Yearly Archives: 2010

GodsWar Online: Explore the New Instance: Wonderland

 

GodsWar Online: Explore the New Instance: Wonderland
If your fervor for the World Cup hasn’t consumed your every waking moment, check out the brand new instance now available in GodsWar Online.
 
Wonderland is an instance worthy of Greece’s bravest warriors. Featuring an epic story, tricky new monsters, and 8 stages that demand a commitment to teamwork, Wonderland is a challenge for even the mightiest heroes of Sparta and Athens.
Godswar Online - New instance

Epic Background Story
Zeus condemned Atlas, one of the powerful Titans, to stand at the western edge of the world and hold up the sky as punishment for an attack on Mount Olympus. Eventually he broke free and began wandering the land in search of something that could help him get revenge on Mount Olympus. Encountering evil magicians, they told him of powerful spirits trapped in limbo just waiting for someone to set them free. After releasing them, Atlas and his army of demon spirits traveled to a peaceful and ancient place known as Wonderland. There they constructed a towering citadel and enslaved the population. Now they are powerful enough to launch deadly attacks on Greece and Olympus. It is the duty of all Greek warriors to answer the call to defend their homelands from this terrifying evil and save the inhabitants of Wonderland.

Tricky Monsters
Keep your wits about you in Wonderland and be wary of even the tiniest creatures. While some large beasts may turn out to be no great threat, there are many small monsters that will test your skills. Threats abound literally everywhere in this once wondrous land, including monsters that spawn right next to you before charging and a spiky cyclone that shoots out of the earth, or even arrow towers that seem to be armed with all the arrows in the world.

Advance Stage by Stage
There are a total of 8 stages in the instance. You can obtain titles at different points on your journey through them, but once inside the instance, you must complete a stage to advance to the next. Each stage has a revival point where characters will automatically return after a failed attempt to overcome its obstacles.

Teamwork Wanted
Be forewarned that Wonderland is a place of magic and danger suitable for only the highest-level characters. It takes a great deal of cooperation for teams to overcome the many challenges spread throughout the instance. Whether you face a crazed turkey, a fire-breathing dragon, or some dull-looking local, you will find yourself back at the beginning of the stage if you don’t pay close attention to the task at hand.

MapleStoryÂ’s Explorer Classes Upgraded

MapleStory’s Explorer Classes Upgraded

 

Explorer classes in Nexon America’s MapleStory have recently received an upgrade in the latest update that has drastically improved their gaming experience. Magicians, Thieves, Bowmen, Warriors and Pirates have all been rebalanced and renewed in MapleStory’s latest update, Return of the Explorer.

Maplestory

All Explorer classes have had their skills rebalanced and enhanced. As Explorers advance through their four jobs, they will experience a new type of gameplay.  Magicians, who use magic as their main attack, will experience an increase in damage for several of their skills. Thieves will experience increased attacks and a decrease in cool down time, improving their mastery of moving quickly and becoming more effective in attacking. Warriors see a great boost in their elemental attacks and an increase in damage for other attacks as well.  Pirates will experience a closer attack range and an increase in damage.

In addition to the rebalancing of the Explorer classes, this update introduced the permanent item option to the game. Now players can choose to purchase items and keep them permanently.

Allods Removes Hated ‘Fear of Death’ Debuff!

Allods Removes Hated ‘Fear of Death’ Debuff!

 

The upcoming Allods Online Patch 1.1.0: Revelations of Gipat introduces new content and gameplay mechanics. In fact, one of the most controversial aspects of the game, Fear of Death, is being eliminated!

Fear of Death is a debuff that players receive upon death which reduces all of their offensive stats by 25% for an amount of time proportional to their level. It can be removed by spending Drops of Myrrh that can be bought from vendors, using Incense that can be bought from the Item Shop, or just waiting it out. However, most users will rejoice in knowing that Fear of Death will no longer be a part of the game.

When a player dies in the upcoming patch, instead of receiving a debuff to all of their offensive stats, players will have a very small chance that a curse will be cast upon them. The curse will randomly land on one of a player’s item slots; however, if the curse lands on a slot that is empty or contains an item that is Uncommon or Common, the curse will be deflected, leaving the contents of the item slot unharmed. If the curse lands on an item slot that contains an item that is Rare, Epic, or Legendary, its stats will become inverted.

Bosses in dungeons and raids will now also drop Cursed Items in addition to the items that they usually drop. This means that means that players will have a chance to receive more loot, which can be used once the curse is removed.

 

Allods - holy charm

In order to remove a curse from an item, players can purchase Scrolls of Purification from the Item Shop, or buy them from other players. Players can also avoid items becoming cursed with each death by wearing Holy Charms. Players may have up to 1000 Holy Charms equipped at a time and each time the player dies, one charm will be used to deflect any possible curse. Holy Charms are available for purchase in the Item Shop, and can also be bought from other players.

In addition to the removal of Fear of Death and the introduction of Cursed Items, Revelations of Gipat will increase the level cap and introduce a number of new features, new bosses, and new zones.

The Witcher: Versus

The Witcher: Versus is a world full of fierce duels, powerful foes, and dark magic.

Become the most-feared dueller in the world of The Witcher: Versus. Choose between the classes of Witcher, Sorceress, or Frightener and jump right into the fray of battle.

Gain experience and train your skills in battle against other players. Complete quests and loot new weapons, amulets, and magical items. Prove your bravery with various achievements and impress the other warriors with your hard-earned badges. Explore the world of The Witcher: Versus on adventurous journeys and rise to meet great challenges. Form a guild and measure up your opponents in epic RvR battles.

Experience the fascinating world of The Witcher: Versus – entirely in your browser!

– Unapologetic in-browser duels
– Three classes of characters and countless skills
– Numerous quests and achievements
– Thousands of players
– Original characters and areas from “The Witcher”
– Guild and chat features

Lords Online Introduces Achievement System

Lords Online Introduces Achievement System

Lords Online - Anarchy version 1.5Version 1.5 of IGG’s Lords Online introduced many new features and additions to the game, including the Achievements System. It keeps track of your progress from the very beginning of your career, recording your achievements in a “Dark Era” calendar.

Copy your list of achievements and show it off to your friends or rivals for the ultimate bragging rights.

The “My First Time” section keeps track of things players encounter for the first time, such as when you first arrived in Lords Online, designed your first castle, joined your first alliance, delivered a message for the first time, gave your first reward to a hero, and many other firsts (oh boy).

Lords Online - Achievement System

 
The “Governing and Buildings” section records how your empire has grown in size and strength. The “Troops and Combat” section tracks your military and each accomplishment you’ve made on the battlefield. The “Hero” section chronicles your heroes’ achievements. The “Ranks and Titles” section lists the honorary ranks, titles and rewards you have obtained.

When it’s time to sing your own praises, the Achievements System is the place to look for the record of your many glorious feats, at least until your next grand adventure begins!

BoI Becomes PWE’s Fastest Growing Game!

BoI Becomes PWE’s Fastest Growing Game!

 

Perfect World Entertainment announced today that Battle of the Immortals has hit 1.5 million cumulative unique logins and has launched its fifth server, Gemini, making it Perfect World Entertainment’s fastest growing game.

Battle of the Immortals - Level 45 Soul Gear

Gemini, a European server, will be joined by its counterpart server, Aquarius, which will be physically migrated to Europe, meeting the region’s growing demand for the hit action-MMORPG.

“Demand for Battle of the Immortals has been tremendous, not only in North America, but from around the world and the opening of our second European server, Gemini, is a testament to that. With over 1.5 million cumulative unique logins, Battle of the Immortals proves itself not only as our fastest growing game, but also one that keeps players coming back,” said Jonathan Belliss, Product Manager for Battle of the Immortals. “By being steadfast in our commitment to provide the highest level of polish and game localization, our players have made Battle of the Immortals an international success, which many of our industry competitors have taken notice of.”

Sacred Seasons Season 2 Review: Changing Like the Seasons

Sacred Seasons Season 2 Review: Changing Like the Seasons
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist

 

Sacred Seasons is a flash-based game that puts you in the shoes of cycle heroes whose mission is to take back the white city from the evil that has overrun it. The game is a mix of story-driven gameplay and a very engaging class system that you can say is similar to the job class system of console games Final Fantasy Tactics and Jean d’Arc.

 

First Impressions

Upon playing Sacred Season S2, I immediately noticed the revamp of the game’s in-game look and quality. SS2 has indeed upgraded to a better-looking interface while retaining its cartoonish theme. At first I thought the game is another version of Adventure Quest, another flash based RPG, but as I ventured deep into Heartland I was totally in for a surprise.

 

Seasons
Switching like the seasons

 

Seasons ‘R’ Us

First off, I liked how they incorporated the seasons into the gameplay, with each season having its own special characteristic that suits a player’s preferred game style. Personally, I found the game’s story quite interesting because this is my first time encountering a game that uses this theme even if the overall idea behind it is already overused in the RPG genre. I also liked that the game sticks to the story’s overall concept behind the ‘cycle heroes’ while making it an interesting game both in its story and its gameplay. However, the most interesting feature the game has is neither of these two. It’s the game’s class system that practically provides almost 90% of the interest factor for SS2.

 

Sacred Seasons Gameplay
Pick your battles

 

Which to Choose?

In SS2, each season has its own version of the same classes. Let’s say a soldier class may fall into the four seasons with each season providing a different attribute that is related to the season. Players may also change into the 23 classes available in the game including some hidden classes that can be acquired through special means. Players, however, need to pay a fee to be able to switch season and classes. Players also need to go through special quests before they can even unlock the other classes, which makes things pretty much a chore for new players.

 

Sacred Seasons 
So many classes to choose from

 

SS2s class system seems to be a convoluted mish-mash of different classes or the newbies, however, it is pretty important that you have a general idea how each class works and how the seasons affect each job class. Mixing and matching the classes and the season to your gameplay is an adventure in itself and will definitely take most of your time during the first few hours of gameplay. There are a lot of things you can discover in the job classes as you continue on playing and for sure there will be moments where you will eventually be inclined to go to another class and season even after you’ve already set your heart on one.

 

So I must say that the game’s class system is not really suited for casual gamers who are looking for a pick up and go game. You can however wing it for your first few hours but I’m pretty sure that you’d eventually fall into the notion that you definitely need to understand the class system to be effective.

 

Skill System

While the class system may be a daunting feature in SS2, the skill system is easy enough to understand. You need a mix of class and season points to learn skills. With the switchable class system in place the skill system puts a tinge of strategy on how you use the seasons skill points you have.

 

Sacred Seasons
Battle strategies

 

Equips

Of course what would a game be without equipment? With the switchable class system in place, there are a lot of equips and weapons you can use. While the majority of the equipment in the game may be used by several classes, there are some class specific weapons and equips in the higher levels.

 

World System

 

The problem with the equipment and weapons in SS2 is that the fairly decent ones are only available in the game’s World system, SS2’s version of a premium item shop. Don’t expect the game to be friendly to rely on playing the game for free because the non-currency related equipment are that weak. So if you’re looking for a flash-based game that will provide equal footing for players who pay and for those who don’t, go to another game and save yourself the trouble.

 

Conclusion

Sacred Season 2 is a good example that a game can be decent enough with the proper use of imagination and a very addictive game system.  However this game would’ve been better if it was a client based 3D MMORPG rather than just a flash based one. This leads to another problem I found in the game. Being that SS2 is a flash-based MMORPG, the animation of the characters and the monsters are lacking in variations. This is where I stress the point that the game would look better if it were a client based MMO.

 

The other problem with SS2 is the seeming lack of imagination in terms of the game’s skills and monsters. There are times when the skills are practically useless and you are better off using the basic attacks, on the other hand, you have monsters that seem to be doing the same thing over and over again. The lack of variation in attacks may take its toll and will probably lead you to stop playing if you plan on playing the game for a while.

 

Overall, SS2 is a game that has changed itself beautifully. It kept the things that made the first season of the game good and added a few changes and tweaks to make it into a stellar MMO. While it still has problems in a lot of areas, the game is quite decent enough to play. Players who are willing to part with some of their cash may find it more enjoyable though than free to play players, but then it’s up to your own discretion to actually pay or not. 

 

Pros:
– Basic and easy to grasp gameplay
– Huge selection of classes to choose from
– Switchable class and season system.

 

Cons:
– Decent items and many other things require you to use money
– Repetitive animations
– Unimaginative monsters.