Monthly Archives: April 2015

Fantasy War Tactics Global: Android Beta Now Available

Fantasy

International game developer and publisher NEXON Korea has announced that the global Android beta test for its upcoming mobile strategy role-playing game (RPG) Fantasy War Tactics, developed by NEXON GT, is now live.

Android users can join the Fantasy War Tactics beta test by downloading the beta version from https://i.nx.com/PI

The beta test is now live and will run until April 30.

As one of NEXON Korea’s first mobile games to debut in international markets, Fantasy War Tactics offers classic strategy role-playing game (SRPG) tactics, a roster full of heroes, competitive multiplayer battles, and a challenging single-player campaign. In Fantasy War Tactics, players build an army of heroes that utilize terrain, character skills and other tactics to triumph in turn-based asynchronous battles, and can use the game’s social features to strengthen their forces by borrowing additional heroes from their online friends.

The game is currently in development at NEXON Korea, creator of international hit games Maple Story and Vindictus, and is scheduled for release later this year for both iOS and Android. Join the beta now and be one of the first to experience the ultimate tactical strategy RPG, Fantasy War Tactics!
As one of NEXON Korea’s first mobile games to debut in international markets, Fantasy War Tactics offers classic strategy role-playing game (SRPG) tactics, a roster full of heroes, competitive multiplayer battles, and a challenging single-player campaign. In Fantasy War Tactics, players build an army of heroes that utilize terrain, character skills and other tactics to triumph in turn-based asynchronous battles, and can use the game’s social features to strengthen their forces by borrowing additional heroes from their online friends.

The game is currently in development at NEXON Korea, creator of international hit games Maple Story and Vindictus, and is scheduled for release later this year for both iOS and Android. Join the beta now and be one of the first to experience the ultimate tactical strategy RPG, Fantasy War Tactics!

For more info, visit https://promo.nexon.com/fwar/en

Happy Wars: Xbox One Version Releasing on April 24th

Happy Wars

Toylogic Inc. announced the official launch of Happy Wars for Xbox One on April 24th (Friday).

Happy Wars is a free-to-play large-scale online multiplayer action game that can be enjoyed by a large number of players. Join the melee in a fantasy world with colorful cartoon style characters.

Customize your characters with variations of items and six distinct classes, and enjoy with players from around the world in exciting castle sieges and spell slinging!

For more info, visit https://www.happywars.net/

Camelot Unchained: Extender Pack and Pet Class Announced

Camelot

City State Entertainment has recently announced a new stretch goal for Camelot Unchained that would be available for long time bacckers called the “Extender Pack”. This new pack will include content and features that would be included post launch, and will not include any additional purchase similar to expansion packs.

CSE also mentioned details regarding a new pet class that is currently in development for the game, stating that their plans for the class will play out very differently compared to pet classes in other MMORPGs.

For more info, visit http://camelotunchained.com/v2/woot-we-leveled-up-and-so-much-more/

Supernova Alpha Impressions

By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor)

 

Supernova Alpha Impressions

A new MOBA game is upon us, and this time Bandai Namco is throwing down the gauntlet that they’ll be the ones to break the mold in one of the hardest online gaming genres to break into these days. The major wave of MOBAs has risen and already begun to crumble, so Supernova is going to have to be something special to ride the wave of collapsing competition to the top. Luckily while most failing MOBAs are from unheard of indie groups, Bandai Namco has a bit of a reputation for either publishing major successes, or nailing a core demographic to ensure a rabid niche fanbase. I’ve been sitting on alpha access for a few weeks now, but as a larger wave of alpha invites finally went out this past weekend, my time to finally test out Supernova was at hand.

Since the game is still very early in development and the first alpha stage has only finished, the game is in flux as much as it can be. With that said, I can say that from what I have seen so far, the core concept of Supernova has the potential to be Bandai Namco’s next diamond in the rough. Though it may not appeal to the core MOBA audience like you’d expect. Let me describe it briefly so you get a better understanding of what we’re dealing with. Think of a Starcraft meets any MOBA game as we know it, and they have a baby. Supernova comes forth, and in my eyes it could potentially be a wonderful game in the vein of MOBAs, but with more focus on tactical strategy and timing rather than twitch combat. Supernova puts a major emphasis on what it calls commanders, reducing the overall impact of the usual hero vs hero duels most MOBAs consist of. Each player controls a commander who is able to summon units into the battle with him, because what good is a commander who can’t command an army? In essence your hero customization goes beyond just personal tweaks, but also involves a more involved minion system to further set yourself apart on the battlefield.

Supernova Alpha Impressions

I hope you’re a bit puzzled by now grasping how this concept would work as a MOBA, because it only gets crazier from there. That’s not a bad thing, as enough MOBAs have proven by now that copying the juggernauts head to head just doesn’t work. Supernova isn’t a MOBA game as we know it, even though all the elements are in there, such as the towers, three lanes and a jungle in-between all of this. However that’s the end of the similarities, as RTS style resources dominate where your typical gold flow would. Each commander passively gains resources, and can speed up collection by killing enemy units or jungle mobs. Rather than using this for itemization, you can summon new units of various types depending on what the match requires at the time. As you’d expect from an RTS, but may be unfamiliar with in a MOBA, some units specialize at wasting ground enemies, while others are anti-air. There’s plenty of well rounded units that can handle both less effectively of course should your foes be bringing a balanced bag of tricks. But I can attest that you’ve never had to focus so hard to react to enemy minions as you will in Supernova.

If you don’t understand how revolutionary this is to the genre, then shame on you because the rock you’ve been living under must have been massive! Since most of us aren’t living under said boulder, I’ll jump ahead and point out the key differences or close but not one for one similarities in the formula Supernova brings. As Supernova matches progress, your Commander will still level up and make ability strengthening choices that vary from match to match. Yet most of these choices revolve around upgrading your units rather than your commander, again forcing you into thinking like an RTS player rather than a MOBA player. Rather than teleporting back to base for heals, you have to call a drop ship to swoop in to carry you back to base. This differs from normal teleporting, as the drop ship can also bring you out of base and onto the battlefield. The types of abilities brought by the minions also feel foreign to your usual hero skills in MOBAs, making gameplay quite unpredictable, especially when you have to be on the lookout for special attacks from individual minions in addition to their commanders.

Supernova Alpha Impressions

The theme is also more science fiction than the usual fantasy tropes used in popular MOBAs. This lets the developers sneak some new skins onto overused game mechanics to give Supernova some at least superficial new life to veterans of the genre. You just can’t ignore the influence Starcraft had on the art stylization of the whole thing. Both the units, and commanders make me think they will fit right in with Jim Raynor and his fight with the zerg.

Although this weekend was officially labeled as an alpha test, the gameplay is clearly polished to at least a beta state. I doubt Bandai Namco will leave players hanging much longer before an open beta test begins. Honestly the only element holding Supernova back from competing with the big dogs right now is its very small selection of Commanders. Which considering the variety of ways each Commander can be played through unit deployment, isn’t as much of a weakness as having a small hero pool in most MOBAs. I do fear that balancing is going to be a bit of a nightmare though, and think the game needs a much larger playerbase of testers providing feedback even at this early stage to help prep Supernova for a massive balanced launch. Cause as it stands right now, you need some serious patience to get a match going in the alpha state.

 

Supernova Alpha Impressions

Conclusion

As I’ve said the game in its current state is well polished and really promising. Bandai Namco has the skeleton of another masterpiece on their hands. Having tested this game, it makes me sick thinking of all the copy cat MOBAs out there that didn’t have the common sense or willingness to take risks to make this basic but powerful evolution to the genre until now. If you get the chance to try it out in one of the next alpha stages, or when it goes into beta, be sure to check it out because Supernova might be the next big hit you’ve been hoping could breath life back into the MOBA genre.

Combat Arms (EU): New clan tourney this month

Combat Arms

Nexon Europe has announced that hit multiplayer shooter Combat Arms will host a Clan Tournament this month, in addition to receiving a substantial new content and systems update.

On 22nd April Combat Arms Clan Championship kicks-off pitting shooter communities against one another for the ultimate glory of being crowned the number one CA clan. Every clan will be automatically entered into the tournament, with their daily performance being used as the metric to rank them on a daily leader board. On 6th May, the top 20 clans will be asked to choose five members to represent their clan in the final matches – which will take place from 6th to 8th May.

““Spring will be an exciting time to be part of the Combat Arms community” said Eray Yumuratci, Community Manager at Nexon Europe. “The Clan Championship will be an absolute blast and I can’t wait to see our clans go head to head in the challenge to become the number one Combat Arms’ clan.”

www.nexoneu.com

Warhammer 40k Regicide Releases May 5 on Steam Early Access

Warhammer

Independent game developer Hammerfall Publishing has released the opening cinematic to the Warhammer® 40,000®: Regicide campaign, and announced that it will be available on Steam Early Access from May 5. Fans can get their first glimpse of the upcoming single-player campaign story in the opening cinematic below.

The video contains a mysterious transmission sent from the remote world of Hethgar Prime. The frontier world is in peril, and the feared warriors of the Space Marines are dispatched to investigate. On arrival, the Space Marines find themselves up against unexpected adversaries in the struggle to liberate Hethgar Prime and investigate the source of the ominous transmissions.

Regicide is a fresh take on the Warhammer universe, featuring an intense mix of strategy and cinematic gameplay. An original and brutal take on turn-based strategy, Regicide fuses characters, abilities and environments derived from the Warhammer 40,000 universe from Games Workshop, with traditional strategy and new action-heavy gameplay elements.

For more info, visit http://www.warhamer40kregicide.com/

Heroes of the Storm Launches June 2, 2015

Heroes of the Storm Launches June 2, 2015

Rally your fellow heroes and get ready for battle, because the portal to the Nexus is about to bust wide open! Blizzard Entertainment announced today that Heroes of the Storm™ will officially launch on June 2, following an open beta testing period beginning May 19. The free-to-play online team brawler brings together a diverse cast of iconic characters from Blizzard’s far-flung realms of science fiction and fantasy, including the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® universes, and challenges them to compete in epic, adrenaline-charged battles.

 

Heroes of the Storm invites players to customize heroes to suit their style and then team up with friends for some all-out mayhem. The game features a variety of gameplay modes for players of every skill level, including Cooperative, in which players team up against computer-controlled opponents, and Quick Match, an accessible way to jump in and play versus others. Experienced players can also join forces against other teams of players in highly competitive, draft-style ranked play.

 

“With its focus on team play and fast-paced fun, Heroes of the Storm is a fresh take on a very popular genre,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’ve built Heroes of the Storm in a way that makes it accessible to new players, but also challenging enough for veterans who really want to put their skills to the test. We can’t wait to see what Heroes brings to the co-op and competitive scenes once the Nexus opens up to everyone.”

 

Heroes of the Storm will launch with more than 30 playable Heroes and 7 dynamic Battlegrounds, each with unique challenges to overcome—and even more Heroes and Battlegrounds are on the way. Players can customize the look of their Heroes with a variety of skins, as well as switch between a stable of special mounts that help them cover ground on the battlefield more quickly.

 

To celebrate the launch of Heroes of the Storm, Blizzard will be holding a live-streamed event on June 1 in London, U.K.. Further information will be made available as the event draws closer.
The Heroes of the Storm open beta test will follow on the heels of the epic finale of the Heroes of the Dorm™ collegiate eSports tournament. Students from more than 400 schools across the U.S. and Canada have bashed and brawled their way through the brackets, with hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition and other prizes on the line. On April 26, the Heroes of the Dorm championship match will be hosted at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles and televised live in prime time on an ESPN network and also accessible via WatchESPN—further details on the telecast will be announced at a later date.