Monthly Archives: December 2010

Fairy Story Online Review: VISUAL ANGELS FTW!

Fairy Story Online Review: VISUAL ANGELS FTW!
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

Fairy Story is a fantasy MMORPG that takes place in a world on the brink of destruction. The actual art of the game doesn’t really fit the setting. Must it always be cute characters living in a dying world? Anyway, according to legend, these cutesy critters are actually creatures drenched in sin (how could something so cute be this evil? Geez MMO! Stop torturing my mind!). Due to the folly of their ways, the gods were forced to abandon the world, filtering their supposed blessings thus turning it into a dying wasteland. After slowly being consumed by darkness, some of the world’s inhabitants started to retaliate to stop the “99th” destruction of the world. The storyline is actually quite generic in my opinion, especially since it proved that all MMO gods enjoy giving up on mankind. Brushing the storyline aside, Fairy Story supposedly has a decent system in store for MMO gamers. The game won various awards in China from what I’ve heard, so I guess it’s safe to expect something good fromit. Let’s see what Fairy Story Online has to offer, shall we?

 

Starting Up: Will Santa Come If I’m Naughty?

There’s not much to look at when it comes to the game’s character creation screen. Youbasically have six characters to choose from, with three girls and three boys (although it was pretty hard to tell since they all look feminine to me, except for the fat one). The worst part about this stage is that there are only two features that you are free to customize (the hair and hair color). It would have been better if the game provided at least a small variety of pre-made faces, especially with the minimal character selections provided. Once you have chosen and named your character, you will be asked to select your profession.

 

Fairy Story Starting

 

Professions are like the character classes in the game. It’s actually refreshing to see a selection that doesn’t say warrior, mage, and rogue, however it is pretty much the same thing just renamed. As far as I’m concerned, they could have come up with  better names for all three.

 

Naughty: Naughties act as the spell nukers of the game. They are avid explorers and draw their powers from the depths of nature. They can nuke, curse, and provide a rapid succession of spell damage when left alone. Apparently, they weren’t called Naughty for nothing!

 

Brave: The Brave (plural?) serve as the warriors, tanks or brutes of Fairy Story Online. They excel in melee combat and are capable of taking damage as well as he can dishit. Unparalled in close combat, if you’re into hacking and slashing, this profession is for you.

 

Sympathy: And finally, we have Sympathy. These folks are experts in healing magic and are essential for teams who want a higher chance of survival. Aside from the ability to heal, Sympathy users are granted a fair damage output, allowing them to take it, heal it, and dish it effectively.

 

Class Is In Session!

Classes in the game are similar to the average guild system, which allows you to form a lasting team to enhance both your success rate and progress in the world of Fairy Story Online. Much like a guild, the administrator (guild master), is free to add and delete members as he pleases. Much to my surprise, the class system had more features than meets the eye. Aside from the traditional guild privileges, players in classes can attain a variety of skills by helping their guild rank up, this is done by participating in class activities and class quests. Once you earn enough rep points, feel free to splurge to your heart’s content.

 

OH MY GOD!!! POKEMON!

One of the most commendable features of Fairy Story is its ever-cool pet system. Pets are quite essential in games that feature them. If you think you can make it alone without the help of pets, then you are better off playing another game. Capturing a pet is actually quite similar to Pokemon’s capturing system, where you must use Poke— I mean—Pet Balls (how unique!) to subdue the hostile monster. Much like your character, pets are also capable of learning skills and enhancing their attributes. If you find yourself trapped in the midst of battle without anyone to rely on, know that your Poke—-errr—PETS are always there to help you.

 

Fairy Story Pet System


Botmania

One of the features that caught my attention was the bot system. The game actually relies heavily on grinding even with the presence of the quest system, especially since most of your quests revolve around killing mobs of monsters. Luckily, Fairy Story was gracious enough to provide players with a bot system that makes it easier for them to progress with minimal effort. By accessing this feature, players can order their characters to keep on fighting (and looting) until they are ordered to stop. Also, if you are too tired to travel from one place to another, you can freely order your character to do the traveling for you. Geez, is that easy or what?

 

Fairy Story Bot

 

The Verdict

In my opinion, Fairy Story is more of a casual MMO than a hardcore experience. There’s a lot of variety in the game, but there’s always that distinct feeling of everything being too easy (I suppose the bot system is enough to vouch for that). If you’re looking for an MMO with a short learning curve then you’ll probably enjoy Fairy Story. The graphic engine may come off as a bit outdated, but the game offers a huge set of visual diversity to make up for it. After experiencing that hell-ish character creation screen, I’m happy to say that everything that followed completely redeemed it. Oh wait, did I say everything? I forgot to mention that the game has translation issues. One good example would have to be the ability to change your Visual Angel… at first I was like “VISUAL ANGELS?! Sounds awesome!”. Well, it turns out that they were talking about visual ANGLES… baaaad. Other than that, Fairy Story’s still a game worth checking out.

 

Pros

-Lots of stuff to do

-Classes (not character classes)

-Bots

-Easy to learn

-PVP

 

Cons

-Lack of character customization features

-Can be boring for those who want depth

-Feels repetitive (on a grinding note)

Mission Against Terror

Mission Against Terror(MAT) is a free to play first person shooter set in a fictional time not far from our own, pitting two teams against each other all around the world. From the male civilian with a vengeance to a war-torn female soldier with something to prove, characters from all walks of life come together to fight for a common goal. Fuelled by a wide array of real-world weaponry from practical assault rifles to massive Gatling guns used in traditional game modes like death match and bombing mode to more off-the-wall game types like mummy mode, ghost mode and tank mode, MAT will be the next big player in online first person shooters.

Complementing the exciting action of MAT are customizable characters that can be outfitted with a variety of clothing options, an item shop that contains everything a soldier needs out in the battlefield, and full Dolby 3D sound support including state-of-the-art Dolby Axon technology which enables the ability to modulate your voice in real-time to change the way other players hear you in glorious surround-sound.

In Nomine Imperator, A Warhammer 40K Online Tale

In Nomine Imperator, A Warhammer 40K Online Tale
By Jonathan (Ardua) Doyle, OnRPG Journalist

 

In the name of the Emperor! I bring you news my friends. News from the darkest reaches of the galaxy, ripped from the minds of heretics, torn from the grip of foul xenos and collected by one humble servant.

 

WAR40k Title

The Game

Warhammer 40,000 Dark Millennium Online for those of you who don’t know is an upcoming MMO offering from Vigil Games. Formed by comic artist Joe Madureira and David Adams, Vigil Games recently developed Darksiders for consoles and now are working on WH40K for THQ.

 

This all needed to be said first because I can already hear some of the naysayers. Once burned and twice shy I know, but this is a new game from a publisher that has already proven itself capable of not only capturing the feel of the setting but of the character of each of the armies in their RTS offerings Dawn Of War and Dawn Of War II. EAMythic have nothing to do with WH40K despite being the creators of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. If anyone doubted THQs commitment to Warhammer 40,000 after the two games and several expansions, there is another game being developed alongside the MMO. Space Marine! 

 

WAR40k Space Marines Firing

 

That said, let’s get on with what we know about Dark Millennium. Given that is it still a long way off, current launch date is around the last quarter of 2012/first quarter of 2013, details are naturally light and not set in stone. What is concrete is that Vigil Games have based it off of a modified version of their Darksiders engine and if you watched the trailer here at OnRPG, for an early glimpse, game play looks mighty fine. Importantly the trailer, unlike some from E3, is all game play footage.

 

Joe Madureira is on record, thanks to a wave of information over the last few months, as having said that “All of the races important to Warhammer 40,000 lore (not to mention the fans) will be represented”. For any of you who are fans, like myself, of other armies this is at least some good news. The trailer only definitively shows Orks, Imperium and Chaos battling. Even that though would be welcome given the amount of conversations there have been on Warhammer: Age of Reckoning and how it would have benefitted from a three-faction system.

 

The Setting

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Warhammer 40,000 intellectual property and have come looking only because it sounds interesting or you wanted a break from fantasy games I feel I must pause here to explain the setting a little.

 

WAR40K Space Marine

 

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war. Humanity, in the form of the Imperial Guard, the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Adeptus Astares (Space Marines), will never make peace with Chaos. Neither of them will ever let the Orks do as they please. All factions, at all times, are trying to win. Winning means everyone else wiped from the face of the galaxy, and that is before you bring in the homicidal tendencies of the Necron or Tyranid races.

 

What Details We Have

Players will, in the course of their adventures, (read: wholesale slaughter of the other guys) in the Dark Millennium explore cities, alien vistas, Chaos infested areas and space hulks! Other confirmed information is the presence of vehicles for players. Again, if you’re not really up on Warhammer information, let me tell you that the bikes and the “koptas” seen in the trailer are just the start of the possibilities.

(You won’t be driving the Titan though… well no one has said you will. We’ll all just have to dream)

 

The game has been stated time and again to be an MMORPG rather than an MMOFPS offering, so if Planetside wasn’t your cup of tea there’s still hope here. Characters will be somewhat modifiable too with weapons, purity seals, scrolls and other such embellishments able to be added to your armour.

 

Sadly there isn’t much else known just yet, though we will be looking out for more Warhammer information here and keeping an eye on the upcoming GenCon where the team will be showing off again.

 

WAR40k Ork

 

The Market

There really is only one thing left to talk about of course where all new AAA MMOs are concerned. The elephant in the room that is World of Warcraft. At E3, the Core Games Vice President for THQ, Danny Bilson, made some statements on the game. Apparently it will be “very friendly to the WoW player” and he himself would love a million players, whether from WoW itself or the general MMO population.

 

“They’ve got 14 million players! Gimme a million and I’m good! We’re real good at a million, right?” He added: “We don’t need everybody to migrate. We just need some of them – and I’m full confident we’re going to get them.

 

Only time will tell if THQ and Vigil Games get the numbers they’re looking for. Time will also tell if those statements end up damaging the game. There are likely as many people who want to play “WoW In SPACE!” as there are people who would sooner chop off their hands rather than play it. Friendly to WoW players doesn’t necessarily mean that it will be their cup of tea. Just for your sake and ours don’t start the Starcraft/Warcraft/Warhammer fight again. A million players is a tall order, but if THQ and Vigil games do the work and deliver a gem, who knows, they may get that many and more. Certainly Games Workshop is behind them on this, the console games and even a movie. The Dark Millennium approaches.

 

WAR40k Standing Around

 

If you are not ready for it, you should always remember one important thing. A lesson inscribed in all things Warhammer 40,000…

 

There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Special Force Interview: New Content Announced!

Special Force Interview: New Content Announced!

 

Special Force is a free to play FPS. This game offers a lot for fans of first person shooters with features such as the unique captain mode and being part of the WCG. Special Force is the Singapore version of Soldier Front. This game has a great team that tries its best to improve the game and community.

 

This interview is focused around some of the new updates that have been added since my tour of this game. Michael Choi is here with us to answer our questions!

 

For the full review please check out the tour.

 

OnRPG: Hello! Can you please introduce yourself?

Hi! This is Michael Choi again, aka MGR Sniper in-game.

 

OnRPG: A lot of new content has been released since my tour of the game. How is the game going?

There were improvements and additions all around, bringing exciting times to players. And by the time of this interview’s publishing, there would probably be one or two more content updates already! Special Force is here for the long haul and will continue to grow. So, do catch up with us in the game.

 

OnRPG: MMO games always get new players each day. Is this game easy to get into for new players?

With our website and forum equipped with game introductions and guides/FAQs, along with our growing number of veteran players who are more than willing to help a newbie out, picking up the game is easier than expected. In addition, our friendly Game Masters are always open to our players’ questions and comments.

 

OnRPG: Do users that purchase cash shop items gain a clear advantage over free players?

In most areas they don’t, such as aesthetic differences, but in some areas they might, such as different guns. However, whether it is a clear advantage or not depends on the user and not just the item’s inherent qualities. Much thought has been put into the game balance during the planning stage to ensure you can’t just buy success, although you may look the coolest J

 

OnRPG: Special Force has released the SOF force which is unique to the game. How did this force come to be how it is now? Is the story based off anything or is it fully fictional?

The Special Operations Force, or SOF in short, is unique because it is based on Singapore’s real life special force! It is rare that Singapore or a Singapore-related issue is given any limelight from a foreign-developed game. Nonetheless, we wanted to localize the game to the region making it more relevant for the local gamers, hence, the SOF character and very recently, Malaysia’s PASKAL Character Skin was developed and released.

 

OnRPG: How does the clan system work in Special Force? What are the requirements to create your own clan?

Our Clan System is pretty straightforward and easy to use. A potential Clan Leader, of Staff Sergeant rank, creates a clan via our website, including name and emblem after which he simply clicks on the “Accept” button on our Clan Page whenever a player wishes to become a member.


OnRPG: What is being done to work with and improve the community in this game?

We are looking toward more offline events for the community in the near future. This means more internet café parties, roadshows, and live competitions, in Singapore and Malaysia!


OnRPG:  This game has signed an agreement with the World Cyber Games. This is great news because the game is free and anyone can join in! How is the competitive side of Special Force going?

Even before we got involved with the World Cyber Games, we already have an annual global competition called the Special Force World Championship. Representatives from countries where our game is published such as the USA, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand and Korea, come together in one location to duke it out. This year the event was hosted by Korea and the hosts emerged as winners too. Check out the competitive matches at our Youtube channel!

 

OnRPG: There is a new horror mode in this game.  How does this mode work and will it remain in the game forever?

Our Horror Mode stands out starkly from all other games’ modes that feature zombies. Starting from the basics, random player(s) will be turned into zombie(s) after a 10 second countdown, after which the zombie will need to infect all human players by killing them with close-range strikes. After being zombified, there are not one, but THREE different types of zombies you could play as, and each zombie has a special skill the player can take advantage of to gain victory. While humans can use guns and attack from far range, they may not necessarily have enough ammunition to take down the sturdy host zombies, outrun the leaping male zombies, or survive a powerful explosion from the female zombies. What do humans need to survive? Teamwork, of course!

 

As I know it, this extremely fun mode is here to stay.

 

OnRPG: SF has gone through a graphics update. Did this update only change the GUI or did it affect the in game graphics as well? What were some of the changes and how will this affect the game?

Our graphics update was done in two parts, with supposedly a third part coming in the future! We improved our GUI to a more up-to-date design and layout, and in-game graphics that make our weapons looking even more realistic than it already was!

 

OnRPG: How are new ideas for updates brainstormed? Are suggestions and input from the community taken into consideration?

There are many factors that we take into consideration when deciding on what updates to release. Having a good amount of developed content over the past 6 years is an advantage for us, however, balance and timing is the key.

 

Balance, in gameplay such as type of guns, maps and economy, and Timing, such as release intervals, seasonal and considerations are simply put a few of the salient factors going into each decision. As many of our current players have been playing Special Force previously, we are also balancing the need for ‘new’ content for them and the others.


OnRPG:  Can we get a sneak peek on any upcoming updates?

Fortunately, we have already pre-empted this request! We have posted a schedule of releases till the end of the year dropping some teasers. Check it out J

 

Special Force SASR Red Famas

Thanks to Erique and DFIGames for providing us with some exclusive information about the new red FAMAS. This weapon is scheduled to be released around Dec. 9. It will be a limited time item, get it while you can!

 

OnRPG: Thank you for your time!

Thank you and OnRPG for having us!

 

FreeJack Review – Hop with Style

FreeJack Review – Hop with Style
By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

Lace up your running shoes, folks because it’s time to hit up the urban jungle in FreeJack, a racing game published by GamerKraft that’s focused on the underground sport of Parkour AND Free Running (For those that don’t know: Yes, there IS a difference between the two!) While FreeJack has nothing to do with a 1992 sci-fi film about bounty hunters transporting some guy’s mind into the body of a dead millionaire, it features foot racing in tons of urban environments where you run, jump, dash, dodge and vault your way to victory.

 

FreeJack Title

 

(FYI: The difference between Parkour and Free Running is that Parkour focuses on moving from one point to another as quickly and efficiently as possible, and while similar to parkour, free running focuses on performing tricks while running (sometimes being described as “skateboarding without the board”.)

 

Starting out

Your career as a free runner in FreeJack begins with one of the four starting characters: Jin, Nadia, GoodSpeed and Tina, and they come complete with wacky back stories that you can’t help but smile at, like Nadia’s back story of being a free runner by day and a masked vigilante by night. You also have to choose which running club you belong to, but at the moment there doesn’t seem to be any importance to them at all. Each character has different stats to start out with and that gives each of them different advantages in certain situations during races, so you may have to choose your first pick wisely, but don’t worry too much since later on, you’ll be able to purchase the starting characters (and more.) Customization of your character’s appearance is pretty basic with only a few faces and clothing options.

 

From the moment you begin your first tutorial missions, you’ll get an idea of how challenging and frustrating FreeJack can be. These tutorial missions can be fairly difficult and even just plan unfair at times as they demand perfection (Perhaps you should consider it as “tough love” for the grueling races ahead.)

 

 Beginner tutorials will teach you the basics like vaulting, dashing, wall-running and more. The first tutorial missions will take about 10 minutes to complete and you can always come back to them later for advanced and expert training.

 

Once you’ve gotten the basics down, it’s time to spread your wings in New Jack central where you can meet and greet other players or you can just run around like a manic all over the town.

 

FreeJack Lobby

 

From there, you can also check out MoMo’s shop for clothes and accessories, form or join player made running clubs, check rankings and more. Whenever you’re not running around in New Jack central, you’ll spend some time in your empty and slightly depressing room, which is also your hub for accessing your items and hosting games as a waiting room.

 

Gameplay

FreeJack’s game play is all about getting from point A to B in the fastest way possible. Sounds simple enough, but you’ll have to overcome obstacles all over the course such as fences, walls, power boxes, cars and fat people (lots and LOTS of fat people.) Each course has a fair numberof different routes you can take for different situations. Want to dodge traffic without the risk of getting hurt? Take to the rooftops and jump over the traffic! Don’t want to hop over the high fence? Then try finding some higher ground and strike jump over it instead.

 

FreeJack Excellent

 

The free running part of FreeJack comes from the different tricks you can perform while in the air and while vaulting. Performing tricks while in mid-air will earn you some SP for boosting and striking while performing different flairs while vaulting by pressing left or right, before hitting the space bar lets you fill up your item gauges during item mode races. Chaining together your vaults also earns you SP and getting five perfect vaults in a row puts you into MAAAAAAAAAX booster mode that jacks your stats up and makes you nearly invincible. All these features mixed together can make races in FreeJack insanely fun, especially with runners all rubbing elbows with each other, dodging traffic together and racing down to the wire.

 

Item mode turns FreeJack into a Mario Kart-esque race where you can attack other players with giant footballs, playing cards, CIA agents, Siberian huskies and even afro haired horses with boomboxes. Speed mode the exact opposite, it doesn’t have items or any of the wackiness, but is very reliant on stats. Whether you’re playing Item or Speed mode, winning races earns you emblems from other players depending on the position you finished in, and with those emblems you can attempt to earn ability cards over at MoMo’s Shop and enchant your clothing with them to increase your stats.

 

Presentation

I can dig FreeJack’s overall style with the Jet Set Radio vibe it has going for it, and not just because the visuals are cel-shaded and the shading style is similar, but because of its music. FreeJack’s original soundtrack is filled with Hip-Hop, Electronica and some Rock on the side, just like JSR’s OST. Some of the songs in FreeJack’s OST  even sound like they came from JSR, like the song “Get On Up” where you can hear bits and pieces of audio used in the songs “Let Mom Sleep” and “Boarder 70”, both songs composed by Hideki Naganuma who worked on the soundtracks for both Jet Set Radio and Ollie King. While the songs in FreeJack are very nice, dressing up some of the songs makes FreeJack’s original soundtrack a bit unoriginal.

 

My Thoughts

Now there may be a lot that I like about FreeJack but there’s also a lot I don’t like about it. As much as I enjoy item races, the tiers set for obtaining items are terrible. I was expecting item mode races to play out like Mario Kart where you earn items depending on your position in the race, but no matter what your position is during a race in FreeJack, the items you get will be completely random, and no item tiers during races means that you can screw over any player at any given chance, even the guy that’s in last place! (But of course no one would ever want to screw over the last place runner since everyone will be too busy wild skidding, almond crushing and crazy shooting the first place runner to holy hell, anyway.)

 

The MyRoom feature is nice but lacks true customization. The items you can select for your room all have pre-determined spots that cannot be moved, so despite all the different furniture, wallpapers and knickknacks available, every room in FreeJack will look (generally) the same.

 

Level design seems to be pretty inconsistent as most of the courses lack a realistic touch. On one hand you have courses such as Undercity and Skyscraper that provide a believable running ground, but on the other hand you have courses like Mr. Rollercoaster and Sunny Harbor with level design that makes almost no sense whatsoever in terms of appearance.

 

FreeJack Jump

 

There’s also balance issues between the importance of the player’s skill and the player’s stats. Some players claim that winning against players all decked out with ability cards is impossible while others players claim the opposite. Whether this is true or false, one thing for sure is that FreeJack’s cash shop allowing players to buy clothing that can stack two ability cards instead of one is not a good sign.  Since non-cash shop clothing can only use one ability card at a time, non-paying players are clearly at a disadvantage.

 

The biggest peeve I have with FreeJack is that the game lacks the motion and fluidity that made real life parkour famous. The flow of gameplay comes to a halt every time you vault over an objects and after-dashing after each vault to pick the flow back up feels awkward (for me, anyway.)

 

Conclusion

If they could manage to introduce more flowing  game play and balance out the use of cash shop and non-cash shop items, FreeJack could easily be the most enjoyable racing MMO out there. While the game clearly has some flaws, FreeJack is a unique, enjoyable experience that shows tons of room for improvement. 

Dragon Age Origins Review: An Epic Darkspawn Slaying Tale!

Dragon Age Origins Review: An Epic Darkspawn Slaying Tale!
By Kei Beneza (dividelife), OnRPG Journalist

 

After their successful game “Mass Effect”, Bioware decided to take their RPGs to the next level by bringing us back to the medieval world of bucklers and swords. Dragon Age is a medieval RPG for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. First of all, I would like to say that Dragon Age is definitely not a medieval Mass Effect. While it may share the same destiny trees and conversation methods, there are enough features to completely seperate this game from Bioware’s futuristic masterpiece.

 

The most enthralling part of the game would probably be the storyline, which gradually changes depending on how you play the game. The Arch-demon has risen from the depths of darkness, and you, as one of the mighty Grey Wardens must create an army to combat the demonic army known as the Darkspawn. Althroughout the game, you will be bridging conversations and fighting your way through the unforgiving world of Ferelden to gain the trust of your would-be army. Your story has begun.

 

FOR THE GREY WARDENS!

Before starting the game, you will be asked to create your character. What is great about this interface is that you are actually allowed to completely customize your character’s face to either make it look like YOU or your ideal character. There are three races and three starting classes to choose from. The best part about creating a new character in this game is that each races starts out differently and will face different challenges as they are treated differently by other races and/or species.

 

Dragon Age Starting Up

Races: Humans, Elves (Dalish, as they are called), and Dwarves
Starting Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Mage

 

Note that each of the classes have their own subcategories to choose from, meaning Warriors can either be dual-weilders, sword-and-shield, or two-handed. The character creation interface is actually rather diverse, making it fun to just create and try out a lot of different characters. Also, the game lets you unlock subclasses as you march across ferelden, unlocking new skills and titles that will greatly aid you in the fight against evil.

 

The Living And Breathing World

One of the RPG elements BioWare has managed to nail perfectly is the in-game world. Unlike most RPGs that features random characters standing in place, you will really feel the world move in Dragon Age. It honestly feels a lot like an MMO, considering the fact that the conversation trees are quite broad and diverse. You can probably just run around and talk to NPCs (including your allies) for hours and not get tired of it. Everyone has their own story to tell, from the running girl in Denerim to the merchants in Orzammar. Also, these conversation trees change depending on how you. Since the game also features an alignment system, people may respond differently to you if you’ve done something of significance or insignificance to them.

 

Dragon Age Feralden

 

The Legendary Team

Since one Grey Warden is not enough to fight against the plague known as the Blight, you will need to create a team of epic proportions. While some characters may just come your way like regular J-RPG characters, some of the characters ingame may require a bit of persuasion before completely joining your group. Like your character, your teammates can also level up and will possess the same attribute and subclass options available to you.

 

Love Me, Love Me, Say That You Love Me

Much like Mass Effect, Dragon Age also allows players to enter a romantic state with their character of choice (homosexual relationships also work, apparently). Each character will have a heart or love meter which will fill and deplete depending on how you treat them. Giving them gifts and constantly flattering them through random conversations is a good way to raise these bars. The rewards? Well, let’s just say that it will stay in between the sheets. Raising a character’s relationship meter also lets a you access character specific quests which will allow you to both know more about your character and gain special character-specific items and gear. Deplete these meters and you might have a nice sharp knife down your throat *wink wink*.

 

 

Dragon Age Love Me

 

TO THE RIGHT, TO THE LEFT! WE WILL FIGHT TO THE DEATH!

When it comes to combat, I would say that no other RPG comes close to Dragon Age’s exceptional fighting system. First of all, each character has their own behavior customization slot known as TACTICS. Tactics allow players to issue pre-planned orders in order to make their allies function well in battle without the hassle of switching from one character to another. If you want your healer to heal allies when their lifebar goes below 50%, or if you want the tank to get aggro the moment he jumps in, then go and visit the tactics section to customize them futher. Secondly, the radial menu allows players to pause the action, making it easier for them to spot and mark enemies while issuing character specific orders without worrying about them getting struck down randomly.

 

Dragon Age to the Right

 

Final Remarks

All in all, I would say that Dragon Age Origins is a game for keeps. It seems that Bioware managed to strike RPG gold once again. Since the game is not linear and does not revolve around a railed path, it’s hard for two players to play the game the exact same way. There are many (and I mean MANY) weighty decisions to be made, and tons of side quests to fulfill, meaning you can play the game for countless hours just by doing the side quests. Not satisfied? The game also features tons of downloadable quests and scenarios which are good for around 2 extra hours of gameplay. Finishing these DLC quests are quite rewarding, especially since some of them give awesome armor sets, so burn thy wallet and start downloading. If you are looking for an adventure of epic proportions, then Dragon Age is the game you’re looking for.

 

The Good

-Immersive gameplay (it’s hard to get tired of it)
-Excellent replay value (different characters = different stories)
-Presentation is flawless
-Conversation trees
-A break from all those linear RPGS

 

The Bad

-Console versions have either a crappy framerate (PS3) or dull textures (360). If you are getting this game, might as well play it on the PC
-Some bugs here and there. Clipping, and that weird running girl who looked like she was floating around
-buff effects sometimes block whoever you are talking to.
-Targeting is sometimes off, especially when you end up talking to your comrade while interacting with objects (console problem)

First Look at Cabal Episode V: Mercenaries

First Look at Cabal Episode V: Mercenaries


This December CABAL Online will release its latest free content expansion – Episode IV: Mercenaries. Hot on the heels of Episode IV, which saw an increase to the level cap and the opening of a new region in the game in October, Episode V will continue to add exciting new content for players of all levels to enjoy, including NPC mercenaries, a mailing system and a complete overhaul to the dungeons and drop rate systems.

 

For the first time ever the update will go live globally during the same month, with players in the United States and Europe enjoying the content before players in Korea. It highlights the global nature of the game, with the development team keen to deliver on the content most wanted by players worldwide.

 

Mercenary System
The mercenary system will allow players to summon a helping hand, in the form of a NPC-controlled character, while inside the dungeons of the game. It opens up a brand new objective to achieve, with a whole variety of different mercenaries available to find and “recruit”.

 

The mercenary system will allow players to summon a helping hand in Cabal Online

 

While group play and team work will remain an essential part of the game, the introduction of mercenaries will assist in the creation of balanced parties to take on the most challenging encounters. As a fully functioning member of the group (and counted as one of the seven party members), mercenaries will have a number of benefits. This includes buffs and stat boosts for the entire party, while mercenaries will join in by attacking monsters that either damage, or are damaged by, their summoner.

 

On launch six different mercenaries will be available, based off the six classes of the game and will be obtainable on completion of a series of quests. They will vary in strength with four different grades – normal, rare, epic and unique – with new and stronger mercenaries set for release in future updates.

 

Dungeon Leader boards
One of the central features of CABAL Online are the fast-paced, hugely chaotic, timed dungeons. From the solo DX dungeons – which require players to complete a quest within a very short time frame – to the large party dungeons which require quick thinking to complete before the clock runs out, getting the best possible time has long been an unrewarded aim.

 

Cabal Online Introduces a leader board system for dungeons!

 

This has finally been recognised within the game itself, with the introduction of a leader board system. On entering each dungeon, a clear ranking will be displayed of those who have completed it in the fastest time. It will set a clear goal and challenge, with the aim no longer to simply complete the dungeon but to do so in the fastest possible time.
To support the new competitive dungeons a number of other features have been added. This includes:

– The ability to pause a dungeon, for those incidents where a player needs to a break.

– A dungeon chat channel, so groups competing against one another can discuss how they are progressing.

– A dungeon interface, showing all of the dungeons inside of the game with the requirements to enter.

Improved Drop Rates
Combining with the new competitive incentive to enter the games dungeons, the drop rate system has been overhauled to provide a much more rewarding experience. The majority of high level equipment will now drop as “bind on equip”, allowing a significantly higher drop rate of these items than in the past. This is an important, and no doubt a welcome, change for players of the game.

 

Ability to send mails (Mailing System)
A long requested feature has been the ability to use the games mailing system to send messages between players. This has now been made possible, with the option to send messages, gold and items to any player – whether online or offline – inside of the game.

 

Two pets to train (Dual Pets)
Expanding on the existing pet system, it will now be possible to equip two pets. Both of the pets will follow their owner and will level up to provide slots to be filled with stat boosts. CABAL has a huge range of pets to select from, ranging from flying parrots, to burrowing moles and ninja cats.

 

New Quests
A whole host of new challenging quests have been added to the game, including dungeon quests, starter quests and the quest to find the ‘Ring of Tyrant’. Continuing with the recent trend of adding difficult quests, with epic rewards, those who manage to obtain the Ring of Tyrant will equip one of the strongest rings to be found anywhere in the world of Nevareth.

Added Functionality
The gameplay has been made even smoother and more convenient with a whole host of improvements to the basic functionality. Notable improvements include:

– Ability to switch channels in the game without the need to log out

– Option of viewing another player’s equipment

– Alarm which notifies a logging out player that there are still daily quests to do

– Favourite function to quickly find certain items in the Auction house

CABAL Episode V will go live globally this December. This is only a partial summary of the major new features, with other changes, additions and bug fixes planned. For the latest news and information visit www.cabal.com (US) / www.cabalonline.com (Europe)

 

CrimeCraft Review: Hot town, Summer in the City…

CrimeCraft Review: Hot town, Summer in the City…
By Jonathan (Ardua) Doyle OnRPG Journalist

 

…back of my neck getting dirty and gritty.

 

Well it would wouldn’t it? After all this isn’t your normal city and being clean takes a back seat to staying alive. This is Sunshine City. This is the OnRPG CrimeCraft review.

 

CrimeCraft Character Creation

 

Street Cred

You’ve got two options in the world painted for you by Vogster Entertainment in their Free to Play MMOFPS CrimeCraft. You can either scrape by in the anarchy outside the walls or you can sign up and play by the rules and be admitted to Sunshine City. Sure it isn’t the best slice of real estate this side of pretty much anywhere but it works. People have got homes, homes have got power and the raw meat recruits help keep the chaos, the squatters and sometimes the Feds at bay.

 

Set in a not too distant future, CrimeCraft paints a post apocalyptic cityscape that has suffered the ravages of war and rampant gang warfare in a world where anyone can eventually wave around a rocket launcher.

 

CrimeCraft Character Creation

 

The setting earns CrimeCraft its street cred with me. Vogster had an idea of the game they wanted to make and merged it well into the setting presented. The world as you know it has gone and the only way to survive is to sign up to protect Sunshine City, even if that occasionally (read: Almost always) means coming to blows with other denizens.

 

 

Like my threads?

Admittedly the character creator in CrimeCraft isn’t the most in-depth I have ever come across. A smattering of hair and skin colours, a few tops, bottoms and shoes as well. Most of the stuff in the creator is the same thing in a different colour, but you know what? That’s okay. Don’t get too attached to your threads, you’ll be replacing them as you earn the cash. Though it doesn’t look it, even the humble baseball cap can add to your characters resistances and stats.

 

It’s not just the clothes that make the man or woman. Augmentations and boosts play a part as well. Abilities are equipable enhancements that can give you extra resistances, allow you to become invisible for a short period or even heal you slowly over time once you’ve taken a beating. Boosts on the other hand are timed buffs that you can buy from vendors for a particular effect.

 

 

Crime Craft I have No Idea

 

Taken all together, wearing the right clothes with the right abilities and pocketing the right boosts are all just a step towards victory. A step that will end with snipers round in the head if you aren’t careful.

 

 

Welcome to the Jungle

We’ve got fun ‘n’ games. Also a bunch of game modes to shake your mouse at.

 

PVP

Turf War

Snatch N’ Grab

Robbery

Shootout

Riot

 

PVE

Safeguard

Stockpile

Headhunter

 

On the PvE side of things these boil down to a mode where you guard an objective, a mode where you have to grab up all the supplies you can for your own gain and finally a mode where you, with a team, flush out a particularly tough mob and try to take him or her down.

 

 

CrimeCraft Time to Hunt

 

As with any game, communication is key, but even without it the PvE modes are quite fun and people eventually get their act together and work together.

 

On the PvP side of life… you have classics. They may have different names but honestly, why bother trying to improve on FPS gold?

 

Turf War is a fun, point capture game. There are five points spread out; everyone starts with one and whoever gets all five wins. Failing that, the winner is whoever finished the round with the most under control.

 

Snatch N’ Grab is the ever classic Capture the Flag. They have one; you want it, what more is there to say?

 

Robbery is straightforward. Get to the other teams safe to steal cash, run it back to yours. Most cash wins at the end. Don’t think it’s easy though. People are tight with their money.

 

Shootout is Team Death Match. Make the other guys dead more often than they kill you.

 

Riot is the classic free for all death match. If it moves, kill it. Maybe try killing it a little even if it doesn’t move. It’s why they gave you a knife after all.

 

 

CrimeCraft Minimap and City

 

My life in Sunshine City

I’ve had a blast in CrimeCraft. The tutorial area is very well laid out and gently eases you into the particulars of CrimeCraft without appearing to be holding your hand. From crawling all over an oil rig taking pot shots at the Feds with just a pistol and knife at my disposal to my quick introduction to some of the heavier weapons (literally a mission to paste 10 guys with a Rocket Launcher. Massive fun but short lived) I felt I was given a good grounding in the PvE side of the game. The in game Newspaper works as a quick newbie FAQ which I found helpful. The in game pay phone adds achievements to my career by giving me extra little missions to complete during my time played.

 

CrimeCraft Players

 

Every time I’ve played I’ve seen a busy and vibrant game. There are plenty of different areas to play the different game modes in and even just wandering around the city is a bit of a treat. The only fleeting dark cloud over Sunshine City was a chance encounter with a cheater. One single guy, out of however many people I have killed and been killed by, stooped so low as to hack the game to avoid damage. Try and never be that guy kids. Even his own team was disgusted and petitions were sent. Though as I said, it was something I’ve only ever experienced once.

 

Personally I could see myself having quite a good time in CrimeCraft. I’ve barely scratched the surface in my chosen crafting profession (of which there are four and they branch later on giving two specialities each). I’ve investigated the cash shop but haven’t yet felt the need to use it. I’ve plenty more to do in this online shooter. I can’t say I’ve ever been able to say the same about some of the others I’ve played in my time.

 

 

Crime Craft I got Stats

 

 

Da End!

If a shooter isn’t your type of game, it’s unlikely CrimeCraft will be. This is a well-crafted and gorgeous looking online shooter with MMORPG aspects. This also isn’t comparable to APB if only because first, I never played APB and second, I can’t. If you crave a world like that of Grand Theft Auto only shoved online and run through an apocalypse, this is the world for you. Well worth looking into. Just keep your eyes peeled, I might have you in my sights.

 

Pros

Fast paced multi game mode online shooter
Gorgeous graphics and detailed maps
Good interaction from the developers on Twitter, Facebook and in the game.

 

Cons

The occasional cheater (who are lower than a very low thing)

 

Ps. I learned the hard way. Snipers mine behind themselves. Also, glowy red things aren’t an objective, they’re armed grenades. Don’t stand on them.

Allods Europe Announces Volume 3: The Fury of War

Allods Europe Announces Volume 3: The Fury of War


gPotato Europe has announced the first details of “Volume 3: The Fury of War” for Allods Online, which is due to go live before Christmas as a very special present to Allods Online fans. Coming hot on the heels of the major overhaul seen in Volume 2: Rise of Gorluxor, and subsequent patches to open up even more free options, items and content to players of all levels, “The Fury of War” packs in a huge quantity of new content, with a focus on guilds and high-level players.

 

The biggest content additions in Volume 3: The Fury of War come in the form of two entirely new zones, comprising two level 40+ PvP area named Melting Isle and the Junes Catacombs, a level 40+ allod called the Lost Isle, and, finally, a complete player-controlled astral sector split into 3 tiers with ten fresh allods open for assault and control by player guilds.

 

The Melting Isle PvP area is a free-for-all scrum where factional alliances are discarded, making for one of the fiercest battlefields in Allods Online history. Small and greater chests can spawn on any given day, and if more than 20 players are in the area in the evening, a greater chest is guaranteed to spawn, giving a huge looting incentive for players to engage in combat to claim ownership.

The Junes Catacombs puts PvP players in a perplexing maze of twisting passages and hallways where once again, automatic faction alliances are pushed to one side to heat up the PvP competition. In a novel spin, the layout of the Junes Catacombs changes each time it is entered and players will have to defeat not only other parties hunting the loot, but also defeat two bosses before challenging the ultimate boss of the catacombs to reap the instance’s best rewards.

 

The guild system will also receive a brand new levelling mechanism, with rewards granted for each level a guild attains. One such reward is the right to compete in Astral Confrontation, which allows guilds to claim ownership of individual allods or entire astral sectors. Guilds in control of these allods and astral sectors will, however, have to regularly defend their territory against rival guilds in order to maintain ownership.

 

Volume 3: The Fury of War for Allods Online will go live before Christmas for all servers!