Yearly Archives: 2009

Deicide Review

By Salis Renvousa (WerewolfX), Onrpg writer
 

Deicide is a game I am sure some of you have played, and those who have not should most likely heed the words of this review. While the game is not flat out terrible, it has some qualities that make it for the most part unplayable, but it is by no means bad. Prepare to meet a world of unique creatures, and some that are not so unique, but still belong in this happy fun time game.This is Deicide online, and for those who don’t know, Deicide roughly means “to kill god.” now that just sounds like blasphemy. I think I might like this game.

The history of Adum

Once upon a time, there was but one true god, he was a benevolent god who wanted his creations to prosper, but he decided he need help to create the universe. He then created fellow gods, one of which was Adum, who gave birth to our planet many aeons ago. But he also gave birth to a dark creature, who wanted nothing but to watch the world and us burn. Adum fought with the creature for many days, and finally vanquished the demon, but he himself was badly injured. He retreated from the battle and went to heal.
 

This was the last we saw of our god, and the last help we ever got from him, and the demon has returned bringing with him many different creatures to cause havoc upon our world. Its up to us to take him down, now raise your swords and fight with me brothers and sisters! 

     
Moving Images

While I do not fully understand this witchcraft, I suppose I must review it. While the Animations are VERY well done some times, It feels like that they didn’t really try hard enough on some of them, such at the walking animation, its sometimes awkward to watch and looks like he’s ready to drop a deuce in his trousers. The attacking animations can be interesting to watch at first but become a strain on the eyes.
 

Magic animations are rather boring to watch, seeing as they all look alike at some point, but I suppose that’s par for the course. Textures are low res and the world looks flat at times, other then some hills and mountains strewn around the maps. Monsters in the world have a certain feel to them, some we’ve seen in other medias and some I don’t want to see again, all of them had terrible models and animations.

     
Action!

Do note the action is not as action-filled as implied, But let’s get down to it: this game is slow. Its a standard “sit there and beat the crap out of the guy in front of you” combat, mixed up with spell casting and bows. “Is this a good thing?” you may ask. The answer is “not really”: while you attack you can’t really do anything without breaking out of combat, running to gain ground is completely useless for bows because enemies are as fast as you are. Oh I forgot to mention, that combat takes too long to complete for mobs after the newbie ones. Magic is decent and leveling it with another skill would be pointless. Oh I forgot to mention the leveling system. You have Four main skills, Melee, Ranged, White Magic, And Black Magic. Leveling melee and magic will get you a class of its own, while leveling ranged and magic is another class. It’s rather complicated but this introduction should explain it in more detail. 
 
Learning skills is confusing for anything other then magic because you have to find skill scrolls, Magic users however can buy them from the general store. As for the combat, think Dungeon Siege, only not as good. The controls are annoying at times and picking upp small items is a hassle, picking up gear however works fine. There is PVP but I could not try it out due to the lack of people. 

Noises in my head

The sound effects are somewhat forgettable, as is the music. The sounds of combat are amusing for a short time, but it can grow on the nerves after a while. The music, as epic as it is, feels out of place in some areas and some doesn’t really convey the danger of the area or of the combat there. I know it’s wrong to throw personal taste into a review but I advise you to bring your own music, it will help you decide whether to continue to play.

I see no people

The community for this game is dead, or hiding in higher level areas, but the new player zone is empty. If it’s not empty it has one or two bots running around, and if it is not a bot, it’s someone who doesn’t speak your native tongue. The forums seem quiet as well, and the complaints and issues seem to go unnoticed, which is never good for an MMO company.

Final Thoughts

Now you may be wondering, “Salis, you god of a man, is this game any good?”, The short answer is “No.” The long answer is: “No, you’re better off playing something that is more fun. Remember fun? I know I do, back in the days of Ragnarok and Helbreath, when Korean MMOs were actually somewhat enjoyable. But now we look out and see an endless sea of mediocrity and people who don’t try. Companies need to learn that they can make more money if they keep their players happy. But there are a brave few who stand up and cast off the rags of a beggar, and prove that they can earn what they want. Maybe I am being a tad too critical with the game, I mean, who knows when this game originally released? As I said go play something else, or take a little time to try out this game. It can’t hurt, right?”

Pros
– The story was inventive, it really made you feel that there was some sort of urgency to fend off this beast of chaos.
– I saw some unique creature designs, and some I never expected to see.
– While combat was slow, the sword and bow animations were well done.
– Weapons and armor were authentic for the age this tried to take place.
  
Cons
– The animations could have been better.
– Sound can get annoying and repetitive.
– Combat is sluggish and slow.
– Leveling is rather confusing if you are just starting out.
– From what I can tell the game has not been updated in a while.

Freesky

Freesky Online is a fantastic Browser-Based Game that is based on battles in the sky between fierce and powerful airships. In Freesky Online, you can either create an invincible military empire or become a wealthy commercial empire. The distinct SLG strategies will bring you a unique gaming experience.
Freesky Online brings an all new entertainment experience to players without the need to download a game client. You can enjoy the game at once simply by opening your internet browser. Furthermore, the boring leveling routine of monster killing does not apply to Freesky Online, as you are not required to stay by your computer during the actual game play. It generally takes players about 10 minutes each day to issue orders to subordinates in their Empire so that their cities, citizens and Army will begin to produce materials, build castles and even fight enemies.
Game Features
– Build your own Castle
The real fun in “Freesky Online” comes from building your own castle. Once you’ve built a castle, you can build processing factories to produce hardware and increase your resources by constructing resource fields outside your city. You can study various sciences and technologies to make production more efficient and employ heroes to manage your city. You can also establish new cities to expand your Empire.
– Experience grand battles in the sky
In “FreeSky Online”, you can use the hardware you produce to assemble a range of airships, for example, a mighty Imperial flagship, attackers, cruisers and defensive warships. Enjoy the thrill of battle as you take on NPC fleets with your own powerful forces and order them to occupy cities and win your battles!
–  The Alliance Miracle and Alliance Wars
Alliance’s played an important role in “FreeSky Online” and added to the overall enjoyment of the game. You can buy or sell goods in the Alliance market, command fleets to attack or defend others within your Alliance and occupy the NPC zone together. Eventually, you will be able to build your own Alliance Miracle. An Alliance Miracle is not only a great honor for your Alliance but it also improves resources and production for all Alliance members!

Freesky Online: Four Factions Preview

Freesky Online is the soon to be released online game based on the theme of air battles. In the game there are 4 factions: the Divine Hall, the Deity Church, the Cursed Temple, and the Shadow Church. Both the Divine Hall and the Deity Church represent the Empire, and both the Cursed Temple and the Shadow Church represent the opposing side. The Divine Hall controls the Holy Crystal, and the Deity Church controls the crystal. Whilst it is true that for a long time they have coveted each other’s resources, it is also true that this never comes to a head.  One main reason for this is that they frequently unite their forces to fight against their enemies; the Cursed Temple and the Shadow Church.
 
Today the folks at Freesky Online are going to give you a brief introduction of the 4 factions.
 
Divine Hall
The Divine Hall is the heart of the empire, and the protector of world peace. It is also the guardian of the empire and only accepts orders from the King’s. The 4 Lords who were entitled after the war now control the Divine Hall. Each of the 4 Lords has been granted by the empire with his own Holy Crystal City with abundant resources.
Cursed Temple
Those who live in the Cursed Temple are great warriors who fight for the freedom to protect the rights of the poor. For this reason, the Cursed Temple is also known as the rebel alliance. Its members often carry out of important communications with many different nations.
Deity Church
The Deity Church was named so because its people believe that the Gods would bring brightness and happiness to everyone on Earth. However, the church was betrayed by its alliance, and so now the people there are too busy amassing their own wealth and plotting revenge.
Shadow Church
The existence of the Shadow Church has always been controversial as it is rumored to not be of this world.  The Deity Church especially believes that it shouldn’t be.  It has been said that the Shadow Church has the power to control people’s minds but this has never been proven.  In fact they are often highly the poor because it provides them with food and shelter. It even built a library for them. However, the people from the Deity Church are adamant that the Shadow Church has cheated them somehow and are planning for an all out battle to prove it.

Wurm Online Gets Loud

Wurm Online, the MMO from OneTooFree AB has officially released the first phase of its new sound scape. The mix of sounds and music designed and composed by Joss Sanglier of Dancing Bear has been created to drag players deeper into the Wurmiverse that is the lands of Wurm, making them feel part of this world.
The sound track is noticeably noisy in an attempt to mimic a land stuffed filled with animals and birds and unspoilt by modern man. Players may find it quite a surprise! The sounds include night time and day time versions and variations to reduce the feel of looping that can so easily plague MMO games. The sound will be further developed to add more specifics to the atmospheres as time goes on and sounds will be occasionally replaced to keep things fresh.
To accompany this first stage, Rolf Jannson commissioned Joss to compose numerous music tracks, though Wurm Online has avoided the constant looped music method which many other games use as this seems to make no sense in a medieval world of blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers, and hunters.
Instead, Joss Sanglier has recorded specific short tracks that accompany particular events like praying, dying, founding settlements and so on. He has also recorded some longer tracks (including songs) that are faded into the game on very rare occasions, just to add something a little different. Joss has composed the music under the name of his one-man-band, 21st Century Blues.
The music style has been designed to reflect the game, rather than the MMO genre, players very varied personal tastes, or to just try and be trendy somehow. Although some orchestral arrangements have been used (most notably with the Anthems that were release last year), much of the instrumentation is acoustic lead, with just the odd electric guitar, giving the idea that it could have been played by a group of characters in the game – well, more or less.
“I have been composing music and working as a recording engineer for thirty years,” says Joss. “Much of that time has been working in fields like film, television, radio drama, commercials, as well as some game voice-over production. It was important to me to bring to the game the lessons learned from those very well established areas of the creative world, as well as embracing the newer interactive systems offered through games. This is still a work in progress. Like the rest of Wurm, I hope we never get to the position where we say ‘oh, it is finished.’ That would mean we have nothing more to offer, and that is very far from reality. There will be much more to come, both with the sound and in amazing developments from Rolf for the game as a whole – watch this space!”
So what about voices? In the next phase, the team will be starting to enhance and expand the spot effects in the game, working on systems where there is more variety of sounds to address to any one action, and also replacing the male voice that currently causes much amusement amongst the players, especially the female players.
“I will be working on new voices for the next release,” says Joss. “And I promise to make them lighter, more realistic and have a female set for the female players.”
What about the famous animals in the games? The Scorpions and Spiders?
“Ah, that is a secret for later.”

Asda Story PvP Testing Server Open

an Jose-based online game publisher, Gamescampus.com  announced today that is has launched a new PvP test server for its popular MMORPG, Asda Story. In celebration of the PvP test server launch, GamesCampus is also hosting the first-ever Asda Story PvP tournaments starting April 21.
Along with the opening of the server, the first PvP Tournament will take place from April 21 to April 22. Players on the PvP server will get to use free skill resets, upgrade items, and potion items from the item mall as well as 10K Gold!
“Asda Story players have really been looking forward to the unveiling of the player versus player gameplay and we are very excited to finally let them test it out,” said Jiwoo Park, Producer of Asda Story at GamesCampus.com. “The feedback we receive from this test will help us to implement PvP features that suit the needs of the Asda Story community. “
The tournament for players Level 39 and below (1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2) will take place on April 21, with the tournament for Level 40 and above players (1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2) taking place on April 22.
Following this test of the PvP server, a full PvP combat system will launch in May of this year.
Based on a colorful, bright and cheerful world, Asda Story is a free to play exciting fantasy-style anime 3D MMORPG game that features a unique ‘Soul Mate System.’  The unique party system offers two players the ability to align to become ‘soul mates’ and allows them to wear unique costumes and use special skills. Another key feature of the game is the ‘Real Costume System,’ which gives players some of the most extensive personalization and design options ever seen in an MMORPG.

Zero: Expansion Preview

We are excited to announce that the new expansion for Zero Online is already on its way! A new galactic war will burst forth onto this expanding horizon. What awaits the Alliance pilots up ahead? Will there be new dangers or great opportunities? All will be answered in time!
New Features:
1. Unit Fusion
It is said that the Alliance has developed a new skill that can allow the primary unit to fuse with the ARMs and create a new, even more powerful unit, with speed and power far beyond your imagination. Whoever can wield this will be amazed by its unparalleled strength and power. According to the report, the incredible skill will be put into place in the near future.
2. Hyper-Energy Research
The fierce battles never cease, and the threat of Othello always exists. In order to improve the pilots’ battle abilities, the alliance has invested a lot of funding and resources in developing new technologies and skills to turn the tide of war in our favor. Now the Hyper-energy Institute has begun new research. The scientists and engineers are trying to break the traditional sci-tech theory, and develop a series of brand new projects and abilities.
3. Expanding Zones
After the galaxy has faced nearly a millennia of war, the known planets have become like wastelands, including Neptune, the Ocean, the Moon…All their resources have been destroyed by the Othello invaders. The Alliance pilots have to explore new planets with the hope of finding new resources to use in battle. The discovery of the new zones will bring rich resources to the Alliance, however the Othello will never stop the invasion. They are trying to obtain these new resources, as well. The battle is reaching an apex, merely waiting for the catalyst needed to send it over the edge.
The Expanding Horizon awaits you to explore, research, and bring honor to your kind. Take your time to train hard and prepare for the new challenges awaiting you on May 22, 2009.
Keep in mind that this is not everything to be released, so keep watching for more details as they are revealed later! Stay tuned!

WAR: “Beyond the Sands” Live Event

Mythic Entertainment today announced the start of ‘Beyond the Sands’ – the next major event in the Call to Arms live expansion for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR). From April 20 to April 27, the armies of WAR will clash over the wreckage of mysterious airships that fell from the sky and puzzle over the appearance of strange artifacts from far-off lands. Those looking for answers will need to cast their gaze south to the Land of the Dead, where the Tomb Kings reign supreme.
 
This week, adventurers from the forces of Order and Destruction will be tasked with recovering the artifacts of the Nehekharan Kings and subduing their vengeful Liche Priests. Those who successfully complete the epic tasks at hand will be rewarded with exotic treasure and glory, including the unique event titles of ‘Grave Robber’ and ‘The Eternal,’ Tomb Kings trophies, and – for the truly dedicated – Aviator Goggles, a helm item with special properties.
 
“The next big event in the Call to Arms live expansion has arrived, and we couldn’t be more excited,” said Mark Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “‘Beyond the Sands’ introduces the ancient and eternal Tomb Kings to WAR, a game already packed with amazing content. This live event is just a small taste of the Tomb Kings-themed, undead mayhem still to come!”

Mixm8

Mixm8 is a music and event based virtual world. You can follow your favourite music artists of any genre (always increasing) and bands, dress up (anything goes!), make friends, make enemies, flirt, dance and have a laugh all inside a virtual club or event space!