Monthly Archives: November 2010

Perpetuum Online Release Date – OMG ROBOTS!

Perpetuum Online Release Date – OMG ROBOTS!

 

Perpetuum Online is set to release this November. Avatar Creations, a Hungarian games company, will be bringing it’s mmo offering, dubbed by some to be a cross between EVE and Mechwarrior, to gamers on the the 25th of November, 2010.

 

Perpetuum Online on OnRPG

 

The upcoming game’s client will be available as a free download, with pricing of 30 day subscriptions set at €8.95/$9.95 depending on the region.

 

30 day subscriptions will go on sale from November 16th. Early Access subscriptions will still be available up to that point.

 

Interview: Legendary Dynasty Warriors Makes Its MMO Debut

Interview: Legendary Dynasty Warriors Makes Its MMO Debut
Questions Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist
Answered by Daria Fluor-Scacchi, Release Associate, Aeria Games

 

Dynasty Warriors fans new and old are going to be in heaven as Aeria Games have announced that Dynasty Warriors Online will be making its way to both US and EU regions. Dynasty Warriors Online (DWO) is the MMO installment to the long running hack n’ slash game series that started way back in the early days of the PS2. Players of DWO will be able to create their own characters and enter the world serving under the allegiance of the three kingdoms: Shu, Wu and Wei. Players can participate in a ton of different game modes and hack n’ slash their way through hordes of enemies in true Dynasty Warriors fashion.

 

OnRPG: Hi! My name is Michael Sagoe (mikedot), journalist for OnRPG and a Dynasty Warriors fan. Before we begin, would you care to introduce yourself to the readers?
My name is Daria Fluor-Scacchi and I am on the Release team at Aeria Games. I have been working on Dynasty Warriors Online for quite some time now getting it ready to make its debut to the North American and European territories.

 

Sweep

 

OnRPG: The MMO market today is consistently growing with more hack n’ slash titles. With all of the titles that are on currently on the market or soon be on the market, what makes DWO stand out from the rest?
As mentioned in an earlier question, DWO is a lot more involved than simply spamming the same buttons over and over again and hoping for the best. As we have witnessed in beta, not only do weapons, armor and items play a role in a player’s success, but actual strategies are essential in PvP. Unorganized teams, no matter how capable on their own, will fall quickly against a team who has a plan in place.

 

For example, there was one battle where the objective was to control all the bases. Typically we see these battles take near their full duration before a victor is decided, but in this case one team had a plan in place and were able to end the match in mere minutes despite the skill of their opponents. Fortunately for the opposing team the only thing at stake was ego, but come time for Showdowns and territory control battles, not having a plan could cost you.

 

OnRPG: For those that have never picked up a Dynasty Warriors game before, could you give us a quick summary of the series? 
Dynasty Warriors Online is based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novel.  Following the fall of the Han Dynasty three leaders have taken over China, all with the hope of unifying the country under their command.  Players choose to join either the Wei, Wu, or Shu army and smash their way across battlefields with monstrous weapons, killing hundreds of enemies in each encounter.

 

Fight

 

OnRPG: Could you explain to us a little bit about the tactical aspect of DWO’s combat system?
While the hack ‘n’ slash genre is commonly perceived as mindless button mashing, DWO has found a way to incorporate exciting battles with crafting, upgrading, enhancing, and modification systems.  All of these systems can advance your progression through the game and increase your ferocity in battle as they enhance your items, gear and weapons.  Combine that with the social features the MMO aspect provides and it becomes a much more exciting and complicated world than people expect from hack and slash titles. 

 

Guild sand allied players must work together as a team if they wish to expand their empire in territory control battles.  Players also have the opportunity to play against other factions in attempt to acquire conflict points which can affect what and how many items, weapons, and gear is available for purchase in their respective markets. These are some of the many features that are not only new to the Dynasty Warriors franchise, but also establish a unique online gaming experience.

 

OnRPG: What are the different PvE and PvP modes for DWO?
The Dynasty Warrior franchise is all about PvE; killing hundreds upon hundreds of fodder NPCs. And while that is the meat and potatoes of DWO, there are many different scenarios to wreck havoc across ancient China. Players can partake in simple practice battles to refine their skills for PvP, or they can take up quests. Quests range from overtaking opposing bases, recovering items, defeating bandits, annihilate officers, seeking out specific individuals and more.  There are quests that can be completed alone as well as some cooperative quests with players from your faction.  Whether players want to take on enemies alone or with friends, there’s plenty of opportunity for both on DWO. 

 

Sweep

 

If PvE is the main course of DWO, then PvP is the huge ice cream sundae covered in fudge, whipped cream and cherries. Players can battle others from their own faction with up to four members per team in Mock Battles. This type of battle which allows spectators is a great way to build strategies and get used to facing off against other players. The Arena and Melee mode allows players to fight opponents from enemy factions in all-out 4 vs. 4 brawls. Successful arena and melee matches can not only affect your character’s rating, but can also affect your entire faction. As mentioned earlier, there are campaign battles that allow factions to increase their faction’s territory by taking over new cities. Finally, Showdowns are the largest scale battle of them all, allowing for two teams of 12 to go head to head.

 

OnRPG: Will DWO bring back any particular features from previous Dynasty Warriors titles (such as the bodyguard system?)
DWO offers a long list of unique weapons (and movesets) to obliterate enemies on the battlefield.  And of course, it wouldn’t be Dynasty Warriors without the epic guitar riffs we’ve all come to love. The bodyguard system in the series has been expanded into the Lieutenant system. The lieutenants are a companion who fights alongside players on the battlefield. However unlike the bodyguards, the lieutenants can be animals such as a tiger or panda, each offering different skills.

 

OnRPG: The series has been known for having tons of action, enemies and effects flying on screen. With all the action that DWO has going for it, will the system requirements be accessible for today’s low and mid-ranged PCs?
Fortunately, DWO has relatively low system requirements that allow users with mid to low end machines to participate in all the action without missing a beat. Additionally, the game’s visuals can be modified in game to allow users to choose graphically-heavy gameplay, or go with performance over polygons.

 

OnRPG: The Dynasty Warriors series has always had a simple control scheme on home gaming consoles. Although DWO is part MMO, will this version be following the same model? 
DWO allows the players to use a keyboard and/or a wired USB game controller to play.  Both can be used at the same time; for instance some users will want to use the keyboard while in town but use their controller during battle, or vice versa.  Players experienced with the series will find that both the gameplay and UI are very true to the console predecessors, so they will feel right at home in DWO.  Those more familiar with MMOs will be comfortable using the keyboard as it uses the typical WASD keys for movement with attack keys that the right hand would control on either the keyboard or mouse. 

 

OnRPG: Is it possible that players will be able to play as different characters from previous Dynasty Warriors titles??
In DWO, players will create their own unique characters and choose the faction they want to align with. From there, they can choose to serve under specific officers, many of whom are iconic Dynasty Warriors characters.

 

OnRPG:  With Kingdom vs. Kingdom battles, is there any possibility of a balancing system in place for kingdoms that are considerably weaker than another kingdom?
DWO has an interesting approach to balancing the three kingdoms: in the current game scenario, Wei holds a huge amount of power over Wu and Shu. The game scenarios in DWO follow the narrative of the Romance of the Three Kindgoms novel. With each scenario change, the factions’ power will reflect their situation in the novel. With each scenario change, players will be allowed to pick a new faction if they so desire. This is where doing well in PvP battles and territory control matches really shines – right now, everyone is out to try to take down Wei, but soon enough the tides will turn and a new faction will be the next target.

 

OnRPG: How will Aeria Games be working the cash shop into DWO? Will there be a strong balance kept between paying and non-paying players?
The cash shop in DWO will feature many useful items that players may choose to buy. Once open, players will find consumables used for crafting and upgrading weapons (these items also drop in game), furniture that can store additional armor and weapons, and upgrades to the player’s quarters. While all these items are valuable, non-paying players will not feel underpowered compared to their paying counterparts.

 

DWO

 

OnRPG: Can you give us any details regarding the testing phases that are being planned for DWO?
The various stages of beta (Closed and Open) will contain limited content. In the closed beta, only two maps are available to select, mostly starting game content is available (including ranks and quests), and the amount of weapons and armor is limited. With open beta, players will be able to take on more quests, rank up higher, choose cooperative quests, pick from additional pieces of weapons and armor, and more.

 

OnRPG: One last (and important) question: Which kingdom in DWO do you prefer? (And I hope you say that Shu is your favorite, because we all know that Shu is the best!)
I hate to admit it, but I am new to the Dynasty Warriors franchise so my experience with all the factions is limited to what I’ve seen in game. Based on that, I would have to agree with you and say that I am partial to Shu – I like to root for the underdogs.

 

OnRPG: Any other comments you’d like to add?
Thank you for your time! I’ll be there to battle on the field of honor! Be sure to visit the official website to participate in the beta. 

Breaking News: APB rights bought!

After all the recent speculation, GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that K2 Network, the company behind free-to-play service GamersFirst, has bought the APB intellectual property from defunct studio Realtime Worlds for somewhere in the region of £1.5million.

 

K2 Network, which specialises in adapting, localising and hosting Asian free-to-play games for European and the US audiences, is expected to make an official announcement in the coming week.

 

We’ve suspected for quite a while now that someone would pick APB back up, and we’re excited to hear what the K2 Network has in store for the game!

Chevron Seven Will Not Lock for Stargate Worlds

Chevron Seven Will Not Lock for Stargate Worlds

 

MMO development is fraught with twists and turns. A strong intellectual property can suddenly just be canned because it doesn’t suit the investors. A well hyped and well documented game can flop because it just wasn’t as good as it was sold. One game that has had more than its fair share of ups and downs is of course Stargate Worlds.

 

Oberon Seven Will Not Lock

 

MGM Entertainment has, as of November 3rd, pulled the license for the Stargate MMO from Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. The company itself has been embroiled in legal battles recently regarding its assets and recently a judge awarded control of all assests to Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment in the case against Dark Comet Games and Fresh Start Studios, both formed by former Cheyenne employees looking to use company materials for the Stargate Resistance shooter released earlier this year.

 

You can read more about the case here

Calling all Allods Players!

Calling all Allods Players!

 

OnRPG recently had a chance to sit down with Vincent Douvier (Executive Producer at Gala Networks Europe Ltd) about Allods Online and all the fun and exciting things coming up for players. The interview shall be available soon but in the meantime we have carried back a message from the crew of Allods.

 

Allods Online Interview

 

A little over two weeks ago an ingame email was sent to all current and previous players of Allods Online containing two items normally available through the boutique for all characters created before the last patch. If you want your Cones of Incense and more, log in now to check and claim them, like all good in game mail systems, they will remove themselves after a certain point.

 

 

Log in before the 25th of November to get your hands on this fantastic celebratory gift from everyone at Allods Online!

 

 

Preview: Heroes of Might and Magic’s Getting the MMO Treatment

Preview: Heroes of Might and Magic’s Getting the MMO Treatment
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

 

Heroes of Might and Magic Online (Writer’s note: I’ll call the game heroes online from this point on) is the MMO spin-off of the turn-based fantasy-themed franchise, Heroes of Might and Magic. For those who are unfamiliar with the franchise, the game’s  premise is that you’re a hero of a certain race, and through your strategic prowess both in military and economic management of your kingdom you eventually become the leader feared by all.

 

 

HOMM Choose

 

 

Heroes doesn’t go far from its predecessors in terms of the overall game concept. However, the game takes liberty in adding the MMO elements that are never part of any of its past incarnations. I personally did not mind the additions since it adds the MMO feel that we’re all so used to experiencing.

 

First Impressions

Heroes is not newbie friendly. You’d easily get lost in the game if you don’t pay attention. I personally had problems in finding certain NPCs to go further in the numerous quests that were lined up for me to finish.

 

The game’s tutorial is definitely lacking. There are a lot of important areas in the game that are not explained in the series of tutorials you that you may or may not take. I think the game assumes that you need to explore the game to figure things out. This doesn’t bode well for those  who are used to having the game information spoon-fed to them by the game.

 

Personally, I have no problems in terms of trying to figure things out, but there’s a difference between being tolerant of the tedious discovery process because it’s part of the game’s “atmosphere” and just being ridiculously tedious. I mean it took me almost more than half an hour to figure out how to learn spells, and the NPCs that are supposed to help out don’t have the answer. Even their wikipage gave me the wrong information.

 

Regardless of the initial inconveniences, once you get the hang of the game it’s an enjoyable experience through and through (as long as you’re a fan of turn-based battles)

 

MMO Elements

As I mentioned earlier, the game retains the gameplay elements that Heroes of Might and Magic is famous for. However, with the game being an MMORPG, there’s an additional layer of “adventuring” that’s not part of any another Heroes game.

 

 

HOMM Equipment

 

This “layer” is the real-time adventuring you will have to take to navigate through the world. Unlike in old heroes games where you move in turns and the primary gameplay core is resource management and military warfare, this version allows you to travel in real-time. The game also has random instanced battles once you get out of the city.

 

The old-school heroes gameplay is still found in the game, however, it’s now a separated instance in the form of “quests” or areas of exploration.

 

 

HOMM Travel

 

 

The separation of these two major gameplay elements is pretty awkward. However, I think this is a necessary evil specially since the original gameplay is more of an acquired taste.

 

 

HOMM Travel 2

 

 

Battles

The game’s battles is still pretty much the vanilla Heroes trademark turn-based combat. Regardless if it’s a random instanced battle, PvP or PvE you still fight in a hexagonal grid. While personally I have no problems with the combat system since this is in fact a Heroes game, the problem of this combat system is still present.

 

 

HOMM Combat

 

I’m referring to the point where it’s pretty awkward to manoeuvre your units specially on areas on the map that have monsters grouped together. It doesn’t help too that the color of the movement boxes isn’t too clear specially on specific maps.

 

Even with those problems present it doesn’t change the fact that the combat is still challenging. It pushes you to think of better unit placement prior battles and during.

 

Spells

The spell book system is still part of the game feature. However, unlike in previous heroes titles where you learn your spell from your “library”, the game requires you to do quests and go to specific areas to gain them. While gaining spells has become tedious, it’s at least a refreshing change from the usual “you need to study spell so-and-so at your lv. 5 library”.

 

 

HOMM Spellbook

 

The other thing I liked about the spells system is the alternative proficiency system the game has. Normally, you have to use the spells a lot before you get to be “master” of it, however in Heroes Online, you get to “meditate” and increase it gradually. The downside of this is that you can’t move while you’re meditating, but honestly, it’s not a problem because that’d only mean you can leave your game on as your character “meditates” while you do other things.

 

Town

Heroes Online’s town management seemed to have been put in the background, unlike in other titles where it’s your central most important game element (except for your hero of course). You can still upgrade structures and recruit units. However, that’s basically the town’s use.

 

 

HOMM Structure

 

Heroes Online has put more importance in your character growth instead of your town/city. Since a lot of the game elements that used to belong to the town/city has now branched off into separate game features, you can say that the prominence of your town has lessened, but it’s still there to remind you that the game is not just about your character.

 

 

HOMM Scaling

 

The game allows you to establish your town outside of the “city zones” into the “suburbs”. These suburb towns are the scaled versions of your city which brings various benefits for your character. I personally liked the idea of the inclusion of such towns since it adds goals to your Heroes Online experience.

Conclusion

I for one liked the idea that Heroes of Might and Magic got itself the MMO treatment because the game has a lot of potential in the MMO scene. My only gripe with it is that the execution of the game lacks terribly. The game in my perspective is like a very rough version of Heroes of Might and Magic III (VI is already coming out next year so you can imagine the difference). Or maybe it’s just that I expected too much from the game that delivered too little.

 

If TQ Digital planned on making the game a full-fledged MMO then they have succeeded. However the game lost the Heroes of Might and Magic feel that I was expecting to have. Still the game is solid enough to grab your attention.

 

Cataclysm Paid Faction and Race Changes Available at Launch

Cataclysm Paid Faction and Race Changes Available at Launch

Many people have been asking the ever important question of when they’ll be able to convert their existing characters into Goblins or Worgen after Cataclysm hits shelves on December 7th. It was previously believed that there would be a month or two delay to prohibit players gaining the race first achievements, but that isn’t the case afterall!

 

World of Warcraft Faction Transfer

Blizzard today have announced that all players will be able to use paid faction and race changes immediately once Catacylsm is released, Realm First achievements for leveling a class to 85 will remain however there will be no Realm First Achievement associated with leveling characters of a specific race.

Goblins and Worgen do have some small changes to the way that paid services work for them, these races must not be located in the Lost Isles or Gilneas zones when initiating the process. 

 

Review: K.O.S. FPS Runs Free on the Source Engine

Review: K.O.S. FPS Runs Free on the Source Engine
By Mohammad Abubakr (Abubakr), OnRPG Journalist

 

K.O.S or Kill on Sight: Secret Operations is a free FPS (first person shooter). What makes this game special is that it runs on the Source engine. This engine was used to power games like Counter Strike and features things like advanced shading and physics. Due to this, you can expect this game to function similar to other games using the Source engine.

 

Of course this does not mean that all games using the same engine will be exactly the same. K.O.S offers some unique features that will make you wantto give it a try. First of all, let us take a look at how the game plays.

 

Like most free FPS games you are required to join rooms. The game is not an open world and all rooms run in separate worlds. Kill on Sight does not play very differently from other FPS games. You use your keyboard to control your character and use your mouse to aim and fire. You can communicate with your team using the chat or simply issuing pre-made commands. You should pick it up fast if you are an FPS player. The unique part of this game is that you have the ability to use skills.

 

Skills can only be used in certain rooms. When someone creates a room they have the option to allow the use of skills. There are three skills at the moment. They can be used to recover health and armor, increase total health for a limited time or to lower the re-spawn time. Currently skills seemed to be disabled because when you create a room the option to allow skills has been disabled and the shop does not sell any skills.

 

However, the shop does sell weapons and equipment. There are many different types of weapons that can be bought ranging from pistols to sniper rifles. This makes it so there are many ways to play the game. Equipment may also be bought to change the appearance of your character if you want a unique look. If you really like the game you can buy weapons from the cash shop by using real money. At first I was confused why all items could be bought with in game money as that would not give any profit to the publishers. It seems the cash shop is on the website and not in game.

 

KOS Weapons
Buying weapons from the shop

 

Another unique and awesome future in K.O.S is the pro mode. If you think you are really good, you can bet money before starting games. The money or crones get taken away before the match begins. Like they say; Put your money where your mouth is. Finally, the game offers computer-controlled bots. These can be added into rooms to fill in for missing players or just to practice on. There are various difficulties for bots ranging from easy to very hard.

 

Characters

When I started the game, I was able to create a character. There were three different preset characters I was able to pick between. They were the SMG specialist, sniper and rifleman. The SMG specialist specializes in submachine guns for close range combat. They use rapid firing weapons. The sniper uses sniper rifles to eliminate targets from  long range. They also use pistols and knives for when they encounter an enemy in close combat. Riflemen use all rifles and fight in mid to short range combat. It does not matter much which class of character you make. I chose a sniper but still received a fast firing weapon if I did not feel like sniping. Additional characters can be made for the cost of 30,000 crones (in game money).

 

KOS Character
Creating a character

 

Game Modes

Now that we know how the game plays, let us look at the different game modes that are offered. Unfortunately, there are only two game modes at this moment. These are team deathmatch and search and destroy. Team deathmatch is a game mode you often see in free FPS games. It is a very simple but fun game mode. It consists of two teams that fight each other until a goal is met. In Kill on Sight, room masters have the option to set the goal as number of kills or just a time limit.

 

Setting the goal to a number of kills is very simple. This basically means that whichever team hits the required number of kills first will win. If no team hits the required amount of kills before the time limit, whichever team has the most kills will win. Alternatively, game masters can just set a time limit and no kill limit. In this scenario, the team with the most kills at the end of the time limit will win.

 

KOS Deathmatch
Playing team deathmatch

 

In Search and Destroy, two teams try to attack or defend certain points. The attacking team is given a bomb that they must place at any of the bombsites on the map while the defenders must not allow the attackers to do this. Once the bomb has been planted a timer begins to tick. The defenders can defuse the bomb and claim victory. If the defenders allow the bomb to explode, the attackers will win. Alternatively, if your team gets killed you will lose as there is no re-spawning in this mode. In Kill on Sight, the red team attacks while the blue team defends.

 

Maps

Maps are very important for first person shooters. Different maps mean different play styles. It is not possible to use the same strategy on all maps. Some maps require you to play cautiously while others encourage a more aggressive approach. This game offers many different maps that should keep you busy for a while. This is very good for KOS players as you can easily get bored with only two game modes if you do not have many maps. Please keep in mind that not all maps support both game modes. Some maps may only be for deathmatch and some only for Search and Destroy.

 

Sound and Graphics

The game has great sound. Guns sound realistic, the voice commands give realism that you are really in a battle and sound effects when you get hurt or die are great. Sound is a great addition to any game. The sound in KOS really helps to emphasize that you are in a battle. The in game graphics are very good compared to other free FPS games. The weapons and character models look great. The game does have a lot of blood when you get killed or hurt but it does not transfer onto your weapons like Operation 7.

 

Conclusion

To conclude, KOS is a good shooter to pass time with. There are better free first person shooters available but this game is worth a try. There does not seem to be many people playing the game as only one channel has a good number of rooms but that amount is not very high. The ping tends to be pretty high for most players including myself. The issue could be that everyone is on the westcoast server while I live in the east coast. Unfortunately, the east coast servers are usually empty. With only two game modes, this game could get repetitive but the various maps can help extend the time you enjoy it.