Yearly Archives: 2010

Mediwar Review: Not Much To Play

Mediwar Review: Not Much To Play
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), Onrpg Journalist

 

The game was getting to me (in a bad way) even before I got to play it. There was a certain bug upon registration that just kept getting on my nerves. They wanted me to check the “I will NOT hunt for BUGS” agreement which I’ve been clicking and checking for countless tries. That’s probably the same as telling the Ghostbusters that the house down the road that’s completely soaked in blood isn’t haunted. Geez, no wonder they didn’t want people to hunt for bugs! It’s already in front of you to begin with.

 

The game tends to make you figure things out without any form of tutorial once you start the game. After getting your custom password from your mail, you’ll be taken to the news page where the game updates are posted. If you’re as confused as I was, you can start the game by pressing the HOME button at the top left portion of your screen.  There… now I guess we can finally start properly from here. For those of you who don’t know by the way, Mediwar is an MMO Browser game that lets you join the virtual fantasy war in the comforts of textblocks and pictures.

 

The Beginning

You’ll be prompted to choose sides upon starting the game. There are races all in all complete with their own silly taglines. Since I can’t really let this pass, I’d like to personally dictate each line and expand them thoroughly (it’s just awful). These lines reflect your race’s special ability, so be sure to understand them (LOL)

 

-“Annihilate enemy with the power of gold!”  — Humans
-“We fight to defend, we defend to conquer!”– Dwarves
“We rule your every move. Nothing can hide from us!” –Elves
“No limit to our destruction, No defence too great !”-Orcs (SUPER OMEGA TYPO LOLFEST ZOMG DEFENCE!)

 

Just as their starting lines suggest (LOL), each race has their own unique feature that will aid you in your journey. Picking Humans will give you extra cash whenever you earn in game money. If you’re a hefty spender, then I’d suggest you pick Humans. When it comes to defensive gameplay, Dwarves are the way to go. With their bonuses in DEF(Defense), Dwarves are really hard to bring down. Given the right amount of money, these guys will take everything you throw at them. Elves in this game are rather nasty compared to their aristocrat counterparts in other games. Their featured bonus revolves around spying which lets them know more about their opponents, allowing them to counter accordingly (pretty sweet huh?). Orcs as you would have guessed have overwhelming damage. If given priority, these things can smash you down with a couple of swings.

 

Problems Already?

MediWar QuestOne thing about this game is that it launches you back to the news page after creating your character. You’ll be left alone to figure out what you need to do without the slightest bit of tutorials. User friendliness is one of the main aspects of every game regardless of how technical it’s supposed to be. A few tutorials could come in handy, so I guess it’s a point down in my book. If I must state what happened after I first created my character, I was left there with no idea of where to start or what I must do. There were no instructions and I just found myself randomly clicking on links hoping to stumble across the correct link. The HELP link doesn’t even show you anything but a link to the forums. Now it would help if the forums had instructions but… nevermind.

 

The Command post reflects your overall performance (as well as your units’) throughout the game. If you’re new to this, you might want to check the forums for scattered information on what these things mean. Once you do, only then will you be able to enjoy the game.

 

Preparing For Battle

You’ll be allotted 5000 gold for your start up money which you can spend on hiring your first army. It then occurred to me that bankruptcy could be one big issue in this game. Since attacking a player requires you to at least have an army to be able to win, having your soldiers die in the midst of battle could dead end your character after spending so much for their training. You can also buy more gears in order to strengthen your team’s performance as well as upgrade their skills to make them more proficient in terms of combat or spying. Again, the lack of tutorials prevailed. I practically saw nothing but the prices attached to them. You could say that the game revolves around a trial and error basis, since you basically have to figure out what you’re paying for.

 

Attacking

When in your command post, you can order your troops to attack your enemies. You’ll be given a list of people to attack along with the number of their army. This by far is the best way to earn gold, and of course the best way to lose it too. Money earned through battle tends to deplete if you keep farming on a certain individual. The game shares an action point system that’s referred to as turns. Attacking an individual depletes your turn points depending on how many turns you used to kill your opponent. For those of you who don’t know, the number of turns are displayed right below the main menu. Once you run out of turn points, your army is left in stasis and must wait for your next turn (indicated by the “Next Turn” text above your inbox) which would normally take 30 minutes or so (I don’t know, you tell me).

 

 

Character

Character Profile

 

The verdict

I really hate dismissing games this way but Mediwar is just terrible. Not only does it have no more than 40+ players online (2 players online when I signed in), it lacks almost every basic MMO aspect there is! Tutorials, descriptions, objectives, visuals, and most of all… Players. Playing this game was a total waste of my time. Not only did it make me crawl in the dark, it also pissed me off at some point. Banging my head on the wall felt a lot better than this. The loony race lines were bad enough, but I never thought the game itself was this bad. If you want to play a good browser game, then I suggest you stay away from this game. This isn’t a game… it’s a riddle site that beats the likes of Zest and Notpron. And just for emphasis “STAY AWAY FROM THIS GAME!”

 

The good:
-Good looking insignia (at some point at least)
-It really had a good theme (too bad though)
-Good introduction

 

The bad:
-The game has no direction whatsoever
-Lack of tutorials
-Lack of item, unit, ETC description
-Lowest player base I’ve ever seen
-Really confusing
-irritating verification box where you must copy the number stated in order to verify that you’re not using a bot.

OnRPG Weekly News Roundup: Year in Review Edition

Weekly News Roundup: Year in Review Edition
By Joshua Temblett (Dontkillmydreams), OnRPG Journalist

This year has been one full of new announcements, new game releases and new expansions. Perhaps you missed out on some of this news? Don’t worry, as once again I’ve got you’ve covered (I’ve always got your back, remember that), with this coverage of all of the big news stories of this year! Let’s dive right in shall we?

 

Big News Stories of 2009

Final Fantasy XIV: Announcement

As soon as I saw it, I knew Square Enix’s new MMORPG, originally titled Rapture, would be bigger and better than the rest. Rapture was “announced” way back in May 2005, when one of the lead developers of Final Fantasy XI revealed that they were working on a new online RPG that would be for the Xbox 360 and PC. A year later it was announced that it would also be for the PS3.

 

Come E3 2009, Rapture (now known as Final Fantasy XIV) was officially revealed to the world as a PS3 “exclusive” that would also be on the PC. Of course this is a lie, the game will be on the Xbox 360 albeit a little bit later as the engine Final Fantasy XIV is being made with, the Crystal Tools, has been developed from the ground up to be compatible with all next generation consoles, and the PC.

 

Anyway, back to what I was talking about, Final Fantasy XIV was successfully announced to the audience of E3 at Sony’s Press Conference. Here’s the official FFXIV trailer.

 

News is coming out constantly for this new game! Not only had that but recently Square Enix released the closed beta application, allowing anyone who’s interested to apply for the game and (hopefully) get into the beta. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this MMORPG.

 

Guild Wars 2: Announcement

I could ramble on for ages and ages about this announcement. But really, why bother? I know and you know, heck everybody knows, that Guild Wars 2 is going to rock the world. The first Guild Wars game was not only a beautiful piece of storytelling and entertainment, but also brilliantly designed and recognised.

 

On March 27th 2007, Guild Wars 2 was announced to the public alongside the Guild Wars expansion Eye of the North. Since that wonderful day information about the next game in this successful series has been sparse.

 

Then this year, ArenaNet decided that they would surprise us and by showing off what they’ve been working on and what we can expect from Guild Wars 2. Jaws dropped, people cheered and babies were born! This is the surprise trailer that shocked everyone! The question is, will this game be released in 2010? Well basically, no probably not. However we can expect to hear much more news and hopefully some information about a beta or two.

 

Tabula Rasa: Server Shutdown

Unfortunately not all of the news this year has been sunshine and roses. Tabula Rasa, one of NC Soft’s MMORPGs, had its servers shut down this year. Whilst it had been hinted at for a while by the company, no one ever really expected for it to actually happen.

 

Before Tabula Rasa was released, it was stuck in development hell as designs and concepts with regards to the game constantly changed. The game was eventually released in 2007, however it wasn’t without its problems. The game never really managed to recover from its rocky start and, with a constant decrease in players, was always doomed for failure.

 

On February 28th the game servers were shut down and Tabula Rasa’s story came to a close. Rest in peace Tabula Rasa, we’ll always remember you.

 

Dungeon Runners: Down and Out

Yet another game bites the dust. On January 1st 2010 Dungeon Runners, NC Soft’s free-to-play MMORPG, silently disappeared from the world. I played this MMO quite a bit, and I always thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s unfortunate that such a great game had to leave us. Rest in peace Dungeons Runners, we’ll always remember you.

 

The Matrix: Pulled the Plug

The Matrix Online, what an interesting MMORPG that was. Thankfully this often buggy MMO went out with a huge bang with incredibly successful, and fun, end event content. Whilst it didn’t live a glorious life, it was with us for a very long period of time and the game will always be remembered.

 

Dungeons and Dragons: Goes Free-to-Play

After a decrease in player base, this Pay-to-Play MMORPG changed to Free-to-Play in an effort to get more gamers on its servers and more money in the developers pockets. Well it worked!! The game is running perfectly with an increase in player base, media attention and profit. Dungeons and Dragons has received good reviews and has generally had a lot of positive feedback from both gamers and journalists alike.

 

Whilst the move from Pay-To-Play to Free-To-Play is not one that many MMORPGs take, Dungeons and Dragons showed us that it could be done for dying MMOs . Hopefully in the future we will see more P2P games follow this example instead of just being shut down for good when they face a loss in their player base.

 

Warcraft Cataclysm

Time is money, friend!

 

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Annoucement

This year, Blizzard announced a new expansion for their highly successful MMORPG World of Warcraft. This new set of content is bigger and better than anything Blizzard has ever done before, as they reconstruct the game world to fit in with the new expansion’s storyline and to give a change for all the long-term players.

 

This new expansion is very important for the MMORPG industry as it shows how you can mix up an old game and make it that much more interesting for your player base. I don’t need to wish this expansion good luck, as let’s just face it; it will sell by the bucket-load anyway.

 

 

Aion: Game Release

This year saw the release of Aion, a highly-anticipated Korean MMORPG that used the beautiful Crysis engine to render its vast world. Unfortunately, there was so much hype surrounding it that the game no doubt disappointed a few who had set their hopes too high. Nonetheless, the game went on to break MMORPG pre-order sales and is doing very well to this day. Keep it up NC Soft, and keep looking after your community!

 

 

Aion Image

Visually Stunning Aion

 

Champions Online: Release

Although this superhero MMORPG opened to a lot of controversy as the developers decided to release a patch completely changing the gameplay mechanics on the day of release, Champions Online still managed to be commercially successful.

 

With an excellent character customisation tool and some very stylised graphics and gameplay to match, this game rose to the top and offered something unique to those who had gotten bored of the status quo MMORPG gameplay. Whilst not without its flaws, Champions Online is still a great MMO and hopefully we’ll see many great things from it in the future. Maybe this year we’ll see the release of the Xbox 360 version.

 

Champions Online

Dodge This

 

Fallen Earth: Game Release

The big profile game releases just kept on coming this year! After a long beta period, this Apocalypse MMORPG launched to a world of eager gamers. Whilst there’s a somewhat steep learning curve, the game is solid and has successfully managed to capture many gamer’s hearts.

 

That’s a wrap!!

So that’s a look at the biggest news stories with regard to MMORPGs in 2009. Hopefully 2010 will bring us much more news, many more games and a lot more surprises. I’ll see you this Tuesday as we go back to the normal format and give you the best MMORPG weekly news round-up available on the web. I hope you’re having a wonderful new year and if you live in England and parts of Europe, I hope you’re enjoying the lovely snowfall. I look forward to seeing you next time!

Kung Foo! Takes it to the Next Level with Closed Beta

Kung Foo! Takes it to the Next Level with Closed Beta

 

Perfect World InternationalPerfect World Entertainment today announced that its upcoming MMO, Kung Foo!, is now in closed beta. Scripted by special guest and highly acclaimed comic book writer, Devin Grayson, best known for her work on Batman: Gotham Knights, Nightwing and the Vertigo miniseries, USER, Kung Foo! is filled with loot, laughter and loquacious NPCs.

 

Devin Grayson Script Writer

 

Based on popular MMO in China, Legend of Martial Arts, Kung Foo! aims to set itself apart from other traditional MMOs by parodying the experience of playing an MMO while at the same time being one; a conceit that will help introduce new players to the genre as well as appeal to veterans already seeped in MMO culture.


“Kung Foo! is one of the first MMOs to address those funny quirks and has no qualms in making fun of the genre in which it resides,” said Craig Beers, product manager for Kung Foo! “Regardless of what type of player you are, Kung Foo! offers everything players have come to expect from Perfect World Entertainment’s quality, free-to-play MMOs.”


Jumping for Full Moon

 

“Kung Foo! has been a completely unique experience for me,” said Devin Grayson, special guest writer for Kung Foo! “As a gamer myself, I wanted Kung Foo! to incorporate inside jokes for veteran players, but also to work as a primer for people completely new to the concept of playing this way online. One of my goals in writing Kung Foo! was to make the NPC dialogue compelling, so that players might actually look forward to handing in their quests instead of considering it part of the grind.”
 
Kung Foo! will offer comical features and quests including:
– Martial Art Disciplines – 7 available to master at launch; including ‘Grasshopper’, ‘Sharpy’, ‘Mager’, ‘Tank’, ‘Slasher’, ‘Medico’ and ‘Augurer’
– Themed Zones – 6 available to explore at launch; including Panda Province, Snaf Foo, Fuzzy Forest, Zui Quan Village, Realm of Darkness and Enchanted Glade
– Hilarious Quests – Hundreds of quests to choose from to help channel your inner foo
– Character Customization/Mounts – Mix and match your character; be a street punk, cowboy or a bit of both… while riding a crab mount with boxing gloves
– Crafting – For those few killer items that don’t fall from the sky
– PvP – For those who don’t play nicely with others
– Pets – Never fight alone in the dark again
– Transformations – Become a fierce, fiery dragon or a steaming pile of poop 
– Dungeons – featuring hundreds of terrifying and despicably adorable mobs to slay
 
Gamers interested in joining the closed beta or for more information on Kung Foo! can visit http://foo.perfectworld.com/

Welcome to Kung Foo!

 


Lasuni Interview: A Unique Browser Community

Lasuni Interview: A Unique Browser Community
Questions By Bryan King (Bryan), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Dave Stribling

 

Lasuni, a new browser social game with RPG elements, has come over the horizon! Developed by the talented minds at YahRly, a group of two talented entrepreneurs, Lasuni is a new game with somewhat limited features at the moment, but will expand and grow in the future. Today, I had the chance to have a discussion with Dave Stribling, art director and co-founder of YahRly.

 

OnRPG: Could you please introduce readers to the premise of Lasuni?
Lasuni is a new MMOG where users can explore and express themselves. There will be a variety of skills in which users can level up in such as fishing and cooking. There will also be a variety of quests, puzzles and mini-games for users to work through. While Lasuni does have many similar features to other MMORPGs, we will also focus heavily on the social aspect of the game, encouraging users to work in teams, playing games and socializing with the other users.

 

Lasuni Setting

Lasuni Winter Setting

 

OnRPG: Lasuni has been released for a period of about two months now, how would you describe the development of the community so far?
We’ve been thrilled with the positive response we’ve received from the community. Currently we’re developing the game openly so users can watch our development.  At this very early stage the client is lacking most of the larger and more engaging features, yet irrespective of this, users have embraced Lasuni and their support has been invaluable. I particularly enjoy gaining feedback from users and their ideas are helping to change and further refine what Lasuni is.

 

OnRPG: How did your team come up with such an interesting name for the game?
Honestly, it was a long, laborious process thinking of meaningless words and checking if the domain was free. We spent a long time trying to find the perfect name as it’s very important as it’s our brand and it’s the first thing users see, we wanted something interesting but not clique – hopefully we’ve achieved that.

 

OnRPG: Based on what I’ve seen so far, Lasuni focuses on a unique graphic style that is easy on the eyes and very detailed, how was this art style decided upon?
From the offset we decided we wanted a bright and vibrant graphical styled inspired by games such as Animal Crossing. I feel this type of graphics isn’t offensive to anybody, and allows for a more casual gaming experience.

 

Lasuni Summer

Greetings from Lasuni

 

OnRPG: How has the community responded to the updates you guys have added to the game so far?
As I stated previously, the community has been extremely supportive during our development. They have responded very positively to the updates we’ve been releasing and eagerly login to help test the features for us. This has been very useful in fixing any bugs we may not have noticed. Their feedback also drives us to work harder and faster than ever before.

 

OnRPG: What type of events do you guys plan to coordinate to keep the Lasuni community busy?
We hope to have lots of events to keep users entertained while on Lasuni, as we develop further we plan to include lots of features to enable more interesting events, particularly during holidays with fun, and rewarding quests to users who login.

 

OnRPG: Based on the in-game currency system added so far, Silver and Gold will play a major role for character development. Will this system be completely free to use? How will it play a role in the game’s economy?
Silver is our free currency and is earned in-game by completing quests, playing mini games, referring their friends and more. This can then be spent on rewards such as new clothes for your avatar, new items to improve skills, and more.  Gold is a premium currency which can be used to purchase VIP, and exclusive clothes and items.

 

OnRPG: In what way will the leveling system be prominent within the game?
As you play Lasuni you will receive experience for pretty much everything you do in-game to level up. As your level increases you’ll have greater access to better items, areas and quests.

 

OnRPG: Will there be items that play a role in how Lasuni develops in terms of a storyline?
In a word, yes. As we move further into development story lines within Lasuni will become more prevalent, some will be small and relate to only a few NPCs, others will be larger and unlock new areas and features, and the largest being world events where the entire community can affect the outcome.

 

OnRPG: As we can see in an early version of the client, NPCs will be featured within the game. How will these NPCs interact with the community? Will they be free-flowing and talk with users in real-time?
NPCs can be interacted with in two ways, one is speaking to them how you would talk to any other user, and NPCs also talk randomly which may give hints in what to do to solve a quest or gain items. The other way to interact with NPCs is talking to them in a typical RPG style, this will be used for accepting quests.

 

OnRPG: If you could give one reason why players who have not joined Lasuni yet should play now, what would you tell them?
It’s an exciting time to join Lasuni, as we’re developing and adding new features all the time. It’s a small yet friendly community that is very welcoming and in which you can make your mark and actually contribute towards the game with ideas and just by participating in events and competitions. It’ll be a fun and constantly changing world for everybody, we love the development, and we hope you’ll enjoy sharing the experience with us and our community.

 

OnRPG: What future updates does the Lasuni development team plan to add?
Our next big update is the inventory system and shop. This will enable users to spend silver to purchase new clothes for their avatars to create a more varied world! This update will include the inventory system and character screen which is how users will customize their avatars. The inventory will also be used for other miscellaneous items and is a very important feature to get completed. After that, who knows what we’ll work on!

 

OnRPG: What is the Lasuni’s strategy for keeping players interested in playing?
Our plan to keep users interested at this point is be honest with progress and to ensure we get updates out as quickly as we possibly can, to add features that will add depth and interest to the game. When more features have been developed we will continually work to add new quests, areas and mini-games to entertain our users.

 

OnRPG: What is your favorite thing about Lasuni?
Definitely the community, being able to develop a project with such a generous and enthusiastic community is a joy and they inspire me every day to work harder than yesterday. Without them Lasuni wouldn’t be possible – not to sound soppy!

 

OnRPG: Where do you see Lasuni five years from now?
With all luck Lasuni will be thriving with expansive environments, hundreds of quests , mini games and puzzles and a large friendly community. Though, 5 years is a very long compared to Lasuni’s mere 2 months of existence, so I’m just taking it as we go with my fingers crossed.

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!
Thanks for the opportunity to talk to you!

Eudemons: Libra Eudemons incoming!

Eudemons: Libra Eudemons incoming!

 

Eudemons gets new Eudemons to give you more Eudemons while playing Eudemons!

A balance weighs and measures, and so are Libra natives. As the only symbol in the zodiac that is inanimate, Libra represents justice. Libra Eudemons are the embodiment of equality, harmony, and balance. They are elegant, charming and naturally kind and generous. They can also be very tough, though. Whoever intends to violate the divine principles of justice and fairness will suffer the wrathful vengeance of these celestial beings. They will do whatever it takes to eliminate profane sinners. They could be your best partners in battles!

Astral Eudemon – Libra Deane (Mage)


Astral Eudemon - Libra Deane (Mage)

 

As a mage Eudemon, it holds sway over the forces of nature. This Eudemon’s fantastical appearance often distracts opponents from recognizing its true power.

 

Astral Eudemon – Libra Dillon (Warrior)


Astral Eudemon - Libra Dillon (Warrior)

 

Its power has been greatly promoted after rebirth. It can devastate anything in the world with its huge sword, and it can judge good and evil with its scales of justice.

 

Astral Mount – Libra Snow (Mage)


Astral Mount - Libra Snow (Mage)

 

Astral Mount. This Eudemon has a gentle appearance, ivory white plumes and purple armor. Perfect for nice romantic romps across Cronus.

 


Astral Mount – Libra Flame (Warrior)


Astral Mount - Libra Flame (Warrior)

 

Astral Mount. With its shining plumes and noble armor, it looks like a fireball streaking across the skies. It should be the perfect mount for anyone looking to turn some heads.


 

PlayOMG Announces New MMORPG N.E.O Online

PlayOMG Announces New MMORPG N.E.O Online

 

PlayOMG, a worldwide publisher of online games, today announces the upcoming free-to-play fantasy MMORPG, N.E.O Online.
 
The developer, SONOV spent four years making this game that offers players the most control over the journey. The name is an acronym for New Era Odyssey. In the ancient world of Gaia, an epic battle was fought wherein the Gods won the victory, but the world fell into a state of chaos. Adventurers traveling across kingdoms are now on the way to saving the world as well as creating a new legend.
 
One of the most remarkable features of N.E.O Online is the world-converting system. Different territories have their own chaos value, which is accumulated by players. When the chaos value reaches maximum, the world is converted into a state of chaos and monsters become more powerful. Players can take advantage of it since monster would drop better items as well. However, players in the chaotic area are automatically divided into teams for a PvP territorial war. The world returns to peace after the chaos value decays towards zero.

Riding Through N.E.O. Online

 

N.E.O Online offers possibilities for creating distinctive characters with various professions. Players are able to design the power by using favored weapons or magic without the limit of classification. Character stats distributing is easy to follow and will be helpful for the beginners to determine the combination of attributes. A variety of outfits is also available for showing personal style. In addition, N.E.O features various battle and living skills. Players looking to master fighting techniques can try their hand at power leveling; players seeking to experience a ranch life can just go fishing all day. Learn more about N.E.O Online and sign up for a free trial at: http://neo.playomg.com.

 

Play N.E.O Online

N.E.O. Online

In the mysterious world of Gaia, an epic battle was fought wherein the Gods won the victory, but the world finally fell into a state of chaos. Adventurers traveling across kingdoms are now on the way to saving the world as well as creating a new legend.
 
N.E.O Online is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG that gives gamers the most control over the journey. Given the world of gorgeous phantasy, this journey will bring gamers to an ancient time when peace lives with chaos. N.E.O offers possibilities for creating distinctive characters with various professions such as a warrior skilled in sorcery, a wizard who is also a sharpshooter or any combination desired. With a variety of living skills, N.E.O features natural surroundings where gamers can explore the odyssey through fun activities.

K.O.S. shoots and hits Open Beta!

 

Online PC game publisher YNK Interactive today announced the open beta date for their highly anticipated first person shooter, K.O.S.–Secret Operations.  Open beta will begin on Tuesday, January 12, 2010.

“We are thrilled for open beta to begin,” said Fred White, Director of Marketing & Communications.   “We’ve been working hard since before the end of our closed beta test to refine the game based on player feedback.  Not all the features of the final game will be playable for the open beta, but you’ll get a great feel for how the game will play.”

As a gesture of gratitude for participating in the launch, the initial players of open beta will be awarded with a limited edition item, a Red Bull Mask which will not be available anywhere else.  Eligibility includes players who have logged in and joined a game in the first 3 hours of open beta.

This free to play first person shooter is available worldwide.  Players can download the game right here at OnRPG!

K.O.S. - Secret Operation - Open Beta Hits Soon!.jpg