MMO News |
- Everquest Next Demonstrates Landmark Terraforming
- Lucian Champion Spotlight
- Command & Conquer Online Campaign Missions Reveal
- My Ten Cents on SMITE
- WorldAlpha Review
- WorldAlpha
- WildStar DevSpeak – Crowd Control
- Warface Closed Beta Testing Restarts Today
- CCP Games Announces EVE: Valkyrie
- World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition Beta Now Live in Europe
| Everquest Next Demonstrates Landmark Terraforming Posted: 21 Aug 2013 05:44 PM PDT A new set of videos showcases real-time fast forwarded footage of the level of detail involved with Everquest Next Landmark’s terraforming options. Check out both videos below! |
| Posted: 21 Aug 2013 04:23 PM PDT Learn to unleash a barrage of bullets and send opponents to the grave in the Lucian Champion Spotlight.
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| Command & Conquer Online Campaign Missions Reveal Posted: 21 Aug 2013 03:54 PM PDT News has arrived from Gamescom that the F2P online version of C&C will feature campaign missions!
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| Posted: 21 Aug 2013 03:15 PM PDT By Jonathan Doyle (Ardua) Nick Fury, before he was given a level in badass by Samuel L Jackson, once famously quipped… “Well my God has a hammer.” Thor proceeded to kick ass. Because Thor. Not just one God with a hammer, there’s 40 Gods to choose from and with the aid of Tencent Games, worshippers the world over of the MOBA, the SMITE and the Holy Pwn will be able to get in on the action. From the press release, apparently delivered by hammer wielding angels singing metal songs: Tencent Holdings Limited, Asia's top internet company and the fourth largest gaming company in the world, and Hi-Rez Studios, developer of free-to-play online action games, announced a worldwide publishing cooperation for the game SMITE, along with new SMITE features and content. "SMITE is a 3D action MOBA online game in the theme of gods and developed using the Unreal 3 engine," said Mr. Steven Ma, Vice President of Tencent. "SMITE is a totally new type of MOBA with some traditional mechanics, but also providing different modes of battle and gameplay. SMITE combines 3D MMORPG with FPS elements, making the game fast paced and competitive. We think it's these differences from other MOBAs that will make the game a success in China." "As the world leader in online gaming, Tencent is an ideal partner to help us serve the gaming community outside of North America and Europe" said Todd Harris, COO Hi-Rez Studios. "We have been working closely with Tencent to ensure that Chinese gods are authentic to that culture, while still making those gods available to all SMITE players worldwide." The cooperation deal was announced at an international press event held at gamescom on Wednesday, August 21st and attended by media from Europe, North America, and China. SMITE is a free-to-play online game for the PC that is currently in Open Beta within North America and Europe. It can be downloaded and played for free at www.smitegame.com The announcement of SMITE's first launch details for the Chinese market including the Chinese logo along with mention of a focus of multiple upcoming gods including a relaunch of Guan Yu and development of Zhong Kui. A new unrevealed mode is also seemingly in the works. Semper Malleus my friends. |
| Posted: 21 Aug 2013 12:05 PM PDT By Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF)
WorldAlpha is an MMORTS that gives you control over a single unit, or “citizen,” in a virtual world. You will need to keep this unit healthy while advancing him through society, joining a country and choosing a city to live in. Essentially, you will be living a second life within WorldAlpha where politics and economics play a major role in the game. It’s up to you if you want to be a cog in the machine, a savvy businessman, an elite solider, or perhaps even a politician.
Customization Unfortunately, there is no visual customization in WorldAlpha. Well, you can upload an avatar but that’s it. The upside is that this is a skill-based game, and you can level-up individual skills to improve their effectiveness. For example, early on I needed to make some money so I started to do mining. Now I have a very decent mining skill and can make my employer a lot of money, which means they want to pay me a lot of money. So you’re free to do whatever you like all the while powering up various skills – be it mining, or writing in a newspaper, or even filling an administrative role in your city.
Graphics Being a traditional browser-based MMORTS, WorldAlpha doesn’t really have "graphics" so much as a user interface. You won't be watching units marching off into battle, but instead you will be watching count-down timers. It does have fairly good art, and a functional user interface, but there isn’t much there to keep it from being a fairly static experience. The only downfall that I’ve been able to find to the otherwise solid experience is that when clicking on something, it can often take a maddening amount of time for the page to reload with the updated info.
Controls What I mentioned about the user interface is also relevant in this section of the review. The game is "controlled" by the mouse, and that’s it for now. No hotkeys as far as I could find. Usually, this type of control scheme for a browser-based game is OK and I have no problems with it. However, in WorldAlpha, I guess the game isn’t hosted on servers with great internet connections at the moment, as I noticed long load times whenever I clicked on something. On top of that, the game is pretty old school in that no flash or java was used, so the page reloads each time you do something. That, combined with the load times (which honestly aren’t too bad, but are slow enough to be noticeable which is hard to cope with these days), means it can get on your nerves if you aren’t a patient gamer.
Community WorldAlpha is all about community. A large portion of the game, similar to games like EVE Online, is spent not actually playing the game, but making plans and scheming. This means you’re going to be dealing with your fellow citizens, business owners, and politicians frequently. Whether you just want to have a nice chat on IRC, or are making plans for World War III with your fellow leaders of state, you will be interacting with other players often. An example of this is when you take a job; it’s been my experience that you often get a PM from your employer that helps jump-start communication between you two so that he can make the most money off of you, and you can make as much from him.
And while not all communication between the community is nice (I’ve seen a few IRC-based arguments since I started playing), it’s mostly kept within the context of the game and is fairly civilized. Veteran players seem to jump at the chance to help newbies out, too. When I first logged onto IRC to chat and learn about the game, I got so much help from a person that I decided to join the country he lived in. Even those that were openly hostile towards certain countries were still friendly towards citizens of that country. I never once had any negative experience with the community during the time I reviewed the game.
Gameplay WorldAlpha essentially tries to be a simulation of reality, or as close to one as you can get on a browser-based game. Similar to other games of this type, such as eRepublik, people start their own countries, cities, and businesses. You start out as a lowly worker and build up an income and skills until you can branch out into business ventures, politics, or the military. It’s trying to make your way in this world, advancing yourself as far as you can go, which makes the game fun. There are a lot of options on what you can do, be it produce materials or manufacture items for others to use.
When your character is created, you are dumped into the starting country where you will follow a tutorial to learn about the game. You will spend your first days researching the other countries and doing manual labor – mining, farming or manufacturing. After you’ve gotten your starting money, your next goal would be to get into the more advanced sections of the game. As you work, you will begin leveling up skills that can be used to start up your own company, which will (hopefully) get you more money. Starting your own business requires a decent amount of start-up capital, plus the proper permits that will cost you Earth Bucks, which is the cash shop money.
Thankfully, each time you level up a skill, you will get a number of Earth Bucks equal to the new level of the skill. So, if you reach level 9 mining, you will get 9 Earth Bucks. Keep in mind that there are a bunch of skills, and doing an action will often level up more than one. So, the Earth Bucks will pile up fast. For example, within three days of starting, I had enough Earth Bucks to buy a tier 1 incorporation permit.
When I say there’s a lot to do in the game, I mean it. There are mines, farms, and factories. Each of these requires that someone work them, someone manage them, someone at some point built them, and the materials required to build them had to be gathered and manufactured by other people. Everything in the game is created by your fellow players. As in real life, you will need entertainment and comfort, so it’s not just food that is made but computers, beds, and even smartphones.
If labor isn’t your thing, you can start up a newspaper or TV Station to inform your fellow players on what is happening in the world. Or maybe you’ll just use it to further your political agenda. A lot of people choose to go the route of politician, while others choose to start their own countries (as you can imagine, this is a huge investment). Sometimes they will start with something smaller, though, like a city. There are a lot of options in WorldAlpha, which is something I appreciate.
Conclusion: Good WorldAlpha does a great job providing players a never-ending list of gameplay options. You can be just another cog in the machine, or you can be the operator of that machine. Unfortunately, the slightly laggy website makes for some frustration. But this is OK, as a large portion of the game actually takes place outside the game – making plans, discussing politics, and interacting with your fellow players. Overall, I had a great deal of fun with WorldAlpha and I will be continuing to play it for a while. |
| Posted: 21 Aug 2013 12:03 PM PDT WorldAlpha pushes the limits of browser games by creating a truly persistent MMORTS featuring politics, a real economy, and player run corporations tied seamlessly into a system that offers player freedom to play how they want as its utmost goal.  Publisher: Big Impact Studios Pros: +Lots of Options. +Given Cash Shop money for playing. +Focus on community Cons: -Time-restrained gameplay (Each action can take up to 2 hours). -Sometimes laggy servers. –Standard Empire Building Gameplay Overview OverviewWorldAlpha is an MMORTS that gives you control over a single unit, or “citizen,” in a virtual world. You will need to keep this unit healthy while advancing him through society, joining a country and choosing a city to live in. Essentially, you will be living a second life within WorldAlpha where politics and economics play a major role in the game. It’s up to you if you want to be a cog in the machine, a savvy businessman, an elite solider, or perhaps even a politician. Screenshots     Featured Video Full Review ReviewBy Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF)
WorldAlpha is an MMORTS that gives you control over a single unit, or “citizen,” in a virtual world. You will need to keep this unit healthy while advancing him through society, joining a country and choosing a city to live in. Essentially, you will be living a second life within WorldAlpha where politics and economics play a major role in the game. It’s up to you if you want to be a cog in the machine, a savvy businessman, an elite solider, or perhaps even a politician.
Customization Unfortunately, there is no visual customization in WorldAlpha. Well, you can upload an avatar but that’s it. The upside is that this is a skill-based game, and you can level-up individual skills to improve their effectiveness. For example, early on I needed to make some money so I started to do mining. Now I have a very decent mining skill and can make my employer a lot of money, which means they want to pay me a lot of money. So you’re free to do whatever you like all the while powering up various skills – be it mining, or writing in a newspaper, or even filling an administrative role in your city.
Graphics Being a traditional browser-based MMORTS, WorldAlpha doesn’t really have "graphics" so much as a user interface. You won't be watching units marching off into battle, but instead you will be watching count-down timers. It does have fairly good art, and a functional user interface, but there isn’t much there to keep it from being a fairly static experience. The only downfall that I’ve been able to find to the otherwise solid experience is that when clicking on something, it can often take a maddening amount of time for the page to reload with the updated info.
Controls What I mentioned about the user interface is also relevant in this section of the review. The game is "controlled" by the mouse, and that’s it for now. No hotkeys as far as I could find. Usually, this type of control scheme for a browser-based game is OK and I have no problems with it. However, in WorldAlpha, I guess the game isn’t hosted on servers with great internet connections at the moment, as I noticed long load times whenever I clicked on something. On top of that, the game is pretty old school in that no flash or java was used, so the page reloads each time you do something. That, combined with the load times (which honestly aren’t too bad, but are slow enough to be noticeable which is hard to cope with these days), means it can get on your nerves if you aren’t a patient gamer.
Community WorldAlpha is all about community. A large portion of the game, similar to games like EVE Online, is spent not actually playing the game, but making plans and scheming. This means you’re going to be dealing with your fellow citizens, business owners, and politicians frequently. Whether you just want to have a nice chat on IRC, or are making plans for World War III with your fellow leaders of state, you will be interacting with other players often. An example of this is when you take a job; it’s been my experience that you often get a PM from your employer that helps jump-start communication between you two so that he can make the most money off of you, and you can make as much from him.
And while not all communication between the community is nice (I’ve seen a few IRC-based arguments since I started playing), it’s mostly kept within the context of the game and is fairly civilized. Veteran players seem to jump at the chance to help newbies out, too. When I first logged onto IRC to chat and learn about the game, I got so much help from a person that I decided to join the country he lived in. Even those that were openly hostile towards certain countries were still friendly towards citizens of that country. I never once had any negative experience with the community during the time I reviewed the game.
Gameplay WorldAlpha essentially tries to be a simulation of reality, or as close to one as you can get on a browser-based game. Similar to other games of this type, such as eRepublik, people start their own countries, cities, and businesses. You start out as a lowly worker and build up an income and skills until you can branch out into business ventures, politics, or the military. It’s trying to make your way in this world, advancing yourself as far as you can go, which makes the game fun. There are a lot of options on what you can do, be it produce materials or manufacture items for others to use.
When your character is created, you are dumped into the starting country where you will follow a tutorial to learn about the game. You will spend your first days researching the other countries and doing manual labor – mining, farming or manufacturing. After you’ve gotten your starting money, your next goal would be to get into the more advanced sections of the game. As you work, you will begin leveling up skills that can be used to start up your own company, which will (hopefully) get you more money. Starting your own business requires a decent amount of start-up capital, plus the proper permits that will cost you Earth Bucks, which is the cash shop money.
Thankfully, each time you level up a skill, you will get a number of Earth Bucks equal to the new level of the skill. So, if you reach level 9 mining, you will get 9 Earth Bucks. Keep in mind that there are a bunch of skills, and doing an action will often level up more than one. So, the Earth Bucks will pile up fast. For example, within three days of starting, I had enough Earth Bucks to buy a tier 1 incorporation permit.
When I say there’s a lot to do in the game, I mean it. There are mines, farms, and factories. Each of these requires that someone work them, someone manage them, someone at some point built them, and the materials required to build them had to be gathered and manufactured by other people. Everything in the game is created by your fellow players. As in real life, you will need entertainment and comfort, so it’s not just food that is made but computers, beds, and even smartphones.
If labor isn’t your thing, you can start up a newspaper or TV Station to inform your fellow players on what is happening in the world. Or maybe you’ll just use it to further your political agenda. A lot of people choose to go the route of politician, while others choose to start their own countries (as you can imagine, this is a huge investment). Sometimes they will start with something smaller, though, like a city. There are a lot of options in WorldAlpha, which is something I appreciate.
Conclusion: Good WorldAlpha does a great job providing players a never-ending list of gameplay options. You can be just another cog in the machine, or you can be the operator of that machine. Unfortunately, the slightly laggy website makes for some frustration. But this is OK, as a large portion of the game actually takes place outside the game – making plans, discussing politics, and interacting with your fellow players. Overall, I had a great deal of fun with WorldAlpha and I will be continuing to play it for a while. Screenshots Screenshots Videos VideosOfficial Trailer System Requirements System RequirementsBrowser-Based
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| WildStar DevSpeak – Crowd Control Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:26 AM PDT WildStar reveals its latest dev speak. And while crowd control typically makes me groan, their take on it, like on seemingly everything, puts it a step above the industry standards. Go go Carbine!
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| Warface Closed Beta Testing Restarts Today Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:22 AM PDT In the run up to its official launch, Crytek's free online FPS, Warface, has returned for a final phase of Closed Beta tests today. Open to registered members of Crytek's GFACE service, the latest Warface Closed Beta marks the beginning of a fresh period of testing ahead of the game's release in North America, Europe and Turkey. These final Closed Beta tests come hot on the heels of Warface being nominated for the Best Online Multiplayer Game and Best PC Game in this year's official gamescom awards.
Featuring four distinct character classes and engaging cooperative and competitive gameplay, Warface provides high quality FPS action for free. The game's online universe will be constantly updated to offer new challenges for players; whether they're enjoying a quick campaign in their lunch hour or delving deeper into all Warface has to offer. |
| CCP Games Announces EVE: Valkyrie Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:17 AM PDT CCP Games, the leading independent developer of massively multiplayer online games, today announced it has begun development of EVE: Valkyrie, a multiplayer spaceship dogfighting shooter set in the EVE Universe. The game uses virtual reality to give players the sense of being a real pilot in an EVE Online spaceship and will be released in 2014. EVE: Valkyrie is the evolution of "EVE-VR," the amazing virtual reality tech demo that debuted at EVE Fanfest 2013 and went on to win numerous awards at E3 2013 — including "Game of E3 2013" by PC Gamer and "Most Innovative" by IGN. The game will be developed at the company's Newcastle studio.
"From the moment this year's Fanfest attendees first got their hands on EVE-VR, the question has been, 'When can I have this?'," said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP. "What started as a passion project by a small, incredibly talented group of CCP developers became one of the most highly anticipated games of the year — before we even announced it. We have big plans for EVE: Valkyrie and I can't wait to share more details later this year." |
| World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition Beta Now Live in Europe Posted: 21 Aug 2013 10:10 AM PDT Wargaming, the leading free-to-play MMO developer and publisher, today announced that beta servers are now live in Europe for the highly anticipated World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition. The beta will also see the introduction of new US and German tier VII and VIII heavy tanks, bringing even more firepower to the fight.
"We're extremely excited to welcome our European fans into the beta," said Denny Thorley, General Manager of Wargaming West in Chicago. "Now players in both North America and Europe will be able to get into the game, battle for tank supremacy, and experience first-hand what's made World of Tanks such a global phenomenon." |
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