Wild Arms:Alter Code F
PS2 RPG
Released: Nov 15, 2005
Agetec Productions

I recently received a copy of Agetec’s rpg Wild Arms:Alter Code F, which is a remake of the classic Wild Arms that was released for the Playstation. Before Final Fantasy VII captured everyone’s imagination, Wild Arms opened up an original world with an engaging plot. It was one of the first rpg that featured 3D battles, and a combination if science and magic. Now, it’s been reinvented for the PS2. And it’s amazing.

The original Wild Arms centered on 3 playable characters. Rudy, who can control the powers of the forbidden Arms, Jack, a swordsman treasure hunter who works with his blue rodent friend Hanpan, and Cecilia, your magic wielding princess turned adventurer trying to save her people. In this remake, you can also control 3 additional characters: Calamity Jane, a great gunfighter who’s got a bit of an attitude, McDullen, her butler who tries to keep her in line and fights with a sword, and Emma, a scientist studying the Arms and acquire abilities from enemies.

The world is really very large, with areas opening up as the game progresses, through the use of teleporters, caves, a ship, etc. The pace worked well, as I’ve never felt that I was progressing too fast or too slow. Enemies always seemed a perfect match.

Getting into battles has a unique feature as well. You’ve got a Migrant meter. With each battle, that meter goes up. You can see the monsters on the screen and can avoid battle with a hit of a button as long as you’ve got some points left on the Migrant meter. The weaker the enemy, the less it takes off your meter to skip. But you’ll not be able to skip too many battles from a monster as strong as you.

Battles themselves have a familiar turn based feel. You can choose between regular melee, special attacks, magic, and items. You gain Force Points in battle that allow you to use Special attacks (or Summon Gaurdians in the case of Cecilia).

Graphically the game looks great. The lush colors really stand out, as do the character graphics. The cut scenes won’t hold up when compared to some games such as FFX, but they look good nonetheless.

One of my big complaints is the lack of voice-overs. There are none at all. The story is very full, with some great characters, but to hear the voices rather than having to read everything would add more of an emmersion, in my opinion.

Now the game boasts 60+ hours of gameplay. I’ve not made it through half that yet. But the first time I sat down and played, I clocked in approximately 10 hours straight. This game pulls you into the plot very quickly.

If you’ve played the original version, you’ll feel very comfortable revisting old friends. If you’ve never played it, you’ll quickly fall for this great rpg title. I highly recommend this great title from Agetec!

Overview:


Control Monger is a fully 3D MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter game) developed by NetCharger.

Classes:

You can play as heavy gunner bot, construction bot, repair bot, sniper bot, demolition bot, soldier bot, or spy bot.

Match Types:

There are five different match types in Control Monger, each different than the other. The Match types are Capture the Flag, Last Man Standing, Objective, King of the Hill, and Death Match. Some of the matches can be played as teams (like Capture the Flag for instance) and are very addictive and fun.

Servers:

Finding a good server in Control Monger isn’t very hard. Anyone can host a game on their computer and some do. There are always at least two player hosted games at a time. Besides the player hosted games there is one dedicated server owned by a player and two official servers hosted by NetCharger. The ping is relatively good on the dedicated server and is great on the official servers.

Graphics:

Control Monger has incredible graphics for a free MMOFPS of its kind. I have failed to see a free game that meets these standards. The environment is very detailed and looks great. Most of the games in Control Monger take place inside a building. From the floor to the crates you hide behind Control Monger accomplishes graphics most other games of its genre haven’t.

9/10

Sound:

The Control Monger music isn’t a bragging point for the game. When you start the game you are greeted with an annoying guitar solo, however the in game sounds more than make up for this. When you enter the game you are greeted with a robotic “Welcome” voice. When someone captures a flag the same voice will say “Flag Captured”. The sounds from your guns are very nice also. Overall the in game sounds are great, out-of-game music, meh.

8/10

Gameplay:

Control Monger gameplay is varied by what kind of bot you play as. I generally play as a heavy gunner bot which is portrayed as a large clunky hunk of metal with a powerful gun. The game manages to make gameplay like you would think for your bot. A spy bot is quick and weak, the gunner bot is large and slow. When you bump into the walls your bot will realisticly lean to the side. The game manages to balance out the bots also. Instead of the gunner bot dominating the rest of the bots like tanks do in most games, it can be beaten by weaker bots. To fire your large gun you must hold down the left mouse button for about 5 seconds for your bot to begin to fire. Once the bullets start raining out of your machine gun you will dominate however. Overall, the Control Monger combat system impresses.

9/10

Not much time so I am going to make this quick.

Graphics: Not to shabby , most computars of the modern world could run this game smoothly.But there is no Grafics options , so you must play from there settings.The character models are very nicly done..Every character had detail down to the very finger tips..And not to mention the animations are soo smooth..No runescape movement in this..(lol)…7/10

Gameplay: This where the game shines its brightess..This will keep you involved in whats going..Instead of watching TV waiting for you character to kill a monster..Basicly the combat , is using both the mouse and the W A S D keys in sync..You move with the W A S D keys and do most attacks with the mouse..But a few attacks require both..And if you miss..ITS YOUR FAULT…But missing usally ends up getting badly hurt..Becuase someone will come up and grab you ( very pleasing to see 🙂 ] Each class will have its special abilities per button combinations..But most of the time the differnce is the animation or the delay time after the attack..Because , delay means you Cant attack , Cant move , or block..Which usally..is bad!..There are a few glitches with some attacks but most of the time its fine…NOTE: you do join rooms to play..Like gunz::::9/10

Sound: Theres not really much to talk about..Theres 3-4 differnt background songs..And a variety of sword clashes , and so on… 5/10

Classes/Races: There are 5 classes…They are: Swordsmen , Ninja , Mage , archer , and blacksmith…They all are stuck the gender they are asigned..Some of yoou might not like this , but please dont complain..Every class differs in size , weapon and armor , and so on..There also is no custimization.Which is needed….7/10

Items: Not many..You can buy : Basic armor ( chest and legs ) , Helmets , Gloves , shoulder s, summons ( monster that fight for you 8) ] , Necklaces , ranged weapons ( the ones asigned to your class ) , and melee weapons ( asigned to your class ).

A very good game…Beware tho , make sure you have time to finish a game..They can last more than 2 hours…

Runescape II:

Game play:You start off in tutorial isalnd,customizing your charcters clothes,and looks,chooisng the gender and the color.
Going through each NPC’s(non player computer)Task,learning how to play,and what to do.Once you finish Tutorial island,you’ll be given a set of runes (magic casting items) bow and arrows,a sword,dagger and a sheild,Bread.Etc.
Of most MMORPGS this point is well,becoming the best player there is.

Eco:To make money,you have skills..Which you train,from doing diffrent thing,for example,Woodcutting,you’ll need a woodcutting axe,Some trees can not be cut down without a proper Woodcutting levels,same goes with Mining,you’ll need a pickaxe,Gaining the items,from woodcutting (wood),Mining(ore),Etc.,to buy yourself New Items,Weapons,Armor,Etc.

Graphics:The graphics for this game are in a 3D resoultion.Which is very good,for a java game.The requirements aren’t very high like most other games,which makes it unique.No long downloads,and likely,all most all of the Computers can play it..Unless they’re like what,ten years old…or something.

Updates:The Runescape Updates Are constant and they’re ussaly a update every week.All the updates are very good,adding new thing,and fixing bugs in the game.

Sound & Music:The music,for well me is good,they added this loop system so you can listen to it over and over again,some people may not like the music,but i’m just saying i do.They also added Weapon Sounds,when you use you weapon (swing,use magic,or shoot bow)They have added sounds to the Attack,which is also a good adding for Runescape II (Runescape I,has no sounds and music)

Community:This is were i rant.I’m ranting about the community.it’s very hard finding someone to help you,most call you a “noob” just for asking,or trying to buy something of theirs,when you don’t know how much it is.But otherwise You’ll find a few people to help you,in anyways they can..(Don’t flame me about this part >:o,Flame me about all the others >:o)

Events:Well the events,are all for holidays,But unfortuanltey No mods come on runescape,to celebrate it,instead they use bots,which do the celebrating for you..That’s all iv’e got to say for the Events…

Conclusion:Even though Runescape is a good game,it’s still preffered as a “MMORPG Newbie Game”.It get’s boring after months through years of game play,don’t get me wrong,i like the game,but it just get’s boring.For those who have lots of extra time,Play this game,you’ve got lots of skills to work on,and all the way to lvl 126..to get to a lvl.Over all 8/10

I downloaded this game,when the English Beta for Dofus,came out.

I’ll get down to what it’s like and other such.

Battle:For many people the game play is pretty much,crap and slow.I mean tactics is good,but like only for singler player,but still good.You have about 15 – 30 seconds doing your turn using your Action Points and Movement points.Using Spells and killing the crap out of your enemies.The battle style is a little of what,err 1 year ago or something,but still nice to see some tactics around.

Map:The Graphics for Dofus is pretty much 2D/3D,Move around by clicking a spot on your mouse,and going on to a Small little sun picture on the tiles,to go to another map.Pretty much easy as that.

Community:As all the Online RPG crap around their,each have a constant community to keep you playing.Most in this game are Helpful and talkitive,you’ll find a few Badasses who torment you around,but that’s what makes games fun,no?

Items:The items,are woo,i got to tell you Have weried names,i mean seriously wouldn’t a twiggy sword,be like a twig 0.0;.Anyways,their are alot of items,most of which have sets where you can get the st and blahdy blahdy blah.

Monsters:Monsters,are tough to fight,unless your in a freaking party,so i go to the newb place,and party up with a bunch of people so you can kill some freaking monsters.And man are some annoying,for instance a tofu,hits you and runs away,keep going closer,it does the same thing,your bound to die from these annoying monsters.

PvP:Well it’s like the same thing as fighting monsters,just you can talk to them,other players can also join into a team they want,and man do i got to tell you,some races can kick others ass.Like i was using the old man race,and my freind he was using This other one (I’m lvl 7,he’s lvl 4) and damn,he kicked my ass like 5 times before i could beat him.

Positives:

Community is good.
The graphics are almost 3D
Monsters are tough,so it’s challenging.
Almost Modern Age battle system.
You can get a Secret Hideout for you,freinds,and guild.

Negatives:

The grapchis are still in the 2D Section
Monsters are to tough to fight alone.
Battling takes forever for newbies,if they don’t hit the next button.
Secret Hideouts cost to much

Over all Rating:6

Graphics 8.5/10:

The graphics were very good indeed, if you take into consideration that this IS a Flash game, and that it is only a 40 megabyte game. The graphics were very modern and doesn’t resemble something from the 1990’s. They were cute, and when too many people walked into a map, they turned into funny blob-like creatures reflecting your class. The animations for Professions were very well done, and the enviromental graphics were tuned. There were minor text issues, like the K in Talk was a bit cut off at the top and things like that.

Overall, I enjoyed the graphics and found them to be funny and enjoyable to look at.
Note: Funny animations appear when

-Tree pops back up
-Monsters Die

Gameplay: 6/10

Gameplay is where this little game did less than planned. The interaction with your enviroment was so realistic that you have to wait for more trees to pop up before you get to cut em, mineral veins have to come back ‘fore you mine ’em, etc. The professions are really fun to do aside from constantly killing monsters on your way, hopping around the globe finding ingredients to gather, cut, and the like, although getting the Professions themselves are not as easy as you think, in fact I think that’s the reason I lowered the score from a 7-6, there are almost NO indications on the map to where a certain major location is, you can see the basic icons on the map, but there is no legend, your wandering around for an hour wondering where the heck that guy who wanted you to go around killing hundreds of monsters, is.

Despite the Hacking and Slashing of the game, the battles themselves are fun if you have the time to spare it. PvP Battles is like going in an Instance if you’ve played WoW. You need alot of time to do them, especillay in Team PvP (Dear God). I swear, after 20 minutes of Team PvP, we were still at Full HP…but I was the only one dead (Stupid Healer). The game does require alot of smarts to plan it out. But the classes are overpowered while the Healer is stuck being the most underpowered class in existence.

Straying from the Combat, you can buy houses or spots to meet up in, you can create guilds, and other things. These are neat attributes to make gaming fun.

Music & Sounds: 8/10

Well, mainly being in Amakna and the noob place, I found the music to be good to listen to while fighting, travelling, etc. It was a foresty-melodish-upbeat kind of music, but it got repetetive after hour 8 at which point I shut off all means of it playing that horrible repetetive tune (The tune on no repeat is probably about 5 minutes..or longer I forgot) and just turned on some Sweatshop Union.

The sound effects themselves are well done, humourous at times, realistic effects and the sort, they add to the realism of the game and they don’t leave the game to be dull. Good sound effects.

DOFUS passes with great colours in Music and Sound.

Conclusion:

This is about it I can think of for DOFUS. To sum it up; You’ll first want to have a love of Tactical MMORPGs, have lot’s of time if you want to devote yourself to PvP, and enjoy slaughtering monsters. I like this game for it’s fun points at times. The classes are great fun in PvE.
You should at least try it once.

A game in beta testing is usually small. A game in beta testing usually has a couple of towns, a few monsters to fight, and a couple of weapons to get. Free World is in beta testing, but is neither if these. For a game in beta, FW is amazing. It has everything a reliesed mmo has. Pets? got it. Housing? got it. Full movement system? got it.

Graphics wise, this game is ok. They are pretty good, comparable to late Dreamcast graphics. It has some nice little effects too, like when a storm is blowing up, you look up into the trees, and you see the leaves rustle. Although the actual rain drops are kinda cheesy, it has cool fog effects and darkness effects. Another advantage of FW is the night and day system. In the tutorial, you get a lantern, verry useful in the nighttime. Char models are pretty good. The best part about the graphics though is that they dont take much. I have a dial-up connection and i can run all of the animations smoothly without a single bit of lag.

The sound in FW is mediocer. Whenever you attack, you get an odd little “Ungh!” sound. You kinda squat a little, too. There isnt any voice acting, and the only really good thing in the sounds is the weather effects and score. At night you hear happy little cricets, chirrping their heads off, and the wind sounds are really loud and pronounced. I loved the rustling leaf sound. The score is nice, and it serves its purpose for background music.

Gameplay was where FW really shines. It has a nice set of skills, although the system is confusing. I still havent figured it out. The controls may take a little getting used to, but they work, and they work perfectly. This game is really open ended, and you can lvl up without fighting. Although there are only like 20 people that play it (one reason im writing this is to raise the hype), they are all friendly. Someone is always ready to play a good game of hide and seek in one of the maze like towns (if you have certain armor, you really blend in with the enviroments. I was playing Hide and Seek once, and a guy hid in a bookshelf. never found him.). The npc’s are cleverly named, and give you the occaisonal quest. Pets are a great conveniance, because you can ride them on that 30 minute hike youve been neglecting. The charecter costomization is ok, but it needs to explain the skills a little better. The tutorial is a nice learning experience, where you get to know the look and feel of FW. The archery range was awesome, so i just wasted like an hour screwing around (: -P.

The battle system was wayy to hack-and-slashy to me. I perfer the battle style of, say, Guild Wars, or WoW. One of the major drawbacks of FW comes to PvP. There is no PvP. None. Zip. Natta.

So, overall, if your intellegent enough to figure out how FW works, its worth it.

~~SLJ x

As someone once said, stupidity breeds contempt.

Scratch that, why feel contempt when you can LOATHE instead?

Yes, The Kingdom of Loathing offers you all the silliness you ever need, on the surface, that is. The creators of The Kingdom of Loathing (KoL for short), Jick and Mr. Skullhead, have designed an intricate kingdom for you to explore in.

Whether it’s the Distant Woods, the Nearby Plains, or the Orc Chasm (no, seriously.), there is nothing less than hilarity in the form of innuendo. Or you can choose to take it as it is.

This game, undoubtedly, calls for the veteran players of every video game genre, for he who has played many games will understand the subtle puns and satires of RPGs and MMOs.

The ridicule, however, has not reduced the gameplay in any way, it runs smoothly, blending and integrating well into the storyline. There is not one part of Jick and Mr. Skullhead’s world that totally does not make sense. If it doesn’t make sense at first, no matter, look back at it later, discover the truth behind the Toot Oriole, or the Possibility (Might be?) Giants.

KoL does not leave newbies out of the picture, and makes an attempt (albeit indefinitely) to lend a helping hand to any new adventurer oblivious of the goings-on in the Kingdom, save scammers, looters and people who are not intellectually aware of their existence and role in the Kingdom.

In lieu of the previous review (there is already one!) of KoL, this review recovers KoL as it goes through its transition out of Beta, and into a complete functioning game with your typical ending boss. But make no mistake, it takes more than Muscle (strength), Moxie (agility) and Mysticality (intelligence) to whoop the Naughty Sorceress’s inviting behind, intricate and tricky puzzles await to be solved, for only the worthy can ascend.

Ascension, the final chapter into the game’s completion, allows the player to “ascend” beyond the heavens. Just that? Aside from being able to converse with your ancestors, you can choose to reincarnate into another class (2 paths, softcore and hardcore), retaining one of your skills, unlocking new areas, familiars and skills!

The chat channel (I assume most of you able to unlock the Altar of Literacy quest) is always open for help and assistance, if required.

As usual, I extend a helping hand to newbies out there and am partially free to answer questions. Drop a PM to ResiLiang ingame if need be and I’ll see how I can help.

The fun (and loathing) never stops at the Kingdom of Loathing, so just in case your faith was wavered over the months…

An Adventurer IS STILL You!