HeroWarz
HeroWarz is an isometric action MMORPG built around swapping between a roster of heroes, each with a distinct kit and tempo. The game’s loop is mission-driven: jump into compact stages, carve through dense packs of enemies, and push your score higher for better end-of-run rewards.
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Publisher: KOG Games Playerbase: Medium Type: Action RPG Release Date: July 20, 2016 Shut Down (“Temporary”): March 26, 2017 Pros: +Large roster of distinct heroes. +4v4 PvP with MOBA-like rules. +Isometric viewpoint suits the brawler pace. +Easy character swapping under one name. Cons: -Stages feel cramped and segmented. -Repetition-heavy leveling. -Frequent loading and transitions. |
HeroWarz Overview
HeroWarz plays like a stage-based ARPG dressed in MMO clothing. You pick from a sizable character lineup, then hop between self-contained worlds and missions while leveling through a long progression curve that stretches past 100 levels. Story beats are delivered with stylized, comic-inspired panels that keep the pacing brisk, even when the plot is mostly there to connect one combat zone to the next.
The core activity is entering a map, clearing successive waves, and eventually forcing a boss encounter by thinning out the stage’s population. Performance matters. The game pushes you to fight quickly and cleanly to raise your score, which in turn influences the rewards you see at the end of a run. Along the way, enemies drop playful score-boosting pickups, including oddball items like cartoon food, which helps the grind feel a little less sterile.
If you get tired of a particular hero, the game makes it painless to pivot. Character switching is encouraged, and you keep the same username when moving between heroes. For group play, you can run missions cooperatively, or step into the 4v4 arena where matches borrow a MOBA-like structure, limited skill sets and experience gained through combat.
HeroWarz Key Features:
- Difficulty Levels – each region can be scaled up in challenge for tougher fights and improved payouts.
- Character Selection – a broad roster of heroes with different toolkits, with convenient swapping when you want a change.
- Charming Aesthetics – comic-style storytelling mixed with goofy, memorable drops like fish and sweets.
- Over 100 Levels – a lengthy leveling track that steadily opens up skills as you push forward.
- 4v4 PvP – team arenas with MOBA flavor, five skills per player, and progression during the match via kills.
HeroWarz Screenshots
HeroWarz Featured Video
HeroWarz Review
HeroWarz is a hero-centric action RPG that keeps its priorities clear: get you into a mission quickly, flood the screen with enemies, and let your abilities do the talking. It leans heavily on fast clears and constant movement rather than complex buildcraft. If you enjoy repeating short stages for steady progression, it delivers a clean, combat-forward routine that rarely wastes your time.
That focus also defines its limitations. The game is not trying to be a sprawling MMO sandbox, and it does not offer the kind of deep systems that keep theorycrafters busy for months. What it does offer is a straightforward brawler loop that feels good in short sessions, and stays entertaining largely because the character roster gives you multiple ways to approach the same content.
An Unusual First Step
The roughest part of HeroWarz is the onboarding. Instead of a conventional standalone launcher, the game pushes you through a web-based flow that relies on installing a plugin. Even at the time of release, that approach felt outdated, and it creates an immediate trust hurdle that has nothing to do with gameplay quality. It is a shame, because it makes the game appear more limited than it actually is.
A more standard distribution method would have gone a long way toward reducing friction. As it stands, the first impression is needlessly awkward, and that is a barrier many players will not bother to cross.
Heroes and Identity
Once you are in, HeroWarz introduces its cast with style. The character select screen frames each hero with illustrated portraits and brief text that gives a quick sense of personality and background. It is not exhaustive lore, but it is enough to make the roster feel like a lineup of individuals rather than interchangeable models.
In practice, most heroes are designed to handle groups efficiently, so area damage is a common theme. The difference comes from how each character controls and how their skills chain together. One hero might be built around spinning blades and constant repositioning, while another feels heavier and more deliberate, using wide swings and impact attacks to control space. That contrast is what makes swapping characters feel like a fresh run instead of repeating the exact same rotation with a different skin.
Mission Flow
HeroWarz uses a hub structure. You operate out of a central city, pick missions, then load into compact stages that function like corridors and rooms packed with enemies. Each map tends to feature a small set of monster types, which keeps readability high but can also make runs feel similar over time. Clearing enough waves triggers the boss, and finishing the stage leads into a reward sequence.
That reward process leans on randomness. After a clear, you can receive additional loot through a card-style selection where you pick from facedown options. It adds a quick burst of anticipation after each mission, even if it ultimately boils down to RNG.
Grouping is simple as long as you opt into public matchmaking before you enter. Up to four players can run together. Cooperation tends to be loose, more like parallel play than tightly coordinated roles, but the shared pace works well for this kind of stage grinder. You still benefit from the added damage and the faster clears, and tougher enemy packs help keep parties from feeling completely mindless.
Combat and Readability
The fighting is loud and busy, with enemy packs arriving in thick clusters and abilities filling the screen with effects. Early on, it can be hard to parse the details because so many attacks overlap, especially in groups. With time, you learn to recognize the shapes of common threats and the timing of your own skills, and the chaos becomes part of the appeal.
Despite the power fantasy, the game does not let you fully disengage. Players have access to unlimited healing potions, but they are gated by a cooldown (30 seconds), so mistakes still carry consequences. Bosses also ask for basic awareness. Instead of relying on obvious ground telegraphs, you often read attacks through animations and windups, which punishes autopilot play and keeps encounters at least somewhat interactive.
One of HeroWarz’s best decisions is how little it interrupts the loop. The hub is compact, vendors and storage are close by, and missions are designed for rapid re-entry. The result is a game that consistently returns you to what it does best, clearing stages and pushing forward.
Story and Presentation
HeroWarz surprised me with a story that is more coherent than many mission-based grinders. The premise ties together the world-hopping structure with a multiverse angle and a central crisis, which gives the campaign enough context to feel intentional rather than purely incidental. It is not groundbreaking narrative work, but it is delivered efficiently, and the comic-panel format helps the game keep momentum.
Dialogue before missions, presented in Korean voice work, gives the cast room to bounce off each other. The tone sits in that familiar action-anime space where dramatic stakes and loud personalities coexist. It generally avoids becoming overly indulgent, and you can engage with it as much or as little as you want. As with most ARPG-style progressions, the urge to skip ahead and return to combat tends to win once you have seen the pattern.
Visual Style
At a technical level, HeroWarz can look dated. Textures and geometry are not especially detailed, and environments can feel compartmentalized because of the stage design. The isometric camera helps smooth over some roughness, and the game compensates with strong effects work and clear silhouettes in motion.
Where it really stands out is character art direction. The roster leans into exaggerated fashion, bold shapes, and colorful designs that read well from the top-down view. Even when you are not following every story beat, you can usually tell who a character is supposed to be just from their look and the way their abilities animate.
Controls and Options
HeroWarz supports two main movement styles: keyboard movement with WASD, or mouse-driven movement. Both work, but mouse movement tends to feel smoother in hectic fights, particularly when you are constantly adjusting positioning to maintain combos or avoid boss swings. Regardless of movement choice, you will still be using the keyboard for skills, so it is not a one-hand action game.
Customization is limited. Keybinds are not freely remappable, and the settings menu offers only modest control over graphics and camera behavior. The fixed-feeling camera can be frustrating if you are used to games that let you zoom and angle freely, especially in crowded fights where visibility is already at a premium.
Final Verdict – Good
HeroWarz is a lean, combat-first ARPG MMO that keeps downtime to a minimum. Its mission structure, flashy hero kits, and easy character swapping make it an enjoyable option for players who want fast clears and constant action rather than long-form questing or deep customization. The 4v4 PvP mode adds variety, and the comic-panel presentation gives the campaign more personality than you might expect.
Its biggest drawback is everything around the act of launching and tuning the game. The plugin-based access feels archaic, and the limited options and frequent loading do not help. Still, if you can get past the awkward entry point and you like stage-based mob slaying, HeroWarz offers a focused, satisfying loop.
HeroWarz System Requirements
Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Windows XP SP3
CPU: Core i3-4150 or Athlon 64 X2 3 GHz
Video Card: GeForce 250 or Radeon 4850
RAM: 4 GB
Hard Disk Space: 12 GB
Recommended Requirements:
Operating System: Windows 7 64 bit
CPU: Core i5 or AMD Liano 3850
Video Card: GeForce GTX 460 or Radeon 6850
RAM: 8 GB
Hard Disk Space: 12 GB
HeroWarz Music & Soundtrack
Coming Soon!
HeroWarz Additional Information
Developer: A.storm
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Open Beta: June 28, 2016
Release Date: July 20, 2016
Development History / Background:
HeroWarz is created by A.storm, a studio founded by Yoon Jong Kim, previously a producer on titles such as Cyphers and Dungeon Fighter Online. The team formed not long before the project and positioned HeroWarz as its debut release. In South Korea, the game entered closed beta in June 2013, followed by an open beta on September 26, 2014. For North America, the release was originally planned for Q1 2016 under publisher KOG Games, a company also associated with Elsword Online and AIMA (available only in South Korea). HeroWarz ultimately launched officially on July 20, 2016.