Monthly Archives: July 2014

Trials of Ascension: Hoard event ending soon

Trails of Ascension

The hoard even for Trails of Ascension is ending in two days from now. The hoard is a backer’s program that allows all ToA supporters to earn special rewards just for backing the game, much like a Kickstarter crowdfunding program. Buying a hoard will earn supports free demo passes, dragon tail designs and more, Plus all the rewards that a single backer gets will go to all backers.

Event ends on July 31st, so act soon.

For more info, visit http://trialsofascension.com/home/

Guild Wars 2: Dragon’s Reach Pt.1 now available

Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet, developer of the acclaimed Guild Wars franchise, today released “The Dragon’s Reach: Part 1,” the newest update to the ongoing saga in the Living World of Guild Wars 2. The third episode in this second season of Living World sees the whole of Tyria now threatened by the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. Attacks by Mordremoth’s minions have stretched ever-farther, from the arid Maguuma wastes to the Timberline Falls and the heart of Kryta.

In “The Dragon’s Reach: Part 1,” all of Tyria must come to understand this dire threat. Players have taken on a central role as heroes who hold the fate of Tyria in their hands. They’re among those who have come to recognize the enormity of Mordremoth’s danger, and now they must work with new and old allies to unite the world’s races against it.

For more info, visit www.guildwars2.com

Firefall: F2P MMO shooter now available

Firefall

Red 5 Studios, Inc. announced today that Firefall, the open-world, massively multiplayer online (MMO) shooter, is officially available in North America, Europe, and Australia for the PC platform through Steam and Firefall.com.

“We designed Firefall to be our dream game, and now the team at Red 5 Studios is humbled and thrilled to see this dream become a reality with the launch of Firefall today,” said James Macauley, CEO of Red 5 Studios. “Firefall is built from the ground up to be a true AAA MMO experience which allows players to explore a post-apocalyptic Earth through a well-narrated campaign and engage various threats through action-packed, skill-based combat.”

In Firefall, players will wage war against an invading force known as the Chosen. Outfitted with customizable military-grade battleframes, players will be able to collect resources and equipment as well as craft their own upgraded arsenal of weapons and abilities. Players will also have the ability to switch battleframes and explore a different play-style at their leisure without having to create a brand new character every time.

In addition to the campaign missions, quests, and dynamic world events, players will also have the opportunity to challenge one another on a brand-new PvP continent. Known as the Broken Peninsula, players will be able to engage other players in an attempt to secure valuable resources and territory control.

Firefall is completely free-to-play, with opportunities to purchase cosmetic and convenience upgrades. Special Firefall Launch Packs are available for purchase, which include items ranging from an exclusive multiplayer vehicle to a digital soundtrack and a concept art-book.

For more info, visit www.firefall.com

ZMR Mummy See Mummy Doom Pistol Giveaway

OnRPG has partnered with En Masse Entertainment to celebrate the launch of their latest monthly update to Zombies Monsters Robots, Mummy See Mummy Doom, with a special weapon giveaway!

Zombies Monsters Robots is an intense, third-person shooter that pits players against an unexpected assortment of enemies, environments, and game modes. The invention of portal technology has lured cross-dimensional creatures into the world, and humanity finds itself under attack. In ZMR, players will battle monstrous enemies and bosses across a wide range of co-op campaigns and wave-based survival missions and also fight other players in fierce head to head shootouts. With an arsenal of customizable guns and gear, players need to make every shot count as they enter a war against infectious zombies, abominable monsters, and murderous robots that will stop at nothing to see the end of mankind. This is the world of ZMR.

M1932Handgun

The M1932 is a semi-automatic handgun equipped in the sidearm slot. Useful in close encounters, the M1932 is great for putting an end to zombies, monsters, robots, and more! Enjoy this permanent new weapon courtesy of En Masse Entertainment.

 

 

To Redeem your Key:

  • Create an En Masse account at playzmr.com.
  • Create a character in-game.
  • Log into your En Masse account at account.enmasse.com.
  • Click on Enter Code at the top of En Masse Account Overview.
  • Enter your code.
  • Kill Every Thing.
  • Please note that these Zombies Monsters Robots keys for the M1932 Handgun are supported for players in the North America region at playzmr.com.

Zombies Monsters Robots Presents Massive Mummy See Mummy Doom Update

ZMR Mummy

En Masse Entertainment, a player driven publisher focused on delivering great games and exceptional service, today announced the launch of the Mummy See Mummy Doom update for Zombies Monsters Robots (ZMR). In ZMR, some enemies don’t just invade our dimension – they overwrite it. With the Mummy See Mummy Doom update, whole cities in China and Egypt have been overtaken and transformed into nightmarish versions of ancient worlds, teeming with hordes of undead horrors.

With six new maps, more guns, deadly new gear, and Blood Diamonds –a new competitive mode where players race to kill and collect diamonds from opponents– there’s never been a better time to KILL EVERY THING in the over-the-top, anything goes third-person shooter for the PC.

ZMR Egypt

For more details on the new maps and Blood Diamonds mode – and to download and play ZMR for free, please visit www.playzmr.com.

Today’s release of the Mummy See Mummy Doom update follows the recent introduction of the unique competitive mode Mercs vs. Monsters, which allows players to control one of over 20 enemy classes and upgrade abilities and strength throughout the match. Want to know more about ZMR? Head to www.playzmr.com, like ZMR on Facebook, follow the En Masse team on Twitter, and see more from players on the official Wiki.

Jagex Announces RuneScape Twitch Integration & New Boss Challenge

Twitch RuneScape

Jagex Games Studio, makers of the multi-award winning fantasy MMORPG, RuneScape, has announced the successful integration of Twitch, the world’s leading video platform and community for gamers, into the game. The new feature allows RuneScape players to seamlessly live broadcast directly to Twitch from within the game with nothing more than a Twitch account. The integration of Twitch broadcasting and chat functionality coincides with the launch of a new arachnid combat boss character and creepy adventure into the game.

To celebrate the launch of the Twitch feature and the new boss challenge, the RuneScape team will be holding a four hour livestream today from 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on the RuneScape Twitch channel: http://www.twitch.tv/runescape/. The livestream will take viewers down into the depths of the spider boss’s lair, where the arachnid horror Araxxor will be waiting to pounce. The new combat boss challenge was voted for by RuneScape’s community as part of the game’s Player Power1 initiative.

 

“Live streaming in gaming is huge and Twitch has become the de facto channel for watching other players in RuneScape,” said Neil McClarty, marketing director of RuneScape. “RuneScape is already one of the top most watched games on Twitch. Our hope is that this integration to Twitch will take our streaming to the next level and remove all barriers to players wanting to stream their gaming, but never knew how to. Launching alongside Araxxor, our most challenging boss monster ever, I cannot wait to watch all our players trying to get their first kill!”

 

RuneScape is already one of the most-broadcasted games on Twitch,” said Brooke Van Dusen, Director of Business Development, Twitch. “We’re always interested in supporting passionate gaming communities, and one of the best ways to do that is by enabling their games of choice with seamless broadcasting functionality. With this integration, we see even bigger things in the future for RuneScape on Twitch.”

 

Jagex is fully committed to video streaming with similar dedication to be carried into Transformers Universe, which recently launched into open beta and has its own dedicated Twitch channel.

Guns of Icarus: New co-op mode to be showcased at PAX Prime

Guns of Icarus

Guns of Icarus Online will be demoing new Co-op mode at PAX Prime this year. Co-op mode is a massive PvE expansion that is essentially a new game. Instead of battling player crew and ships, you’ll co-op with other players onboard multiple airships to fight against hoards of AI enemies, ranging from aeroplanes, carrier ships, entrenched defenses, or bosses in a variety of new game modes, such as Convoy, Defense, and Escort. Co-Op mode also introduces new progression and unlock systems, allowing players to join various factions to fight for control over the world as well as leveling different player classes and skills. For the first time, the world of Guns of Icarus will emerge. Many of these planned features will be available as improvements to the original game as well.

For more info, visit http://gunsoficarus.com/

League of Legends Doombots Reviewed

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

 

LoL Doombots LUX-WHY

Behold! The True Face of Hell

Tomorrow ends the two weeks of the League of Legends “DoomBot” mode; anyone who follows me knows I am the MOBA Slave.  Virtually anytime a Moba-related thing happens, I hear the whip crack and I head to see the new mode or feature!  It is with this in mind that I played the DoomBot feature to give everyone my thoughts on it!  Now, DoomBots are mean; terrifyingly mean. They do unfair, horrifying things that will probably give the casual player nightmares for weeks on end.  There are three difficulties which become progressively harder and meaner the higher up you go (One doom, two dooms, and five dooms).  You did not have to win to unlock the progressive difficulties; in fact, out of all of the many matches I played, I believe I only won one.  Shackled to my desk, I struggled and fought, with every strange combination I could think of, desperate to even acquire one win.

LoL Doombots HeimerEve

Now, like all fun modes in League of Legends, this one is temporary, but I do believe it will come back in one format or another.  One thing I noticed about this mode is that the AI bots are MUCH smarter.  They ward, they use the jungle to move, they are smart about how they drop abilities; they laugh at you while they are winning, and prematurely say “GG” from time to time (disheartening, soul-crushing, but it’s very realistic).  One very important thing I learned from these bots is as I said, they got smarter. I feel like this is Riot’s way to test smarter bot matches, so perhaps players will have more intelligent AI to battle against. Let’s face it: beginner and intermediate bots are kind of sad.  You can hide in a bush and they stop chasing.  They don’t ward, and they do not use their computer intelligence well.  So it is with this in mind that I sincerely hope it was not only a fun mode, but a clever way to test a new system. I’d like to take the time to thank a few summoners who braved this mode with me.

Sarkhane:  “What’s the B. stand for?”

Lady Foxen: “Oh no!  I’m dead!  I need to go to Junes!”

IronFoe: “I made a mistake!”

Vulkary Sol: “I’m gonna head – A Summoner Has Been Disconnected.”

 

LoL Doombots Ez-Shaco

The Goal Is Not To Win

The goal is to simply lose a little less each time you play; you aren’t trying to win, you are trying to steal a victory from a towering inferno of disappointment.  There are three difficulties as stated previously, and each one is progressively more terrifying.  Some of the combos are inefficient and useless, but there are some really maddening Doom Combos: For example, Lux’s ult fires in all directions around her. Ezrael’s ult shoots waves of his ult in all directions a few times, creating a gauntlet to avoid.  I am convinced someone at Riot follows Street Fighter, because Blitz shoots three fists at the same time, much like E. Honda’s “Hundred Hand Slap” attack (so now he is B. Honda); I feel like someone out there loves Mike Ross, or at least believes in him.  Champions can also have Nocturne’s ult on at all times so darkness is everywhere, decreasing your visual radius.  Below is a brief descriptor of my adventures in each mode:

 

LoL Doombots One-Doom

One Doom:  One Doom is hard; each enemy unit has a ‘Doom.’  These dooms generally fit the character: Annie uses ignite on towers near her, and Tibbers is bigger than a max-stack Cho Gath.  I was horrified that the enemy team used our jungle to sneak up behind us!  Suddenly Ezrael was behind me and my lane partner, and killed us with his three-shot Q.  There was no victory to be had.  This is a pretty standard AI bot match not counting the hyper powerful champions.  However, they are aggressive and actively push towers.  I did not see wards in this mode; but I did see a lot of active pushing and smart decision making.

 

LoL Doombots Demacia...

Two Dooms:  The enemy champions, I learned are mostly casters.  It is easier to play with the particle effects of casters, as opposed to melee; the only melee champions I think I’ve seen is Amumu and Wukong, but they have ranged attacks that make them viable for this type of mode.  It was very disheartening to see Wukong ult and have six to eight of his clones also ulting outward.  Veigar had a passive that would drop five of his Q’s around an enemy.  And now minions began crying too. The pain was unreal. There was nothing but sorrow and tears (mostly mine).  I think one of the most memorable things yelled over Skype was “THAT WAS GAREN! WHY IS GAREN HERE?! HE IS NOT EVEN IN THIS GAME!” because there is a “Garen Buff” that enemy bots can have.  Anytime you enter a bush without wards, there is a chance that Garen could be there, and attack you!   Speaking about vision, wards are also relevant.   The enemy will chase you into the jungle, and ward your jungle so they have vision on your team as well as lane bushes. The bots also kill Dragon, and will Twisted Fate teleport to Dragon to try and steal it. It’s horrifying.

 

LoL Doombots Bullet-Hell

Five Dooms:  Strangely enough, this is the one place our team managed to score a win.  There are stranger things afoot in Five Dooms, and not for the faint of heart.  Enemy champions appear to have Three Dooms, and they don’t always fit the character.  Karthus can turn into Swain; he also can activate his passive while still alive.  And move; IT MOVES!  Amumu can stealth like Evelyn, and his ult takes up the entire lane’s width and double its normal length.  Fiddlesticks’ ult is global now. He can be anywhere and destroy your team.  Veigar had five puddles of slow that appeared around him, and he can use Akali’s stealth pool.  There was no safety and no peace; only devastation.  Lux and Morgana bottom lane meant pure chaos. Morgana’s puddle grows, and has two rotating Q snares around it that can catch you if you attempt to flee. Lux’s snare splits off in eight directions if it hits anything.  The wards are better, the push is meaner and now at some point or another, the enemy champions swap Dooms!  I do not know what the conditions are, but it happens; suddenly Galio randomly summons Hecarim ghosts that cause terrify and damage.

There is no justice, and no peace.

 

LoL Doombots The-Face-of-Hell

Fly, You Fools!

Now I am certain there are much much better players than me who won these a great deal; I won’t argue that, I’m not a fantastic player. I just really enjoy the game and at one point played it to distraction.  Like all of the fun modes, they vanish much too soon; but as I stated earlier, I do think something good came of this. I’ll argue Doom Bots as a fun mode to play with friends but perhaps not so much fun to pug as the toxic nature of the community slips into the normally stoic co-op mode. But I played both ways, and had a blast with my friends, despite us losing four of five matches. In the rare moment that victory as achieved, it felt incredible.  I felt amazing every time I got a kill or an assist!

All this mode truly lacks is a variety of champions for the bots to mix things up more between matches.  The pool consisted of mostly casters or ranged champions, and you can see your opponents when the champion select screen appears.  There is no surprise, and you can build to attempt to counter their endless amount of power. Hopefully in the future, Doom Bots will return with new friends packing their signature evil skins.

LoL Doombots Victory-at-last!

There are a few important things to learn or be aware of if this mode should come back:  Just because the bots have double your kill count doesn’t mean the game is over. If you can manage to not have as many team deaths as there have been minutes in the game, you might be able to keep moral up long enough to make an epic comeback. Despite the improved AI, there are ways to be tricky and weasel your way into a win. One example is a Pantheon that builds attack speed and dives to towers with ult to push and backdoor.  Split pushing and backdooring helps a fantastic amount in the higher levels where team fights are more often than not suicide. If you should push to an Inhibitor, the enemy bots will start focusing on defending that, allowing you to push other lanes. They might have cruelly fast reaction times and pack 10x the firepower of you, but they are still bots and you can still abuse their AI.  The only other mode to strike me as this much fun was U.R.F. but that mode only taught us about ridiculous bullshit and not about getting better as a player.  I honestly think DoomBots can teach players to get better, as the bots behave with a real killer instinct; it was exciting and horrifying all at the same time!

Want more? Make sure to check out our gallery of screenshots for this mode!