Hero's Land looks cute and harmless, but its cheerful veneer hides a brutal heart. It's a top down survival game with a whiff of genre heavyweights like Don't Starve, but it's also a roguelike MMO, which means brutality can be doled out by monster and fellow human alike, and often at the same time. It's a totally unforgiving fight for dominance, and after a successful first year in APAC, Hero's Land launches today for western players.
It's a simultaneously approachable and hardcore affair. It’s approachable because it's a sandbox MMO with no convoluted narrative or needy daily quests, and it’s hardcore because, like a true survival game should be, dying is no frivolous matter. Not only does your hero lose their gear upon death but they also lose everything else including their levels and accrued XP. In other words—and in true roguelike fashion—death is emphatically the end. Naturally, this ruthlessness won't please everyone, which makes it all the more surprising that Hero's Land has attracted a height of more than 37,000 peak concurrent players in APAC alone.
That's probably thanks to its rapidfire and freeform approach. Diving into Hero's Land is simple and sessions can run as long or short as you want. Also, the options once you're in the game are plentiful. Hunting for gear is of the utmost importance, lest monsters or other players see fit to take you on, and this can be achieved in numerous ways. Exploring dungeons or taking on world bosses are both expedient ways of hunting for loot, whether gear or weapons, while a variety of PvPvE activities will keep things dangerously unpredictable.
Tension lies at the heart of Hero's Land, and embarking on quests in dangerous areas, or partaking in activities that might attract other bloodthirsty players, comes with a huge amount of risk if you're not well-prepared. The roguelike trappings make encounters with other human aggressors all the more consequential, but interactions with other players are not limited to murdering one another: players can collaborate on the smiting of world bosses, plunge into high level dungeons to even the odds, and team up in guilds to capture and hold regions of the game map. There's even a battle royale mode! If you'd prefer something a bit cosier, there's always the hide-and-seek mode.
Hero's Land's roguelike design has proven divisive, perhaps because the game's colourful presentation belies its true high-stakes nature. But like the aforementioned Don't Starve, or DayZ, or indeed, Hades, playing Hero's Land is about establishing mastery across dozens of in-game lives: you're meant to die a bunch while you come to terms with its rhythms and systems. And there's every reason to keep coming back, too: in addition to the game's current roster of activities, new feature updates will roll out in September and October. In July, new Guild Camps were added, which can be customised with new buildings by guild members, so long as the team can withstand weekly monster invasions.
The dev team is super active in Hero's Land's Steam discussion board, responding to player feedback and suggestions, and patches roll out at a steady rate. Best of all it's free, so if any of Hero's Land's many qualities appeal—whether it be the roaming RPG elements, the dungeon crawling, or perhaps just the fishing—nothing is lost when giving it a try. Check out Hero's Land right now.
