Yearly Archives: 2011

Puzzle Pirates Introduces a Special Valentines Ship

Puzzle Pirates Introduces a Special Valentines Ship

Looking for the perfect gift for that special someone* for Valentines? Well, if that special someone happens to be a pirate in Puzzle Pirates, then the Cupid Class Sloop will melt their heart like chocolate left in the Caribbean sun!

 

Puzzle Pirates Valentines Sloop

This is the quarterdeck, complete with elegant bronze fittings and a comfy loveseat. Don’t get too comfortable, though: whether you’re sailing solo or with your valentine, someone’s gotta steer! The sitting room in the ship’s hold, perfect for entertaining or just working away at keeping the ship afloat! No Cupid Class ship would be complete without its own hot tub in the back! This one is very cozy, and comes stocked with all the wine and fruit you could ever want!

The Cupid Class Sloop is only available until 3 PM PST Tuesday, March 1st, so grab one for you and your best hearty today!

* “That special someone” can be yourself. It’s OK, we won’t tell.

Snail Games Announces Ministry of War Expansion

Snail Games Announces Ministry of War Expansion


SNAIL GAMES USA announced today that all Ministry of War servers will be updated with the game’s first expansion, The Arcadian Ladder, on February 11th. On that day, the servers will undergo a maintenance period from 01:00am EST to 05:00am EST, and will be reopened with The Arcadian Ladder expansion.

The Arcadian Ladder expansion is named after a massive 50-level battle instance which challenges Heroes to battle against progressively difficult Bosses which drop ever-more epic loot. 

 

Also debuting in The Arcadian Ladder will be:

A full-scale Auction House for players to buy, sell, and trade weapons, equipment, skills, and treasure.

The Levers of Fortune: a server-wide slot machine which drops resources, building and research boost items, plus a chance to win rare Heroes.

A new streamlined user interface (UI) to give Ministry of War players a wider view of the action and easier navigation around the enormous game world.

 

“Our veteran players have been extremely patient while we have prepared expansion to launch on their servers, and we definitely appreciate that,” says Snail Games USA Director of Operations, Mark Hill. “The response to the new features has been overwhelmingly positive by those who have already played it, and we are extremely excited to finally update it for everyone to play. This is going to be an exciting weekend.”

Also, to celebrate the update, February 12th and 13th will be a “Double Exp Weekend” for all of Ministry of War. All Exp gained from battling in The Arcadian Ladder, the Arena, and World PvE and PvP battles will be doubled. 

Ministry of War  is a historical-based MMO which represents a quantum leap forward in browser-game design and technology.  Players choose one of the world’s greatest Civilizations (Imperial Rome, Persia, Egypt, or China) and build, battle, and trade their way to world domination. The Arcadian Ladder expansion first launched on the new server, Rage on January 22nd.


The Arcadian Ladder  expansion also includes:

Lightning Guard – A ferocious and rare new enemy that only the strongest Heroes will have the chance to destroy. Those lucky enough to survive the battle will be rewarded with Epic-level gear.

Gear Forging – Gear can now be forged up to 10 levels, increasing the overall attributes of equipment at every level.

Hero Monument – A new building which allows players to train special Tier 5 troops in every Age.

Spectator View for Contested Zone Wars – Players can now observe other players’ Contested Zone (CZ) War battles in real-time.

Online Time Rewards – Dedicated players will receive free resource bonuses for spending time online every day.

Experience Capsules – Items equipped to Heroes which fill up with Exp gained in battle. Once full, they can be transferred to another Hero for an instant Exp boost.

 

Fists of Fu Review: Not Fond of that Kung-Fu That You Do

Fists of Fu Review: Not Fond of that Kung-Fu That You Do
By Michael Sagoe (mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

Outspark is looking to satisfy gamers with not one, but two action MMOs. Fists of Fu is a free-to-play action MMO set in anime version of oriental China. With beat ’em up style action, Fists of Fu attempts to create an experience simple enough for anyone to get into, but perhaps this experience may come up as a little too simple.

 

Starting Out

When entering the world of Fists of Fu, you have a choice between three character classes: Mage, Archer and Fighter, each with the option to roll as a male or female. Once you’ve picked your class, you’ll put in your desired player name and head straight for the tutorial. There’s no starting character customization or anything like that, so prepare to see clones of you all over the starting town.

 

The beginner tutorial is simple, easy and won’t take more than five minutes to finish. The tutorial shows you how to run, jump, attack and perform specials with the arrow keys and Z, X, V keys, respectively. The tutorial also lets you know that gamepad support is possible, so I decide to plug in my PS2 controller convertor and play through the game that way.

 

 

Fists of Fu MMORPG Social

 

Afterwards you’ll be dumped into Peach Blossom Village, where you’ll meet up with some NPCs, grab a quest or two and head out. The town functions much like the ones in Dungeon Fighter Online: They serve as a hub for players to buy and sell items, chat with players and all that, with the ends of each town being gathering spots for players to join up with up to four members before entering instanced dungeons. You can also take on a few daily quests to earn some extra exp (which you may or may not want to do, since quests cough up the most EXP needed to level up since straight up grinding on dungeons over and over isn’t the best idea. But then again, the quests can get really tiresome since it’s the usual “Kill this, bring me that” kind of quests.

 

Gameplay

Fists of Fu plays out like your average beat ’em where you must defeat every enemy on screen before moving on to the next area where you’ll have to defeat more enemies on screen.  Rinse and repeat until you reach the boss, which for the most part, doesn’t take much thought to defeat. Once you’ve taken down the boss, you’ll claim your reward, turn in your quests or whatever and enter another dungeon to start the process all over again.

 

Fists of Fu MMORPG

 

The shallow combat that goes with all this certainly doesn’t make things any better with very little combos available. There are not many different alternative combos available and even if there was, button mashing would work just as fine. Performing special attacks (which brings the action to a screeching halt every time with unnecessary portraits of your character) are as simple as pressing a hotkey when you have enough MP available and activating rage mode when you’ve taken or dealt enough damage doesn’t make things any more interesting, either.

 

Whenever you gain skill points from leveling up, there are only a handful of skills you can choose from and most of them are just stronger versions of skills you already have, so basically every warrior, archer and fighter will play exactly the same. There’s also an enchant system available to upgrade your equipment and whatnot, but again, these kinds of features are far too common with MMOs today.

 

Whenever you’re not participating in repetitive dungeon runs, there’s a bunch of PvP options available, but they seem somewhat tack-on. There are way too many instances where enemy players can get you into long strings of juggling attacks with not much you can do to stop them other than to not get hit in the first place.  Special attacks are not altered at all during PvP, so you can expect the action to freeze up every time someone performs a special attack.  All this mixed together can make PvP action feel less like a battle of wits and more of like a battle of who can get the first hit in.

 

Fists of Fu Group Play

Dial-a-comb spamfest

 

Presentation

Fists of Fu offers up some cartoon style graphics, but it’s nothing that we haven’t seen before so it’s average at best with textures on just about everything looking bland and blurry despite so much color thrown in. Even though I enjoy listening to oriental tunes, music in Fists of Fu is average, repetitive and forgettable. One nice touch I did like with voice work was that every character spoke in Chinese whenever attacks were performed.

 

The game also tries to throw in some story content to go with some of the quests, but fails miserably with simple dialog that even kids won’t pay attention to.

 

Fists of Fu MMORPG Begin

Take it off, then!

 

My thoughts

One small gripe I had over the game was laid within the game’s title. With a name like “Fists of Fu”, I was expecting some hand to hand combat, but there is none of that to be found anywhere. Sure, Kung Fu isn’t always necessarily limited to fisticuffs, but personally I find that to be a little misleading!

 

I’m not sure if it was me or the game itself, but I found the PvE to be fairly unchallenging, even while solo-ing dungeons on hard. Taking down groups of enemies was easy as long as you didn’t get surrounded, and bosses had fairly predictable attack patterns.

 

Conclusion

Fists of Fu feels like a dumbed down version of other action MMOs currently on the market.  In fact, you could say that it’s a dumbed down version of a particular action MMO that came out a while ago (Elesword, anyone?)  Well maybe it’s supposed to be a casual experience for the kids to enjoy it, but personally feel that there are way better titles to enjoy and look out for.

 

Pros:

Anime style graphics

Simple controls

Gamepad compatible

 

Cons:

Combat lacks depth

Unchallenging dungeons

PvP feels tacked on

Overall features are average

GGOAL

GGOAL is a strategic and managerial multiplayer football game online in real time. Players take on the role of president, manager, coach and player of their football team. They’ll be able to play exciting and challenging matches against your friends all over the world in real time.

Dragon Soul

Explore a mystical world ripe with Chinese mythology and danger at every turn. The Great Dynasty that had united the promised lands has fallen. In its place stand eight loosely organized kingdoms ready to do anything to ensure they stand victorious and crush all who oppose their king. As these kingdoms waste away in constant conflict, a greater threat looms on the horizon…

 The hordes of the steppe, sensing their moment has arrived, have gathered to put an end to the remnants of the dynasty that has forced them to the live under shadow for so long. In this world, strength alone is not enough to win the day. Do you have the fabled Dragon Soul that will unite the eight kingdoms and prevent this world from falling into the abyss of the hordes’ madness?

Welcome to Dragon Soul. Choose your allegiance among the eight kingdoms and rally your friends and allies to your cause.  Indulge in a deep pet system complete with vast customization of skills and strengths. Fight epic large scale empire versus empire pvp battles to earn glory for your nation. Prove your worth through politics and power, and rise to the position of emperor. Each nation’s emperor can forge their nation’s legacy through appointing nobility, forging alliances, and declaring war.

The Day

The Day is a third-person MMO with an emphasis on PvP combat and a unique, immersive story. Set in the near future, The Day finds mankind discovering a way to travel between two connected parallel worlds.

Players will face a changing world never before seen in an online game as they travel back and forth between the past and present, accomplishing critical missions that will influence and affect their present-day reality. With the fate of mankind at stake, players are thrown into brutal warfare and a fight to keep humanity from slipping into self-destruction across time.

LEGO Ninjago Spins into LEGO Universe with Crux Prime Release

LEGO Ninjago Spins into LEGO Universe with Crux Prime Release

 

The LEGO Group today announced the release of Crux Prime, the largest content zone ever to be discovered in LEGO Universe. The popular LEGO brick-based MMOG has officially opened Crux Prime on February 8 for the most exciting in-game battle yet! The new zone delivers fresh challenges within a LEGO original Ninjago storyline for players to discover. The LEGO Ninjago toy line was just released last month, so now players can experience the fun of spinning ninjas, both offline with new LEGO bricks and Minifigures, as well as online in LEGO Universe.

 

Lego Universe - Ninjago spins into the game!

The incredibly rich Ninjago storyline will unfold throughout the year and beyond in LEGO Universe, while the LEGO Ninjago toy line brings new ninja-themed products to store shelves. In-game, players must search the Ninjago Monastery Ruins on Crux Prime to meet Sensei Wu, who knows the secrets to the powerful skill of Spinjitzu, the only skill that can destroy the nefarious Skeleton enemies. Masters of Spinjitzu can twirl and whirl into a tornado of pure Imagination that destroys the bony villains once and for all. Players will also uncover new Ninjago treasures, such as the Skeleton Fort Model Set, Skeleton Rockets, Fright Speed Skeleton Car, and a cute but creepy Skeleton Dragon Pet.

The LEGO Group is calling on LEGO Universe fans to fly to Crux Prime, and join in an epic battle to protect the very core of Imagination! By popular demand from the game community, players can take advantage of multiplayer team functionality for the very first time in Crux Prime. Assemble teams of up to four friends, then gear up and clash with powerful Maelstrom enemies on the battlefield. Only your efforts will prevent the sea of Maelstrom from overwhelming Nexus Tower and the Imagination Nexus which it protects!

Within the vast Crux Prime zone, players will be treated to over 100 new missions and achievements to complete, and over 100 new pieces of gear, decals and weapons to collect and share. Players can search the battlefield to discover four rare new armor sets like the Bat Lord and Explorien Bot; and can also gear up with alternate-color Faction Kits, like the Black Knight, Red Sorcerer or Silver Samurai!

Check out new screenshots, key visuals and character art, released today, to get a first glimpse at what lies ahead on Crux Prime. New b-roll video footage and the Crux Prime trailer also show off the zone and the special Ninjago skills necessary to battle its bony villains.

Huge Price-Cut on Roses as TLBB prepares for Valentine’s Day

Huge Price-Cut on Roses as TLBB prepares for Valentine’s Day

 

Love is in the air in the TLBB world this week ChangYou prepares to celebrate the month of romance with the launch of its much-anticipated Valentine’s event.

 

In this exciting event players can collect a set of Cupid’s Arrows and shoot them at players of the opposite sex in the hope of attracting that special someone and giving them the buff ‘Cupid’s Kiss’.

 

For those players who have already found their soul-mate, ChangYou has also announced a number of marriage-related additions to TLBB, including a new Couple Skill ‘Lover’s Call’ and the new Eternal Diamond Ring available exclusively to married couples. The Eternal Diamond Ring can not only be upgraded, but it can also be blessed to add even more potency to its effect and give it’s wearer a unique heart-shaped aura.

 

To learn more about this event, and other events released with the Spring Festival update, please visit the TLBB Spring Festival Guide.

 

To coincide with its in-game additions and the launch of its Valentine’s event, ChangYou is pleased to announce this week an exclusive discount on its Token Shop item ‘999 Roses’.

 

For players looking to tie the knot with that special someone this Valentine ‘s Day, Roses are the perfect gift. Not only are they a beautiful symbol of love and affection, but they are also an important tool in helping to raise players’ Friendship rating as they prepare to embark on a long term relationship with the man or woman of their dreams.

 

With a massive 20% discount, don’t give chocolates this Valentine’s Day, give Roses!

 

To find out more about ChangYou.com’s wide range of quests and in-game additions – including the beautiful new city Kroraina – please click here. Alternatively, to make sure you keep up to date with all TLBB’s latest news and events, why not join the TLBB Facebook page.

 

Happy Gaming!

World of Darkness

CCP Games, the powerhouse behind EVE online, are currently developing this new 3D MMORPG, based in the World of Darkness universe.

The MMO is based on the pen-and-paper roleplay games from White Wolf (a company that joined forces with CCP, back in November 2006). WOD will mainly revolve around the Vampire: the Masquerade franchise and judging by the early artwork CCP released, the game will have a modern day setting.

Next to Vampire: the Masquerade, there are several other role-play franchises that World of Darkness can tap into (Werewolf: The Forsaken, Mage: The Awakening, Hunter: The Vigil, amongst them). This leaves a lot of lore left for eventual expansion of the game.

Like EVE online, this game will revolve heavily around player politics and social interaction. Vampire clans, infiltrating other Vampire clans? Sounds like a plan!