MMO News |
- War Thunder Steam Launch Review
- Onigiri Online
- Onigiri Online First Impressions
- Guild Wars 2: Free Trial Weekend and Heroic Edition
- NGames Reveals Wartune’s Knight Class
- Skara Involves Fans in Indie Game Development
- Guilty Gear and Minecraft Come to Lost Saga
| War Thunder Steam Launch Review Posted: 23 Aug 2013 05:08 PM PDT By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor) Wars can be fought in many ways, on the land, in the water, and high up in the sky. War Thunder is what Gaijin Entertainment self-proclaims 'a next generation MMO combat game dedicated to World War 2 military aviation.' Now I have always been a big fan of planes, and the Second World War prior to all the fancy computer auto-targeting is probably the most intriguing era of aerial dog fighting. So I went to check out whether or not War Thunder could legitimately label itself as Next Gen, a phrase thrown around so much lately it's starting to lose meaning. When we were young everyone had their toy of choice. I personally went with war toys and the variety of planes was a driving factor in my later interest in history. The impact aerial dog fights in World War II had on the overall map of Europe created ripples in time that continue to shape the world as we know it. Brave men stepped foot into battles by a new set of rules, abandoning tactics honed by our species for thousands of years to venture into an unknown frontier of battle. The thoughts of being in those historic shoes and flying recklessly into dog fights with maybe a 30% chance of survival at best easily gives an adrenaline rush. I have nothing but good things to say about its implementation in Battlefield titles as well as World of Warplanes, and perhaps brought an unprofessional level of enthusiasm as I clicked ready in my War Thunder starter plane. First of all I want to mention how beautiful this game is; not only is it the best looking title in the free dog-fighting genre, it may be one of the most beautiful titles I've reviewed period. Each landscape you will fly through is absolutely mind blowing. The detail you will find on each hill, town or even river is artfully crafted, and even on the lowest graphics the game will constantly distract you from gameplay with one scenic vista after another. Each plane stands out from the pack as a unique snowflake. This is quite an accomplishment with five playable nations each offering a diverse set of plane styles. Beyond just looks, you will find the planes feel functionally different as well, but more on that later on. Beyond a shiny paint job, War Thunder brings realism in heaping helpings to set itself apart. The impact a single bullet can have on impact with your plane is surreal. See your plane has multiple hit boxes, and each bullet type brings a different type of damage depending on where it hits. Shooting fans that prefer kill shots over drawn out gun battles will be happy to know that two hit boxes are almost always kill shots. The first is the engine; after a few battles you'll learn to dread the sight of your engine smoking as once it lights up on fire, your match is over. That is unless you can escape your pursuer and find a soft landing spot between the trees in the nearby mountains (yea, good luck with that!). One hit box is even worse than the engine, and that's the pilot himself. Once he is hit, the lights will go out and you are not able to control your plane anymore. The rest of the hit boxes however do have an impact on how your plane will maneuver. Even if they are only slightly damaged, you will notice this while ascending and descending. You will go slower, you will have trouble keeping airborne, and eventually if you take enough damage, you're going down. Once any component on your plane is completely destroyed, you will have to make a crash landing, and it takes some serious practice to accomplish this feat. Steering your plane is easy and won't take actual military training to figure out. The mouse acts purely as a steering device. It can also double as your thruster control via the mouse scroll wheel, though this can be accomplished with the W and S key instead. Besides that there is always a way to put your landing gear down, and to change your flaps. But as a new player you should probably not try to use these at all at first. I still remember my first try at landing; let's just say I was better off hitting the water. Flying in War Thunder is an easy job to do, but it takes a veteran player to be able to land. There are three different battles that you can start. The mostly played Arcade Battle, where you will duke it out with a team against another team and you'll have to do objectives to win your game. Historical Battles are another choice where you will fly in recreated regions where famous aerial battles took place. Finally there are the major leagues known as Full Real Battles where tons of players fly in but you only have one life to live, so make it count! Now onto the planes themselves, each playable nation has its own research tree of available planes that you can choose from. There is basically a lot of different plane types, but the most known and used ones are the Fighter and the Bomber. As you can imagine, the fighter is the one who will go head to head with the other air planes, while the Bomber focuses itself on the ground targets and objectives. Unfortunately, just like in real life, your plane will have to reload, and this is the only negative thing of this game. Each helicopter is equipped with a different type of gun, and along with that you can also choose your type of special ammunition, that gives bonuses to either planes, or more heavier targets. Some of these guns are really strong, but barely have any rounds in the magazine. And for bombers, well they will have to wait a while before each bomb is loaded in again. Conclusion: Great I have been playing this game on and off for a while now, and I keep coming back for more. The gameplay itself has been well honed since my initial time playing; and offers incentive for players to put in the effort to perfect a certain plane type to overcome inexperienced foes. Being a better pilot means a whole lot in this realm. Each nation, each plane has its own unique set of skills, and you can always switch between them to keep gameplay interesting. The full package that War Thunder has to offer is just phenomenal. Of all the titles throwing around Next Gen, this is one of the few deserving of it. As a big fan of planes, and the Second World War, I can tell you War Thunder has all the elements I need to stay hooked. |
| Posted: 23 Aug 2013 03:17 PM PDT Are you ready, young oni, to rise? The world has all but fallen into the hands of the demonic realm and the time for the Oni to demonstrate their power has come.  Publisher: Cyberstep Pros: +Anime Style. +Distinctly Japanese Universe. +Action Combat. +Unique Partner System. Cons: -Limited Features Known. -Lag Issues Hurt Combat. -Difficulty Scaled Too High. Overview OverviewOnigiri Online combines the 3D anime style that has recently fallen off in popularity among F2P MMORPGs with the rising popularity of action combat MMORPGs. Utilizing a unique partner system that allows you to build relations and strengthen 8 varied AI partners, Onigiri adds a Pokemon-esque element to make the leveling curve less painful as you can watch so many characters grow without playing multiple alts to do so. Each partner offers different benefits to improve relations with beyond just combat. Some will act as your rare item merchant while others can supply you with potent potions and food items to buff you power. In addition players can build their character with a free-form state addition system to allow you to specialize in various weapons. This is important because you aren’t restricted to any particular weapon. You can even master multiple weapons and switch between them on the fly in combat as the combat situation changes over time!
Screenshots          Featured Video Full Review ReviewBy Michael Sagoe (mikedot)
From the land of the rising sun comes a brand new F2P title that's all about the land of the rising sun. Onigiri is an ancient Japanese themed MMORPG where players can battle against creatures based on Japanese myth and folklore, all while pulling in a diverse cast of characters to partner up with. Recently, CyberStep hosted an alpha test that was solely focused on testing out the game's party mode and latency issues. With only a few days to give the game a try, I jumped in on it from day one. As I booted up the game for the first time, I instantly dealt with a huge problem: The current alpha client did not support full-screen mode, and the window was limited to a resolution of 1280 by 800. Certainly not a good deal for anyone that's playing with a large monitor, so I had to narrow my eyes every now and then. However, the music that was playing from the log-in menu was soothing and relaxing enough to make me forget all about the resolution problems that I was about to deal with. The music had this nostalgic feel to it, as it that reminded me of an old N64 game I used to play called "Legend of the Mystical Ninja," which certainly fits the game's theme a whole lot. Upon logging in, there was a fair amount of options to choose from with initial character creation. Players have a choice between different body types, faces, hair and clothing sets. For starters, I decided to go with an energetic young boy who had a smirk on face and fire in his heart, just ready to take on the world… And upon stepping into that world for the first time, I was almost immediately turned off by the visuals. There's no other way of putting this, but Onigiri is a game that seems to be incredibly dated in every sense of the word: The environments were simplistic, the textures were weak, and the polygon count was overall low. Still, I decided to disregard the poor visual quality, as I knew that Cyberstep was a company that liked to focus on gameplay over graphics. You know what they say: It doesn't matter if you have the looks, as long as you got the moves, right? Well the game certainly had some decent moves to pull off. Upon trying out the combat for the first time, it seemed to play out like a mix between Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe, as players will have to aim their attacks with a crosshair and attack using the left mouse button. The right mouse button activates one of three different skills that are tied to your current weapon, which range from special combo attacks, dodging attacking, support abilities and more. Players can move using the WSAD keys and also dodge attacks by double tapping any movement key. Dodging and performing skills are all tied to your character's MP gauge, so you'll have to use both with care, or you'll find yourself deader than a doornail, since dodges have zero invincibility frames. While I would usually like the idea that dodging attacks have no invincibility frames, it ends up reinforcing one of the game's biggest problems during the alpha, which was the game's overall challenge. Have you ever heard of the term: "Artificial Difficulty"? Well that term applies to Onigiri in a big way. All the monsters in the game, including trash mobs that players will encounter in the very first dungeon, can all do unreasonable amounts of damage that can take players out in four hits or less. With the ridiculous amount of damage that monsters can do, I was suspecting it was a way to force players to group up. Sadly, I was dead wrong, as enemy HP and spawns actually INCREASE depending on the number of members in your party. This is a poor way to make your game challenging, because it's not really a challenge, it's just straight up tedious. It forces the player to be overly cautious with every move they make, dragging out battles much longer than they should. It also doesn't help that the game suffers from horrendous lag issues, which affect the game's already shoddy hit and dodge detection. Even if you dodge perfectly or attack swiftly, there's at least a one second delay between having those commands registered, also making battles against enemies more frustrating than they should be. Moving past the game's problems, however, there is a nice amount of customization for players to partake in, including the game's stat system where players are free to disturb their stats in any way they want, which not a lot of MMORPGs seem to allow these days. The ability to use any weapon type you want is another huge plus. However, there are different kinds of stat classes available such as Power, Cautious and Daring, which allow players to specialize themselves to work best with certain weapons. These stat classes determine the different kinds of stat bonuses you'll get when leveling up, but it's still fairly flexible for players to come up with their own hybrid builds. The biggest feature that Onigiri has to offer is the game's story and partner system. Along your adventures in Onigiri, you'll be meeting up with a crazy cast of characters that specialize in a multitude of different skills and abilities. The characters include the charming princess Shizuka who can identify and store weapons for you, the free spirited Miroku who can sell many different items to help you on your quest, and my personal favorite: The big breasted cat girl named Ibaraki who enjoys making and selling different drinks, along with having "other" functions… Anyone want to take a guess what that "Other" ability is? I kind of have an idea of what it could be… Besides from her perky personality and a love for revealing clothing, her brewing ability comes in handy when you need a quick buff or health restore in battle. They come in many different varieties and can be chugged up to 10 times in battle, but drinking too much may end up making the player drunk, so drink responsibly, folks. The most unique feature with partners is that they can tag along with you in battle. Each player can bring their own partner which effectively doubles the size of a party, and they all specialize in different weapon types so it's important to have the right partner summoned for whatever situation arises, such as using Momotarou and his dual blades to keep single enemies locked and stunned, or Miroku's pole arm for crowd control. It's just too bad that partner AI can be very idiotic at times, with partners running into walls, running around aimlessly in circles or attacking invisible enemies at times, until you un-summon and re-summon them into battle. Overall, my experience with Onigiri proved to be an enjoyable one, despite its issues and unavailable features, mainly because of the sense of nostalgia it brings, while retaining the throwback feel of several classic online RPGs. While I didn't pay too much attention to the main story at hand, the partners that players will pick up are interesting and add some much needed charm to the world. It could end up having a cult following if they can just include better visual features, fix the latency issues and perhaps tone down the artificial difficulty, but I'm sure the game's anime flair will be more than enough… You know it's a game from Japan when it has big swords and even bigger boobs. Screenshots Screenshots Videos VideosOfficial Trailer System Requirements System RequirementsComing Soon. . .
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| Onigiri Online First Impressions Posted: 23 Aug 2013 02:29 PM PDT By Michael Sagoe (mikedot)
From the land of the rising sun comes a brand new F2P title that's all about the land of the rising sun. Onigiri is an ancient Japanese themed MMORPG where players can battle against creatures based on Japanese myth and folklore, all while pulling in a diverse cast of characters to partner up with. Recently, CyberStep hosted an alpha test that was solely focused on testing out the game's party mode and latency issues. With only a few days to give the game a try, I jumped in on it from day one. As I booted up the game for the first time, I instantly dealt with a huge problem: The current alpha client did not support full-screen mode, and the window was limited to a resolution of 1280 by 800. Certainly not a good deal for anyone that's playing with a large monitor, so I had to narrow my eyes every now and then. However, the music that was playing from the log-in menu was soothing and relaxing enough to make me forget all about the resolution problems that I was about to deal with. The music had this nostalgic feel to it, as it that reminded me of an old N64 game I used to play called "Legend of the Mystical Ninja," which certainly fits the game's theme a whole lot. Upon logging in, there was a fair amount of options to choose from with initial character creation. Players have a choice between different body types, faces, hair and clothing sets. For starters, I decided to go with an energetic young boy who had a smirk on face and fire in his heart, just ready to take on the world… And upon stepping into that world for the first time, I was almost immediately turned off by the visuals. There's no other way of putting this, but Onigiri is a game that seems to be incredibly dated in every sense of the word: The environments were simplistic, the textures were weak, and the polygon count was overall low. Still, I decided to disregard the poor visual quality, as I knew that Cyberstep was a company that liked to focus on gameplay over graphics. You know what they say: It doesn't matter if you have the looks, as long as you got the moves, right? Well the game certainly had some decent moves to pull off. Upon trying out the combat for the first time, it seemed to play out like a mix between Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe, as players will have to aim their attacks with a crosshair and attack using the left mouse button. The right mouse button activates one of three different skills that are tied to your current weapon, which range from special combo attacks, dodging attacking, support abilities and more. Players can move using the WSAD keys and also dodge attacks by double tapping any movement key. Dodging and performing skills are all tied to your character's MP gauge, so you'll have to use both with care, or you'll find yourself deader than a doornail, since dodges have zero invincibility frames. While I would usually like the idea that dodging attacks have no invincibility frames, it ends up reinforcing one of the game's biggest problems during the alpha, which was the game's overall challenge. Have you ever heard of the term: "Artificial Difficulty"? Well that term applies to Onigiri in a big way. All the monsters in the game, including trash mobs that players will encounter in the very first dungeon, can all do unreasonable amounts of damage that can take players out in four hits or less. With the ridiculous amount of damage that monsters can do, I was suspecting it was a way to force players to group up. Sadly, I was dead wrong, as enemy HP and spawns actually INCREASE depending on the number of members in your party. This is a poor way to make your game challenging, because it's not really a challenge, it's just straight up tedious. It forces the player to be overly cautious with every move they make, dragging out battles much longer than they should. It also doesn't help that the game suffers from horrendous lag issues, which affect the game's already shoddy hit and dodge detection. Even if you dodge perfectly or attack swiftly, there's at least a one second delay between having those commands registered, also making battles against enemies more frustrating than they should be. Moving past the game's problems, however, there is a nice amount of customization for players to partake in, including the game's stat system where players are free to disturb their stats in any way they want, which not a lot of MMORPGs seem to allow these days. The ability to use any weapon type you want is another huge plus. However, there are different kinds of stat classes available such as Power, Cautious and Daring, which allow players to specialize themselves to work best with certain weapons. These stat classes determine the different kinds of stat bonuses you'll get when leveling up, but it's still fairly flexible for players to come up with their own hybrid builds. The biggest feature that Onigiri has to offer is the game's story and partner system. Along your adventures in Onigiri, you'll be meeting up with a crazy cast of characters that specialize in a multitude of different skills and abilities. The characters include the charming princess Shizuka who can identify and store weapons for you, the free spirited Miroku who can sell many different items to help you on your quest, and my personal favorite: The big breasted cat girl named Ibaraki who enjoys making and selling different drinks, along with having "other" functions… Anyone want to take a guess what that "Other" ability is? I kind of have an idea of what it could be… Besides from her perky personality and a love for revealing clothing, her brewing ability comes in handy when you need a quick buff or health restore in battle. They come in many different varieties and can be chugged up to 10 times in battle, but drinking too much may end up making the player drunk, so drink responsibly, folks. The most unique feature with partners is that they can tag along with you in battle. Each player can bring their own partner which effectively doubles the size of a party, and they all specialize in different weapon types so it's important to have the right partner summoned for whatever situation arises, such as using Momotarou and his dual blades to keep single enemies locked and stunned, or Miroku's pole arm for crowd control. It's just too bad that partner AI can be very idiotic at times, with partners running into walls, running around aimlessly in circles or attacking invisible enemies at times, until you un-summon and re-summon them into battle. Overall, my experience with Onigiri proved to be an enjoyable one, despite its issues and unavailable features, mainly because of the sense of nostalgia it brings, while retaining the throwback feel of several classic online RPGs. While I didn't pay too much attention to the main story at hand, the partners that players will pick up are interesting and add some much needed charm to the world. It could end up having a cult following if they can just include better visual features, fix the latency issues and perhaps tone down the artificial difficulty, but I'm sure the game's anime flair will be more than enough… You know it's a game from Japan when it has big swords and even bigger boobs. |
| Guild Wars 2: Free Trial Weekend and Heroic Edition Posted: 23 Aug 2013 01:35 PM PDT
ArenaNet, developer of the smash hit Guild Wars 2, commemorates a record-breaking first year with a free trial of its critically acclaimed game on August 23-25, 2013. The Seattle-area studio has also released the Guild Wars 2 Heroic Edition, which includes the base game with the Heroic Pack, which is loaded with useful digital items for new players. The free trial, which is open to all players in North America and Europe, starts 12:01 AM Pacific on August 23, 2013 and ends at 11:59pm Pacific on August 25, 2013. Players can register for their free trial accounts at https://register.guildwars2.com/trial. The Guild Wars 2 Heroic Edition includes the award-winning MMORPG, which IGN.com called "one of the best MMOs ever made," as well as the Heroic Pack, which includes a number of digital items ideal for new players:
The Guild Wars 2 Heroic Edition is available for $49.99. |
| NGames Reveals Wartune’s Knight Class Posted: 23 Aug 2013 01:26 PM PDT NGames (Games321) has unveiled the mystery of the Knights joining the ranks of free-to-play strategy/RPG-hybrid MMO, Wartune. This new class offers players a chance to face enemies head on, using strength and powerful physical attacks to dominate the battlefield. Choosing the right class is an important decision. While all classes are as equally important, Mages, Archers and Knights each have unique roles in battle, and today the fearsome Knights are taking the spotlight.
First, they are loyal defenders, taking the brunt of enemy's attacks to protect those more vulnerable. Driven by the sheer will of 'fight or die', it is their sole aim to shield both nation and faith. But so, too, are they formidable swordsmen, leading enemies to their doom with immeasurable power. Knights dominate the battlefield as the core of the team; as the single strongest force known throughout the land. Finally, these valiant warriors are fearless vanguards, unleashing physically attacks that make even powerful enemies tremble. Knights wield great swords without effort; weapons that can be utilized for both attack and defense. To get the most out of Knights, players must take advantage of three significant game-play features in Wartune. Stance impacts the potential damage characters can inflict on enemies, and as powerful tanks Knights are destined for the front-line with prevailing defense, power and speed. Tactics can make or break a fight, depending on how well the player plans each attack. Item preparation, equipment enhancement and embedding, guild institute skills upgrades and runes are all elements that can be used at the player's disposal. In Wartune, skills are a player's secret power, especially for Knights, who are relied on for their superior strength. As such, it is essential that players use Knight's skills and hidden techniques to overcome those extra difficult battles. In the end, if brute force, dependable protection and immense attacks fit your perfect play-style, Knights are ordained to be your chosen class; the unyielding and brave iron men of Wartune! |
| Skara Involves Fans in Indie Game Development Posted: 23 Aug 2013 11:01 AM PDT
Many gaming companies like to think they take their fans seriously.
In practice, many lock away what matters most—their actual game development.
Not so with Skara—The Blade Remains. The indie company 8 Bit Studio has gone to new lengths to include fans by offering interactive development forums as well as the chance for some select fans to enter the game as actual characters.
"Our goal above anything else is to create the dream game that any gamer would love to play. We started with a clear concept of how it will function, as a free to play MOBA," says CEO and Creative Director Pablo Rodriguez, "and we want to see the rest take shape through interaction with people by sharing ideas."
The team installed forums on their website, where they post information about various features of the game as it is developed. Any interested fans can login and ask questions or post comments. Developers read the comments and respond.
The concept has proven very successful.
"I was amazed by some of the clever ideas that the fans posted," says Sergi Salvador, Skara's project manager. "We never thought of having rebellions within a faction, for instance." He was referring to a post on the forum by Mariommoreno, who suggested the idea.
The team have also followed through on an idea they brought to the E3 video games expo in L.A: a 'be the main character of Skara' contest.
People who attended E3 had their picture taken, the photos were posted on Skara's Facebook page. The photo with the maximum number of likes won.
The results have recently been announced: Diana Espinosa (below), a presenter on video games for Freax TV (@DianaFreax) from Panama, won with the most "likes".
The development team will use Diana's features to create one of the characters that thousands of gamers around the world will use to play the online and offline modes of the game. "It's my dream come true," says Diana. "I am really thrilled to be able to appear in a video game and thankful to Skara for making it possible." Diana's dreams match many gamers' dreams. By realizing them, Skara has changed the way video games are developed. Chances to literally enter the world of Skara aren't over. Other members of the fan community will have the chance to design the rest of the characters of the history mode in Skara through contests that will be launched through the social networks of the game as well as the official website. This way, 8 Bit Studio differentiates itself from the rest of MOBA games available in the market–by strengthening its position as a video game, genuinely made by gamers, for gamers. |
| Guilty Gear and Minecraft Come to Lost Saga Posted: 23 Aug 2013 10:08 AM PDT
Today WeMade USA released a thrilling content update for its free-to-play fighting MMO, Lost Saga, with Minecraft-inspired block building, playable characters from the competitive fighting game Guilty Gear, musical emotes, and more. With the recent reboot of Lost Saga, WeMade USA has been spicing up the arena with licensed fighting legends from arcade classics like King of Fighters and BlazBlue. Each premium hero features its own set of unique skills. In this latest release, players are introduced to Guilty Gear’s May and Johnny who deal damage wielding their iconic anchor weapon and army of sea creatures.
Special items debuting include Block A, a construction material that can be used to build just about anything players can think of, and Instrument Motions to impress friends with orchestra conducting and flute, trumpet and violin playing. “Ever since Lost Saga’s launch in May we’ve been delighting fighting fans with a steady stream of bimonthly content updates featuring new characters, modes and maps,” said Philip Yun, CEO, WeMade USA. “We’re extremely pleased with the growth of community and look forward to seeing what players will create with Block A.”
From August 22 through September 4, players are invited to show off their Block A masterworks at the LOST SAGA Building Buddies Event for a chance to win loot and glory. Screens will be showcased on Facebook, and community will be polled to select the best in class. Prizes include 1,000 WP (valued at $10) and permanent Legendary Gear Chests. Other exciting events include Take No Prisoners where players are rewarded for hogtieing 50 enemies in Prisoner mode, GM Tyr Gives You Gear where random drops of legendary gear could land players the new Chemist Helmet, Powered Armor and Slasher Ornament, Show Me The Money where all receive 1,500 GP just for logging in, and Hero of the Week which provides free trials of featured heroes. Additionally, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:30am PT and 4:30pm PT there are GM brawls where players can test their mettle in wicked battles against the baddest of the GMs. For event details, click here. |
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