The Ward by kdc: Dota 2 Short Film Contest Review

If you’re looking for where Dota 2 meets emotional cinematics, you’ve found it with The Ward by kdc. MOBA players will have flashbacks to their many skirmishes over vision control after watching this short film. The best part about kdc’s submission is that [SPOILER ALERT] it’s an accidentally-placed ward that causes all the ruckus [end of spoiler]. I’ve seen this a few times during VOD reviews. It never fails to get a good laugh.

kdc earns credit on multiple fronts. The music matches the visuals, which can be difficult with the dramatic scenes used. Interestingly, The Ward is still a work of art with the audio muted.

My criticism isn’t much. The video is too short; kdc leaves 45 seconds unused, certainly making his work short (even by last year’s standards). I’m sure that he or she could have come up with another 15 seconds of slow motion to push the product into that S tier category. Therefore, kdc’s choice to go short leaves me unsatisfied. Maybe r/dota2 can convince the creator to do a longer version after the contest ends.

I won’t be surprised if The Ward reaches the Top 8 of the 2017 Dota 2 Short Film Contest because Reddit really loves it compared to many other pieces. We’ll have to wait and see. The contest winner will be revealed between August 2-12, 2017 (at TI7). It’s nice of Valve to reveal the contest winners at The International because it’s a great trade of notoriety for hard work. Details on how to cast a vote are below the video.

The Ward by kdc

If you want to vote for kdc’s The Ward, leave a like. You have to vote on the Steam Community page if you want it to count. YouTube Likes won’t count for the contest.

Thanks for reading. Let us know on Twitter what you liked and disliked about The Ward. And remember, #LetsTalkDota has daily topics to tweet about.