The MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) genre has quickly become one of the most popular and profitable in the industry, so it was only a matter of time before Warcraft and Starcraft developer Blizzard stepped into the ring.

Blizzard's first-party MOBA, Heroes of the Storm, is now available, and the first reviews are in. How does it stack up to the competition? Here are some excerpts from around the web:

PC Gamer, 84/100: "I feel comfortable recommending Heroes of the Storm despite these issues. In some ways, I feel more comfortable recommending it than I do Dota 2, a game I have committed a substantial amount of my time to. This is because Blizzard has created a MOBA that doesn't require you to commit your life, or even an entire week, to get something out of it. The benefit for newcomers is obvious. The benefit for existing MOBA players is more subtle: we finally have a fit ambassador for our genre. Heroes of the Storm may be divisive, but I hope it isn't. I hope that this is the game that shows people who don't like MOBAs what they're missing."

The Escapist, 4/5: "Heroes is perhaps the most accessible MOBA ever created - which can either be a good or bad thing for you. Regardless, you're getting Blizzard-level production values - at Blizzard prices, if you choose to spend money. For what it is, Heroes is a great game with some room for improvement. Whether "what it is" appeals to you or not is a matter of personal preference."

Polygon, 7.5/10 (Provisional): "Speaking for its most basic mechanics, Heroes of the Storm works well. Everything is as responsive as you could like, animations are uniformly great - this is where the Blizzard pedigree shines through.

"But everyone who's played a MOBA or an RTS for any length of time could probably tell you that it's not about basic mechanics, it's about the game design around them. And this is where Heroes of the Storm's biggest changes feel the most drastic, and the most potentially contentious."

IGN, No Score Yet: "The emotional arc of a Heroes of the Storm match is, like the round itself, brief and hard-hitting. The intoxicating high of overwhelming victory is a stark contrast to the painful, frustrating sense of defeat. I left each game feeling either godlike because of Heroes of the Storm's superb characters and combat, or worthless because of its deeply problematic map and progression design."

Tags: Heroes of the Storm blizzard