Yearly Archives: 2014

Armored Warfare: PvE mission details revealed

Armored Warfare

Obsidian Entertainment has revealed more information about Armored Warfare’s Missions on the Player vs. Environment (PvE) mode detailing how difficulties work and tasks players must complete to complete a mission, as well as a set of new screenshots.

Missions are divided into difficulty levels of easy, regular, and difficult, with players gaining more experience, reputation, and game currency based on the difficulty of the mission. In order to complete a mission, teams receive different battle tasks that include both main tasks, which are critical to the success of the mission, and additional tasks that have an impact on the amount of rewards received.

PVE tasks in Armored Warfare are divided in the following types:

Attack – seize an enemy position from the enemy within the allotted time.
Destroy – destroy a specific target.
Escape – cover a distance while under close enemy fire within the allotted time.
Defense – hold on to a location or point for an allotted time.
Survival – resist an enemy offensive, attacking in waves, for the allotted time.

For more info, visit http://aw.my.com/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=2187

Warlocks: Pre-Alpha Kickstarter Preview

By Jason Parker (Ragachak)

 

Warlocks Preview Kickstarter

Kickback to the Future

Warlocks is a call back to the 80s with its sprite graphics and side-scrolling action elements.  It really feels like a shot to my youth with a bit of a modern kick.  The game is still in its pre-alpha stage, so of course there are bugs, missing characters, and things that will change and grow as time passes.  It is also worth noting that the game is in the process of being funded on Kickstarter; so if you see this and are interested in seeing more, feel free to visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/229931946/warlocks-0 and donate to help this game get moving!  They’re on the final day and 10% away from funding at the time of this article’s publishing so every bit counts. Warlocks is a trip down memory lane for classic console users; the art style lends itself well to this wave-clearing RPG.

Warlocks Preview Simple

The title of this game did not grab me immediately, because I thought of the old Warlock movie. I expected lots of evil and fire, with demons, darkness, et cetera.  It is not too terribly far from the mark though. There is certainly a great deal of evil to fight and cool items to acquire. The characters are all very different and use modern game mechanics (League of Legends style skill system), granting easy access to players of all skill levels.  The demo is available on their Kickstarter and I highly encourage everyone to give it a once-over.  This will be a title that should not be missed if you are into retro gaming, fun platforming and heart pounding action gameplay!

 

Warlocks Preview Garlic-Gun

A Delicate Balancing Act

As a game that is not quite in the Alpha or Beta stage, it is far from being balanced, and that’s okay because that is the point of testing and development. I have found a few things that did not work quite well and sent my thoughts in to the developers with favorable results.  There are a host of interesting characters in the game, though they are not all available just yet.  Each has their own quirks and intricacies that make them unique.  The sprite artwork for each character is delightful in their simplicity.  At this juncture not all characters are made equal; some are very strong and far more powerful than the others.  Lizzie the Robot Girl, for example, is a young girl standing/sitting in a robot, a’la Megaman’s Tron Bonne.  Her bullets fly across the stage, even killing things that are not on the screen yet!  Activating her Gatling guns can clear waves and units that are completely across the map.

Warlocks Preview Boss

How characters will be unlocked is unknown as of yet, but I have an idea as the 7 parts of stage 1 culminate in a boss battle against a “Fallen Angel.” After you defeat the imposing black angel, Christian, the Fallen Angel spills forth (one of your characters).  He looks like a Techno Angel, something you might find in Diablo or perhaps even Warhammer.  Each character plays different from the others; for instance, the Ice Maiden can skate across air or ground on ice like Bobby Drake (X-Men’s Iceman) and kites enemies around with a three-pronged icicle attack. She has lots of slows and ice powers, including shattering enemies she has tagged with attacks.  The developers sneak pop culture references into the game as well, as the Ice Maiden hums songs from Disney’s Frozen, and quotes the film in a variety of clever little ways. Expect lots of fun pop culture shout outs in this title!  You’re offered four characters right from the start so don’t worry about not having someone right away that fits your playstyle.

 

Warlocks Preview Platform

Horde Mode Plus Gauntlet Equals

Warlocks!  Each level has a series of stages, similar to the Mario titles (1-1, 1-2, et cetera).  Each of these stages have a number of waves of enemies that spawn across the stage, and as the stages progress, the waves get harder and harder with new enemies like lasers that streak down from sky, enemies that explode, and small nimble shadow monsters that hop and claw angrily.  The downside is that while you can die as many times as you want, dying resets the waves, so you have to start back over at the beginning of the stage.  Another thing of note is that when the enemies spawn into the zone, whether in groups or by themselves, their health bars are white for a few seconds; this means they are unkillable, and you must position properly so they do not overwhelm you in this state.

Warlocks Preview Cursed

There has to be some kind of rewards for killing all of these bad guys!  You gain copper and silver pieces that transfer into gold on your HUD, next to your level/skills at the bottom of the screen.  You can also find items that drop, weapons (bullets, daggers, swords, etc), Helmets, Boots and Chest armor from broken/grey drops, to Magic, Masterwork, and Epics!  As the item type gets better, they receive more and more powers, such as a root on attacks, thorns (adds bonus damage to enemies whenever further damage is taken), passive regeneration, and explosions. There are more to find most assuredly; every few stages a merchant will appear and let you buy and sell excess gear;  you can also find potions, but as of right now they are not terribly useful. There are also cursed items, yet it wasn’t too clear how one removes these curses. I’m assuming this hasn’t been added in the Kickstarter build.

 

Warlocks Preview Set-Piece

Forty Percent Luck, Sixty Percent Skill

Better loot makes everything better. Having weapons that root, regen, thorns, extra movement speed and boosted jump height can make the game a lot easier but doesn’t ruin the fun factor one bit. Having the ability to level up your skills may make you more powerful, but without the skill and timing to use them, they will still be quite useless!  As I said above, each character plays a little differently, so it would behoove well of you to play everyone offered to find just what works for you.  Much in the manner of League of Legends, when you level you can pick one of your four skills to improve, and I do not feel there is an optimal order for this. Whatever will benefit you the most given your style and nature of the map’s challenge. However, at this point there are no tool tips and I could not switch from equipment to skills in the menus; I am sure this will be changed as the game progresses and grows.

Warlocks Preview Characters

You do not have to go it alone however. Games like this are always way more fun with a friend. As of this build, there is only single player and local co-op, but a later build will offer online multiplayer which will make the game far more exciting! I do not know if loot will be shared or if they will adopt a Diablo 3 style loot system (which I infinitely prefer) but the idea of tackling some of these stages with a partner reminds me of something like Battletoads, Double Dragon, and of course Battletoads: Double Dragon.  Some of the characters do not feel as strong on their own right now, so the idea of having someone that complements their skill set will make the challenge of pushing forward feasible, not to mention fun.

 

Warlocks Preview Case-of-Explosions

Alpha-Five-Oh:  Progress Train is Moving Fast!

I’m really liking what I see so far! There is plenty of pieces needing work, but the developers are hard workers and I do hope it makes it to more consoles than the Wii-U.  It should be a fun and exciting two player game to make people think back to the good ol’ days of co-op. An era where four or more player titles were unheard of. The graphics are very 8-bit and complimented nicely by the soundtrack. The characters are a fun blend of technology and fantasy and they stand out against the green grass and gray ruins of “Warlocks.”  Will you traverse impossible amounts of danger and become a Warlock?  One can only hope!  This game is just getting started though and needs our support on Kickstarter to make its potential a reality.

AQ Dragons: New mobile idle game coming soon

AQ-Dragons

Artix Entertainment, the indie game studio behind AdventureQuest Worlds and Battle Gems, is excited to announce a collaboration with Dashnet, the creators of the original Cookie Clicker, to create a new mobile idle game, AdventureQuest: DRAGONS (http://aqdragons.com). The game is in the final stages of development and set to launch this October for Apple iOS, Android, and Web.

AdventureQuest: DRAGONS is an idle game where you hatch Dragon eggs and raise them into full-size element-breathing world-conquering Dragons. There are 12 unique, painted, and animated Dragons including Steampunk Dragons, Faerie Dragons, Slime Dragons, and more. There are also several redesigns of popular Dragons inspired from the www.Artix.com video game lineup.

Each Dragon has a unique story told through the simple yet beautifully painted idle game style interface. For example, the Steampunk Dragon is not hatched from an egg—rather, it is built from a blue print prototype. As the story progresses, you continually upgrade the Steampunk Dragon’s hardware and computer AI until you reach the singularity and cause a robot uprising.

Depending on the breed (or serial number, as is the case with Steampunk Dragons), each Dragon is fixated on a specific type of Gem, which is what players will initially click on to earn points for their Dragon. Gem clicks unlock upgrades so the Dragon can earn more Gems on its own. True to the way of the idle game, AQ: DRAGONS allows the player’s Dragons to earn Gems even when the app or website is closed.

But what is an idle game, anyway? It is basically a game that plays itself.

Sort of.

In an idle game, you make all of the major decisions, but the tedious grinding and farming is automatically done by the game. Because of this, you can leave idle games running in the background while you do other important things… like work… or play our other mobile games like Battle Gems (http://battlegems.artix.com/), which was released earlier this year.

“I LOVE DRAGONS! I LOVE COOKIE CLICKER!” yells an unblinking, sleep-deprived Adam “Artix” Bohn, creator of AdventureQuest, as he continues staring at his monitor, furiously clicking away at a Dragon’s Gem. “This project is a dream come true! You should get a quote from the Cookie Clicker guys about Dragons!”

“Dragons? They’re alright.” replied Orteil, creator of Cookie Clicker.

AdventureQuest: DRAGONS will launch October 2014. More information (and more importantly, beautiful artwork) can be found at www.AQdragons.com

Dragon Warlords: Now available on Google Play

Dragon Warlords

Game Insight, a global leader in the development and publishing of free-to-play games for mobile and social platforms, is pleased to announce that its captivating 3D online PvP strategy game Dragon Warlords is available now on Google Play for Android devices.

Set in the epic fantasy world of Adan a thousand years prior to the events of Dragon Eternity, the phenomenally popular MMORPG with a player base of over 10 million worldwide, Dragon Warlords is a game of intense multiplayer battles as players must not only fight other players online and a world filled with mythical creatures, but also must defend their lands against invaders.

Build your castles and fortifications to protect your treasures from other players, amass your armies from an array of exotic units including fearless desert warriors and gargantuan mechanical monsters, and lay siege to your enemies fortresses using your cunning and exemplary strategic mind!

Powered by Unity’s 3D technology, Dragon Warlords features stunning graphics, silky smooth animation, amazing visual effects, dynamic combat and sound effects to truly immerse and empower the player as they fight to become the number one Warlord of Adan. Your greatest adventure begins now. Become a legend!

For more info, visit https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gameinsight.dragonwarlordsandroid

RuneScape: Player heat maps released

RuneScape

Jagex, creators and custodians of the fantasy MMORPG, RuneScape, have today released two new heats maps that visually depict player activity before and after the recent launch of The Lost City of the Elves expansion pack. Captured as part of the city’s doors opening mid-morning on the 22nd September 2014, they represent an aggregation of all global server populations and utilise a logarithmic scale to represent groups of players.

Divided into two framed sequences the maps provide a visual representation of activity throughout the game’s world of Gielinor, as well as a more detailed overview of activity within the city of Prifddinas itself. In the first map, the surge of players moving towards the gates of the city can be clearly seen prior to them opening. Providing a more localised view, the second map depicts the locations and activities that most attracted their interest once they were inside the city.

The Lost City of the Elves is the epic conclusion of a quest chain that players first learned about 10 years ago, and culminates with access to a host of exciting new areas to explore, each packed with fresh features for experienced characters to engage with.

For more info, visit http://www.runescape.com/