

    Las and more important...

    4. THE INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENT How do teams participate? rules? request? where to sign? Steam/Valve is very noob there, this game requires more tournaments, and more important, Regional Tournaments (Like Soccer world cup, but less corrupted). SEA Tournaments, South America Tournaments, Central America Tournaments... This is crucial in order to get a better community and better gamers. Players needs it, The game Needs it, Valve MUST do it, and Players must demand it.

    ... And let the battle Begin's!.    … Expand
  5. Daggerstorm
    Aug 28, 2013
    10
    Probably the best MOBA/PvP game I have played so far. Your decisions mean a lot, playing as a team is important. So far I have clocked in 200 hours and more of them are coming!
  6. oguzo
    Aug 27, 2013
    10
    Like chess? Dota 2 is the new challenge, forget about PvP! The real challenge its not just to beat 5 instead of 1, you have to get your team mates working with you, if you can get that you'll see that FUN! has no equal when playing Dota 2

    Try it!, promise you'll love it.
  7. MightyThor
    Aug 27, 2013
    9
    It's hard to separate an online game from it's community and be objective about it, because let's face it, when it comes to online games the community often makes the game. For example, I raved about world of warcraft when I had a community of friends/guilds to play with but hated to game when those relationships waned. Dota2 is similar. If you don't have friends to play with you may beIt's hard to separate an online game from it's community and be objective about it, because let's face it, when it comes to online games the community often makes the game. For example, I raved about world of warcraft when I had a community of friends/guilds to play with but hated to game when those relationships waned. Dota2 is similar. If you don't have friends to play with you may be left wanting more. The reason is the US servers aren't locked at all so often times you have a lot of eastern europeans who speak very little English or a lot of south americans. The south americans are worse, they tend to be in groups or 2 or 3 and use the in game chat as a social hours going back in forth in Spanish or Portuguese the entire time (that's why private mumble servers are for). When I play with my friends we use mumble and only use in game chat for relevant in game things. If we want to vent about a player or socialize we keep it out of the game. And other times you just get plain old jerks who always roll carry heroes, complain if you don't babysit the crap out of them despite their bad positioning, poor farming, overall lack of knowledge etc. In short the community is hit or miss. Half the games suffer from obnoxious players while half are fine.

    There's also some serious matchmaking issues. Skill levels are rarely equal unless you queue with a full group. Valve also hides their matchmaking ratings so you don't really know why or how you got in the match you got into. I'll go from a match against obvious brand new players to one against a full 5 who are on top of everything. So again hit or miss.

    As far as gameplay though I couldn't ask for a more balanced and well designed game. The graphics are mediocre but the art style is good and I love the brightness of it. Compared to Heroes of Newerth (HoN) it looks so much more appealing. Some complain a lot about the animations say they're too slow and your heroes react far to slow, but this is appealing to me as well and part of the strategy. Not every hero last hits at the same pace so you need to learn them. By contracts HoN seemed very frantic to me without much time between decisions because every animation is so fast.

    The balance and strategic depth are amazing. Valve does a great job patching and keeping every hero in order. There's so much strategy to picking teams and counter matchups and what to do in your lanes. It's a deceptive deep game. The downside is this creates a very high skill barrier to entry. It takes literally 30-50 games to understand the nuances of the game at all. Many players will become frustrated with this learning curve and simply won't like the game and that's fine. It's not for everyone. But if you take the time to learn what you're doing it's a wonderful pvp game.

    There's a few things I think could be done a lot better like more maps, fixing the matchmaking, etc. There also really needs to be a vote to surrender and end obvious losses earlier. A blowout can be recognized 20 mins in but take another 20 mins to resolve. In general tech support is very good, game almost never crashes.

    Overall judging the game for what it is, I give it a 9 because it simply is the best of the moba genre. But if you don't like mobas or online games stay away. If you want to really enjoy all dota2 has to offer do yourself a favor, dive in, expect to lose your first 10 games or so, read a lot of guides, watch some youtube clips and find a group of friends to play with.    … Expand
  8. GamersRefuge
    Aug 26, 2013
    9
    DOTA 2 is the new standard in MOBA design. It is, without doubt, an improvement on the old formula and yet remarkably true to it.

    DOTA 2 looks great and feels great, but if you're coming from games like League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth, you'll feel like a fish out of water. It's not that the game is different in formula, but rather it's very different mechanically. You'll have to    DOTA 2 is the new standard in MOBA design. It is, without doubt, an improvement on the old formula and yet remarkably true to it.

    DOTA 2 looks great and feels great, but if you're coming from games like League of Legends or Heroes of Newerth, you'll feel like a fish out of water. It's not that the game is different in formula, but rather it's very different mechanically. You'll have to learn how to play this game almost from scratch, but it will be well worth the journey.

    This game has a tremendous skill gap, but it also offers the best tools in the genre for learning the game. Bots come in 5 difficulties, from Passive to Unfair and the tutorial, so far, is a pretty good learning tool though I suspect it will be improved over time. The hero line-up is impressive, diverse, and intriguing. The map is true to the old DOTA formula, but flows quite differently from what you might be used to. Just to name a few of the dominant mechanics you'll have to learn and hone are: side/secret shops, couriers, item sharing, and teleporting. The differences hardly stop there, but even just these few are such dramatic differences from what players know that they serve as an adequate sampling of just what's so different about this version of DOTA.

    DOTA 2 doesn't just bring the RTS back to MOBAs (this game feels far more like managing a Starcraft or Warcraft 3 battle than it's predecessors), but it's also causing seismic activity in the games industry itself with its super accessible item shop. It's more like a DOTA 2 marketplace than a simple shop. Not only can players buy anything from soundpacks to UI skins to items to characters, but players can also make these items ...and then sell them right there on Steam. Never has getting into the games industry as an artist been as accessible as Valve has made it. With their track record of opening up the development process to their modders, this is a very promising feature that I'm sure they'll do better than all the competition.

    The game isn't without it's flaws, though. The matchmaking needs strong improvement and greater enforcement of language filters. Performance is pretty good, though it seemed unserviceable at times. However, with the International only recently ending, it's difficult to tell how much of the issues were just extremely high server traffic and how much was actual issues with game stability. All in all, though, this game has fewer flaws than features and since it's free to play, the offerings are prime.

    I highly recommend lovers of MOBA gaming to dive into DOTA 2. It does a wonderful job of requiring truly skillful gameplay by bringing that RTS feel back into the game.    … Expand
  9. elBruto
    Aug 26, 2013
    10
    First of all, this game is not for everyone. It has a steep learning curve that not many players will be able to digest, but once you get the game-play mechanics and the hero basics, it will most definitely rock your world. Although you are always playing on one map, the replay possibilities are endless and the fascinating thing is, it's always fun no matter how many times and hoursFirst of all, this game is not for everyone. It has a steep learning curve that not many players will be able to digest, but once you get the game-play mechanics and the hero basics, it will most definitely rock your world. Although you are always playing on one map, the replay possibilities are endless and the fascinating thing is, it's always fun no matter how many times and hours you've already played this incredible game. My real score is 9, but i gave the game a 10 just to compensate for the unrealistic 0 scores many people have given. To all future players, GL HF.… Expand
  10. TuakyGuy
    Aug 25, 2013
    9
    THIS GAME IS AWESOME!! I'm PLAYING DOTA 1 BUT DOTA 2 IS MUCH AWESOMER!! AND VERY ADDICTING!! AND GREAT VOICE ACTORS ANIMATIONS BUT THERES A FEW BUGS BUT ITS GONNA FIXED BY PATCH SO THATS ISN'T GONNA AFFECT THE SCORE!
  11. Voice0fReason
    Aug 25, 2013
    9
    This game is extremely addictive and can be even more fun if in a party of people. Teams really make the game the best and the more you play, the better you are as the character. enjoy sitting down and spending an hour or two playing this game. Anyone who has given this game below a 4 seriously needs to replay this game. One crappy game does not mean the game is bad. Nor does having aThis game is extremely addictive and can be even more fun if in a party of people. Teams really make the game the best and the more you play, the better you are as the character. enjoy sitting down and spending an hour or two playing this game. Anyone who has given this game below a 4 seriously needs to replay this game. One crappy game does not mean the game is bad. Nor does having a group of players who can't help you first game either.… Expand
  12. remirith
    Aug 25, 2013
    10
    Matchmaking needs a fix in mid-upper brackets. Which valve knows about. After that perfect game. This game is not forgiving like lol. So expect nearly every negative review on here to mention lol.
  13. aquayoshi
    Aug 24, 2013
    2
    What a huge let down! The game is not engaging at all. Boring, and carries with it too many issues from the WC3 original. Fan boys rate this really high, but don't believe all the hype.This game lost a huge opportunity to improve on the MOBA genre.
  14. creyana
    Aug 23, 2013
    9
    In the beginning I was arguing why a game where you start from 0 every match could be that addictive. As soon as I started playing I got shocked about the immersion this game provides. Although, I would strongly prefer more heroes...
  15. PauGasol
    Aug 23, 2013
    10
    Dota 2 is a very fun multiplayer game. It's only drawbacks are the steep learning curve and awful community. Play it enough though, and you'll feel like a pro.
  16. roquepopoka
    Aug 23, 2013
    10
    is the best game ever. the game playing is so good and the best of this game is the free heroes. i recommended for all person but is best for persons with 16-28 years
  17. dimgl
    Aug 22, 2013
    10
    DOTA 2 is a fantastic game, picking up on everything made the original Warcraft mod a star. It's deep, competitive, and polished. Guaranteed to provide you with thousands of hours of play.
  18. Lakamahakataka
    Aug 22, 2013
    8
    This game is so much fun, you could almost forget about it being an e-sport game. Which means, that you have to deal with other gamers, and gamers in competitive games that are based on teams and therefor teamwork tend to try very hard to ruin every single game by ruining it, ignoring the fact that one team has to lose. E-sport games have that giant flaw, that people have to act likeThis game is so much fun, you could almost forget about it being an e-sport game. Which means, that you have to deal with other gamers, and gamers in competitive games that are based on teams and therefor teamwork tend to try very hard to ruin every single game by ruining it, ignoring the fact that one team has to lose. E-sport games have that giant flaw, that people have to act like robots, doing certain things on certain timings, being on certain spots. Like every other sport, you can't afford to act chaotic, or just for the fun of it. When you find a game where people don't mind those things, count yourself lucky. I'll still give it a 8, because it leaves enough room to develop your "hero" in a way you prefer him/her.… Expand
  19. Karnageboy
    Aug 22, 2013
    2
    I am over 300 hours into DoTA 2. The game has it positives and negatives. For me being a solo player, in the end, the negatives outweigh the positives. I do not mind the graphics and the game play. Neither is ground breaking or amazing but I like them. It is nice to have all the heroes available from the start. Too bad over half the heroes are never used. I have tried many of the soI am over 300 hours into DoTA 2. The game has it positives and negatives. For me being a solo player, in the end, the negatives outweigh the positives. I do not mind the graphics and the game play. Neither is ground breaking or amazing but I like them. It is nice to have all the heroes available from the start. Too bad over half the heroes are never used. I have tried many of the so called weak underpowered heroes and to be honest, they do have problems. Over-all, it is a well-made game that is very unforgiving to new players. The tutorial is great and helps players to learn the basic laning skills and abilities of each hero. However, once you start playing against other people, everything changes. Hopefully you are a patient person or you might end up breaking your monitor in frustration. Part of that frustration comes from the community: very toxic and nasty. The reporting system for the game is a joke which means that the behavior will not change anytime soon. Here is my advice, if you have a group of friends who can log on with you and will work together as a team; then you have the potential to be successful in DoTA 2 and have fun. I am guessing this applies to middle/ high school students and college students with too much time. If you have a job and responsibilities and can only solo play, you might want to pass on this game and find something else. League of Legends has a somewhat nicer community and a better reporting system. The game is a lot more forgiving to new players; however the same problem of needing a group if you want to become ranked still applies. Anyway, play at your own risk if you are a solo player.… Expand
  20. KratosITALY
    Aug 22, 2013
    8
    It's a really well made game, with lots of customization and characters to choose from. It ain't my thing though, but it still is a well made game. You'll like it if you are a LoL fan or that kind of stuff
  21. Criptonix100
    Aug 22, 2013
    10
    Very good game i have to say it's the most good PVP games,there's a lot of skilled players i dont really know what to say it's a great game,I recommend it to play it!
  22. kimmc86
    Aug 22, 2013
    0
    been a fan of the game since warcraft days. Can't fault the game play at all. HOWEVER, it literally disconnects be at least 5 times a GAME. There is NOTHING wrong with my internet nor am i running anything else. i know its free and all but this is TERRIBLE. I've stopped playing looking to start playing on League of Legends.

    what a let down, sort it our valve.
  23. c0ref4ult
    Aug 22, 2013
    10
    The same heroes, items and game dynamics from the original Defense of the Ancients with a big improvement in gameplay and in graphics. The best team pvp game that we have at the moment, this is the sport of the future. It's free to play but not pay to win and you play it online.
  24. pmR
    Aug 21, 2013
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dota 2 it's a game for those who like a challenge... Camera is, very good for the gameplay, unless, you don´t have a USB Mouse on you're laptop. But, don't think you are going in the game, and crack some heads... If you want to bee a massive skull crusher player, you need to practice.

    In the game you have lot's of Heroes, or, characters, if you like, you can buy things to improve damage, intelligence, to improve everything during that round.

    But, in short, if you wanna play, play, and PRACTICE, i advice it, it's a very, very good game    … Expand
  25. daliindica
    Aug 21, 2013
    6
    I can see why people enjoy it, but its not without its flaws. For a start, the learning curve is pretty aggressive, and sadly when you play, prepare to be matched up with really good players who will stomp you to death. More needs to be done in order to ease new players in. LoL is of course its direct competition, and I would say LoL does a better job at handling new players. At a higherI can see why people enjoy it, but its not without its flaws. For a start, the learning curve is pretty aggressive, and sadly when you play, prepare to be matched up with really good players who will stomp you to death. More needs to be done in order to ease new players in. LoL is of course its direct competition, and I would say LoL does a better job at handling new players. At a higher level I have no idea as I was bored of the game pretty quickly. If your not into MOBA I guess this will not change your mind.… Expand
  26. jwt7000
    Aug 21, 2013
    7
    This is by far Valve's best F2P game so far, way better than Team Fortress 2 and Alien Swarm combined, and even better than League of Legends. It may not be Steam's biggest game or PC's biggest online game, but this one has some great potential even with the great tutorials, skirmish plays, online plays, graphics, mechanics and the elements. Even better, there's no need to pay for gettingThis is by far Valve's best F2P game so far, way better than Team Fortress 2 and Alien Swarm combined, and even better than League of Legends. It may not be Steam's biggest game or PC's biggest online game, but this one has some great potential even with the great tutorials, skirmish plays, online plays, graphics, mechanics and the elements. Even better, there's no need to pay for getting and playing a better hero and of course there are lots of choices and options to choose for a hero except for paying the clothing. This game could be more worth the sequel if more map types and modes are added similar to LoL.… Expand
  27. Fox_M
    Aug 20, 2013
    10
    This is an excellent pvp action, where 10 people are divided into two teams of 5 people and fight for the win, first game may not like it, but if you understand it, you can play it for hours and have fun!
  28. Aldarion
    Aug 19, 2013
    9
    This is what we were waiting for so long, it's DotA nothing more nothing less. There are basically 2 things bad about this game. One being the matchmaking/ladder system it is just bad, but we all are looking forward for it's improvement. And the other one is very steep learning curve and non existing tutorials those implemented by Valve are just a joke. Those two concerns are the reasonThis is what we were waiting for so long, it's DotA nothing more nothing less. There are basically 2 things bad about this game. One being the matchmaking/ladder system it is just bad, but we all are looking forward for it's improvement. And the other one is very steep learning curve and non existing tutorials those implemented by Valve are just a joke. Those two concerns are the reason why DotA has so low rating. That and all the lol fanboys for whom is Dota just too difficult, yea it is not a simple game. Everything else is just awesome.… Expand
  29. idososa
    Aug 18, 2013
    9
    This game is AWESOME. The only two downs it's the inability of playing on a local lan and the discrepancy of pub players. Summarizing BEST PLAYED WITH FRIENDS
  30. Krzysiu_Jarzyna
    Aug 17, 2013
    9
    Never In my entire life have I witnessed a worse community revolving around a video-game than the one that is to be found in Dota 2. Second biggest problem of this game is the match-making: broken, poorly thought through and executed horribly. But even with all these problems, I could actually see myself overlooking them at a certain time during a few years due to the sheer amount ofNever In my entire life have I witnessed a worse community revolving around a video-game than the one that is to be found in Dota 2. Second biggest problem of this game is the match-making: broken, poorly thought through and executed horribly. But even with all these problems, I could actually see myself overlooking them at a certain time during a few years due to the sheer amount of possible combinations in this game with heroes & items and the addictive quality the game has if it wasn't for all the other flaws.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best PC Game of 2013
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
5
#5 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Polygon
    Aug 15, 2017
    85
    And this dichotomy is perhaps the best descriptor I can attach to Dota 2. It is frequently a game which occupies two opposite spaces simultaneously. It is the best game. It is also the worst game. No game has ever made me as miserable as Dota 2 has. But no game has made me feel so consistently rewarded for my time, and as consistently, wonderfully connected to the friends I play it with.
    Read full review
  2. GameOver.gr
    Feb 19, 2014
    95
    Simply irresistible and addictive as hell.
    Read full review
  3. Games Master UK
    Sep 1, 2013
    90
    Unforgiving from the get-go, but a landmark in competitive multiplayer design. [Oct 2013, p.68]
See all critic reviews »