Yearly Archives: 2012

Brick-Force Closed Beta Impressions

Brick Force Closed Beta Impressions

By Bryan King, OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Taking a game like Brick Force at face value would be a farce. As impeccable as that may sound, Brick Force is a straight up, no-gimmick construction shooter with ups and downs in terms of content. Most people choose to draw upon the voxel-esque graphic design and compare it to Minecraft, but if that’s all you’re expecting of the game as it stands, you may be in for a surprise.

 

 

Brick Force’s graphic style can go one of two ways for a gamer, “creative”, or “lackluster”. Because of the customization ability of maps and the capability of the game’s native source of power, Unity Engine, the game doesn’t seem to place most emphasis on graphics.  The usage of “preset” blocks doesn’t allow for the most graphic capability. However, for what the game intends to do, which is provide a PC client, PC browser, and cell phone platform, the design isn’t too shabby. In a market of free to play shooters that generally strives for a realistic and gritty art style, BF stands out with a lighthearted, colorful palette.

 

 

The shooting gameplay in Brick Force may seem to be a core “shining” feature to the game, but you may find it to be contrary. I, like many others, were under the impression that game building and action worked hand in hand, this is not the case. Map Building/Construction and action work in two different “channels”, one being a “Battle” channel, and one being a “Map Editing” channel. Players who build maps can register their maps (price depending on number of blocks used) and share and utilize them with the community.  A negative to the structure of both of these servers is that they are dependent upon a Peer 2 Peer connection, utilizing outdated technology to run the technology aspect.

 

 

This becomes clear in the game’s “Battle Mode.” A certain delay is apparent when killing enemies or firing a weapon. The complaints of many other players confirmed this. The game utilizes the traditional “Shop” system, where players can buy game weapons, accessories, and special bricks using in-game currency or (in the future) real life cash on a rental basis. Later on, the game will have characters available for purchase. None of the weapons that are in the game so far feel so much overpowered as they do annoying. The usage of some weapons is completely dependent upon the map you’re playing on. I encountered many “sniper-friendly” maps, as well as “grenade and SMG” maps. The flexibility of said maps ends up being a pro and con, as it can be annoying to have to switch weapons from the main menu before entering the map again.

 

 

Weapons in Brick Force have separate weights and recoil rates. With weapons like the sniper rifle, movement is slower as a sacrifice to burst weapon damage and range. Either way, the movement can feel a little slow on large maps where speed matters (“Blast” mode, a la Counterstrike’s bomb defuse mode). This is resolved by switching to a small weapon like a pistol or wrench. In terms of combat, there really isn’t much special to Brick Force, and veteran FPS gamers will not be impressed with the shooting game by itself.

 

 

Where Brick Force most succeeds is in its “Construction” mode. Construction mode allows a large amount of players to utilize a preset array of special and normal bricks to create a battle scenario, allowing maps to be created up to 100 meters high. This allows players to flex their creative muscles to make their own refreshing and fun battle scenarios. Personally, I can see the appeal of this feature and why players could keep using Brick Force as their go to casual game. I saw some players who never touched combat mode, but just kept creating maps with their friends and posing a ton of “what if” questions.

 

 

Brick Force’s construction mode sets a precedent for many other developers to follow with their construction mode – giving players the tools to shape the combat that they will be involved in with a quick, simple, easy-to-use package is impressive. Using this mode as a selling point has drawn many players to the community, and I don’t see that trend ending anytime soon.

 

 

The one flaw I see in this system is possible abuse, like players creating “easy farming” maps to gain easy currency by creating enclosed maps where kills are easily earned. I noticed something like this in the form of a “box” map, but the players grew tired and joined other servers.

 

 

In conclusion, Brick Force’s closed beta seems to be a diamond in the rough. With many exceptional characteristics such as its uniquely crafted art design and construction mode, it’s a shame to see that the game’s combat system and mechanics can be a nuisance. I expect Infernum and EXE-Games to address these issues and help mold the game into what it’s supposed to be – a socially driven game that reaches beyond the usual shooter audience.

Spirit Tales Proclaims Customization for All

Spirit Tales Proclaims Customization for All!

 

 

 

Earlier last week, Koramgames’ new MMORPG, Spirit Tales, went into closed beta testing. Today they have revealed that customization is a top priority in this game. But many games claim this as well. Spirit Tales on the other hand has the numbers to back it up…

 

 

There are over 40 million unique fashion combinations for your character to acquire. Whether you wish to protect to land as an angelic protector or cause mayhem as an agent of darkness, Spirit Tales has you covered.

Elsword Launches Harmony Festival

Elsword Launches Harmony Festival in Celebration of Spring Break

 

 

Just in time for the spring break season, MMO action game Elsword is offering players the opportunity to participate in the Harmony Festival in-game event. Available now through April 4, the Harmony Festival allows gamers to plow through dungeons and battle bosses with the additional benefit of powerful costumes, increased stamina and special items to recover HP. Players are encouraged to act quickly, as the festivities will conclude soon!

 

 

Features of the Harmony Festival include:

 

Free goodies: Harmony Festival Costumes are available free to all players and are the most powerful costumes released in Elsword to date! Harmony Festival Pie can also be purchased and used in dungeons to recuperate 50 percent HP and remove status effects. As an added bonus, players purchasing the pie will receive 20 free pies after the event has ended.

 

More lives: Resurrection Stone refills upgraded to six times daily.

 

New and rewarding quests: A plethora of new quests that add up to valuable rewards for participating gamers.

 

Exclusive Harmony Festival Accessory: Now available from the Item Mall, beautiful butterfly wings are available for only 500 K-Ching.

 

New throwing items: Players can use new in-dungeon throwing items to further expand their arsenal of monster slaying weapons.

 

Increased endurance: 50 percent less stamina consumption in dungeons.

 

Quickslot expansion and item additions: Players can now expand their Quickslots to six with an item purchased from the Item Mall.

BAFTA Video Games Awards 2012

BAFTA Video Games Awards 2012

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

In the UK the BAFTAs are most commonly known as the English equivalent of the Oscars. However a little less known of event held by BAFTA spotlights video games! The 8th annual Video Game Awards were just held, and though I didn’t get to go, I watched eagerly from the comfort of my computer chair. For the third year in a row they were hosted by Dara Ó Briain, an Irish stand-up comedian and host of panel show Mock the Week. He is also a very proud gamer which makes him perfect for hosting this award show. A total of nineteen awards were handed out to people from all across the industry and there were a few surprises. If you’re like many of us sitting around waiting for a major MMO to launch, the following games are probably good candidates to help pass the time.

 

 

Story: The first award handed out was for story. Sadly there were no MMOs nominated for this category even though I think it is safe to say everyone wishes Skyrim was multiplayer. In addition to Skyrim other nominess included Batman: Arkham City, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, L.A. Noire, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Portal 2. The winner was Portal 2. This was the first surprise of the night as I don’t normally think of story when I think of Portal 2. Nonetheless it’s a well deserved honor for the goofy dialogue and wild setting created by this game.

 

 

Original Music: Music in games is vital. It sets the mood, tells you what sort of world you’re in and most importantly alerts you to danger. When I think of music and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations I think of that amazing E3 Trailer which featured Woodkid’s song Iron. This wasn’t what they were talking about but Assassin’s Creed was nominated along with; The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Batman Arkham City and L.A. Noire. L.A. Noire won the BAFTA for the amazing scene setting music played throughout the game.

 

 

Audio Achievement: Different to music audio is all those lovely sound effects. From the sound of gunfire in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 to the grunts of battle in Batman: Arkham city this category had it all. Also nominated were Dead Space 2, Uncharted 3, The Nightjar and Battlefield 3. Battlefield 3 won this Bafta for its amazingly realistic sounds of a battlefield, most likely made by clapping two coconuts together.

 

 

Design: This category is all about the design of the game. To me this category really should be called Most Fun. Because that is what they really mean. And with games like Super Mario 3D Land being nominated that is made clear. Nominated along with Mario was L.A. Noire, LittleBigPlanet 2, Skyrim, Batman: Arkham City and Portal 2. Winning their second Bafta of the night, Valve walked away the winners of this award for Portal 2.

 

 

Game Innovation: Innovation in the gaming community is what keeps competition alive. It drives developers to come out with bigger and more interesting ways of playing. The Legend of Zelda series has been innovating the gaming industry since 1986 and that tradition continues today with Skyward Sword. Nominated along with Skyward Sword were; From Dust, Child of Eden, Bastion, L.A. Noire and LittleBigPlanet 2. There really is no arguing that there are no other games out like LittleBigPlanet 2, except LittleBigPlanet. Both have changed the way people think about games and challenged players of all ages.

 

 

Strategy: This award was presented by Aaron Staton, famous for Mad Men and voicing Cole Phelps in L.A. Noire. The surprise nomination in this category was Football Manager 2012. Sports and strategy only go together for me in the real world. But nominated along with it was; Dark Souls, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, From Dust, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, and Total War: SHOGUN 2. Shogun 2 won this Bafta and it is no surprise that a strategy game should win in this category. It has received nothing but very high marks from every major review.

 

 

Mobile & Handheld: There is no denying that mobile gaming has boomed. Once you had to have a handheld device specifically created for mobile gaming. But recent technology has made smart phones viable for doing just this as well! The graphics in Dead Space iOS are amazing, especially when you consider that it is a mobile game. But mostly mobile games are known for being cutesy and easy to play. This is true of the other games nominated; The Nightjar, Quarrel, Super Mario 3D Land, Magnetic Billards: Blueprint, and Peggle HD. Popcap, known for their casual games walked away with this Bafta for Peggle HD.

 

 

The GAME Award of 2011: This was the only award that was voted on by the public. And done in association with British video game retailer GAME. This category was by far the largest with 10 games up for it. They were Portal 2, Skyward Sword, Minecraft, FIFA 2012, Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, L.A. Noire, Skyrim, Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3. Battlefield 3 won this making it Dice’s second Bafta of the night for Battlefield 3.

 

 

Action: Action makes games. What fun is a game where you just stand there and do nothing? This category recognizes the best in action. Nominated were Portal 2, Dues Ex: Human Revolution, Uncharted 3, Modern Warfare 3, Assassin’s Creed Revelations, and Batman: Arkham City. Watching the video clips of all these games made it clear why Arkham City was the winner. The action never stopped and looked amazing at the same time.

 

 

BAFTA Ones To Watch: This category was done in association with Dare to be Digital and is rather unique compared to the others. In this category three of the brightest young developers were given only six short weeks to create a game. What came of it were three completely different and amazing games. Dreamweaver, Joust and Tick Tock Toys. The last walked away with the award, though it is safe to say all three have great potential and look awesome.

 

 

Online-Browser: Online browser based games have changed what it means to play games. This includes everything from social games like The Sims Social in Facebook to flash games on websites like I Am Playr. Four other games were nominated for this category along with them; Skylanders: Spyro’s Universe, Global Resistance, Gardens of Time and Monstermind. Bossa Studios won this category with their Facebook game Monstermind which looks amazingly adorable.

 

 

Artistic Achievement: The award for artistic achievement had a lot of big names nominated for it. Uncharted 3, Skyrim, L.A. Noire, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Batman: Arkham City. It also had one slightly less well known game nominated for it Rayman Origins. And Rayman Origins was the winner. It is an incredibly cute looking game where with the exception of LittleBigPlanet 2 the rest go for a more realistic style. This award was presented by Asher D from the So Solid Crew who said about the artistic quality of games: “Things have certainly moved on from Pacman.” This category really proved that true.

 

 

BAFTA Special Award: This award was given to someone who has really inspired people around the world and created an amazing world that on the surface looks outdated but is really so much more. I’m talking about Markus Persson, the programmer behind the insanely popular Minecraft. This amazing game manages to suck away hours of people’s days without them even realizing it and even has its own LEGO deal.

 

 

Sports/Fitness: Host Dara Ó Briain pointed out that sports games and fitness games are really on two completely different planets. This is made apparent when you look at the nominations; Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012, FIFA 2012, Dance Central 2, F1 2011, DiRT 3, and Kinect Sports 2. Proving what a big industry there is in fitness games Kinect Sports 2 walked away with this Bafta. And it is well deserved as it is more than just one game but more a collection of games which get you up and active.

 

 

Online-Multiplayer: Sadly this category doesn’t include any MMOs. It does however include some very big titles and a lot of sequels. The only non sequel is Dark Souls, which itself is a spiritual successor to another game. The other games nominated were; LittleBigPlanet 2, Gears of War 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, and Battlefield 3. For the third time Dice was awarded for Battlefield 3 which is the eleventh installment in the Battlefield franchise.

 

 

Debut Game: This category was filled with surprises, cute charming games, and finally an MMO! It had L.A. Noire which had been nominated for several other games and Trion World’s big MMO Rift. Also included were a few lesser known games like Bastion, Eufloria, Monstermind, and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet won the Bafta. This game seems to have a little bit of everything and being published by Microsoft doesn’t hurt either. For a debut game Shadow Planet Productions has really set the bar high for any future games they make.

 

 

Family: Families who slay together, stay together. And while there may not be any slaying going on in these games it really is an introduction to gaming that allows parents and kids to share a common bond. The games nominated for this category were; Mario Kart 7, LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars, Kinect Sports 2, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, Dance Central 2 and LittleBigPlanet 2. LittleBigPlanet 2 won this making it the second award of the night for the game. LittleBigPlanet 2 is light-hearted fun for the whole family; it is easy to see why it won.

 

 

Performer: Games often feature famous voices that sometimes can go completely unrecognized like Mark Hamill as The Joker in Batman: Arkham City. Or sometimes you recognize them as soon as they speak like Stephen Fry as the Narrator of LittleBigPlanet 2. As well as these two the following were nominated; Aaron Staton (Cole Phelps) in L.A. Noire, Togo Igawa (Diplomat, Advisor and Military General) in Shogun 2, Stephen Merchant (Wheatley) in Portal 2, and Nolan North (Nathan Drake) in Uncharted 3. The winner of this award was Mark Hamill who couldn’t make it to the awards which I thought was really a shame as it would go a long way to giving more credit to the industry while also being really cool.

 

 

Best Game: The final award of the night, the one everyone had been waiting all night to see was Best Game. This category was filled with big names from several genres. The award was presented by Jonathan Ross, a well known English TV and radio presenter who is also a gamer. In reality all of the games nominated for this category deserved to win. They were FIFA 2012, Skyrim, Skyward Sword, L.A. Noire, Batman: Arkham City and Portal 2. The winner, Portal 2 was a huge surprise even to the people accepting the award. It really is amazing to think that a puzzle game could win against giants like FIFA 2012 and Skyrim. This made a total of 3 awards for Valve tonight with Portal 2.

 

 

MMOs have largely been overlooked by BAFTA in these awards. Though in previous years World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons Online both have been part of the ceremony. DDO actually won for the Multiplayer category in 2006 going up against Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfare, Battlefield 2: Modern Combat and 2006 Fifa World Cup, to name a few. World of Warcraft has gone up against huge names twice and sadly come away both times without an award. Hopefully in the future more MMOs will be nominated. A big congratulations to all the winners. Keep up the fantastic work! And I look forward to watching the award ceremony again next year.

Time to Fight the Black Panthers in RiotZone

Time to fight the “Black Panthers” in RiotZone

 

RiotZone

 

Mail.Ru Games, publisher of the successful browser games Legend: Legacy of the Dragons, Allods Online and Juggernaut, presents some fresh features for their free2play browser game RiotZone. In the daily mission “Picnic at the lakeside” commanders fight the dictator’s elite sniper unit “Black Panthers”. In addition, the clan interface has received some updates. From now on players have the opportunity to see what their fellow members did while they were away. Finally, Commanders who love shopping can take a look at the boots that have just arrived in the store.

 

 

Reconnaissance troops have spotted the dictator’s elite unit “Black Panthers” taking a rest at the lakeside of “El Lago”. This all-female squad may consist of beautiful and kind-looking women, but commanders are not easily fooled: these women know neither regret nor mercy. Rumor has it, that even the legendary members Clara and Rosa are taking part in the little picnic. For those successful in defeating the “Black Panthers” tokens promise new equipment.

 

 

With the quest “Picnic at the lakeside” all other daily special missions like “Dr. Valentino” and “Anniversary of the revolution” will end. Captured tokens from these quests can still be exchanged for gear.

GDC 2012 Final Article: Sevencore

GDC 2012 Final Article: Sevencore

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

Whew after a full week + of trying to write about all the amazing things I saw at GDC 2012, I’ve finally reached the end of the line. gPotato has one hell of a unique game prepping for launch in 2012 called Sevencore. Now describing Sevencore is difficulty as I have a hard time comparing it to any titles I’ve played before. They mentioned it being a type of Steampunk setting during the demo but this isn’t an entirely different beast entirely. Take city A for example. You enter the town and it feels like a 19th century European industrial center with 7 story apartment buildings, factories, and large city squares. But then the police ride by on stegosauruses as people on the backs of dragons fly inches over your head. You wonder outside of town only to see a massive Starcraft Terran carrier fly by transporting new arrivals from the other continent. Turns out the continent across the pond is filled with future technologies, battle bots, and everything you’d expect in a Star Trek flick. You try coming up with a label for this type of setting because I give up.

 

 

The Pets

It’s impossible to understand the core of Sevencore without understanding the intricate pet system. Pets serve as mounts, as offensive infantry, and as support characters, and not all pets are exclusively one or the other. For instance you could ride a dragon and, upon dismounting, the dragon will begin shooting fire at your foes on its own accord. I’ll have to double check but I believe they mentioned the game currently has 40 pets, each with their own character sheet with detailed stats befitting an actual player character. Pets grow overtime as they train alongside you, further unlocking their potential and even new skills.

 

 

As I mentioned before the pets are classified as movement, offensive, or support. Let’s break this down. Movement pets can be classified as mechanical or organic. Organic pets will actually automatically assist you in battle while mechanical movement pets are more along the line of your typical mounts. Furthermore there are sea, land, and air specialized mounts. Not that they are exclusive as land mounts can often doggy paddle and air mounts can sometimes walk around on land. However, for maximum efficiency you will want to ride a pet that is specialized for the environment you intend to face.

 

 

Speaking of which, Sevencore has no dedicated healing class. This is where the importance of support pets comes in. You can train them to heal, buff, and do all kinds of useful skills to keep your party in the action. In a sense it gives you a feeling of playing two classes as you can become an expert of your primary class as well as raise a pet specialized in a particular type of combat to complement you. Coordinating with your allies to bring a well balanced mix of pets is vital to victory, as is knowing what you will be facing ahead of time. For instance one pet may have the ability to cloak your party, while another pet may reveal all cloaked persons, and the two skills cancel each other out.

 

 

Classes and Customization

When building your character for the first time you will get the choice of the Sion, Bruters, and Nuuk. The Sion are your typical humanoid race while the Bruters are large beefy mountain looking people and the Nuuk look like a particularly rough cut group of elves. There is also a fourth race in the works but it wasn’t ready at the demo, though gPotato claims it will be by launch.

 

 

The classes currently in the game are warrior, gunner, magician, and assassin each filling the major MMO roles of tank, ranged physical, ranged magical, and rogue dps. After choosing all this you enter an incredibly fun and detailed body customizer, with sliders for every little thing you could want. We’re talking you have control of shoulder blades, waist length, thigh height, head size, and more. It’s pretty extreme, and you can even double the height of a normal NPC, particularly if you’re playing a Bruter.

 

 

As I mentioned earlier there is no healing class and so each member of the party is expected to take care of themselves. The stress of this system is somewhere alleviated by allowing players to set sliders below their HP and MP bar that allows your character to automatically pot with a designated pot when either bar reaches below a certain %.

 

 

At launch they are expecting a maximum character level of 100, but are ambitiously chasing after a goal of level 200 once the content has been created and tested. On your way to the top you will acquire a series of common skills and weapon specific skills. While everyone learns common skills, the weapon skills you choose to acquire are entirely up to you. However each class can wield two weapons so be prepared to carry one of each weapon if you intend to follow a hybrid build.

 

 

Two other random systems I’ll throw in a mention for are the Turn-System and the XP skill. The XP skill is pretty self explanatory. You build a bar while gaining experience and then can unleash a super charged attack to burn out the bar in one epic blow. Unlike most XP skills seen in other games though, these require a bit of skill to properly use, so it’s best to save it for that ideal moment when you’ve got a huge group of mobs gathered together. The Turn-System is a way to reward player activity. Players gain 1 point per hour up to a maximum of 12 points. You can wager these points in a slot machine that gives players random items and sometimes even cash shop goodies.

 

 

Crafting Professions will of course also be included in the game. Though I don’t have much detail on the system, I know the game will feature weapon makers, armor makers, consumables (aka potions) makers, and material crafters, as well as collecting masteries for each of the three types of material you can gather.

 

 

The World and the War

The world of Sevencore is currently massive, with likely 2 continents available at launch and 5 huge zones to explore filled with over 1500 quests and a few daily quests. After joining/creating a guild, one of your primary goals will be to gain control of one of these 5 zones. Being in control of a zone gives you power over taxation as well as the ability to put forth a candidate for the presidential vote. After 3 days of voting, the winner of the presidential vote will exercise control over all the territories, or so I inferred.

 

 

In terms of organized PvP competition, you can expect 20v20 guild matches to wet your appetite. Or if you are more of a lone wolf kind of player, you can wager items and cash on 1 on 1 duels with rivals. If open world combat is more of your forte then you can declare another faction as your official rival, allowing you to pk them anytime in the open world with no penalty associated.

GDC 2012 Day 2: Eternal Blade

GDC 2012 Day 2: Eternal Blade

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

Nestled away in a hotel suite quite a ways off the main drag of the GDC venue was gPotato’s line-up for 2012, including the very ambitious games of Eternal Blade and Sevencore. Both were thankfully in a playable state so I got to have hands on time with each game; first up was Eternal Blade.

 

 

Eternal Blade goes for the retro cutesy look and, thanks to some high quality animations, it pulls it off well. Two things stand out right away to the player upon picking up the controller or putting hands down on the keyboard. The first you will notice is you can’t click on enemy monsters to highlight them. This shouldn’t be that shocking nowadays with all the action genre online games being released but due to the setting of Eternal Blade, it definitely felt unusual. Rather than tab targeting foes, you hover your mouse over your desired target and then click your key to launch various strikes on them, similar to smart casting skills in League of Legends. It also felt much smoother to use the arrow for movement rather than WASD.

 

 

This control scheme seems strange until you activate the alternative camera setting, and the game turns from standard 3rd person MMO view to Isometric view. Now you realize you are playing a hack n’ slash style dungeon crawler but with the beautifully rendered scenery and detail of a game designed to be viewed from the floor level in third person.

 

 

Classes and Modifications

Eternal Blade is slated to have six classes at launch, including thief, archer, magician, berserker, knight, and soul summoner. I don’t know much specifically about the classes other than that each can evolve into two other classes such as thieves becoming assassins and archers becoming sentinels. The level cap at launch is 60 so I’m sure we can expect further level increases and class ups in future patches after launch. You can expect the usual type of skills to go along with each class, though I will say that some skills have some pretty interesting synergies that will reward players for smartly comboing their skills together. For instance the thief has a smoke bomb AoE that makes enemies far more susceptible to damage and a wind cutter AoE that can dish out some serious dps if you use it on a group confused by smoke bomb.

 

 

At any time players will be able to set up to 8 skills to hotkey assignments. However in the interest of class diversification, a sy stem called the Holy Animal System is in place to help differentiate the effects of your skills. After defeating various foes you can absorb their left over ether to form element orbs. After collecting 10 elements of any type you can forge them together to create a Holy Animal to equip on your character. Each Holy Animal is able to impact up to 3 of your abilities and you can use 3 Holy Animals at one time to really customize your class to your liking. If you’re interested in forging Holy Animals of a specific element, you can focus on collecting ether related only to that element in an attempt to purify your pet creation and maximize the odds of receiving your desired Holy Animal.

 

 

In addition to skill customization players will also be kept plenty busy pimping out their gear. Gear can be refined to +10 as well as socketed through a system in which players collect various jewels and forge them together to make socket items. Rare gear also has randomized bonus stats that can be rerandomized by certain NPCs for a price.

 

 

The World and Dungeons

Something I couldn’t help but mention is the amazing way they set up the World Map teleport screen in Eternal Blade. I wish I had a screenshot to display this but basically after clicking on a teleporter you enter a level select screen ala Super Mario Brothers 3. Different regions are broken up and labeled with colorful icons as cities, dungeons, fields, and points with teleport stones. It can be a long walk back from the field so luckily an item known as the Gate of Dimensions exists, acting as a 2 way door to and from town for your personal use only.

 

Trust me, this was the inspiration behind their world map design. You’ll see.

 

 

The dungeons themselves are numerous and each offers three difficulty modes depending on your situation and how good of loot you are aiming for. Normal mode is easy enough that most players can solo it at the proper level. Nightmare mode on the other hand will take some serious team coordination but offers some of the rarest gear in return.

 

 

From what I experienced the dungeons seemed pretty standard for the Isometric genre, but boss battles were pretty unique and actually required some coordination and timing. In one situation you face a mad scientist hiding behind a shield. He constantly summons opponents to whittle you down while lobbing AoE hitting potions that really mess you up if you fail to dodge them. The key is to destroy the mobs until they drop left over bombs that you must quickly pick up and throw at three generators to ultimately destroy his shield. But a slight misclick or taking damage while throwing can mess your character’s aim up, and result in a missed throw and a long boss battle.

 

 

Things to Come

While the combat and boss battles seemed good to go, launch is still quite a ways off. From what I gathered this is due to finalizing the PvP aspects of the game in time for summer. They claim both team battlegrounds with destroyable buildings and capturable points, as well as ranked dueling arenas will be featured in-game. Special titles will also be offered for those who prove their valor in PvP.