Monthly Archives: February 2009

Free Realms: launch planned for April

During a press preview of its free-to-play MMO Free Realms in London, Sony Online Entertainment confirmed that the PC version of the game will launch in early April.

The beta test will begin very soon – within “a couple of weeks”, according to associate art director Sebastian Strzalkowski.

Free Realms is also in development for PS3, but that version is further down the road. Strzalkowski said it was on track for a release in the third quarter of this year – so, some time between July and September.

League of Legends to be published in Europe by GOA

Riot Games, an independent developer and publisher of premium online video games, has entered into an international licensing partnership with GOA, the videogames department of Orange’s Content Division and Europe’s largest gaming portal. GOA will distribute Riot’s first title under development, League of Legends: Clash of Fates.
League of Legends is an online multiplayer session-based game that combines elements of role-playing and strategy genres with addictive battle action bringing accessible, replayable and competitive gameplay into a whimsical universe that deepens with the player’s involvement.

The development team at Riot Games is made up of a decorated group of industry veterans with credits that include PC & console blockbusters, as well as part of the team that created the popular Warcraft 3 mod DotA-Allstars. GOA is best known for its wide support of MMORPG gaming content with games like Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and Dark Age of Camelot in five different languages, across more than 45 countries within Europe.
“GOA has proven itself to be a quality content provider in the European online gaming market with an unmatched commitment to community support,” said Brandon Beck, co-founder and CEO of Riot Games. “This agreement demonstrates Riot Games’ long-term commitment to delivering the highest quality service to gamers around the world.”


“The team at Riot Games has an excellent track record and League of Legends is piquing the interest of gamers across Europe,”
said Ghislaine Le Rhun Gautier, CEO of GOA. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with the team at Riot and look forward to making further announcements as the beta phases begin.”

Runes Of Magic: new mini game

Frogster Interactive today announced that a new Mini-Game in Runes of Magic opens access to a new dangerous dungeon full of hidden traps and loot. Once every day, adventurers may go hunting for treasure – and with a bit of luck and good fortune, the reward is high-end gear, special recipes or rare crafting materials. Runes of Magic is a free-to-play MMO with over 600 quests embedded in an atmospheric world, six main classes, unique skills, impressive combo attacks and mounts in the later stages of the game. Players can choose from six main classes when starting into a new online career. According to individual preferences, they can select to play a warrior, ranger, cleric, knight, mage or a rogue. When a character reaches level 10, the player can select a secondary class, which augments the possible class combinations up to 30 individual combination types. Runes of Magic will be released on March 19th, 2009 – a new trailer has been added in our download section.

Watch the video for Runes of Magic mini game

WoW: Jeff Kaplan working on new MMO

With a post in the official message board, Jeff Kaplan, lead designer for World of Warcraft, has announced that he will be workin in the next, still unannounced, MMO for Blizzard. Here’s the post:


I wanted to take a moment to let the community know that I’ve switched roles here at Blizzard to work on our upcoming, unannounced MMO. World of Warcraft has been such a central part of my life these past six and a half years, and it’s success would not have been possible without the tremendous community around it, so I wanted to say thank you to all our players who’ve shared this amazing experience with us so far. Also, while I have served as the spokesperson and Game Director for World of Warcraft on Wrath of the Lich King, by no means would WoW be where it is today without the dedicated team that we have in place. The WoW development team is comprised of some of the most talented and experienced game developers in the world, and it was an absolute honor to serve amongst them, and they will continue to make WoW better than ever. I still plan to be very involved with the future course of World of Warcraft, but will leave the day to day operations of World of Warcraft to my partners in crime, Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack.

When all is said and done, WoW is still my favorite game. I play it every day. None of that passion is gone. If anything, it fuels the challenge of making our next MMO even better. We know we have some big shoes to fill. So thank you to everyone who has been so supportive over the years, and likewise, thanks to those who have given us pointed feedback on all areas of the game. Without all of the feedback and participation, WoW would not be the game that it has grown to be. Azeroth truly belongs to you and we’re lucky to have shared in your journey. And as always, I’ll still be lurking on the forums and in the game.

Mostly, I just wanted to say thanks. It has been an absolute honor.

Jeffrey Kaplan

Mech Warfare: Co-op

Mech Warfare: Co-op is all about cooperative mecha action! Jump in a mech and join the battle online or on a LAN. Select your weapon load-out and use your newtype skills to defeat the rushing enemy. All mechs feature an unique design and have different specifications.

Features:
– Co-op Online or LAN!
– Missions designed for 4 to 6 players
– Mechs with unique designs
– A great varation in weapons
– Powered by a modified Torque Game Engine

Muniz Online Review: Cuteness and Gameplay Combined!

By Vincent Haoson, Onrpg writer

Muniz Online is a browser-based game from Acclaim, the company that has brought games like 9 Dragons, 2Moons and Bots! into the MMO scene.

Cuteness and Gameplay Combined

The game combines cuteness factor, a variety of mini-games you can spend time on, MMO elements like a quest and level system and community enhancing features like a marriage system and even a customize-your-own home feature. The result of this mixture of elements basically describes what Muniz Online is.

When you start playing Muniz Online, you get to choose from three different default skins, the cute egg-like Chapati, the male humans, Chapato, or the female counterpart the Chapata. Muniz Online lets you choose from a limited set of starting clothes that you can put on your avatar. You can get more clothes and accessories for your avatar as you progress through the world of Muniz Online.

Speaking of progressing through the world of Muniz Online, the exploration starts when you click on the Chat tab found in the website. You don’t need to download anything because it basically runs on flash and traveling through the islands is basically done on-site.

The game feels familiar because the gameplay is almost similar to Club penguin and Gaia Online. The customization and the exploration are similar, though some aspects of the game tend to lean on different paths.

The difference

What sets Muniz Online apart from the other browser games that I mentioned earlier on is that it has a marriage system. That’s right. The game has a marriage system.

The marriage system in Muniz Online is similar to the requirements when you are getting married in real life. You would need a place for the wedding to take place, witnesses and of course your significant other. Marriage in Muniz Online is as easy as it can be. There’s no gold or level requirement, you don’t even need to have a house of your own to get married.

Of course, like in real life, marriages have its pitfalls. So, if you don’t want to be with your Muniz Online partner because of one reason or another, the game provides you a way out. Yep, that’s right, you can divorce your “partner” and return to becoming a Chapati, Chapato or Chapata that is single and ready to mingle.

Another difference of Muniz Online to other games of the same genre is the leveling system. Muniz Online’s leveling system is unique to the genre because unlike in Penguin Club or Gaia Online where all the game features are available, Muniz Online requires you to reach certain levels before you can do certain things in the game.

The level system infuses the MMORPG feel into Muniz Online, though unlike most MMOs where the quest is already listed down, in Muniz Online you’d need to search for the quest NPCs that are scattered within the island.

The quests are somewhat required because areas in Muniz Online are level locked. So if you want to explore more of the island then you’d really have to spend the time to explore and level.

Conclusion

As a game that is community-based, Muniz Online has the right stuff. Most of the elements that make a community work and prosper are found in the game. The first proof of this fact is that the game gets boring If you don’t find anyone to talk to. Yes, you may quest or earn for that item you want your avatar to have, or even play all the mini-games that are available in Muniz Online, but those things won’t make you keep on playing.

One of my major problems with Muniz Online is its lack of any decent quest guides. I’ve tried looking for one in the forums but all I saw were a few questions on how to do certain quests. This can really miff some players especially when you log into the game and the people you get to talk to are as helpful as a bunch of toddlers being asked for directions.

The level-game system tie-in is a good decision to keep players interested on playing but the inefficiency of the quest system can kill the fun factor. If the quest system was more user-friendly and make it less asking-the-people reliant then it would really make this game a gem.

Besides the gameplay elements found on Muniz Online, the game is obviously centered on teens rather than those hardcore gamers. The cutesy graphics the game is the obvious proof. Though this may not deter the more community-centered gamers regardless of how childish the sprites may be.

Another thing that I noticed is the sound of the game. Though at first the inaudible and kid-style sound your avatar creates whenever you chat or make a smiley is cute and hilarious, you’ll eventually want to just turn of the game’s audio and plug in other mp3s.

Muniz Online has the tendency to be a little too cutesy. This can be bothersome for older gamers who would like to try the game. However if you would give the game a little leeway you can filter out the cuteness factor and just enjoy it.

Also, for a community based game like Muniz Online, it would seem that the forum still needs to become very active. As a game that belongs to this genre there is already stiff competition with Gaia Online, who has a bigger forum base and has already, established itself as a community-game. I myself can’t help but compare the two because of the stark similarities.

Still, as a flash game that is highly reliant to a big community base, Muniz Online still has a long way to go before it can be a big thing. The game can’t really attract the hardcore gamers because the gameplay is centered for teens, or at least for those people who would rather go for a community rather than playing. I would say that if you are into community based games then by all means try it out. Though my word of caution is that this game is made for teens, if you would like for a more mature community game go somewhere else.

Pros

– Customizable avatars

– No need for downloads

– There are a lot of things you can do in-game

– Avatar leveling can keep you hooked

Cons

– Too cute for hardcore gamers

– Forum community is not that big

– Sounds can be irritating

– Lack of a decent Quest guide

Champions Online video

Champions Online, an MMORPG based on the popular pen-and-paper Champions RPG, will give players the power of total customization of their hero experience while they explore a vast universe of richly detailed 3D environments. Watch the first video now!