Monthly Archives: June 2009

Fallen Earth Trailer

Another trailer for Fallen Earth! Set in an apocalyptic world in the distant future, Fallen Earth is an upcoming MMORPG that has already captured the attention of many players. Take a look at this video now!

Rohan Crafting System Ready To Launch

Online PC game publisher YNK Interactive makes an exclusive announcement at the E3 Expo on the launch of their new game feature, the Crafting System, which will be added to their massively multi-player online role playing game, Rohan: Blood Feud, on June 16th.
 
“The Crafting System is a great addition to enhance the gaming experience of our Rohan: Blood Feud players,” said Andy Tubbs, Lead of YNK Interactive’s Rohan Division. “We are excited on soon releasing the Crafting System that will coincide greatly with our other game features like the Exchange Market, a place where players will have the ability to sell and/or buy crafted items from other players.”
 
The Crafting System takes an interactive approach on the construction of weapons, armor, tools, and stones by having players create equipment from the use of raw materials that can be collected throughout the game’s world map.  Players will be able to modify the crafted items with options and enhancements as they grow to become skilled crafters.  The newly added system comprise of three elements:
1.    Collecting – Players collect resources that will be refined into materials for crafting.
2.    Extracting – Certain object must be pulverized with extraction tools to yield special crafting items.
3.    Crafting – With refined materials, players are able to craft new equipment through various blueprints and craft styles.

The Warlords: New Interaction System Soon Available

In the chaotic world of the Warlords, Brotherhood and sisterhood is everything.Three players who have swore an Oath of Brotherhood can join the Voyage Campaign together. They will share one another’s KungFu as well as one another’s friend and enemy lists. When in trouble, brothers and sisters will immediately stand out and rescue one another.
 
Trust and faith get friends closer. Some even fall in love. Yes, we do have successful examples!
 
We understand sometimes it would be difficult to express your feelings. And that’s why we would like to present you, our dear players with the new Interaction System! Have you imagined strolling around hand in hand or riding on a mount together with your love? Or being bold enough to give her/ him a sweet kiss? Is that possible in game? Now you can! All these wild thoughts will soon become reality in WL!
 
Make sure you don’t miss out!
 
We will keep you posted on new updates!

Runes Of Magic Chapter II Announced

Under the name of ‘The Elven Prophecy’, Frogster is to turn over a new leaf with Chapter II of Runes of Magic scheduled for launch in September 2009. The publisher has announced this today at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) currently being held in Los Angeles. At the exhibition, Frogster is already showing some new content from Chapter II like the new game region “Weeping Coast”.
As the name already suggests, the core element of ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ is the integration of the elven folk as a playable race. A widely branching background story entwines about the elves with lots of new challenges with the new pieces of lore being told by means of a multitude of new quests and epic quest series. Continuing ‘Chapter I – Rise of the Demon Lord’ the second chapter leads players into new game regions, steeped in elven history. It’s the eponymous elves who stand by mankind in their epic conflict against the demon’s menace.
According to the legends, demons of human origin – having degenerated into underworld beings under the influence of the runes – forged an alliance with the nagas in ancient times. Together, these evil forces brought war and devastation to the world of Taborea. An alliance of elves and humans succeeded in banishing the demons into the void and drove back the nagas behind a magical wall. However, when elven prince Sig’aylas removed the holy sword ‘Arclight’ from the wall to defend his human truelove, the wall perished and the naga threat flared up once again.
Together with the elves, ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ introduces two new character classes into the world of Runes of Magic. They complement the palette of selection possibilities within the tactically interesting dual class system, creating further combinations to choose from. Advanced players will look forward to new challenges in the form of new demanding dungeons, raid instances and new PvP modes. As a consequence of the copious new game content, ‘Chapter II – the Elven Prophecy’ raises the level cap for all characters in Runes of Magic to 55.
Along with the expansion Frogster is also integrating a new pet system in the Taborea game world. Players will then have the opportunity to actively train their companions, so that they can mature and fulfil valuable supporting roles in combat situations. On top of all this, the game atmosphere in Runes of Magic will receive a thorough general overhaul. The new game regions will really shine, thanks to improved graphics with new effects and hand-drawn textures. Moreover, the renowned sound-studio Dynamedion is recording a completely new soundtrack for the launch of Chapter II. Just as with the base version of Runes of Magic and all of the subsequent updates, Frogster will offer ‘Chapter II – The Elven Prophecy’ as a free download.
Already in August, Frogster is going to integrate first content packages of ‘The Elven Prophecy’ like the new region “Weeping Coast” and raise the level cap to 52. The climax of Chapter II will follow with the official launch in September. “With the comprehensive Chapter II we will seamlessly linking in with our previous policy of regular content expansions for the Runes of Magic game world. And we will still be implementing regular content updates right up until we launch The Elven Prophecy,” Daniel Ullrich, Frogster’s Director Product Management, commented discussing the expansion plans.

KOS And Krazy Aces Announced

Online PC game publisher YNK Interactive announces at E3 Expo of two new games to come out Fall 2009:  Krazy Aces, an online aerial combat racing game and K.O.S., a first person shooter (FPS).  Both are free to play multiplayer games for PC.
 
“If you’re not already a fan of FPS games, K.O.S. will surely make you one,” said Brian Udarbe, Lead of YNK Interactive’s K.O.S. Division.  “And with the casual gaming style of Krazy Aces, it’s a game that even non gamers of all ages will enjoy.”
 
K.O.S. will be YNK Interactive’s first FPS game.  With its Global Ranking System for bragging rights and an Online Clan System that allows friends from across the world to unite against their enemies, this upcoming game will bring players together for the single purpose of FPS domination.
 
Krazy Aces offers both solo and party play that can be played by up to 8 players racing simultaneously, with the highest ranking pilots being featured on the website.   Players can customize their characters and aircraft at Krazion’s Shop & Garage, or upgrade their craft’s abilities by collecting cards that can be obtained from mini games.
 
“With the addition of both games to our line-up, Q3 of this year will be a busy yet exciting season,” said Mariness Didulo, Associate Marketing Manager of YNK Interactive.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Cinematic Trailer

The first cinematic trailer for the much anticipated sci-fi MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic! The Sacking of Coruscant was the crowning achievement of the Sith Empire’s ambitious military strategy and the moment that changed the history of the Old Republic forever. You may have read about it before, but our first cinematic trailer captures this event with breathtaking action and beautiful detail. Watch this incredible video now!

City of Heroes and Villains Review: Your Hero Side

By Gabriele Giorgi (Darak), Onrpg writer
Everybody dreams of being a superhero, dressed in tights, flying in the sky with a cape flapping behind, but, most important, with an array of devastating powers and abilities to fight petty criminals and supervillains alike.
But maybe you’ve got a darker side, and being a villain is what suits you more, wreaking havoc and devising masterplans to get rid of those pesky do-gooders who always stand in your way.
Well, whatever your choice is, City of Heroes/Villains promises to make it happen.
 
Released only as City of Heroes in 2004, the game was followed after one year and a half by City of Villains, allowing players to experience the dark side and impersonate similar yet different characters. More important, both heroes and villains play on the same server, and they can interact with PvP or cooperative missions as well. Now the titles have even been unified in just one boxed set.
 
So grab your cape and prepare yourself to venture in the world of City of Heroes and City of Villains… in short, CoX

Creating Your Mask

 
CoX character editor is probably unrivaled among other MMOs. There are tons of possible combinations to create the perfect look for your avatar. You can combine all the different parts any way you want and with the colours you like, but the system can help you with pre-built sets and letting you choose a primary and a secondary colour to apply automatically. More important, you can have up to five different costumes and during the game you can unlock special slots like capes at level 20 or auras at level 30.
The possibilities are really countless.
 
Your character is defined by his role (similar to other MMORPGs, where you have the tanker, the healer and so on), but mainly by his powers: you have to choose one primary and one secondary power pools. In addition, everyone will have access to other general pools like traveling and miscellaneous powers. The level cap is 50, but the number of powers you can choose is limited, so you will have to select them carefully. You will also be given “enhancement slots” to upgrade your powers, in order to deal more damage, hit more often, recharge it sooner, and so on.
This way, you will be able to build your unique character.

Whack! Crash! Thud!

 
One of the most interesting features of CoX is its fast-paced combat. Usually, it will take you 4 or 5 blows to defeat a normal opponent, but of course you’ll have to be careful not to be swarmed by sheer numbers; lieutenants might give you a hard time, and you’d better watch out when fighting bosses or even elite bosses.
Of course it’s better to team up: this will help leveling up faster and, since most of the missions are instanced, the game will balance automatically the number and type of opponents, keeping it a fair challenge. A full team (or even more than one) will be required to take down Giant Monsters, particularly tough opponents that spawn in different areas.
And while you climb your way up to level 50, new and more powerful factions will stand in your way, and interesting story arcs will develop in front of your eyes.
You may also fight in the arena with other players to test your skills and, starting from level 25, you can enter three different PvP areas where heroes and villains battle each other. Unfortunately, the PvP side of the game is not very well developed, with archetypes (i.e. classes) more powerful than others.
Another problem is that, once you reach the level cap, the high end contents are lacking: there is not really much to do other than collecting badges (tokens for accomplishing goals: although their only purpose is boasting, they can be quite addictive)… so usually you just go back and “roll” a different character.

The Birthplace of Tomorrow

 
The setting of CoX contributes to make believable both Paragon City (“The birthplace of tomorrow”) and the evil-infested Rogue Isles. Statesman and his fellow heroes are constantly fighting with Lord Recluse and his minions and, during your missions, you will have the chance to meet them all. These characters form an in-depth mythology and you will get accustomed to them as the game progresses.
The city is full of details (take the billboards, for example) and its sightings might be really breathtaking, at times; on the other hand, the maps do suffer from low interaction: it’s strange to see so many buildings and be able to enter only a few of them, and no car will ever run you over. The only exception is in mayhem missions, a particular kind of instance for villains where you can really cause mayhem all throughout the area.
Animations are really good and varied for all different powers, and the same goes for music and sound effects, all very appropriate to what’s happening on the screen at any given time.
Everything is made to look like comics, and even small things like dialogues in balloons add to that feeling.

Build Your Powers

 
One of the new features introduced with the updates was the Invention System, a clever crafting system that allows you to create enhancements for your powers. You can obtain recipes and ingredients as random drops for defeating mobs or completing missions. Particularly rare recipes may form a set, which will grant even more bonuses to the character who collects them all.
 
Of course, this is matched by an innovative auction system, where you can sell extra ingredients and recipes setting your desired price; you can also buy what you need by bidding the amount you are willing to pay. The bids are hidden, and the trade happens only when supply and demand meet.
Up to now this is surely one of the most efficient auction system in all existing MMORPGs.

Always Something New

 
During the years, the developers of CoX have been implementing new and interesting features to keep up the attention of the players.
Supergroup bases and base raids; alien invasions; time traveling to “relive” you previous levels; a mission editor to let the players create their own stories; cooperative zones where heroes and villains have to fight together against a greater evil; day jobs when characters assume their mundane identities… and, of course, always new tons of costume parts!
Now the team has founded Paragon Studios, a dedicated branch to develop new contents and come up with ideas to keep alive and kicking the “City of” franchise: as a result, a new expansion, “Going rogue” has been announced, so we can expect to hear more of this game in the future.

Conclusions

 
CoX offers a sound alternative to usual fantasy and sci-fi MMORPGs on the market. Its many features will grant several hours of fun, at the same time allowing you to create your character as you really want it. The game might suffer from lack of high end contents and replayability, though, unless you enjoy starting anew with different characters.
 
Pros:
– probably the best character editor among current MMOs
– innovative crafting and auctioning system
– fast-paced action
Cons:
– not many high-end contents
– PvP quite overlooked 
– Limited interaction within maps