Free to Play was a neat movie. Following the paths of three different top tier Dota 2 players through the very first International tournament, with a first place price of 1,000,000 US dollars, something which was unprecendented at the time.

It goes on length to show their tribulations, the problems having to juggle both their personal lives and their progaming careers in a fragile balance, often ending up having to sacrifice much in order to be at the top of their game. (pun intended.)

And that's really the message of Free to Play: it takes something which anyone can relate to - (Is it worth taking that chance and perhaps winning it all, or should we just play it safe?) into an environment which still has that social stigma of uncertainty and distrust with it (e-sports) which the movie shows quite well. It's brilliant, and makes the movie more relatable and less alien to those unfamiliar with this new trend. And like everything in life, sometimes when you take that shot, either you triumph and it was totally worth it, and other times, you fail and come crashing down.

Obviously intended to advertise Dota 2, it is nevertheless a look into the growing e-sports industry and how it's quickly advancing in scale. For people who've never played a match of Dota 2 in their lives, though you will not understand the slang surrounding the game itself, the movie does try at times to carefully explain the more popular terms to those who are not as familiar. In fact, the documentary focuses more on the human aspect of pro players and e-sports in general, not just Dota 2, which serves more as a canvas for the documentary itself, rather than the actual focus. I am a Dota enthusiast myself, so it's possible I had extra enjoyment out of the movie, but again, I think most people could watch it.

The movie itself is in awesome quality, and it features commentary tracks from both Fear or Dendi, and it has a couple of bonuses with it that you can spend 5 minutes watching. It's not too long so it doesn't overstay its welcome, then again, it's something you'd only really watch once, I don't think you'd replay it for the commentary tracks alone.

Hell, it's free. To play. Go watch it already.

Free to Play was a neat movie. Following the paths of three different top tier Dota 2 players through the very first International tournament, with a first place price of 1,000,000 US dollars, something which was unprecendented at the time. It goes on length to show their tribulations, the problems having to juggle both their personal lives and their progaming careers in a fragile balance, often ending up having to sacrifice much in order to be at the top of their game. (pun intended.) And that's really the message of Free to Play: it takes something which anyone can relate to - (Is it worth taking that chance and perhaps winning it all, or should we just play it safe?) into an environment which still has that social stigma of uncertainty and distrust with it (e-sports) which the movie shows quite well. It's brilliant, and makes the movie more relatable and less alien to those unfamiliar with this new trend. And like everything in life, sometimes when you take that shot, either you triumph and it was totally worth it, and other times, you fail and come crashing down. Obviously intended to advertise Dota 2, it is nevertheless a look into the growing e-sports industry and how it's quickly advancing in scale. For people who've never played a match of Dota 2 in their lives, though you will not understand the slang surrounding the game itself, the movie does try at times to carefully explain the more popular terms to those who are not as familiar. In fact, the documentary focuses more on the human aspect of pro players and e-sports in general, not just Dota 2, which serves more as a canvas for the documentary itself, rather than the actual focus. I am a Dota enthusiast myself, so it's possible I had extra enjoyment out of the movie, but again, I think most people could watch it. The movie itself is in awesome quality, and it features commentary tracks from both Fear or Dendi, and it has a couple of bonuses with it that you can spend 5 minutes watching. It's not too long so it doesn't overstay its welcome, then again, it's something you'd only really watch once, I don't think you'd replay it for the commentary tracks alone. Hell, it's free. To play. Go watch it already.