Monthly Archives: October 2013

Shotgun News 10/7: City of Titans, Everquest II, and Yulgang 2

City of Titans Reaches Kickstarter Goal in 5 Days

Just five days after the start of the City of Titans Kickstarter campaign Missing Worlds Media has reached their goal of raising $320,000. And now they move into the stretch goals. With goals already listed including an Andriod port of the avatar builder, an iOS port of the same, and Mac support there is still a lot to come. Congratulations Missing Worlds Media! Be sure to check out Meticulous Meta’s interview with the developers of City of Titans.

 

Everquest II Tears of Veeshan Expansion Pre-Order Now Available

Pre-Orders have begun for Everquest II’s upcoming expansion Tears of Veeshan. Pricing ranges from $39.99 for the standard edition to $59.99 for the collectors edition. Both editions come with added goodies including a pre order exclusive cloak and much more.

 

Yulgang 2 Announces 2013 Launch

Cubizone has announced that free to play Yulgang 2 will launch in South East Asia in the 4th quarter of 2013. No IP block will mean that anyone can play from anywhere in the world and the teaser website does have an option for English. So have a look at the video below and get ready for fun.

Forced Beta Review – The Smart Gamer’s RPG

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

Forced Preview 1

Forced is a new upcoming co-op game that can be played alone or together with 3 other friends. This tactical arcade action game offers something different than just the RPG elements we have seen in many other online RPGs. In Forced you will also have to use puzzle elements in your arena to gain the advantage on your opponents. While facing scary monsters, strong bosses and other deadly trials, you and your guardian will have to complete many challenges to earn your freedom. Together with your spirit mentor, you will have to face these strong creatures and solve the puzzles to go further than anyone has ever been forced to before!

You are made for this, born for this, enslaved for this. You are a gladiator, one that has to earn its freedom, where no one succeeded. You will have to, or face death and be seen as a weakling, one of the many that has fallen. Play one of the four available classes, and hack and slash your way to the many challenges you will have to face in order to be called champion. These classes however aren’t really classes that are bound to your character. Rather you should see them as weapon kits. You can choose whatever you want to roll with before you head into the challenge or arena, and if you fail said challenge you are free to change to a different weapon kit and try your best with that. Currently the four weapon kits are two daggers (ideal for fast and flashy melee dps), the bow (specialized in crippling and blasting foes from a safe distance), a hammer (for those that prefer power over speed), and a shield (that not only defends but can be thrown like a Frisbee to pull off some neat tricks). As you level up you will gain more and more skills automatically for each weapon kit, and thus you can really play around with the type of skills you want to be using. You can build and play each class with your own personal flair. And sometimes a challenge is easier to do with a bow, than with only a sword, and the game really lets you play around with the many possibilities to survive the gauntlet each level throws at you.

Forced Preview 2

In the first five challenges you will learn to play around with your spirit mentor. This spirit mentor is basically your guide; he will help you throughout the game with the many challenges you will face. He is your only friend and plenty more useful than that nagging Navi from Zelda so treat and use him well. In every arena you can use your spirit mentor to fly over things, to either complete an objective, or to get some extra help like healing or a shockblast to keep your enemies away. They are also used for completing spirit guide specific puzzles, ones that are not as easy as they first appear. Your guide can only fly towards you or your ally on command, so players will have to position themselves and time movement properly, all the while enemy monsters will be eating your toes and fingers. I personally am a big fan of the keyboard when playing action RPGs, but in Forced you can also hook up your controller and use it. I have tested both, and I must say both of these work extremely well. The simplicity of your actions are ideal for controllers. Each challenge also has a timer and a special bonus objective. Completing the challenge before the timer and doing the special objective will give you more rewards, but these extra objectives are no joke, and are seriously hard to do so. Even in the earlier missions I had trouble doing them. I highly suggest grabbing a friend or three if you want to have a chance at completing them later on.

Forced Preview 3

Each challenge has a surprise for you, and that is not meant in a good way. Every boss, monster or challenge you face will have only one objective, to kill you. But Forced isn’t really about you getting killed, it is about you staying calm. Every attack can be dodged, and if done well you can complete all the challenges without ever getting hit. This however sounds easier than it is, and with the many challenges you will have to face, you will have to be lucky to pass through any of them on the first try. Everything is out there to kill you, including the map or arena itself, and thus it is your job to anticipate everything, and expect the worse because you will get your ass kicked in this game, that is fact you can be sure of.

Forced Preview 4

A key component to know about when playing alone and especially when playing with friends is the mark system. Every attack against an enemy gives them one mark. You can use your spells when you have a mark on an enemy, and you can give the enemy a total of 5 marks. As you might have guessed, every mark adds bonus damage, so you want to have as many marks on the enemies before you cast your spells. With some classes you can even refresh your cooldowns with these marks, and thus it is very important to use them wisely. In essence it works similar to a mana system that is balanced across your entire team, requiring focused teamwork and coordination to make the best use of it.

Forced Preview 5

Current Verdict: Excellent

Forced brings back the puzzle action games where you will have to think twice before you actually act. The huge variety of puzzles that are available on each challenge make you wish your brain was a bit more agile and reactive. When the monsters spawn, and the time is running you better have thought of a plan to dispatch them the most efficiently, or you will be in big trouble when the monsters are chewing on you. Staying calm under pressure is your best asset, and one this game will train you to improve through frustrating losses. Granted that’s hard to do when your cocky spirit guide is telling you to focus all the time. Every attack can be dodged, every monster can be killed and every puzzle can be done, even if it’s not obvious the first time through. This is the first game I’ve reviewed for OnRPG in quite a while where I will recommend playing with friends not for the firepower they bring, but just for the value a second line of thought can bring to solve a puzzle before you can figure it out. Your buddy blowing up a hoard of orcs with a spirit guide bomb might just save your life.

If you’re game, grab early access on Steam now and start training your team for the upcoming tournament on the 11th!

Andromeda 5

Andromeda 5 is a free to play, cross-platform sci-fi RPG. Over 20 beautiful galaxies filled with alien life, freelancers, traders, and more await. Train your pilot in over 30 skills, choose (and upgrade) from 15 different ships, and complete over 200 different missions alone or with friends.

Shotgun News 10/4: Allods Online and Tera: Rising

Allods Online Launches Subscription Based Server Today

allods_online_everlasting_battle_subscribie_2

Today Webzen launched the new subscription based server for the European Community. Users can choose to join the new server named Everlasting Battle and never have to worry about microtransactions or the cash shop. Unfortunately players cannot transfer already existing characters, instead being encouraged to use this chance to revitalize their experience.

 

Tera: Rising Europe Goes Steampunk in October Update

A few months after the North American servers Tera EU is going Steampunk with the Steampunk Workshop update. Four new dungeons have been added which includes a 10 man raid, and more. In addition new items have been added in PvE, PvP, and Crafting. The item store also has the addition of new Steampunk themed equipment.

Hero Bash

Hero Bash is a quirky “party MOBA” for mobile devices. Choose a hero, and then head out to battle, impress your fans, and collect on presents that offer you special bonuses! Eight heroes, each with their own unique skills and a primary trait, await you.

Neos Land

Neos Land is a fantasy open-world MMORPG, where players are encouraged to pioneer the world from the beginning. Building new settlements, explore and meet new people and encounter new realms, or lean back and study technological advancements to become more powerful.

Features:

Land Ownership: Players can purchase land, which can then be used for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes. As a bonus, all buildings will be non-instanced, creating a seamless world experience.

Player Owned Dungeons: Players can create their own instanced dungeons to watch others adventurer (and maybe even pluck off a little loot from the unfortunate).

Affinity Skill Based System: No levels or classes to fuss about: just decide what you want to do and go from there. Log off inside your library and let your avatar learn from some books, to come back later and have learned new skills!

Path of Exile 1.0 Launch Preview

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), General Manager

 Path Of Exile Scion Poster

When Path of Exile first launched into open beta earlier this year, my long time Diablo fanatic of a friend and I were all over it. Little did we know this true successor of the ARPG realm from a small garage style indie group out of New Zealand was going to blow up into the mega success it is now. From a rough estimate of 600,000 registered accounts back then to over 3,000,000 and counting, Path of Exile has found success in an industry of hard knocks and constant closures. Unfortunately time moved on and I fell out from the game. So when Grinding Gear Games hit me up saying that were in my neighborhood offering early demos of Patch 1.0, aka the official launch, I was there. And with over 25 patches and countless hotfixed bugs gone since my earlier play session, there was a lot of new to take in.

Path Of Exile Scion

The Scion

For starters let’s focus on the biggest addition to the game of value. Grinding Gear Games is introducing a Prestige Class offering some of the greatest build customization of any class in-game. With so much freedom in Path of Exile’s massive skill tree though, it would be rather unavoidable for newbies to gimp themselves with this class. As such the Scion will only be unlockable by players who have reached the end of the game and unlocked her from a cage.

The Scion starts smack in the center of the skill tree and gains advantages from dexterity, strength, and intellect in a crazy hybrid magic sword throwing super combo class. This differs from the classes in-game now as most have to crawl through a winding track of skills and forced circles before they can reach the freeway system that can expedite building towards the skills on the outer rim or towards other stats not inherent to their class. Instead you can head down two separate freeway lines and find yourself combining outer rim talents from the furthest reaches of both strength and magic that you may have never been viably possible before.

Path Of Exile Phantom Blades

In terms of unique attacks, the Scion specializes in throwing a spectral copy of her weapon at range. This can get you the power of a melee weapon that you can unleash on your foes at a safe distance. And when combined with the new Trigger Gem system, this is a big deal.

Path OF Exile Trigger Gems

Trigger Gems
Trigger Gems are new support link gems similar to past support gems, but allowing you to attach multiple on-hit (offensive) or on-damage (defensive) abilities tied to a single weapon or armor piece. What does that mean in English? It means if you’re a gambling man, you can throw a gem into place with a percentage chance that not only multiple strings of lightning will come out, but maybe an explosion of flame will compliment it. The defensive trigger gems work the same way when you take damage, meaning if you stick various ones in different segments of your gear, you can turn yourselfinto a walking firework display. Be sure to check out James’ MMOHuts’ News Recap next week for a preview of the awesomeness because words just don’t do it justice.

Path Of Exile Explosive Scion

Ranged Balance

One element Chris Wilson made sure to emphasis was a push to take away the advantage ranged characters have in PvE. Currently ranged characters can typically stand back in most cases and not risk their HP bar in the slightest except in some truly dicey situations or boss battles. New monster types are being added to counter this by offering impenetrable shields to mobs that players will be forced to walk inside of to deal damage to these foes. Ranged attacks can even bounce off them in some cases, sending your own ranged attacks back in your face if you’re spamming skills without care.

Path of Exile Ranged Balance

Exploration

Three new tileset dungeons are being implemented with update 1.0 that should add some variety into the world of long time Path of Exile players. And heck if you’re a new player you’ll eventually appreciate that they exist as well. For those not in the known, maps generate from one of multiple possibilities each time you enter them, meaning the addition of a few more maps is quite a project for Grinding Gear to push out.

Path Of Exile Bear Skele

Beyond this there are plenty of new monsters, reskinned monsters, and combinations of the two waiting around every corner to ambush you, including a skeleton bear in the new library maps that looks like it’s part of the scenery until it pounces. If you’re tired it might make you jump so watch out for that library. It’s creepy even by Path of Exile standards.

Path Of Exile New Dungeons

The End is only the Beginning

And of course a game wouldn’t be able to claim it’s in launch state without a proper “ending.” Path of Exile won’t disappoint here as I was thrown on my Scion into a one on one match (more like massacre!) against this demonic entity. It might be cliché to say they throw everything but the kitchen sink at you in this match, but it’s the truth! This boss summons an endless barrage of minions, shoots lightning bolts that break into further lightning bolts until the entire map is bouncing with DoT tiles, shoots a concentrated long duration ray of ice can track you as fast as he can turn, meaning distance or map obstacles offer the only counter-play, and even make soft ice walls with a hefty slowing effect around him to punish melee players for getting in range to deal some damage. And if you’re ranged and think you’re safe, he’ll place a curse on you that will make his minions self-destruct as soon as they’re in range of you. And that’s only his first form!

Path OF Exile Final Boss

Brace for his transformation into a giant Cerberus type being that can pull you across the map to him if you flee, deal massive damage, and even make it rain polluted blood that forces you into a tiny safe zone on the map. And because he’s a nice guy, he’ll often be standing in the middle of the safe zone taking up 90% of its space waiting for you to pick your poison. I wish I could share more but I’m not the most veteran Exile and barely lived long enough to experience a few rounds of his attack style in this form. Thank you defensive Scion tank build! Is this his final form? Is it really the end?! You’ll have to face this end-game monster yourself and let me know.

Path Of Exile 2

PvP

New types of PvP offerings are on the way starting with a tried and true classic. Those familiar with the bandit raid event in the Second Act will have a general idea of how the new Capture The Flag PvP mode is going to play out. Players will have to force their way into the enemy’s base as teams of five or six (final testing pending). Speed will come into play in tactics though, especially with the addition of new PvP Tournaments.

Hour long PvP tournaments will be on in which players will have to rack up wins through a set system or mode. The more wins you get in the hour, the better your chance of coming out on top with prizes. Therefore just winning isn’t enough as winning decisively will ensure overall victory in these time trials.

Finally we’ll have match-making on tap to get you paired up against players of your skill/power level to see how you truly stack up in the game. Rewards will be available only through these PvP modes so those looking for rare loot will need to sign up and prove their worth against actual thinking foes.

Guilds

Shared stashes are arriving at last for guilds, including permission settings to make sure that the leader’s most trusted officers can hand out the goods when he or she is out of action. In addition various challenge leagues will offer guild points so participants can prove their faction is the best overall while still earning points and rewards for their personal records and stash in the process. No downside? Sign me up! And yes Guild Versus Guild CTF battles are coming as well. I look forward to that perhaps most of all.

Path Of Exile 3

Leagues

Leagues offer awesome microcosms that excel at both introducing and testing new elements to the game as well as granting universes where new players can get on their feet without seeing overpowering advantages in the hands of more veteran players. And they aren’t going anywhere as a series of brand new leagues are on the way soon. In addition the Rogue Exiles have been added to the primary game, proof that truly popular league concepts can become general gameplay at the community’s request.

Path Of Exile Future

Looking into the Future

But if you’re worried that eventually Grinding Gear is just going to eventually give up and continue throwing the same recycled Leagues at you, the good news is the initial success has allowed them to expand, hire new staff, new artists, and even plan for a decade of updates with massive expansions rolling out on a four month schedule and balance changes and minor patches as fast as every two weeks. In addition the skill tree is not static as 1.0 is bringing 3 new active and 6 passives into the quagmire of branching possibilities. And on October 23rd, Path of Exile hits Steam complete with a new set of rewards and Steam badges to keep you completionists busy for hours.

There’s never been a better time to be exiled by your king and left to die than next week so don’t miss the action. And keep an eye out for ApocaRUFF as we’re throwing him into this mess to bring a fresh report from the front lines in our upcoming updated review next month!