What happens when you take the TPS style of Gears of War, the visual aesthetics of Metal Gear and throw in some gratuitous violence together in a blender? Well, you’d end up with a game like “Dizzel”, a multiplayer online third person shooter created by Neowiz Games and published by OGPlanet. While the mix of Gears of War, Metal Gear and over-the-top violence sounds nice, the overall experience that Dizzel provides proves to be lackluster due to the fact that its gameplay and presentation has been overshadowed by many other third-person shooters that have came before it.

Controls

For starters, let’s take a look at the game’s control scheme: it uses your standard set of WASD for movement, spacebar for jumping, mouse-look shooting and aiming, along with left shift key for dodging and 1-through-6 keys for various weapons and skills. Very straightforward and simple, and it all works the way it should, except for one aspect of the control system that overall gameplay is supposed to be centered around, which is the automated cover system. Whenever a player is near a wall or low barrier than can be used for cover, the game will automatically place them into a cover position, which can really affect players during close quarter situations. Another issue with the cover system is that players cannot hug and stay close to low barriers or walls while moving along them, which means that players will be at risk of giving away their position while using low cover.

Another issue with the game’s control scheme is that players do not have the option to switch their “over the shoulder” camera from right to left, which really hurts the overall gameplay and importance of tactical positioning, since players will not be able to (properly) peek around corners from a left side position. The issues with Dizzel’s cover-based controls could have easily been remedied with a manual camera switch and cover button, but since the game is so dated, it’s very unlikely that these options will be added anytime soon.

Gameplay and Features

Dizzel’s gameplay is about as plain as any third-person shooter can be in this modern age. Players will be able to engage in various match types, including a traditional set of game modes such as team deathmatch and bomb diffuse. Dizzel also comes with some unique spinoff modes including Predator and Annihilation. Combat in Dizzel plays out exactly the way that one would expect from a tactical TPS: run, jump, roll, take cover, coordinate with teammates and take great aim in order to defeat enemies and complete objectives, and doesn’t seem to go into any greater detail than that. As I write up this review, it was very difficult for me to give a more elaborate analysis over Dizzel’s gameplay, because there is absolutely nothing about it that sets itself apart from the pack. I could mention that the shooting mechanics all work as they should, but the cover-based mechanics tend to get in the way. The amount of game modes that are available is hefty but they’re all fairly average and forgettable. The pacing of the gameplay seems fast enough and everything else in between has simply been done before. If Dizzel was ever attempting to earn an award in average-ness, it would win the gold star.

Oh, but what feature does Dizzel promote in order to distinguish itself from other TPS titles? Why, that would be the execution system. Simply put, whenever players loses most of their health in battle, they’ll be put into a groggy state where opposing players can either finish them off the old fashion way (with gunfire), or get fancy with it and pull off an execution kill with a simple press of their F key (whenever they’re up close). Think of it just like the curb-stomp executions in Gears of War, but executions in Dizzel are a lot less interesting. These executions are so bland and quick, the shock value that comes from performing one will wear off quickly. On the upside: Performing executions over regular kills will help players fill up their burning rage meter much faster, which can be used to activate various skills, including increased damage, shield protection and more.

Simply put: It’s not that Dizzel’s gameplay is particularly bad in any form or fashion, but everything about Dizzel‘s gameplay is so generic to the point where it’s almost cringe-worthy.

Customization

As far as customization goes, Dizzel does not have much of it to offer. Players can choose between one of three primary weapons (Assault Rifle, Shotgun and Sniper Rifle), one melee weapon and one grenade, along with up to three different skills. Strangely enough, unlike in other many other titles similar to Dizzel, there are no option to select a secondary firearm. Since melee combat is fairly clunky, your primary weapon will be a player’s only true saving grace for many situations. The amount of skills available is fairly low, so players won’t have much variety to distinguish themselves from other players. The weapons that players can choose from all handle differently, at the very least, so players will certainly be able to find a gun that works towards their play-style.

Visuals, Sound and Presentation

Dizzel is a somewhat dated title that started its development back in 2009 and was released in South Korea about two years ago. As it stands, the visuals do not stand well enough despite its age. While the visual aesthetics seem to be pulled straight out of a Metal Gear title, the visual quality doesn’t hold up well enough in order to serve those aesthetics, with very low-to-moderate quality textures, weak visual effects and even weaker gore effects. I find it very amusing that one of the promoted features for Dizzel was how violent the game is, with nods and comparisons to other violent games like Mortal Kombat. However, the visual violence portrayed in Dizzel is so incredibly average and is no more graphic than the violence you would see in your average modern military shooter. Players won’t see any rolling heads or highly detailed chunks of brain matter flying on the screen whenever they score a headshot. Instead, you’ll get a few blood splatters across the screen and a few puddles on the floor. Occasionally, you might get some Quake-style gibbings here and there, but they’ll disappear so fast from the screen that you may not even notice them.

Sound quality is also very average, with gunfire shots that sound appropriate, along with voice acting and music that’s reminiscent of a 90s action flick. It gets the job done, but is certainly nothing to write home about.

Overall

Dizzel is a TPS title that doesn’t seem to strive to be anything more than a cheap alternative to other TPS shooters that are currently available. It’s almost as if the developers took a checklist and marked off every little detail that is required to make a complete TPS title before sending it out to the F2P market, but didn’t spend any time working on a checklist to make sure that the game was actually fun and distinguishable compared to its competition. For those that have never played a TPS title before may be able to enjoy Dizzel as a decent time waster, but will most likely more onto a much better title within a short while. And for those that are already fans of the genre will see Dizzel as something that is utterly forgettable.

Moon Hunters

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Moon Hunters is a myth-weaving adventure for 1-4 players, solving ancient mysteries and building mythologies. Players explore a hand-painted pixel art world that’s randomly generated and rich with legends, non-linear stories, and secrets.

Features:

Non-Linear Story: The mythology of individual characters and the world is determined by the actions of players – the world reacts differently based on the mythology an individual player builds. For example, upon discovering a villager has told a lie to the player, some may coax out the truth with diplomacy, while others may punish immediately with violence. The game world will shift and react based on these decisions.

Procedurally-Generated Exploration: Over a hundred different locations and landmarks each have their own potential to help or hinder adventurers. Every landmark and territory may contain a Myth, which is essential in growing the world and individual characters.

Personality Traits and Progression: Your decisions reflect different aspects of your personality to storytellers of different factions. Unlock new powers, creatures, items, and myths as you explore the world.

Gamer Family Friendly: Moon Hunters features intuitive, ‘Zelda-style’ action-RPG gameplay and short, small game sessions that are conducive to the enjoyment groups of friends or even families of gamers.

Kitfox Games

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The independent developer behind Moon Hunters and Shattered Planet, a mobile and tablet release.

Camelot Unchained Alpha Delays and Apologies

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In a live stream session earlier today on Twitch, City State Games had an honest revelation regarding the current state of Camelot Unchained’s alpha testing.

Mark Jacobs explained in the first “State of the Game” presentation that “Yes, we are late.” The team refused to sugarcoat that they knew they would be late for a few months now, citing the primary reason for the delay as an inability to hire the programming talent they needed to progress. Instead, the team has been focusing its primary resources on tech. However, Jacobs reassured backers that all the engineers that have been hired on now have met or exceeded expectations.

Since there’s no alternative, Camelot Unchained’s alpha will be delayed. City State promised that there would not be any cut corners, and any further alpha delays will be compensated to all backers with founder’s points, CSE points, and free subscription days. They also hinted that the A.I.R. (Action, Interaction, and Reaction) system has already begun implementation, along with projectile types, walls, and an expanded world.

The team has also decided to break the alpha into three phases, currently known as Alpha 1, 2, and 3. Alpha 3 is the phase that was previously considered “Alpha,” the phase promised to all backers who received alpha access as part of their tier. Alphas 1 and 2 will be intermediary alphas between the Internal Testing phase and the final Alpha phase, and will grant limited access to backers.

Alpha 1 does not have a set date, but will be opened when it is ready with a set combination of features that includes archetypes (not finalized classes, but a mixture of class abilities that fit certain styles of play). It will be open for testing on a limited basis, and CSE is looking to recruit testers who can spend a lot of time testing the game, committing to showing up for several hours at a time each test.

Alpha 2 will continue with enhanced features from Alpha 1, admitting gradually more testers. Alpha 3 – “the promised land” for all alpha testers – has a planned start date of February 2015. This means, by implication, that earlier alpha tests should begin within the few months remaining in this year. The alpha tests will have an NDA, which may be lifted for Alpha 3.

Jacobs stressed the point that the new system actually grants players alpha access earlier than planned, although the terminology has certainly confused some into thinking that they are being denied alpha access. It may be easier to think of Alpha phases 1 and 2 as “pre-alpha” instead. Still, the team remains committed as always to transparency about the game’s progress, and anyone who wants to change their packages (or refund them) before alpha begins is still welcome to do so without question from CSE.

Tome: Immortal Arena First Impression – MOBA Without the Time Commitment

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By Mohammad Abubakr

For the past few years, I have been spending most of my free time playing MOBA/ARTS games. I am a fan of this genre due to games such as Dota 2 having something new to learn each and every day. I have been playing that game for years now and I still improve and learn every day. Therefore, when I was offered the chance to look at a new MOBA on the market, I could not decline.

Most games of this genre are run in standalone clients but Tome: Immortal Arena is a browser based MOBA running on the Unity engine. I am a fan of this engine but I do not think it is a good option for games of a larger scale. It works great for smaller flash type games or mobile games but if you stick in the browser, you are not going to have a good time. This is due to performance issues even if the graphics are not very high quality. Surprisingly, Tome ran pretty well but it was still under the standard 60 FPS we should aim for. I got around 40-50 FPS on max settings running on a high end PC. Not as bad as the experience I had with Transformers Universe, the developers did a good job at making the game run smoothly.

Moving on to the actual game play, when you see a game of the MOBA genre you can quickly guess how a normal match plays out. Tome features a two lane map separated by a boss in between the two lanes. Games are played 3 versus 3 with Guardians (heroes, champions, etc.) chosen by the players. Both teams aim to destroy the enemy base to come out victorious. In the beta there is a simple All Pick mode with no complex drafting.

The two lane map is very small. Please note this is an older screenshot but the layout remains the same.

The map is very small and you can get anywhere within a few seconds. This makes the game play very fast paced and games only tend to last around 10-15 minutes. This was a nice change to differentiate Tome from other ARTS games on the market as they usually tend to have 30-40 minute matches which can make it difficult for those on busy or variable time tables. There are no jungle creeps that can be killed for extra experience except the boss in the middle of the map. Killing this boss grants gold to Guardians and lifesteal to your own creeps. Once again, this mechanic helps to make games even faster as waves of life stealing creeps can easily mow down buildings.

Players can also stay in their lanes applying pressure for the entirety of the game. Guardians heal at a rapid rate if they stay out of combat and instead of having couriers, items are channeled to Guardians as long as they do not get hit. To make it even simpler, it is not necessary to last hit enemy creeps for gold, simply being near the dying creep rewards Guardians with gold and experience.

To make the games even faster, spells do not consume mana and can be used whenever they are off cooldown. Guardians start at level 1 with all their abilities and receive their ultimate at level 6. There is no need to prioritize skills as they cannot be leveled but they do scale with the Might stat.

Finished the match in under 8 minutes!

There are three different stats in Tome: Immortal Arena which can be improved by purchasing items. These are Might, Attack Speed, and Health. Might increases Guardian damage by directly increasing skill and auto attack damage, Attack Speed increases the rate at which Guardians may auto attack, and Health increases survivability of Guardians by increasing their health points.

There are only three base items which can be purchased for these stats and can then be upgraded to provide additional effects. For example, purchasing the base attack speed item can then be upgraded to provide a chain lightning effect allowing players to clear creep waves at a faster rate and the base might item can be upgraded to items that increase movement speed. Items are very simple with only 18 items being in the game, including the base three. To further simplify items, only three items can be equipped by each Guardian and all items cost a static 500 gold.

There are not just items in Tome: Immortal Arena allowing players to customize their characters. Relics and blessings can be equipped outside of each game to improve Guardian stats and abilities. Each Guardian is categorized under a domain such as Fire, Air, and so on. By playing Guardians from a certain domain, that domain gains favor and unlocks blessings. These blessings are different for each domain and provide bonuses such as increased attack speed and an increased rate of experience gain. Relics are tied to each individual Guardian and are obtained by gaining experience playing a certain Guardian. These relics are unique for each Guardian and provide bonus effects such as improving a Guardian’s spell.

Guardian selection screen.

As far as Guardians go, Tome: Immortal Arena categorizes these Guardians into four different roles: Slayer, Tank, Tactician, and Pusher. Slayers are like your typical ARTS/MOBA carries that can quickly kill other Guardians. They possess low health and utility and are weak against tanks. Tanks are designed to take a beating and initiate a fight. They are able to lock down enemy Guardians with hard crowd control and protect their team mates. They are weak against Tacticians. Tacticians can fit into the support role by providing buffs to allies and soft crowd control towards enemies. They are able to take down tanks due to their percent health damage abilities but die quickly to Slayers. Finally, Pushers are Guardians that are capable of pressuring lanes and quickly take down towers. They are designed to clear creep waves and mow down buildings but are easily killed by Slayers in team fights.

There are a good number of Guardians available for players but they must be purchased for use if they are not on the free rotation. As readers of my past articles may know, I am not a fan of having to pay for additional characters in MOBA/ARTS games. Doing so imbalances the game before even getting into a match. Guardians tend to cost from 8.2K to 12.6K in game currency and you only gain around 90 per game. After some games you are awarded with additional currency by unlocking rewards but it can still take a long time to unlock all the game’s Guardians. At times there are sales such as Khar being offered for only 100 points. Players also have the option to use cash shop currency to quickly unlock Guardians. It seems to cost around $8-15 for most Guardians. Skins can also be purchased with cash shop currency to change the look of your Guardians.

Loading can take quite sometime on slower PCs.

Conclusion: It is a last resort.

In conclusion, I would only recommend this game to those that want to like the ARTS/MOBA genre but haven’t liked any other game from the genre. This is a watered down version of ARTS games looking to offer quick games for the casual player. Being run in the browser allows almost any PC to easily access the game without too many problems but it provides an inferior experience to those that are able to run a fully featured standalone game. There are many features missing which makes the game less tactical and more focused on quickly pushing and ending the game. The item system is very simple and never having to leave the lane lets players develop bad habits which would never work in games such as Dota 2. Only try this game if you really want a browser based MOBA and would rather not play games such as Dota 2 or League of Legends.