Monthly Archives: May 2015

Taichi Panda Mobile Review

By: Ojogo, Mobile Guru

 

At this late point in the gaming cycle, people should already be familiar with how mobile devices do action adventure games. There’s practically a template developers follow, unconsciously or not. It’s always the same battle-centric beat em up where everything else outside combat is just a glorified RPG skin for micromanaging your stats and equipment. It’s always the same side directional pad and mashable attack button with the auto-combo, surrounded by hotkeys for your character’s designated skills.

Not that there’s anything inherently bad with this system. Familiarity is a good way of getting long-time fans of the genre easily into new titles. It’s just a matter of mixing it up and putting something else on the table to make them stay.

 

Taichi Panda Review Characters

Overview

Taichi Panda is a free-to-play online multiplayer action-adventure dungeon crawler by Snail Games. As the title puts it, you can safely assume that you will be playing as some reskinned variation of Po from Kungfu Panda, though you can also choose to play as a quick female assassin or a brawny warrior as well. Basic plot has it that the character you decide to play as is the one hero tasked to restore balance to a world that has dark and evil forces plaguing it. Whether your goal is to defeat the dark forces or just destroy the entire world they are plaguing on the other hand is a bit vague.

 

Controls

As mentioned earlier, controls and gameplay are quite simple and reminiscent of many, if not all, known action games for the mobile devices released so far. What’s interesting to note though is their touched up edition of the interface offers a more personalization options and intuitive systems than the typical jaunt in the genre.

Rather than having a fixed position, the virtual d-pad is accessed at any point of the general bottom left area in the screen. You could be dragging and tapping your left thumb through the middle left of the screen and the movement controls will still apply. It’s a minor thing, but it’s a nice touch knowing you don’t have to constantly restrict your muscle movements to intense memory to match a virtual unmoving analog stick for ideal feedback. The only main controls fixed on the screen are the attack buttons which is familiarly situated on the bottom right corner to mimic standard handheld gaming devices.

 

Taichi Panda Review Equipment

Gameplay

As far the gameplay goes, Taichi Panda satisfies on levels ranging from being just a simple hack and slasher to a tactical combo-oriented action game. Your character travels through a map, fighting waves upon waves of enemies.

You may blindly hack your way through the fog – dodging, moving, and timing your skills being the only notions of strategy, or you can work through combos and juggles to gratify the war exhibitionist in you.

Certain moves can cause certain states to the enemies, such as stun and a juggle-able states that can enable you to cause much more damage to your enemies. The game makes it so that going through such troubles isn’t exactly necessary, but it does reward you if you do decide to go the distance.

Taichi Panda Review Boss Fight

For example, most enemies have a certain degree of armor that allows them to ignore getting hit. They still get damaged, but getting smacked in the face doesn’t really stop them from hitting you back. But hit them enough times, or with the right moves, and you’ll stun them or launch them into the air, allowing you to juggle them. If your timing is spot on, you can keep them bouncing in the area for an extended period, maximizing your dps. What’s nice is that this applies to everyone – the level boss, PVP enemies, and your character as well. It presents a fighting game-esque system that encourages players to try and go the extra mile with how they can strategically manage to break the enemy and get hits in, which is something most action games usually put minimal emphasis towards.

 

Taichi Panda Review Pets

Pets

It also features a pet system, wherein your pets act as your support party. They are controlled by the game’s AI, but they provide adequate support cover fire, and defense.

They can be customized with their own equipment and can be leveled by feeding so they can keep up with the game’s progressing difficulty. If you want to maintain a pet that actually contributes, you’ll need to continually feed them to boost their power to match the progressively rising difficulty. Another thing to take note is that pets can be attacked, and are usually the first things enemy monsters target in dungeons. This adds some tactics to the concept of retreating, as kiting foes with cheap tricks for too long will usually leave you without a pet for the remainder of the dungeon. Sometimes it’s necessary to sacrifice your pet to buy your party enough time to regroup after some bad plays against a boss.

 

Taichi Panda Review

Comparisons

The hack and slash brawler experience Taichi Panda gives is deep and sophisticated enough to be compared as a mobile version of Diablo 3 or Dungeon Hunter. The single player mode is rich enough for it to stand alone without its many online features. But since this IS a mobile game, dare we dream that we can’t have any of that.

Taichi Panda Review PvP

Taichi Panda works out the usual tired mechanics and pays a little more attention to detail to fully suit player needs. Well, more of wants, than needs. PVP now feels more like an actual console or PC-based PVP battle. In arena, players face off with each other in asynchronous battles with each player having the boss-type armor to compensate for the lack of an intelligent reactive person behind the wheels. This tends to lead to a fulfilling game of cat and mouse as you must time the missed initiation of your foe before going in for the key armor break to open your foe to a juggle combo. Whichever side manages the first extensive juggle usually takes the win. Another simpler form of PVP is the typical stat comparison where you raid and try to steal items other players have for an item fusion system.

Taichi Panda Review Pickpocketing

 

Conclusion: Excellent

Taichi Panda has a whole lot more of other micro features that are worthy of noting, but the point is the game is one of the most “complete” mobile games out in the market right now.

The core gameplay is already deep and sophisticated on its own, and every little detail and feature streamlines with it to make one whole consistent product. You don’t see a lot of those right now, as Taichi Panda is clearly setting a bar too high for the competition to meet. Sure, it still has some purchasable content and bonuses not accessible for free players, but it doesn’t really depend on any of that to make the gaming experience worthwhile.

In all honestly this game carries the quality of the buy to play titles on the app store, and seems like a charity that Snail offered it for free. Taichi Panda is a glorious and beautiful example of where the future of mobile gaming is heading. True, it does follow a typical game formula, but it delivers much more than its rivals in the action RPG genre have so far.

The Repopulation Coming to Windows in Q4 2015

The Repopulation Coming to Windows in Q4 2015

The Repopulation, the Kickstarter-funded sci-fi sandbox MMORPG from Above and Beyond Technologies, will launch for Windows in Q4 of 2015. Gamers will be provided a level of freedom unparalleled in MMORPGs as they embark on an epic adventure on the distant planet of Rhyldan. Currently available on Steam Early Access, the title will be feature complete this summer.

 
The Repopulation is one of the most ambitious MMORPGs to date, due in part to the game’s nation building system. Players can construct sprawling metropolises from the ground up, paying attention to the minutest details such as furniture placement. These nations are inhabitable by other players, NPCs and if the citizens aren’t careful, enemy players and mob.

 

In combat gamers choose between two systems. The more traditional RPG setting has numerous macros across the bottom and optional tab targeting. The action setting plays like a third-person shooter with the keyboard controlling movement and the mouse aim. Limbs can be targeted and damaged to impair enemies. In both systems, when the action heats up vehicles, turrets and mechs can be deployed.

 

The open-ended nature of The Repopulation allows gamers to play how they desire. Missions can be filtered, allowing individuals to focus on the gameplay experiences they enjoy most. Unlike most MMOs, there are no character classes or leveling, thus decreasing the grinding nature of gameplay commonly found in the genre. With more than 75 separate skills, each with 12 tiers, gamers can mix and match the talents they find most appealing to create their own perfect character. With such a deep level of character customization, player interactions are key in order to find party members that complement each other.

 
“After more than five years of development, we are ecstatic to have a launch window,” said Joshua Halls, developer, Above and Beyond Technologies. “Gamers like you and I made The Repopulation possible, so we have paid close attention to feedback during testing to deliver the experience players want and deserve.”

 

Set on the distant planet of Rhyldan, centuries into the future, players assume the role of a human clone whose original self was from the now destroyed Earth. The clones, imprinted with all their former memories, must constantly battle for survival. However, death is a minor inconvenience as individuals can always be cloned after they perish. Due to the limited resources on Rhyldan only select people are eligible for cloning and natural reproduction is not allowed, leading to a division in the colony.

 
Players choose between three factions: One World, One Nation supports the status quo; Free People’s Republic believes in natural reproduction as well as cloning; and a rogue nation that is free to make and break alliances at will with the other groups.

 

Gamers who have already been enjoying The Repopulation will notice build 15.4.1 has added a host of new features. These include a graphical update to Freedomtown, combat improvements, a new dungeon and multiple minigames. To view the full patch notes please visit https://www.therepopulation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=9563

 

The Repopulation is available now on Steam Early Access for the sale price of $14.99. The Repopulation typically costs $19.99.

Funcom Introduces Shadow of Vanaheim for Age of Conan

Funcom Introduces Shadow of Vanaheim for Age of Conan

Funcom’s Age of Conan introduces the brand new Hyborian Tales: Shadow of Vanaheim! The update offers hours of new content, many quests, new Bear Mounts and brutal challenges against Vanir invaders.
 
A Collector’s Edition of Shadow of Vanaheim is available to players in the in-game Item Store. It contains many bonus items, such as the epic Prime Platinum Ice Bear swift mount.
 
Age of Conan is also celebrating its seventh anniversary this week, with all new and exclusive Membership Offers and a week of double Alternate Advancement points for its players. More information about the update and events are available here.

Skyforge Interactive Panorama Reveals New Zone

Skyforge Interactive Panorama Reveals New Zone

Obsidian Entertainment and Allods Team have released a new interactive 3D panorama for the upcoming sci-fi MMORPG, Skyforge, giving a first look at the location called Veines.
 
Veines was once a peaceful town nestled in a valley surrounded by scenic dense forests and mountaintops. Now the settlement is ravaged by the merciless forces of the Reapers of Death, including the disgusting, rat-like Virds, which emerge from an underground network of burrows to attack the unwary and Immortals alike.
 
You can see the full panorama here, and learn more about Veines here.

Post-Apocalyptic Vehicle Combat MMO Crossout Announced

Post-Apocalyptic Vehicle Combat MMO Crossout Announced

Award-winning developer and publisher of smash hit, War Thunder, Gaijin Entertainment and Targem Games development studio today announced Crossout, a new team based multiplayer vehicle combat game, that is currently in pre-alpha on PC. Set in a post-apocalyptic world devastated by an alien invasion and human genetic testing gone awry, Crossout tests players’ creativity in building, upgrading and customizing deadly armored vehicles to destroy enemies in open player vs player combat.

 
“Crossout is about customization, the freedom to construct the most destructive vehicles to wage war against your enemies”, said Anton Yudintsev, CEO of Gaijin Entertainment. “Trading, earning or purchasing parts and upgrades for vehicles, survivors can build the perfect fighting machine to their own preference, taking into account how each new addition affects the whole vehicle’s performance”.

 
No two vehicles in Crossout are the same, as players can create any kind of combat vehicle from the speediest buggy to the heaviest of off-road vehicles to reflect their warrior sense of gameplay. Offering complete customization, Crossout gives players thousands of possibilities to design their vehicle, including shape, armor, weapons, support systems and, cosmetic enhancements. Visit your own garage to build new advanced mechanisms and sell them via the in-game auction system.

 

Players also have multiple options when it comes to mass destruction – combat vehicles can be equipped with an explosive range of weapons from chainsaws, power drills and machine guns, to rocket launchers, flying drones and stealth generators. Featuring an advanced damage model, destroy any part of an enemy machine and it will affect that vehicle’s performance.

 

“When destroying your enemy’s gun with a precise shot and leaving him defenseless, that creates a lot of satisfaction,” said Stanislav Scorb, CEO of Targem Games. “And when you reach the enemy’s base, crawling on the only two wheels left, that’s even more exciting.”

 

Be the first to join Crossout – beta testing starts this summer. To apply for participation, please visit Crossouts official website.