Monthly Archives: July 2013

OnRPG Shotgun News 7/2: Guild Wars 2 and Defiance

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG News Monkey

 

Guild Wars 2 Announces Intense Update Schedule

In an intense update schedule more akin to something out of a MOBA than a MMORPG Guild Wars 2 players will get to experience new content every 2 weeks! The first of which was announced earlier today. Bazaar of the Four Winds is due to release July 9th. Included in the event will be exciting activities like Belcher’s Bluff Mini-game, an all new permanent mini-game. There will also be a new race, and a scavenger hunt. Players will be able to get new back items, a Personal Quartz Node which allows players to grow quartz in their home instance to complete new crafting recipes. The new achievement reward system will be put in place and a new pvp map will be introduced. Check out Colin Johanson talking about the future of the living story in GW2 below.

 

Defiance Introduces the Volge

You may have seen them in the Defiance TV show, well now you can expect them in the MMO. The Volge have arrived, even the raiders are afraid. But its up to the players to take part in the events which will hopefully push them back and make the area a little bit safer again.

Age of Wushu First Expansion Arrives August 8

Age of Wushu

 

Snail Games is proud to announce August 8 as the official release date
for Age of Wushu’s first North American expansion, Legends of Mount
Hua. Players will be treated to several exciting new features with the
expansion’s release, including the Mount Hua Competition, Yanmen Pass,
Youyun Sixteen Prefectures Battle Arena, Martial Brothers System,
Jianghu Status System, Jianghu Heroic Playstyle / Treasure System, and
Jianghu Gratitude / Revenge System.

To give readers even more of a glimpse at the upcoming content, the
Age of Wushu team has released new details and assets highlighting the
Jianghu Status System feature. Through this feature, players find a
new way to measure their relations among the world’s NPCs / Factions:
Jianghu Experience. Further details on gaining experience and
resulting rewards are as follows:

 

Age of Wushu

Faction Challenges – Successfully challenge and defeat the many
Factions in the world to rapidly increase your Jianghu Experience

Changing NPC Relations – Improve or worsen your relationship with
NPCs, both common and higher ranking, to increase Jianghu Experience

 

Age of Wushu

Unique Rewards – Build your Jianghu Experience to become renowned
amongst your peers and earn:

Items, costumes and titles
Quests, public events and world events
Single and multiplayer dungeons
Special battlefields

 

Age of Wushu

Please note that having enough Jianghu Experience is only the first
step, however, as players must also meet the individual requirements
for each NPC / Faction on the Jianghu Status screen. Conditions for
ordinary NPCs are relatively simple, while much more difficult for
world-renowned NPCs and Factions (yielding far better rewards).

Starforce Delta Review – A “Next Gen” Browser Game

By Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF), OnRPG Journalist

 

Starforce Delta is a new browser-based sci-fi game brought to us by Pro 3 Games. It is described as “next gen” and promises a high quality gaming experience like nothing you’ve seen before. It has intense, action-packed space combat coupled with character and ship progression. On top of this, the game requires no extra browser plug-ins to play. All of this combined should help Starforce Delta give its competitors a run for their money.

 

 

Customization

There isn’t too much to talk about. You get to choose your ship, which is nice. You can also choose to level up your ship. Most of the customization comes from picking and choosing components for your ship. That’s not to say that more customization options won’t be added to the game later on (they might), but that’s about all I saw in my time playing.

 

Starforce Delta Equipping

 

Graphics

The graphics aren’t amazing, but they are certainty impressive when you consider that no extra plug-ins are required to play the game. A lot of graphical browser games will ask you to download some plug-in to be able to play. With Starforce Delta, you just load up the webpage and enjoy some 3D space combat. But like I said, the graphics aren’t really anything to write home about – they get the job done and are decent looking if you don’t focus in on them. When you combine the lack of an extra plug-in download along with fast load times and the fact that I can play it in the browser, I am happy with the graphics.

 

Starforce Delta Graphics

 

Controls

Controlling the User Interface is done completely by mouse. Flying your ship, on the other hand, is done with a combination of keyboard and mouse. WASD is used for acceleration, and shift for boost. The mouse is used to point your ship in the right direction. Mouse button one and mouse button two are used to fire your primary and alternate weapons. Very simple, and quite effective.

 

I was impressed with the highly intuitive controls that Starforce Delta offers. They complement the fast pace of the game immensely, making it some of the most intense space combat I’ve experienced to date. It’s rare that a game has such a great control scheme that you seem to pick it up as if you’ve been using them your whole life. The only issue is, if you’re not using full-screen mode, it is very easy to accidentally throw your mouse out of the game window and click on something you didn’t mean to. Besides this minor issue, I had a blast with the controls.

 

 

Community

Starforce Delta has your typical online community that is a bit on the small side. It’s a new game that is very fun, though, so I’m not sure how long that will be accurate. Especially since it’s free to play. I never ran into a negative issue while playing. However, I never ran into any good or pleasant encounters, either. It was a bit of a dull environment.

 

 

Gameplay

I’m a bit torn on my opinion of Starforce Delta’s gameplay. While I do enjoy what is available, I can’t help but wish for what is not there. A majority of the game is centered around mission running and offers little more than co-op play in terms of multiplayer. I imagine how amazing the game would be if there was an EVE-like scale. I feel that it would have been a much grander game.

 

Starforce Delta Star Map

 

However, like I said, what is in the game is quite fun. The game has a rich lore that makes missions a bit more interesting. You will be completing objectives that are important to the mission objective, so it won’t always be “kill every wave of enemies until we say stop.” Sometimes it’ll be protecting freighters under attack, or hold your ground at a beacon while you wait for a friendly armada to warp in.

 

Starforce Delta Missions

 

The combat is done in a way that will keep you enticed. Maybe after an extended amount of playing (as with every game) you will get bored, but I didn’t get the impression that it would get boring anytime soon. It has a similar feel to some of my old favorite space-fighting games, while still offering a new experience. As I mentioned in the “Controls” section of the review, the controls really help with making the combat as good as it is by being intuitive – often it almost feels like the game knows what you’re trying to do and your ship will just do it.

 

Starforce Delta Combat

 

One of the more interesting features is the Frigate Defense. This is where you customize and upgrade a frigate, choosing its loadout. As far as I can tell, this never really comes into play for you, but is instead an objective for other players to attack and destroy. You can go to your scanner and scan for other nearby players to attack their frigate, which will reward you with experience, cores, and maybe some other goodies. It’s kind of a tower defense-type mode.

 

Starforce Delta Frigate

 

Conclusion

If you’re looking for a fun sci-fi mission runner, you should check this game out. It has a lot of promise. There is mission running, a bit of quasi-PVP, an interesting lore, character (ship) progression, and more. However, even though the game is as fun as it is, you can’t help but wish for what it isn’t at times (A full blown MMORPG). It has been wonderful spending a bit of time in Starforce Delta and I look forward to seeing how it evolves in the future.

 

Features: 2/5 – Not much.

Customization: 2.5/5 – There was an OK amount of customization.

Graphics: 3/5 – Impressed with what was available in the medium it was being played in.

Controls: 5/5 – Rarely am I this happy with the controls in a game.

Community: 2/5 – Nothing negative about the community, but there just isn’t many options for interacting with other players.

 

Overall: 3.5/5 – While there is a lot to be wished for, I had a great deal of fun playing.

Final Fantasy XIV Reaches 1 Million Beta Registrations

Square Enix, Inc., today announced that one million users have signed up to take part in the Beta Test of FINAL FANTASY® XIV: A Realm Reborn™, the highly anticipated MMORPG arriving August 27, 2013 for Windows PC and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system.

FFXIV Hits 1 Million Beta Registrations

A massive-scale RPG true to the legendary franchise, the title features new and unique gameplay mechanics, such as the “Limit Break” system (originally introduced in FINAL FANTASY® VII), and the Armoury system which allows users to experience all of the classes in the game on a single character, and cross-platform gameplay between PC and PlayStation®3 system.

Players looking to gain beta access can sign-up HERE.

FFXIV Miqote Chocobo

The PlayStation®3 system and Windows PC versions are currently in the third phase of beta testing. FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn will be available this August 27 for the $39.99 on the PlayStation®3 system and $29.99 for Windows PC. A free 30-day trial is also included for new accounts, with monthly subscriptions starting at $12.99. The Collector’s Edition will be available for $79.99 on the PlayStation®3 system at select retailers and the PC version will be sold exclusively through the Square Enix Online Store for $69.99. The game is also in development for the PlayStation®4 system and due to release in 2014.

Planetside 2: Sneaking a Peek at Battle Islands

PlanetSide 2

Sony Online Entertainment today notified PlanetSide 2 Outfit leaders that they must prepare to train the troops for 48×48 competitive combat, as Battle Islands are in development for Auraxis!

Battle Islands are designed to emulate the live game as closely as possible, but in a tighter space to encourage Outfit vs. Outfit competitive, close-quarters gameplay. Battle Islands will be integrated into the live game servers and will have a population cap. All gear, vehicles and features available in the open world of Auraxis will be available in the Battle Islands… just with fewer places to run or hide. Multiple win conditions will encourage both offensive and defensive tactics, so outfits will be challenged to come up with mixed-arms battle plans tailored for their opponents.

PlanetSide 2

To help Outfits prepare, SOE is giving players a sneak peek at one of the islands, Nexus. A throwback to the original PlanetSide battle islands and themes, the Nexus battle island features an icy terrain, complete with ice caves, alpine forests, frozen canyons and ice fields.

As troops train for Battle Islands, they can also start preparations for upcoming updates to the Infiltrator class. The Infiltrator will now be deadlier and stealthier than ever with updates including a stalker cloak, motion sensor and recon drone. Decoy grenades will also help the Infiltrator to distract enemy troops.