Yearly Archives: 2011

Twelve Sky 2: The Asian RPG Defined

Twelve Sky 2: The Asian RPG Defined

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist

 


Twelve Sky 2 is a free-to-play MMORPG developed by ALT1 and published by several publishers. I decided to check out the version Aeria Games has published and I found myself in Ancient China. Players are thrown in a story where 3 warring clans have been doing battle for longer than any can remember. Players must fight to honor their brothers and clan or turn their backs in their hour of need. The current factions that players can choose from are the Dragon Clan, Tiger Clan and Snake clan.

 

 

First Impressions

When creating your first character you get the choice between three clans, each of these clans have their own strengths and weaknesses and start off in a different town. There are also different weapons that these clans are specialized in and you can choose between three different weapons. I chose to go for the Tiger Clan because of the weapons; the weapons I could choose from are the Thin Blade, Long spear and Gauntlet. Since the Long spear was looking like a winner I chose the spear. There were also a few minor customization features available to tweak when creating your character but I didn’t spend very long messing with them.

 

 

When creating your character apparently they show you some high level gear because the long spear I fell in love with got replaced with just a simple looking spear. Disappointed, I set out on some quests to try to find something closer to the spear of my dreams. In most of the MMORPGs it is the golden question mark that shows you that you can complete or find a quest. I got a question mark in the middle of my screen and couldn’t click on it nor could I find its purpose.

 

 

After a long search of the interface menus I finally found its purpose. It turns out a NPC with an important quest was calling for me. This was a really ridiculous way to alert me and I would have just preferred an auto path option. When I finally accepted the quest, it turned out to be the tutorial because the old man just wanted me to visit some locals that would tell me their story and their purpose in the town.

 

Meditating over the meaning of life, and the meaning of the golden question mark


Gameplay

When I got into the game I was a little bit disappointed, the game’s graphics were a bit dated. I also discovered that wasd keys were not available to move my character around. Unfortunately it is a point and click only system. As I went to talk with several NPCs I saw different mounts and pet’s people carried with them. There are several mounts I saw while walking through the city; besides the several unique looking bears I also saw a tiger that looked like it was covered in blood.

 

 

I also saw a variety of flying pets including wasps, dragons, birds and other demon looking pets. These pets all have different level requirements and there is a wide variety in choices. They all have unique extra abilities that they will give you so there is some strategy in choosing a pet that compliments your weapon style. The pets also seem to be built on an individual leveling system that adds a nice side venture of training various pets for battle.

 

 

In Twelve Sky 2 it is also possible to craft items, combine items and enchant items. Enchanting item’s can give your weapon a really nice visualization effect that will even make you look more awesome. If you want to enchant an item you can open up the Item Enchanting Calculator on several fan sites to calculate the chances to succeed, break, or fail your enchantment. I highly recommend putting in the research before upgrading valuable gear because you’ll be shedding some tears if you destroy your legendary equipment in this game.

 

 

Graphics

Twelve Sky 2 isn’t a bad looking game but it has its own style that I personally don’t like. They try to create the aura of Ancient China but it never felt authentic to me. They also give the sky some weird looking colors to make the feeling grimmer. To play Twelve Sky 2 the game requires you to have at least a Pentium 3 800 Mhz processor along with 512 MB of RAM and a GeForce FX 5200 or Radeon 7600 video card. If you have no idea whatsoever about computers but do know how old your computer is. I would say everyone that has a computer that is made after the year of 2004 is pretty much set to play this Twelve Sky 2.

 

Item Mall

As most Free-to-play MMORPGs, Twelve Sky 2 also has an Item Mall where you can buy items with real money. It is possible to buy several different items such as: skills, potions, enchants, scrolls and mysterious boxes. There is also the possibility to buy Mounts and Pets. I feel the Item Mall does make the game pay to win for the Player versus Player aspect of the game. Some skills in particular seemed pretty unbalanced to have available as cash shop items.

 

Conclusion

Twelve Sky 2 offers a lot of gameplay features such as Player versus Player, crafting, enhancements, pets and mounts. I personally didn’t like the style of Twelve Sky 2 because it screamed an Asian theme to the point that I felt nauseated. Nonetheless this game has a really kick ass combat system along with awesome looking skills. If you are a fan of Asian RPGs with shiny glowing weapons 10 times the size of your character, then I would recommend you to try out Twelve Sky 2 because that’s exactly what you’re getting into.

Star Wars The Old Republic: An Introduction

Star Wars The Old Republic: An Introduction

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Starting today I will be writing a series of articles building up to the release of Star Wars the MMO. In this article I will be introducing this wonderful title that is coming in the end of 2011 and the confirmed release date is December 20 for the Americans and December 22 for the Europeans! Currently the closed beta is live and only a small amount of players are invited. There are several testing phases though so if you haven’t been invited yet, keep trying. Luckily my friend scored invites and was willing to share with me so expect some insider coverage in my next article!

 

 

Star Wars is most likely the biggest fantasy/science fiction film series of all time. Made by George Lucas, the first trilogy started in the 70’s and 80’s, the second one was made in 1999 and the last movie released was in 2005. There was an MMO made during the reign of the follow-up trilogy that has since fallen out of style, leaving a hole in the hearts of Star Wars fans and MMO gamers everywhere. Star Wars The Old Republic, being developed by the legendary devs at Bioware, will return the Star Wars universe to the MMO genre with a whole new storyline.

 

 

The setting is 300 years after the events of Bioware’s Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series. For anyone not familiar with these top titles, this series truly set the bar for every RPG game to come. The KOTOR series consists of the same classic Sith vs Jedi wars that made Star Wars famous in the 70s. The KOTOR series however takes place 3,500 years before the Star Wars films and the story is much more political and deep than the movies themselves. If you haven’t played these games yet I believe they are both available at a discount on Steam. If you care at all about story telling you will want to catch up on the tale before jumping into the upcoming MMO.

 

 

Now back to Star Wars The Old Republic. The Jedi are held responsible for the success of the Sith during the devastating 28-year-long Great Galactic War and the Jedi have relocated themselves on the planet Tython. This is the place where the Jedi Order had initially been founded, to seek guidance from the Force. The Sith control Korriban, where they have re-established a Sith Academy. You enter this universe as a fresh recruit for one of these two warring factions.

 

 

Now for the people that aren’t been familiar with the “Force” : The Force is an all binding power between organisms and energy. Some people in the known Star Wars universe are force sensitive; this means they are able to utilize the Force as an extension of their own will. With this power many things can be done and people are able to achieve different skills and abilities.

 

 

The Force is balanced between Good and Evil. The Jedi are the peacemakers in Star Wars The Old Republic and the Sith prefer to use it more to their evil likings. The Jedi respect the universum and serve any living organism with any problem that might occur. The Sith however use the Dark side of the Force to manipulate powerful leaders and craft the Universe to their choosing. They get their power from hate, egoism and passion.

 

 

Star Wars The Old Republic is going to be a MMORPG similar in the style of other currently Pay to Play released MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. This is Bioware’s first MMORPG, and they are trying to make SW:TOR different from most MMORPGs while not straying too far into the unknown regions of development.

 

 

Because Star Wars is a really known franchise in the world right now people have high hopes for the game to become a top seller. Bioware realizes this and knows that if they can provide the basics of a solid MMO with high production values, the brand will sell itself.

 

 

As such the combat is standard MMO goodness but the storyline is intricate, giving players a wide variety of choices in progressing their own personal storyline. This is nearly unheard of in the MMO genre because of the difficulties in producing custom crafted storylines for literally hundreds of thousands of players without breaking game immersion. There are a lot of choices you can make between the Light side and the Dark side and your character will evolve to a different personage every time you make a choice. In essence they have crafted a MMO theme park like so many others, but one in which you can choose to take the soft core left track or go for the full on 360 degree loop on the right track!

 

 

Another big feature Bioware is using to differentiate itself is Space Combat. Every character in Star Wars The Old Republic will obtain its own space ship; this ship can be used for Space Combat or travelling to other planets. The ship will also serve as your ‘home’ where many tools and resources can be stored. Every character that will help you and join you in your journey will take residence in your own Space Ship so you can easily find them if you require their help. There isn’t a lot of information released about the Space Combat, yet there are several videos you can find on YouTube regarding the Space Combat should you seek them out. There is no information however of what purpose the Space Combat will have so this is still one big mystery for everyone and I personally cannot wait to fly with my own ship in space and shoot some evil scum.

 

 

Races & Classes

There are many playable races and classes. Only a few of them are known so far, but I expect there might be even more added to this list in the future.

 

Chiss

Human

Miraluka

Mirialen

Rattataki

Sith Pureblood

Twi’lek

Zabrak


Everyone known in the Star Wars universe might remember a few of these and most of them are found in the KOTOR series or even the Star Wars movies.

 

 

The current classes are playable for the Republic, please note that these classes can be played by several races so you have a lot of choice:

Republic Trooper

Smuggler

Jedi Knight

Jedi Consular

 

 

The following classes are known for the Sith Empire:

Bounty Hunter

Imperial Agent

Sith Warrior

Sith Inquisitor

 

 

I’ll go into greater detail on the specializations of each class after I get a bit more time in beta to see their strengths and weaknesses.

 

System Specifications

Bioware has given the following system specifications for Star Wars The Old Republic:

  • Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4000 or better / Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0 Ghz or better
  • Memory: At least 1.5 GBRAM for XP / 2 GB or better for Windows Vista/7
  • Graphics: ATI XT1800 or better / NVIDIA7800 or better / Intel 4100 or better. 256 MB minimum video RAM, shader 3.0 or better fully compatible graphics card.
  • OS: Windows XP / Vista / Windows 7
  • DVD-ROM: 8x or better

 

The requirements are really not demanding that much of your machine and everyone with a computer that has been purchased in the last 5 years should easily be set to play this game.

Conclusion

As stated above Star Wars The Old Republic will hit the shelves in December which is only 2 months away. Personally I was absolutely thrilled when my friend said he’d lend me his beta account and I definitely intend to buy the Collectors’ Edition of the game. Bioware has released details regarding the Collectors’ Edition and I must say this is most likely the priciest Collectors’ Edition I’ve ever seen, coming in at $150.

 

 

I feel Star Wars The Old Republic will be bringing back the glory days of Star Wars Galaxies which is the previous MMO that was involved in the Star Wars Universe. With that game gone, this is the only way I can get my Star Wars MMO fix! I will continue making articles about my experience in the Star Wars beta so be sure to follow us on twitter and facebook to keep update on when my next article arrives!

Prius Online Reveals Stronghold in the North

Prius Online Reveals Stronghold of the North

 

 

Bitter cold and powerful bestias await only the most fearless players in Prius Online’s newly unveiled update – Stronghold of the North.  With an extended level cap, the addition of a completely new region to an already far-reaching world, and three entirely new dungeons, this expansion will begin challenging Prius’ chosen warriors on October 26th.

 

 

The lush jungles and harsh flames of Prius’ central continent are nothing compared to the unbearable cold of the northern expanse.  Stronghold of the North extends the world map, adding several new zones and the great fortress of Himes, a major hub for those searching for more challenging monsters or the rarest herbs and ores.  To combat these new trials and prepare adventurers for the bestias that roam behind the battlements, the level cap will be increased to from 60 to 70.  To further complement this, 500 new quests will be scattered throughout Prius for all players to enjoy.

 

 

The snowy biome will also be the gateway to three new dungeons, each with its own unique design and perils.  These dungeons – Regna Castrum, Void Tower, and Lake Garden – have been specifically designed to be far more complex than any others to date.  Players must be sure to avoid underestimating the dangers that wait, lest they find misery and death in place of the valuable loot they original sought.

Trion’s RIFT and Extra Life Partner for Charity

Trion’s RIFT and Extra Life Partner for Charity

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-Chief

 

 

True OnRPG veterans may remember a writing couple known as the Doyles (Jonathan Doyle and Meticulous Meta) from last year who provided regular columns describing the continuing growth of City of Heroes and RIFT. Well OnRPG is proud to announce their return to the writing staff as well as a charity event they will be participating in tomorrow!

 

 

Meticulous Meta is working as a representative between Extra Life and RIFT to raise money for the University of California Davis’ Children’s Miracle Network Hospital to raise money through the best means she knows how, gaming marathons! Meta along with countless other gamers agreed that on October 15th, they would play one hour of RIFT for each dollar donated, and people have already donated countless dollars to the cause to help children’s hospitals around the country.

 

 

Now Meta is dedicated to a 24 hour gaming marathon of RIFT on Saturday to fulfill her promise. But I want to challenge the community to help this cause further. Feel free to visit her donation page and cheer her on with your comments or donate a $1 to help the children of Northern California out. Also be sure to check out Extra Life’s website to see how you can play games to help children in need!

 

 

Once again, OnRPG welcomes back the Doyles, and I am looking forward to the return of OnRPG’s RIFT column in the coming weeks!

Xotic Review: Freaky Alien Fun

Xotic Review – Freaky Alien Fun

By Michael Sagoe (Mikedot), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

 

Indie game developer WXP Games has just unleashed a strange new title that’s as fun as it is freaky. Xotic is an arcade style first person shooter that’s all about racking up mean scores for killing enemies, grabbing power ups and starting off huge chain reactions. It’s about as straight forward as a game can get, but let’s see if the core gameplay has enough going for it to warrant the small price tag.

Gameplay

The premise behind Xotic is simple: You’re an alien dude with an alien gun in an alien world that must stop an alien orb from destroying the alien planet. Not much going on here in terms of a story, but obviously it’s not the main selling point. You’ll be using your bizarre weapon (or should I say creature) called a Macroterra that morphs, mutates and transforms into various different gun. This crazy thing is your pistol, your shotgun, your sniper rifle and many other weapons all rolled into one.

 

Each level revolves around defeating several enemies including a “champion” enemy (which is really just regular enemies as a selected targeted) and finishing off the level while collecting power ups and score boosters as you go.

 

 

These elements alone would make for an average game, and if you’re only looking to do one initial playthrough, you’ll only be getting a few hours out of this, as enemies are pretty dumb and only exist in the game as kill fodder. The fun comes combining all these elements: killing enemies, grabbing power ups and shooting infected planets, all into one huge chain. With that in mind, Xotic is a game that demands to be replayed over and over, re-doing missions to improve your skills and your score, and then checking out the leaderboards to match up your puny score against the world. Getting high scores and perfect chains are tough, but just replaying the stages over and over just to see if I could get a perfect chain going gives the sensation of knocking over a bunch of dominoes… and it feels strangely satisfying.

 

 

Controls

Xotic uses those familiar FPS controls you’re all used to, and for the most part, the feel of the controls are decent. However, some collision detection problems were apparent that made my character get hung up on a few rocks, totally screwing up my runs. Running, jumping and platforming would have been decent if jumping didn’t feel so floaty, which makes halograms riding a bit annoying when you’re trying to get off the ground as fast as possible.

 

 

Another issue with the controls is in regards to how fast you can switch weapons. Since the whole point of the gameplay is to dispatch enemies and shoot targets as fast as possible to maintain a high score, then why does it take a second or so to switch between weapon types? That mere second could be the factor that makes or breaks a good high score, and this small issue really effects the game’s pacing.

 

 

Overall, the controls work, but they could be better.

 

 

Grahpics/Presentation

From a visual standpoint, Xotic has a nice and creepy look to it, with an overall design which is sure to please any fan of sci-fi. From a graphical standpoint, Xotic seems very dated, as textures look rather damp and blurry. Visual effects are constantly flying, making your PC screen look like it’s about to barf up a rainbow (whether that’s a good or bad thing is up to you.) Sound effects are average at best, and while the music here isn’t too bad, it doesn’t do such a great job in setting the mood.

 

Pretty liiiiiiights…….

Conclusion

Xotic sure is a strange game… A strange game that certainly doesn’t push the FPS genre forward, but manages to provide decent fun for anyone that wants a little arcade action every now and then.

 

 

Gameplay – 4

Controls – 2

Graphics – 3

Allods Online Undaunted Now Live

Allods Online: Undaunted Now Live

 

 

At last, the newest update for AAA MMORPG Allods Online has arrived! Players in both North America and Europe can now dive into Allods Online: Undaunted and get the first taste of the greatly anticipated survival mode, powerful new classes, and an enhanced new player experience. To celebrate, publisher gPotato is giving away boxes of Gem Shards (Boutique Coins in Europe), an alternative Item Shop currency, to each and every Allods player!

 

 

The gift boxes contain anywhere from 100 to 1000 gPotatos ($1.00/€1.00 to $100/€100) and were be distributed to all existing accounts on October 12. New accounts made after October 12 will be given one Box of Gem Shards once a character on the account has reached level 20. Get that hat or mount feed you’ve always wanted without paying a cent! Or try out the newly introduced Hall of Changes to revitalize an old character with a new hair style, skin tone, and even gender.

 

 

Allods Online: Undaunted has a lot to offer for both new and high-level players, starting with changes to the new player experience which make it easier than ever to enjoy the MMORPG that’s been embraced by over 3.5 million players worldwide. The removal of the fatigue system and adjustments to enemies’ health makes leveling faster but takes none of the bite out of Allods’ famously tough monsters. There’s also a new zone for Imperial players levels 5-6, and two new classes – an Elven psionicist and Xadaganian mage – for both factions to master.

 

 

Players at the highest levels will have plenty to enjoy in the Mausoleum of Sparks, a brand new dungeon that introduces a survival mode to Allods Online. The players who kill the most monsters and survive the longest will receive permanent rewards to show off their status! Train to compete in the new zone, Kingdom of Elements, which sports the toughest monsters Allods has ever seen, or practice PvP in the Arena of Death with its improved, join-from-anywhere matchmaking system and always-open schedule.

AQ Worlds 3rd Birthday Celebration Tomorrow!

Adventure Quest Worlds Celebrates 3 Years Tomorrow!

 

 

Artix Entertainment will be hosting a third birthday celebration of MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds in-game this Friday, October 14th at 6 PM EDT.

 

Players of all levels, new and old, are invited to participate in this spectacular in-game celebration. AdventureQuest Worlds developers are promising the biggest Special Event in the history of the game. In fact, it will be so big that they are adding additional game servers, raising the level cap to 45, and splitting the celebration into two weeks: the first half will be released tomorrow, October 14th, and the second half will be released next Friday, October 21st.

 

“This is a dream come true for the AQWorlds team,” said Adam Bohn, CEO/Founder of Artix Entertainment, LLC. “They Might Be Giants is an amazing band and a lot of us and our players have been fans for years. Now we get to introduce a whole new generation of gamers to TMBG! We are thrilled that they agreed to partner with us and the best part is that they seem as excited about the event as we are. Working with them has been a lot of fun!”

 

The two-part birthday event is titled “The Collector” and will take players on a unique series of adventures with evil aliens, dinosaurs, clones, and time machines! As in every weekly release in an Artix Entertainment game, this release will consist of all new content (new zones, quests, bosses, Event Rare armors, weapons, helms, pets, etc.). Unlike any of the other releases, there will be cut scenes with voice acting by the talented John Flansburgh and John Linnell of two-time Grammy Award-winning band They Might Be Giants. Each new zone of the event will play a They Might Be Giants song in the background. Some songs that will be in the game are: Dr. Worm, The Mesopotamians, Ana Ng, When Will You Die, and at least one never-before-heard song produced and recorded specifically for the AdventureQuest Worlds third birthday event.

 

When players log in to www.AQ.com tomorrow at 6 PM EDT, they will be teleported to another time and place where a giant Collector traps them in a fishbowl-like setting to be a part of his rare collection of “People With Great Destinies” before they achieve their great fates. Along with the players, the Collector has also collected a young boy named Drakath (who, as an adult, is a major villain in AQWorlds), and the band They Might Be Giants. With the help of the young Drakath and They Might Be Giants, players must find a way to escape the Collector’s world. They will need to find a way to steal the teleportation device from the Collector, activate it, and figure out how to teleport back to their own time and place. But if the device isn’t handled properly, it could teleport them to a prehistoric age with dinosaurs, shatter into a thousand pieces, or worse. They Might Be Giants are widely considered to be Brooklyn’s alternative rock pioneers. The band was formed in 1990 and since then has sold four million records worldwide, won two Grammy Awards: one for their theme to the TV sitcom Malcolm in the Middle and one for their children’s album Here Come the 123s, and their album Flood has been certified platinum by the RIAA. The band is currently on tour for their latest album Join Us, which is their highest charting album to-date.

They Might Be Giants’ songs have appeared on numerous television programs and films such as TV shows Drinky Crow Show and Malcolm in the Middle as well as movies Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and Coraline. The band has composed and performed music for the Disney Channel programs Higglytown Heroes and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  And the band has also recorded covers of songs for Disney movies Meet the Robinsons and Sky High. 

WHAT: AQWorlds Third Anniversary

WHEN:
Friday, October 14th @ 6 PM (EDT)

WHO: They Might Be Giants, the AE Team, & YOU!

WHY:  To help They Might Be Giants escape from the Collector so they can achieve their great destinies

WHERE: In-game at www.AQ.com