Yearly Archives: 2016

Crush Your Enemies

Crush Your Enemies is a 2D RTS game with a focus on humor developed by Vile Monarch for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. If you’re growing tired of the countless fantasy worlds with brave knights and petite elves you’re out of luck…because Generia is yet another one of those worlds, but thankfully there are a group of ruthless barbarians on their way to plunder villages, impale settlers, be inappropriate in every way possible, and drink beer to their heart’s content. The best part of it all is you have the chance to lead these violent, inappropriate warriors to victory!

Features:

Cross-Platform Multiplayer: Enjoy fighting against other players across a wide array of devices due to a simplistic control scheme that has universal appeal.

Important Items: Manage your inventory and the powerful items in it so you are prepared for any situation. Some of your items might even be able to sway the tides in your favor in the middle of a battle.

Singleplayer Humor: Enjoy hours of entertaining gameplay and hilarious dialogue between characters in cutscenes.

Crazy Bosses: How many times have you been able to say a game gave you the chance to take on a massive snail that would love nothing more than to head-butt you into a bloody pulp?

Super Dungeon Tactics

Super Dungeon Tactics is a tactical, turn-based game developed by Underbite Games where you can fight in Crystalia against the Dark Consul’s forces alongside other members in your guild of Heroes. You will act as the leader of the guild, choosing to take on different kinds of bounties, go on exciting adventures, or responding to the please of the public. As you progress you’ll come across even more heroes that want to join up with you, further expanding the possibilities of your dungeon-exploring parties. Are you ready to take on the Dark Consul?

Features:

RNG Light: Super Dungeon Tactics does have an RNG that will need to be taken into account when performing some of your attacks, but it provides a reasonable balance of both strategy and chance.

Loot-Centric Leveling: With a loot-centric leveling system you won’t need to worry about some of your new heroes falling behind. Just swap some of your awesome gear over onto them and enjoy having them right up to par with the rest of your party.

Dynamic Dungeons: Dungeons will change every time you enter them, having both new rooms and new monsters for you to slay.

Ability Dice: Roll ability dice for your heroes each round that will help determine just how effective they will be and what kind of special abilities they might get to use.

MU Origin Mobile Review

By: Ojogo

 

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There’s been a lot of revivals lately of old early 2000s online games. Of course the majority of them are mobile ports rather than rehashing the same thing again on PC. Some of the most notable examples include MapleStory and Ragnarok Online getting their second wind on the mobile platform, despite their PC presence still going strong. Now Webzen has thrown their hat into the ring, attempting to take the growing mobile MMORPG market by storm with MU Origins.

 

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Disclaimer

MU Origins takes place on the world MU Online established on the surface. Before I continue with the review, I must admit that I’ve had no prior in-depth experience with MU Online. I was just a casual observer in the computer cafes when people have played the game religiously (and they would often just sleep/camp overnight to play the game). So don’t expect a deep, blow-by-blow differentiation from MU Online here. Though on a positive note, from what I can tell the mobile adaption is strikingly close to capturing the exact magic present in the PC edition.

 

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Gameplay

Moving forward, MU Origins has all the staples of what you’d expect from a mobile MMORPG. Character control is relegated to a virtual direction stick on the lower left side of the screen. Active skills and normal attacks are accessible on the streamlined right side of the game screen. You’d have the various game modes also accessible within the upper portion of the screen. And you have a minimap (of sorts) on the upper right side. Character information is seen on the upper left side of the screen and tapping on your character’s portrait enables you to see a more in-depth run-down of your character’s stats, attributes and points allocated.

Character creation on the other hand allows you to choose from three classes which are the Dark Wizard, Dark Knight and Elf class. These classes are basically your mage, knight and archer classes found in the normal MMORPG archetype spectrum so don’t expect anything fancy here.

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The various game modes that you can get into in MU Origins include arena, event and dungeon battles. Each area has its own set of instanced maps that you can fight either in PvP or PvE Battles. Thankfully, MU Origins does away with the standard mobile energy system so you won’t have to worry much about marathon playing until you are disqualified from enjoying anything in Mu for the rest of the day. However to avoid burn-out they have implemented a daily cap on entering events and dungeons to keep you wanting more, and force you to experience the rest the game has to offer in the meantime.

MU Origins also adopts the automatic battle and travel system you’d often see in mobile games of this scale. With just a flick of the finger, you can have your character travel through maps, battle monsters, and get back to turn in quests. On that note, questing is the run-of-the-mill gather and kill quests. As I said before, this game captures the essence of the original game, from an era when questing diversity was not so common.

 

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Visuals

The one thing that’s prominent with MU Origin is that it retains the dated look MU Online was known for. The mobile platform thankfully denies you to see the game in its full “glory”. Since there are tons of F2P mobile games out there that don’t look as dated as MU Origin does.

But then, the game doesn’t really hide that fact since you can see the game as what it is on the preview store and website. So it’s not like you’re getting lured in by sexy pictures that don’t reflect the actual gameplay. Plus I’m sure there’s quite a few players that will get nostalgic over the look and feel of their old friend.

 

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Character Development

So moving along, let’s talk about the game’s visuals. We’ll focus now on what MU Origins stuck with from MU Online that can make someone interested in playing the game. Character development shines.

MU Origins follows the typical leveling system you’d find in MMOS with the exception of the rebirth system that allows you to unlock higher tiers of your character. With the game’s automated battling and travel system it makes the level grind less intense. You can actually leave the game running as you go through your daily tasks and just get back into the game at a more convenient time to experience your newfound power hands-on.

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Another cool thing that MU Origins retained is the emphasis on the wings your character gets. This adds another dimension in the areas of increasing your character’s stats. In fact you can also increase the star rarity of your wings (and your other equipment too) by investing currency and ingredients to make it stronger.

 

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World Bosses, Events

If there’s one thing that stands out as my most memorable experience in MU Origins, it would have to be the world boss and world events Webzen throws at you. The world boss encounters can hold their own against a decent sized group for quite some time. Meanwhile the lower tier world bosses make an ideal auto-play hotspot due to the extensive time it takes your character to solo one.

The events on the other hand will test your skill in the game as you slaughter your way through as fast as you can. They’re a great opportunity to turn the auto-questing off to showcase your power! The awards for both encounters are too good to pass up, so you’d be doing a lot of them as you play through the game.

 

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Conclusion: Good

My MU Origin experience is a nice throwback to the early 2000s of MMO gaming with the dated graphics, almost mind-numbing quest/level grinding and the downright basic gameplay and story build-up. It’s a good nostalgia trip for those looking to remember the good ol’ days of gaming with the convenience of the modern automated quest and navigation tracking.

With that said however, the game doesn’t hold much in terms of the more modern games we have these days. The visuals alone can really turn you off, especially if you’ve grown accustomed to games that have a certain visual flair. Gameplay-wise, MU Origin can hold its own with its fast-paced kill happy action combat. Essentially this game isn’t for everyone, but if you’re the group its targeting, this game can be awesome.
On that note, the enduring fanbase of MU Online should go crazy for MU Origin. However MU Origin may need some additional updates to capture the imagination of newer players to the genre lacking that nostalgic feel for this classic.

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

By Andrew Skelton (Outfoxed)

 

Does mobile gaming need a high-quality ARPG? Maybe. Nexon seems to think so, leading to the global release of Heroes of Incredible Tales a couple weeks prior. The game boasts impressive graphics, unique characters, and action packed gameplay, on a mobile platform to boot. You’ll have to ask yourself, “Is the game good? Did mobile gaming truly need a triple-A style ARPG? Or is this a case of style over substance?” Luckily, I’m here to answer those questions for you, and give you plenty of information on the game to further your decision. You’re so lucky!

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

Running, Jumping, Swinging a Seventy Pound Sword

The first thing you might notice about Heroes of Incredible Tales (henceforth HIT) is the usage of Unreal Engine 4. For a mobile game, that’s quite impressive; it also means you’ll need a pretty beefy tablet or other mobile device to get the most out of the game. The visuals are quite stunning, however, and definitely are one of HIT’s strongest selling points. Animation is fluid, lending to a game that’s not only fast, but pretty to look at, too.

HIT uses a double touch control scheme. The left side of your screen will be used for movement, and the right for attacks, defense, and skills. There is no current gamepad support for the title. Functionally, this works much like a mouse and keyboard would, but if you’ve small hands on a large tablet, it may be somewhat uncomfortable to play for longer periods of time.

 

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

How to Fight: Stick Enemy with Pointy End

The introduction to the game fits the story-driven narrative of the game. You take on the role of a knight from the past as an angel teaches you the basics of movement, attacking, defense, and skill usage. Additional actions such as follow-up attacks and dodging are also covered, giving you a solid foundation for which to play the game.

Once the tutorial has concluded, you select one of four characters to challenge the world with: Hugo, the greatsword wielding tank; Lucas, who skillfully dual wields swords; Anika, with her battle scythe and acrobatics; and Kiki, a young magician with incredible spell power. You can change between characters at a whim, too, which is a nice touch.

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

Why Does Every Town Have this Problem?!

At the core of HIT is the mission system. There are several areas in the game, which lead you through the story along a linear path of progressively harder missions. Every battle you complete gives items and gold. Some missions are scattered throughout each level that provide additional experience, more gold, or rare items. Since they’re labeled as such on the map, you can easily identify them, and can even use unlockable cards to increase the effects. For example, using a double experience card on a mission that already gives increased experience is a very smart decision to make.

A lot of the game’s content is also gated behind the story, with raids being unlocked all the way into Mission 8, Area 5 (8-5). Ultimately, this does require you to play through most of the game in order to unlock things you may have wanted to do from the start, such as PvP. This can lead to a bit of frustration at times if you’re unlucky with equipment, as each mission demands more and more attack and defense values to have the best chance at success.

 

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

The Good, The Bad, Dodge-y, Something, Something, VICTORY!

As previously mentioned, combat is fast and furious. You have an auto-attack string that you can execute simply by holding down the large attack button on the right of the screen. This even goes so far as to dash to distant enemies, ensuring constant action. Additionally, you can also use up to three different skills, unlocked as you level up your character. Each of these skills also has a follow-up attack that can be executed by pressing attack after your skill connects with an enemy, allowing for even more damage to pile up. These skills and follow-ups do have a cooldown timer, though, so using them wisely is the key to success.

Of course, defending and dodging are also quite important. Blocking an attack will let you take significantly reduced damage, helping against a lot of the more burly monsters you’ll encounter. Some attacks, however, cannot be blocked, and must be dodged completely to prevent damage. Dodging is accomplished by simply moving while defending; the dodge happens in the direction you moved, so try not to dodge directly into the attack itself!

 

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

I See You Drivin’ Round Town With a Big Ass Scythe …

As your character clears stages, you will earn experience points and level your character up. From level three onwards, leveling up earns you a skill point that you can use to improve your character’s skills, follow-up attacks, or passively affect your entire character. You can expect one level per stage until you’ve reached character level 15 – at which point experience gain slows WAY down.

You also power up your character using various pieces of equipment you find throughout the game. In addition to your weapon, each character can equip a helmet, body armor, gloves, boots, an ornament, a ring, and a necklace. All equipment has varying levels of rarity, from common to immortal, with the higher rarity items being much more powerful. Each piece of equipment also can spawn with a cornucopia of additional effects, such as additional hit points, increased attack speed, reduced debuff duration, and more. Mixing, matching, and maximizing these bonuses will help grow your character even more.

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

Out with the Old, In with the New; Out with the New, In With the Cool!

Of course, if you’re constantly gaining new equipment, there’s got to be a use for the older stuff, right? Thankfully, HIT allows you to convert old or outclassed equipment to levels on your current gear, up to a maximum of level 20. Every level the piece of equipment gains will increase its stats, and can quickly take you from mediocre to juggernaut-like in terms of strength. You can even synthesize two pieces of max level equipment to increase the rarity of the piece (and thus, its overall strength).

Equipment can also be enhanced with gems. Gems are obtained through various daily events, and each have a unique effect on the gear they’re placed in. Keep in mind, certain gems are weapon and armor specific, and equipment uses specific colors in their gem slots. Still, if you can match them to each other, they will provide a nice boost to your character. Gems can be synthesized to a higher grade like equipment, at the cost of five gems of the same level.

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

Keys? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Keys!

As I mentioned before, a lot of the content of the game is locked behind completing story missions. However, the locations in game that are unlocked are quite beneficial to becoming more powerful. First up, we have the Tower of Trials. The tower unlocks one floor per character level, and gets progressively more challenging as you advance in it. Completing each floor will reward you with gold or items. The tower does not cost any adventure points (the game’s “energy” mechanic) either, meaning you can go venture through it at any time. Next up, you’ll find the Sanctuary of Light or Blood, depending on the day. These areas are where you will earn your gems for equipment, and where you get the first taste of your multiplayer experience (albeit in an NPC style format).

Later on in the story you’ll unlock the arenas, allowing you to compete against other players in one-on-one matches for points. The higher your earnings for the week, the better prizes you can earn. You can also utilize a friendly duel arena to practice your skills without the fierce competitive nature. For more intense PvP action, there’s the Brawl Arena, a free-for-all against five other players.

Heroes of Incredible Tales Review

Final Verdict: Good (3/5)

Despite the polish, there are some glaring problems with HIT. Ads are thrown at you constantly, and despite there being an option for them to not be shown again for the day, more will replace them. There’s also a massive elephant in the room I haven’t addressed: the auto battle button. With a simple press, you can literally walk away from the game and it will play for you. Sure, you have to use skills manually, but if you’re geared properly, you won’t even need to do that. There’s also the issue of requiring a very nice tablet or phone to run the game at any decent framerate.

PvP is very much pay-to-win. There’s no getting around that fact. Add in the fact you can literally buy skill points, and it’s even more absurd. This game, while developed for a mobile platform, could have served much better as a PC or console release. HIT is a gorgeous game that, unfortunately, suffers from the age old problem of graphics before gameplay.

 

Planet of Heroes

Planet of Heroes is a mobile MOBA title created by Fast Forward Studios and published by My.com. Designed as a quality title similar to PC MOBAs, Planet of Heroes aims to deliver tactical depth & strategy and quality gameplay that’s easy to access and enjoy.

Features:

Fun storyline: Players will control various heroes in the galaxy to protect it from the destructive power of the “Sparks of Life”.

Community-Driven Design: Player-to-Developer feedback will constantly be maintained in order to create the ideal MOBA experience.

Singleplayer Option: For those that don’t have perfect Wi-Fi connections, players can enjoy a fun and engaging singeplayer experience.