Monthly Archives: May 2015

Lies of Astaroth Mobile Review

Lies of Astaroth Review

 

With the glut of games available on both Android and iOS, it’s no surprise game developers started smashing genres together in hopes of creating a product to stand out from the rest of the cookie-cutter games available on our touch screens. One of these games that has seen strong success is Lies of Astaroth, a collectible card game RPG from iFree Studio. The store page boasts it as a “top 5 card game in more than 50 countries,” which is a great bait line to throw out for potential players. While Lies of Astaroth’s claim passes a lie detector test, its gameplay proves that popularity isn’t everything.

 

Cards, Runes, and Deck Building

Lies of Astaroth’s deck building and card mechanics are simple and standardized. Each card has an element (Kingdom, Forest, Wilderness, or Hell), rarity, wait time, and cost. Wait time acts as the game’s resource mechanic, indicating how many turns you must wait after drawing the card to put it into play. Cost is an arbitrary number, primarily based on the rarity and power of the card, which factors into the game’s deck building mechanic. As seen in many other mobile games with card or party mechanics, each player’s deck has a limited total cost and number of cards which increases with level. The total cost limit acts as a soft cap on the power of a deck and as an equalizer in PvP. Deck size is quite prohibitive – its maximum limit is ten – which enforces the idea that the game is geared more as an RPG and less a CCG.

Lies of Astaroth Review

Each individual card also has its own level, attack power, hit points, and skill. All cards can be leveled up through the enchanting system, which turns unwanted cards into experience. As cards gain levels, they also gain attack power and hit points. At certain level milestones (usually level 5 and 10, but it depends on the card) cards also gain skills which will activate in battle automatically. The game offers easy ways to obtain fodder cards and even feast cards worth high experience, but it still takes a lot of enchanting to bring an individual card to its full potential. At higher skill levels, Enchanting also allows you to “skill shuffle” for a potentially better skill.

Lies of Astaroth Review

Despite the presence of four elements, Lies of Astaroth does not have a resource system like Magic: The Gathering. Elements occasionally do cause effects on certain skills, such as the Royal Guard’s ability to boost all Kingdom cards on the battlefield or the Gargoyle’s increased attack against Forest cards. However, these skills are not standard and decks generally neither require nor reward synergy. Deck building focuses more on the skills you want, such as a card with healing or parry to mitigate damage, and how powerful those cards are. While this is fairly important (much like other card games), the combat system makes even these choices feel negligible.

Lies of Astaroth Review

In addition to cards, decks also have an element called Runes. Runes are essentially skill cards, equipped to a special slot in your deck. You can ultimately have up to four runes equipped at one time. Runes’ abilities are activated when certain conditions are met on the battlefield, and are one of the most powerful plays in a match. Runes can also be enchanted to raise their power, but can only use other rune cards as experience fodder. These cards are rare – as any powerful artifact should be – and it takes a while to earn enough runes that fit your deck or play style.

 

Game Modes

The bulk of Lies of Astaroth’s gameplay lies in its single-player campaign, found through the Map icon. A light story unfolds as the player character becomes an unlikely and somewhat unwilling hero. You will find multiple numbered maps, each with multiple stages that unlock as you progress. Before each stage is a little dialogue to set the scene, which is (thankfully) neither long nor serious. Each stage is further tiered into Easy, Medium, and Hard difficulties with different victory conditions; higher difficulty levels unlock as you beat lower ones. Completing all the stages nets extra rewards and can award various achievements.

Lies of Astaroth Review

Also found in the single-player mode are Thieves and Maze Towers. A Thief is a random event that can occur when “exploring” a stage (an additional action that can net various items and rewards). Once discovered, these bosses can only be attempted for a short period of time. Thief hit points don’t reset, allowing you to return and attack a second time if you fail, after an attack cooldown. Game friends can also assist you with thieves, which earns them their own rewards. Maze Towers, on the other hand, are found at the end of every map except the first. These are special stages that can be reset once for a free daily. Mazes consist of multiple floors that appear like game boards that you may move your hero on, and each has a set number of enemies and chests. Moving on the board does not cost energy, but battles will. Complete the maze to earn bonus rewards for your effort.

Lies of Astaroth Review

The remaining game modes may be found in the Arena. Free Match allows you to fight another player once every ten minutes without any cost or reward, and serves as a fair way to see how your deck holds up in the current rankings. Ranking Match allows you to fight fifteen times per day for free (subject again to the cooldown) to push your PvP ranking and gain experience and coin. You can also try your luck in the game’s regular Tournaments, which have entry fees and strict rules but also excel in the rewards they offer to winners. Clan Matches allow player guilds to lay claim to territories and battle it out for special gold bonuses. Clan matches are special, time-based battles in which players must be active and online during the match. Clans send four players out in the field in a “last man standing” style tournament, with the winning clan getting to hold the territory for a day. Clans can offer a great deal of benefits to their players, and these matches are the most unique thing LoA has to offer, making it the most exciting part of the game.

Lies of Astaroth Review

Finally, there is Dungeon, unlocked at level 30. This special mode is a tiered dungeon with one hundred floors. Players start daily on level one, and must try to fight their way to the top with limited losses per day. Each level has a special victory condition that may grant extra rewards, and a few milestone levels exist that make it easier for players to “sweep” to a higher level the following day. Completing levels also awards “rage,” a special currency that is reset daily. Rage can be used to buy dungeon-only buffs to further assist your climb to the top. Though it can be tedious, the Dungeon is a constant new challenge for players to face and defeat.

 

Combat

The battlefield is a fairly straightforward mirrored board. On the left you will see your enemy’s hero, your own hero, eachother’s runes and hit points, and the current turn number. Along the top and bottom are the ‘hands’ of drawn cards, visible to both sides, waiting to be played. On the far right are card “graveyards” for defeated units plus additional battle options, including auto attack, passing, skipping, and turn speed. I’ll come back around to “Auto” and “Skip,” but the ability to boost turn speed by three times is a feature many card gamers will be grateful for.

Lies of Astaroth Review

Each turn in LoA follows standard card game rules of playing cards into the field followed by attacking, but there’s very little input involved from players. A player’s turn consists of making one decision: play a card or pass. Cards will attack and heal on their own based on their own AI priorities; if you want a certain enemy taken out, or would prefer to focus on the enemy hero, you’re out of luck. Unfortunately, Lies of Astaroth has fallen into the trap of automating too much gameplay, particularly for its genre. With weak deck mechanics and little player input in each battle, even in PvP, the idea of LoA being a card game is almost a farce.

In fact, its attempts at being an RPG are equally weak: the player character has nothing but a deck to manage, and personalization is limited to a name and choice of gender. Level, experience, and hit points of the hero are all static points on a linear line. The game does have a thin story in its single player campaign, which, while at times is humorous, doesn’t make up for flimsy gameplay. To top it off, the fact you can allow the AI to automatically take turns for you (with a very high success rate) and even skip past battles in certain modes, means there’s very little left to praise.

Lies of Astaroth Review

Interface

Of final mention is the game’s interface. Lies of Astaroth takes a somewhat low-resolution approach to mobile gaming, opting for extra-large buttons and simplified controls. The end result is a cluttered, messy experience that can be downright frustrating for experienced gamers. The game’s main screen is claustrophobic, sacrificing 50% of its space for the UI, half of which is overlaid if you pull open the chat window. Switching cards in a deck requires tapping the card to pull up its information, clicking remove, finding the card you want by scrolling, tapping it, and clicking add – all unnecessary steps when plenty of card games allow for a simple “swipe and swap” interface. Card sorting itself is awkward, using a slot-wheel system that lets you select from preset sorting options rather than selecting by characteristics. Since the game lacks a proper text search function, you’re forced to go through these wheels of choices to find the best possible sorting option to locate your cards. Not only does this make deck management a pain, it makes the enchanting process downright arduous. While the game’s art is of decent quality, it feels out of place on modern phones and tablets where higher resolution art and graphics can be displayed. The whole experience makes Lies of Astaroth feel dated.

Lies of Astaroth Review

 

 

 

Final Verdict: Fair (2/5)

Lies of Astaroth isn’t the worst mobile CCG or RPG I’ve seen, but in many ways, it’s also barely passable given the current era of mobile gaming. It has a fair cash shop and free currency is given away almost daily. The Clan Match and Dungeon modes provide great, engaging daily content to participate in, and there are regular events that add other goals to work toward. However, the rest of the game’s modes are lacking and the gameplay itself suffers from oversimplification and slow progression. With low resolution graphics and a user interface that would wear on anyone’s nerves after a few days of playing, there’s only a little about Lies of Astaroth left to love. While players looking for a very casual entry into card RPGs may enjoy LoA, I’d advise any experienced players to stay away from its murky den.

Orcs Must Die! Unchained Patch 2.2 – Rifty Business Now Live

Orcs Must Die! Unchained Patch 2.2 - Rifty Business Now Live

Robot Entertainment has just released a new update for Orcs Must Die! Unchained. The new patch 2.2 has been dubbed “Rifty Business,” and contains many new changes and updates since the last patch was released for the closed beta just a few short weeks ago.
 
Major changes in this patch include:

  • Cygnus has a brand new skill called Rift Shard and a new unique weaver
  • A third Guardian has been added to every lane
  • New Deckbuilder UI
  • Glory Seeker Ballista, Healing Well, and Mana Well have been reworked
  • Every Hero has had its weavers reviewed and adjustments have been made
  • Matchmaking has been improved

 
You can read the detailed patch notes here.

Marvel Future Fight Smashes Through 10 Million Downloads Worldwide

Marvel Future Fight Smashes Through 10 Million Downloads Worldwide

Marvel Future Fight, the blockbuster Mobile Action RPG from leading gaming company Netmarble Games has officially hit the Top 10 ‘Top Free’ Apps, surpassing 10 million downloads across 118 countries in two weeks.

 

With rave customer reviews in the App Store℠ and Google Play™ Store, the game is fast-climbing the charts, having already taken the number one, two and three spots in South Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom respectively.

 

In mobile-conscious South Korea, Marvel Future Fight grabbed the number one spot in terms of downloads within six days of launch in addition to taking the number ten spot in the top-grossing app charts.

 

The game continues to rank highly and is rapidly rising in the grossing charts worldwide. In the App Store it has ranked as high as #4 in South Korea, #1 in Hong Kong, #18 in Spain , #19 in Germany and #26 in US while in the Google Play Store it has ranked at #5 in Hong Kong, #8 in South Korea, #13 in Taiwan, #17 in Canada, and #27 in US.

 

Marvel Future Fight features the much-loved characters from The Avengers in addition to well-known characters such as Spider-Man, Daredevil and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Players can team up their favorite heroes with Super Villains such as Doctor Octopus, Loki, and Ultron to form powerful squads in this viscerally thrilling action RPG.

 

‘Netmarble Games is truly proud of the experience Marvel Future Fight delivers its players,” said Young-sig Kwon, CEO, Netmarble. “The game brings together our award-winning talent for game design, with the most recognizable Super Heroes and Super Villains, and showcases it with a new storyline within the Marvel Universe. The result of our efforts has now been seen by over 10 million players worldwide and we are looking forward to sharing even more content updates and community support to further grow and reward our loyal fan base.”

 

Haunted Empire – Three Kingdoms Launches on iOS

Haunted Empire 3 Kingdoms
Haunted Empire-Three Kingdoms, published by ELEX, has launched for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices in the Apple App Store. After its recent launch on Android, Haunted Empire-Three Kingdoms was featured as the ‘New + Updated Games’ on Google Play worldwide.

 

Haunted Empire-Three Kingdoms offers a unique experience by fusing MOBA and RPG elements into one exciting adventure for a truly strategic RPG experience supported by hundreds of heroes at your disposal! Vivid Gamer says, “It’s a fun and bright-looking title.”

 

The iOS version has new characters, new social interactions, such as the ability to invite friends, and many more exciting features.

Neverwinter Strongholds Expansion Announced

Today, Perfect World Entertainment Inc., a leading publisher of free-to-play MMORPGs, and Cryptic Studios announced Neverwinter: Strongholds – the seventh expansion for the action MMORPG set in the Dungeons & Dragons’ Forgotten Realms universe from Wizards of the Coast – is coming to PC in summer 2015. In the newest expansion, players join their guild to claim an abandoned keep from the wild and build it back into its former glory on the largest map in Neverwinter.

Neverwinter Strongholds Expansion

Reminiscent of early Dungeons & Dragons gameplay, Neverwinter: Strongholds empowers guilds to reclaim a keep and its surrounding wilderness areas from monsters. As the lands are cleared, guilds will build defenses both in and around their strongholds using structures like archer towers to fend off attackers, while building siege structures to increase their ability to wage war against enemy guilds. Once the keep has been secured, guilds will work to solidify their foothold along the ranges of the Sword Coast.

 

“Over the course of the past two years, Neverwinter has been a way for players to experience Dungeons & Dragons themed storylines including Tyranny of Dragons and Elemental Evil,” said Rob Overmeyer, executive producer for Neverwinter. “Strongholds gives our Neverwinter players the ability to create their own stories of banding together with their guild to forge the tales of their rescuing of lands overrun with Orcs and defending their turf from invading players.”

 


For more information about Neverwinter, and to play now for free, visit http://www.arcgames.com/en/games/neverwinter

Age of Wushu Expansion Warrior’s Journey Arrives

Snail’s hallmark martial arts sandbox MMO Age of Wushu launched its latest expansion recently.

Age of Wushu Warriors Journey Expansion

In the new expansion, players can travel to an entire new game world on the frontier of the Ming Dynasty Empire. This new world offers a number of exciting new game features, including:

  • 5 new regions to explore including desert, tundra, and grassland environments
  • Survival gameplay mechanics including hunger, thirst, and hypothermia
  • Bag drops on player death and bag looting
  • Special traps and territory claiming
  • New hidden areas to explore with unique treasure, missions and bosses

In addition, the expansion offers a few new general gameplay features such as:

  • Cross-server Guild Wars system
  • Player housing system
  • 100+ new skills and all new weapons

Check out the detailed expansion descriptions: Age of Wushu.

Gloria Victis Completes Unity 5 Transition

Gloria Victis Completes Unity 5 Transition

Black Eye Games has announced that it has completed the process of transferring Gloria Victis to Unity 5.
 
Currently in testing, the new engine grants improved graphics through shaders, lighting, and weather. The new version also adds an upgrade of the Speed Tree, an expansion of the world map, and a new type of conquerable territory.
 
Gloria Victis will also be at Digital Dragons in Cracow, Poland on May 21 and 22.

TERA Steam Kings Crown of Gold Pack Giveaway

OnRPG has partnered with En Masse Entertainment to celebrate TERA‘s dominance of the Steam free to play MMORPG landscape by making everyone feel like royalty with a Crown of Gold Pack Giveaway!

From En Masse Entertainment, TERA is at the forefront of a new breed of MMO. With True Action Combat — aim, dodge, and time your attacks for intense and rewarding tactical combat. Add the deep social experience of an MMO to best-in-class action combat mechanics for a unique blend of both genres. Download and play TERA today on Steam or via the official En Masse Entertainment website.

The code below unlocks the Golden Crown as seen below:
TERA Crown Pack Giveaway

 

 

To Redeem your Key:

  • Log in to your En Masse account at http://tera.enmasse.com/.
  • Select “Account Settings.”
  • Click the “Enter Code” button on the right.
  • Enter your game code and click “Submit.”
  • Please note that these codes are intended for players in the North America region only.

Fractured Space Celebrates 6 Month Anniversary with Content Push

Edge Case Games today marked the six-month anniversary of its team-based tactical space combat game, Fractured Space, currently in Early Access on Steam, by launching two new ships and 11 new crew members including the game’s first celebrity crew member, The Mighty Jingles of YouTube fame. The new ships include the Zarek Carrier, an entirely new class of ship that can launch multiple wings of fighters and bombers across an entire lane.

Fractured Space 6 Month Anniversary

The game’s impressive progress in terms of graphics, content, features and player base over the last six months can be seen in a new video released today that charts the evolution of Fractured Space. From simple graphics and geometry to stunning ships replete with strong tactical and loadout options, the game’s evolution has attracted more and more PC gamers with nearly 200,000 unique players now having ventured into space for the game’s signature 5×5 combat matches.

Well over a mile long and carrying a crew of nearly seven thousand, the gigantic Carrier is a heavy ship focused on launch bay systems rather than direct attacks. While the Carrier itself is not well armed or defended, it can launch multiple wings of fighters and bombers to set ambush points or even spread influence across a lane through the use of refueling waypoints to extend the range of its wings. In the hands of an expert player able to juggle the Carrier’s multiple wings in combat, the Carrier can be a game-changing force capable of turning the tide in a match—and it will only become more effective when additional Utility ships become available in a future update.

The second new ship, the Zarek Infiltrator, is a stealth attack ship that uses its cloaking device to sneak behind enemy lines. It then uses drones to mark targets before unleashing an Ion Blast that delivers an area of effect (AOE) to marked enemy ships. Like any stealth ship, the Infiltrator must escape after delivering its payload as its defenses are weak. Lacking the blink capability of other stealth vessels, the Infiltrator fires a disarm AOE that allows it to slip back in cloaked mode and make its escape.

The new crew members in Fractured Space provide both different ship bonuses and fresh personalities expressed through in-game audio updates on ship and enemy status. Perhaps no personality is stronger than that of online wargaming video creator Jingles, whose 384,000 YouTube fans had been clamoring for his placement in the game. Captain Jingles boosts hull defense, capture rate, and fire rate, and his space-going dog also chimes in with his own commentary! “One of my lifelong ambitions has been realized–I finally made it into a videogame,” said Jingles. “Luckily it’s one I can be proud of, Fractured Space is immense fun!”

Fractured Space is the tactical space combat PC title from the creators of Strike Suit Zero that puts players in command of gigantic capital ships to engage in team-based battles. Each of the game’s ships looks and plays very differently, and every match features deep team tactics with multiple sectors and battles to capture stations that control the resource production necessary for leveling up ships for your team. Fractured Space currently has over ten unique ships with more on the way and new features are being added on a regular basis with community input. Edge Case’s firm commitment to an open development process keeps players in close contact with the development team through weekly playtest sessions and shared development plans. Fractured Space is currently available on Steam Early Access before transitioning to a wider free-to-play release this year.