Monthly Archives: January 2014

Nosgoth Alpha Impressions

By Michael Sagoe (mikedot)

Nosgoth is an online multiplayer third person shooter that is set in the Legacy of Kain universe. Gameplay is heavily focused on player vs. player combat with two teams of four competing against each other as either a human or a vampire. Nosgoth also features three different playable classes for both the humans and vampires, allowing for some strategic formations and team-play.

At the time of this article, the game is currently in an alpha state, so many elements of the game are not quite ready to be shown to the public, but with my early access, I’m here to give you readers a brief look at what Nosgoth currently has to offer.

Since the game is only in an alpha state, the amount of options and in-game features available were limited. From the starting screen, players have access to an in-game profile, inventory, armory and an item shop. While the profile and inventory menus are fairly self-explanatory, the armory lets players learn more about the three playable classes for each race, as well as switch between loadouts for weapons, skills and abilities.

Nosgoth Preview 1

For the humans, we have the Hunters, Scouts and Alchemists.

  • Hunters play a well rounded combat role with automatic crossbows, bolas and grenades.
  • Scouts serve as long ranged combatants with hunting bows, and defensive abilities such as traps and turrets.
  • Alchemists can use grenade launchers and various forms of snares and blinds in order to control crowds of enemies.

For the Vampires, we have the Reavers, Sentinels and Tyrants.

  • Reavers are agile fighters that prefer to pick off single targets by using leaps, dodges and pounces.
  • Sentinels are winged creatures that can glide around the map by jumping off of high ledges, as well as drop in on unsuspecting enemies with dive bomb attacks.
  • Tyrants are brutal tanks that can absorb a ton of damage, as well as knock down any and all enemies with rush down attacks.

Each class can be individually leveled up, and players can also change up their abilities and equipment by purchasing them from the item shop.

So now that the general stuff is out of the way, let’s talk about the gameplay. At the moment, Nosgoth only features one game mode: Team Deathmatch. There’s an option to play with players that are ranked from 0 to 5, and an option to play with any player of any level.

Due to a small amount of players in the alpha test, starting up a match was a little bit more difficult than I expected, with average wait times for a single match around an hour of so, but luckily I was able to get just enough matches in to make a good assessment. Although, my first match ever was probably the most memorable of them all.

 

The Vampires

So for my first match, it was a team deathmatch set in a murky town called Valeholm, filled with plenty of abandoned houses and dark pathways to move through. The first round had me playing on the Vampire side, with my first class pick as the Reaver.

As soon as the round started, I quickly got acclimated to the controls. Default control scheme used WSAD for movement, LMB for attacks, RMB for alt fire/special skills and Q/F for abilities. Moving around as a Reaver, or every other vampire class, allows players to scale walls and tall building with ease, simply by holding down the shift key. Jumping from building to rooftop sort of reminded me of how movement works in games like Assassin’s Creed, which was a great feeling.

As quickly as I got used to how movement worked, it was time to find my first victims. While staying as high as I could on the rooftops, I spotted the enemy team out near the entrance of a bazaar, all brandishing crossbows and grenade launchers. Once they got closer to the building I was standing on, I threw down a smoke bomb to cloud their vision, and jumped down to their level. Next, I hid around the corner of the bazaar, waiting for one of them to come out, and as soon as one did, I lunged at them and started to tear into their flesh. With that well timed lunge, I managed to take down 80% of a single hunter’s HP. Sadly that was all I could do as the rest of the enemy team came to the hunter’s aid with bows blazing. I did the best I could to out run them, but too many well placed shots followed by a precise grenade lob turned my Reaver into mush.

Nosgoth Preview 2

After a few more tries with the Reaver, I switched to the Sentinel class to see how well I could stalk my prey from the skies. Just like with the Reaver, moving around from building to building was easy, and gliding around town for a fairly long amount of time was great, until a scout blasted me out of the sky with a burning arrow. While on the ground, the Sentinel has a few tricks up their sleeve in order to defend themselves, such as a mighty gust from their wings that sweeps enemies off their feet.

Nosgoth Preview 3

Lastly, I got a small chance to play as the Tyrant class before the round was over, and this beast has the slowest movement when it comes to its climbing ability, so I mostly had to stay on the ground. Charging down foes and absorbing damage has such a satisfying feeling of impact, and my presence was enough to force our disorganized opponents to break formation so that my teammates could swoop in and do some damage in more individual confrontations.

Despite having a rocking time, I and my team lost the first round with the humans scoring four more points than the vampires. Now it was time to switch places and play as the human team.

 

The Humans

When the match started, one of my teammates informed us to stick together at all times. It was kind of tense trying not to Rambo my way through everything like I usually do in shooting titles. But after playing on the vampire team myself, I understood the importance of moving as a unit. So playing as a hunter, I kept my eyes peeled to every corner and every rooftop to make sure we didn’t get ambushed, but unfortunately, one Reaver managed to breakthrough from my blind spot in a split second, and as soon as he got a hold of me, all hell broke loose and teamwork flew out the window. While the Reaver pinned me down, other hunters on my team threw a bola to constrict his movement and attacks, but then, that same Reaver activated a special evasive ability in order to break free and escape. Being the fool that I was, I decide to break from the group and finish him off.

Using my own bola, I constricted the Reaver again, and was able to fire off a few more crossbow shots to weaken him, until I had to reload, that is. The Reaver then took advantage of my situation and went straight for me with a pounce. Sadly, I was done for and the Reaver helped himself to a nice feast and regained some HP in the process.

Nosgoth Preview 4

Re-spawning back into the fray as an Alchemist, I rushed back to help support my teammates that were already dealing with a Tyrant and a Sentinel at the same time. I threw down a long firewall and a flash bomb in order to protect my teammates so we could escape, but it was no use, as the tyrant shrugged the burning damage off and came back for our heads.

For the most part, the rest of the match ended in a slaughter, and my team lost with twelve points behind on the enemy team.

It’s easy enough to think that the vampires are grossly overpowered, but after that first match and the ones after it, it became clear that teamwork will go a long way to victory, regardless of which side you’re on, as I managed to get devastated by a human team a couple of times here and there.

Nosgoth Preview 5

So far, I would like to say that as a team-based third person shooter, it’s certainly fun and has potential, but one thing that needs to be said is how well they will be able to truly incorporate the “Legacy of Kain” name into the final touches. There are a few familiar maps of areas from the series, but what I would like to see is some kind of cooperative play that features a continuation of the events that happened in Legacy of Kain: Defiance, as seen by both the human and vampire side.

The game already has some good ideas going for it, but if they can give some story driven co-op play a shot, it could easily become a game for all LoK fans to dig into.

Annihilation mode for Loadout revealed

Loadout

Edge of Reality, the creators by their upcoming F2P third-person shooter title, Loadout, has just released a new gameplay trailer featuring an upcoming game mode called “Annihilation”.

In this mode: Three previous game modes from Loadout get combined into one (Jackhammer, Blitz and Death Snatch), where players must work together to kill enemy players for extra points, steal a giant hammer from an enemy base and then use that hammer to destroy the enemy team’s power core. This mode also brings it together with the in-game character progression and power-ups, while supporting up to eight players at once and can be played in both exhibition and practice.

Loadout is currently available on Steam’s Early Acess program and will launch on January 31st. For more info, check out: http://www.loadout.com/

Inferno Legend Review – Good Times as the Dark Savior

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

Inferno Legend Review 2

In Chess, Someone Must Take the Black Pieces

Inferno Legend is a fairly unique game, and one that I fear perhaps tries to do both too much and too little at the same time.  It is a Turn-Based RPG and an MMO at the same time, which is quite the bold claim. Regrettably, the MMO function is very lacking, though the RPG portion of the game is prevalent.  In Inferno Legend, you play as a character in the service of Diablo, the Lord of Terror.  Instead of being a hero in this bold game, you take the dark turn, and serve as one of a number of different evil archetypes that all have unique skills and talents to serve the Dark Lord.  The story, while simple, is engaging.  It is a fairly rare thing in a game to be able to play from the perspective of the antagonists, or place the heroes in the antagonistic role as the case may be. So for this, I salute the producers for putting forth such a bold, intriguing product.  But is it ready for the masses? I fear that it is not.  The game spends a fair amount of time teaching you the systems that it employs so that you may spend lots of time mastering them, but these same systems tend to be quite restrictive towards your freedom.

The story is simple, but enjoyable to get into.  Before mankind existed, there were a host of angels and demons, both vying for control over creation.  For thousands of years, these two forces did not come in contact with one another, and there was peace to be had.  The five highest Angels wished to push their superior civilization onto the earth and create a new race, but there was dissension. A civil war broke out, which the demons took advantage of, playing on the ambition and greed of the opposing side, and formed a coalition, whose goal was to wage war on the Heavens.  The “Creation War”, hosted by Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto would have catastrophic results; the heavens and earth were re-divided, giving the Demons and rebellious Angels more land than they had before.  It sort of feels like if Diablo were made into an anime format with different classes to pick from.  It could still use a great deal of work, but it is a step in a bold direction.

 

Inferno Legend Character Creator

It’s no Vampire Savior

The races/classes that are available are reminiscent of ancient monsters of mythos and theater.  One thing that certainly disappointed me was the inability to pick a different character. Once I chose the Samurai/Akuma, I was stuck with that. After log-in, it takes you immediately to the main map where you left off, and does not show a screen to pick a different character. This leads me to the thought that you would have to have several accounts to play other characters.

Vampire:  Vampires are a balanced class; easy to pick up and play.  They are the kings and queens of the evening, skilled with swords and magical powers.  They use their mastery of the night to overwhelm opponents and get to the punch first.

Cyclops:  Giants from the abyss, they tend to dwell deep within mountains and caverns.  They are powerful in a physical sense, bringing a great presence to the battlefield that many cannot hope to match.  Combine a massive, mighty hammer with the Cyclopean Beam power, and little can stand in their way.

Faerie:  A cute magical girl, specialized in the magicks of Hell itself.  Preferring Thunder and Ice, these adorable girls should not be underestimated.  The best with magic, it is said that even Death itself is able to be bent to these Witches’ will. . .

Samurai:  A fallen warrior, now called an Akuma, or Demon.  They are masters of all aspects of the sword, martyred soldiers who wound up in Hell.  They eagerly wield their blades in the service of Diablo, combining magic with his blade to rend all foes asunder.

Mummy:  The Mummy was not available from my point of gameplay.  Very little seems to be available about them.

 

 

Turn-Based Fast-Paced Action

Inferno Legend Bear Combat

Inferno Legends Combat System is Rather… Bare.

Though it is labeled as an MMO, there is almost no interaction with other players.  You can challenge players to battle in the Arena, but there is still no dialogue between players – just a battle that one player winds up the victor in.  You can set it to autopilot, where it decides the most appropriate action for you, but even if you pick “Attack” or “Skill”, I did not noticeably get to choose what I attacked.  My avatar would just leap in and start killing!  While that’s all well and good, I suppose I prefer the Final Fantasy Tactics/Disgaea style, where I can pick whatever is in my range.  Enemies who can summon allies can be especially upsetting, as they suddenly ruin your attacks on the major enemy you are fighting. There is no bulling past them, shy of area effects.

You are not alone, however.  You can recruit allies, or pick them up in events.  Progressing through the game can acquire you more allies who can bring special powers to bear on your combat zone.  Combat moves very quickly, and even has a timer that occasionally forces your hand.  The attack animations for each creature and player movement are unique and colorful, offering interesting special effects, even for this sort of simplified art style.  It carries itself very well and the art and musical background lend itself to the story in a very fluid manner.

Inferno Legend Review 5

Entering a new act brings you to a map that has a series of missions upon it. Each mission has its own ranking and requirements for rewards, once that mission is done with.  The mission itself opens into a new map, that you as the player move step by step, acquiring gold, exp, and battling enemies.  They unfold in the shape of hexagon stones that the player walks across, unlocking new terrain with each step.  At the end of each mission is a boss encounter, harder than the normal minions that you would face, as is tradition in any RPG. If you should perform well on these missions, you can unlock Treasure Chambers, which have artifacts, gold, and other great rewards in them! However, these treasures are guarded, and it would be recommended to level quite a bit after unlocking a chamber.  This game really pushes past the mold the other Eastern browser/install games use, in that it feels like an RPG, descending deeper into these linear, but visually appealing dungeons.

Money, Cash, Skills, Come On!

Inferno Legend Review 1

Maid cosplay girls, they’ll be waiting for you in hell. Running hell’s cash shop.

This is a free to play game, keep this in mind. Now, there is an option for those who wish to spend money on things.  Diamonds are a currency that is acquired at the end of missions, as special event rewards, and things of that nature. You can purchase them with real money, if you have the inclination, but it is certainly not required.  There are benefits to spending Diamonds on being a VIP Member. It gives access to another type of soul to accumulate, more Vigor (Up to 100), a third lucky draw at the end of instances (up from two) and other features that could make up for it if you should be an active member of this community.  Again, I stress that it is not necessary, and you can acquire diamonds in-game. As of this writing, I have almost enough to purchase a VIP membership, but I feel that it is not necessary to do so.  Souls can be used to upgrade minions and your own powers, and can be used on a variety of other things in-game.  Gold is another currency which I seem to have an abundance of.  Gold can be used to buy items in the shop as well as upgrade certain features, such as lineage points, which go into your own personal lineage (a series of bonus powers to increase the strength of your individual character), or souls to be used on you or your minions.  You can also choose to use diamonds, but gold is a fairly prevalent resource.

Inferno Legend Skill Screen

Each character has skills that are unique to them alone.  You can unlock skill points as you level up and as your minions level up as well!  You can assign them down the trees as you see fit, and upgrade skills that you wish to use with more force.  Your minions grow powerful as you do, and with each level your stats grow, and allow you to challenge more content.  The game plays at a pretty steady pace, and I found no need to actually purchase diamonds to increase my characters power.  Those who are investing more time, again, may feel differently, but it is not a pay-to-win scenario.  You can be powerful and have a great time playing this game without investing a single dime.  Maybe you feel that because you are having fun, you should throw them some money – that is left up to player.  The game does not even mention the ability to pay-to-win outside of the tabs that offer the services.  There are other bonuses, however! Playing the game and logging in daily can give you rewards, and there are daily quests that offer nice rewards to those willing to put in the time to do them.

 

Inferno Legend Review PVP

In the darkest pits, he waits dreaming

While the main brunt of this game involves dungeon delving, and doing the bidding of an evil, vile demon, there are a few other activities open to players.  There is PVP, where players challenge one another to battles to move up the ladder; the matches play identical to regular battles in the story mode.  You can find the arena master in the main city where Diablo rules.  These battles can be done a certain number of times a day, and battling those above you and winning increase your personal rank.  Maybe my character is just amazing, but I found PVP fairly easy while playing as a Samurai/Akuma.  There are other battles in the PVP section, such as combo challenges, and the chest challenge, where you battle five enemy groups in a row. Those that survive the gauntlet acquire a chest that could contain any number of items.  There are also Alliances, groups of players that one can join, but that does not necessarily increase player interaction.  There are other people playing the game at the same time as you, and you can occasionally see some of the achievements these other players accomplish, but it still very much feels like a single player game.

 

Inferno Legend SATAN POWAH

Nature of the Demon:  3/5 Good

This game is by no means terrible.  Though the poor translation and lack of human interaction can be grating and downright awful, the gameplay itself is rather standout compared to the list of online games that I have played lately.  It is an interesting game, and can easily consume several hours in a day if one is not careful.  I loved the dialogue, despite how poor the translation can be.  If the game were a bit more flexible in combat, and a bit less cluttered visually, it could go a lot farther.

Graphics: 4/5

I actually really liked the graphics for this game.  They were not 1080p, next-gen style graphics, but the characters and minions all had very unique attack animations.  The characters are interestingly designed, and the maps were very beautiful, granting a painted backdrop over the dungeon you are currently delving into.

Controls: 3/5

I lump combat into the controls section.  You only need a mouse to play this game, as you will do very little typing, outside of naming your character and logging in.  The controls were simple, and I was hoping for more options in combat other than Auto and Attack/Skill, which may as well still have been auto.  Had this been corrected, I would have gained more enjoyment from it.

Features: 3/5

I did not really have as much fun doing the PVP that I would have liked.  There are not a lot of things going on in this game, though it may seem that it does.  Though the story is delightful, I had a great deal of fun playing it. Most of my time ended up being spent figuring out how best to maximize my equipment and stats/skills spread, and very little seemed interesting outside of the main story, and smashing faces in PVP.

Music: 3/5

The music overall really fit a lot of the settings.  It could become fairly droning if you play for long periods of time, but thankfully it is easily muted. While it is easily muted, you cannot simply turn it down or up. It is either loud or off.  The effects and sounds are nice, but they quite easily drown out anything else that might be going on in the background. One thing I like about other games is the ability to lower the music after a while and use my own, but that is not an option here.

Star Citizen Introduces Web-Based Organization System

Flying Cat Organization

Star Citizen has introduced its web-based Organization system today, allowing testers to create and join organizations for the first time.

Accessible from the Community Menu, the Organization Hub lets players create or join organizations from a central location (currently, players can only create/join one Organization). From here, Organizations can use their own text and graphics, recruit others, set ranks and titles, and even use a new XMPP-based live chat system.

Find out more about today’s update here.

Awesomenauts

Awesomenauts is a side-scrolling MOBA, featuring cartoon-style graphics and drop-in matchmaking. Available for PC, XBox LIVE Arcade, and Playstation Network, Awesomenauts breaks new ground in competitive online gaming.

Features:

Saturday Morning Returns: Strange champions designed like 80’s cartoons will make you crack a smile, from powers that include holographic bulls, surfing, and time-bending.

Expanding Roster Eight original ‘nauts have now expanded to 16 with regular updates, and the Starstorm expansion, adding more diversity.

Customizable Characters: Each character has custom items that change the effects of their skills, letting you tweak a character to fit your playstyle.

Cut The Wait: Play offline or online, locally or in split-screen. Join in friendly matches with full drop-in support, filling in bots and players whereever needed – no need to wait around in a lobby.