MMO News |
- Trials of Ascension Cancels Second Kickstarter Campaign
- Frontier Developments Announces Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One
- Elsword Welcoming Grand Chase Players
- A Druid’s Duel Steam Launch Review
- TUG: Equipment System Preview
- Elite: Dangerous Xbox One Announcement Trailer (GDC 2015)
- MapleStory: Black Heaven Trailer
- Gigantic: XBox One & Windows 10 Announcement Trailer
- Storybricks Announces Its Closure
- Super Dungeon Bros Gameplay Teaser Trailer
| Trials of Ascension Cancels Second Kickstarter Campaign Posted: 04 Mar 2015 04:05 PM PST It seems Trials of Ascension is facing some difficult decisions, as Forged Chaos has cancelled their second Kickstarter campaign for the game. The campaign had only reached $25,616 of its $600,000 goal. The cancellation notice posted said: The writing on the wall is clear. Our Kickstarter project has about the same odds of success as a snowball’s chance in that really hot place nobody ever wants to visit. As such, we’ve made the decision to cancel it. Further information on the reasoning behind the cancellation, and the future of the project, is promised on the official website soon. |
| Frontier Developments Announces Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One Posted: 04 Mar 2015 03:51 PM PST Frontier Developments plc (AIM: FDEV) today announced plans to bring the definitive massively multiplayer space epic Elite: Dangerous to Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, in this calendar year. Elite: Dangerous is the critically acclaimed third sequel to the genre-defining Elite, created in 1984 by David Braben and Ian Bell. Elite: Dangerous brings gaming's original open world adventure into the modern generation with a connected galaxy, evolving narrative and the entirety of the Milky Way re-created at its full galactic proportions. Starting with only a small starship and a few credits, players do whatever it takes to earn the skill, knowledge, wealth and power to survive in a futuristic cutthroat galaxy and to stand among the ranks of the iconic Elite. In an age of galactic superpowers and interstellar war, every player's story influences the unique connected gaming experience and handcrafted evolving narrative. Governments fall, battles are lost and won, and humanity's frontier is reshaped, all by players' actions. Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One will include all content added to the PC version by February's Community Goals content update and March's Wings content update. Available for free next week on PC, Wings unites players to cooperate and collaborate across the galaxy and share in the rewards together. Wings will empower players to help protect friends on a risky trade run, spread out to map systems or hunt prey, and work together to reshape the galaxy. Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One is planned to launch in 2015. For further information and to subscribe to the Elite: Dangerous for Xbox One mailing list, visit http://www.elitedangerous.com/xboxone |
| Elsword Welcoming Grand Chase Players Posted: 04 Mar 2015 03:38 PM PST KOG Games is rolling out the red carpet for Grand Chase players as they welcome them to Elsword on the eve of Grand Chase’s service. The giant welcome package for Grand Chase players includes:
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| A Druid’s Duel Steam Launch Review Posted: 04 Mar 2015 02:37 PM PST By Jordan Hall (ApocaRUFF)
Introduction A Druid’s Duel is a turn-based strategy game and bills itself as taking place in a whimsical world of Celtic lore. It is developed by Thoughtshelter Games, a small indie team based out of Minneapolis. Gameplay is fast-paced, easy to learn, and hard to master. Despite all that, the game is designed with casual and lighthearted gameplay in mind. Back in April of 2014, A Druid’s Duel received $7,700 in funding from a Kickstarter campaign and came to fruition when it launched on Steam last Wednesday.
Customization Customization doesn’t quite apply when it comes to A Druid’s Duel. There is some, in that you can unlock certain avatars. But really, it’s not a primary feature of the game so you probably won't see much of it. And that’s OK, it’s still a fun game without a ton of customization options. I’m satisfied with what options are available.
Graphics The graphics style chosen for Druid’s Duel is what will bring in a lot of players. It’s cartoon-y and definitely has a whimsical nature to it. The design of the Druids remind me a lot of the Wizards from Magicka. The rest of the graphics have a lighthearted simplicity to them that make them a joy to look at. I think the game looks absolutely superb.
Controls The game is played with the mouse. This means things are fairly simple – everything you need is right on the UI and is just a click away. No learning hot keys and whatnot. Everything was responsive, and I actually like the design of the UI a great deal – it fits well with the rest of the graphics and works as smooth as you could hope for a UI to work.
Community While A Druid’s Duel has an extensive single player campaign, there are also some online features such as a ranking system. If you’re a competitive sort, this will add a mountain of replayability to the game. I didn’t find much of a community yet as most of my playtime was before the game launched in mid-February. As the game seems to be primarily aimed at casual play, I’m not sure how strong the community will be. On the other hand, this is the type of gameplay that is addictive so I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t at least a strong cult following once the game gains some traction. Also worth mentioning is the ability to play asynchronous games.
Gameplay A Druid’s Duel feels a lot like a (very) modern version of Chess or Weiqi, in some ways. Very similar to Chess, the game is easy to pick up but it’s something you could spend a life-time mastering if you wanted and the game community lasted that long. There is no randomness or guess-work in the game – there is a simple and straight forward set of rules to follow and play the game by. Don’t mistake that for meaning there is no strategy involved, as there is a lot of it. The campaign actually does a fantastic job of slowly introducing you to the game by revealing new strategies and tactics as you progress. The basic premise of the game is that of druids "dueling" with one another. You do this by summoning units – of which there are four – each with their own abilities. Each unit is capable of a different type of movement or play as well as an animal transformation. For example, the most basic unit is the Guardian, and it can move one tile per turn, attack in melee range, or turn into a wolf that can move multiple times in a single turn but cannot attack. Each unit has a cost – ranging from five mana for the Guardian to twenty mana for the Waywalker. The four units are: The Guardian, which I already mentioned. The Wind Rider, who is an archer that can transform into a bird and kill units in a wide range. The Snarlclaw that can do melee attacks, but can also turn into a bear that can move or attack up to three times in a move. Last there is the Waywalker, which is essentially a wizard who can’t directly attack, but can create or destroy obstacles and tiles using mana. The Waywalker can also move up to three times in a turn and transform into a tortoise for temporary protection. Games aren’t limited to simple one-versus-one matches. I believe the maximum is four players at the same time. There are a myriad of maps to play on, each varying widely from the others. This keeps things interesting, but I personally prefer going head to head against a single opponent. That’s just how I feel, though. Speaking of maps, the way they start out at the beginning of the match is not how they will be at the end of the match. As I said when describing the units, the Waywalker can create and destroy tiles. It can also create and destroy obstacles. You are also able to create a bridge tile for five mana at any time. As you might imagine, this makes the game quite interesting and each match a bit different no matter the map. There are various objects that can be present on the map – such as shrubs, "mana pillars," little floating fairy things that give mana if you ‘catch’ them… It provides a bit of spice to the game and objectives for you to fight over for control. Most of them center around providing extra mana (which is key in this game, in most cases), but some also are a great way to keep Guardians at bay. Obstacles have limited use though, as most every other unit besides Guardians have a way to get past them. The overall goal of the match is to completely remove all of your enemy's territory from the map. Until you’ve captured every square your opponent claimed, the match will go on. There feels like a very clear progression to each match. You start out relying on your Guardians to claim land and increase your mana generation, then you move onto using Wind Riders for long range attacks and even defense. Snarlclaws and Waywalker tend to make an appearance later on in the match. However, as you play, you’ll probably begin to experiment with different strategies than the "default" you learn during the tutorial and that process of trial and error is quite fulfilling. Each piece of territory you have under your control will gain your more mana per turn. The more mana you have, the more you can do per turn. This includes summoning more units or allowing your Waywalker’s to create more land (which is a great way to ‘safely’ increase your territory). While you’re playing, your goal will be to reduce the amount of mana your opponent has at his disposal while increasing your own mana at the same time. It’s key to balance your attempts at expanding your territory with actually keeping your opponent at bay; if you’re not careful you may find that you’ve got a nice sized territory and then instantly lose it because you didn’t take enough precautions to stave off attacks from your opponent.
Conclusion: Great A Druid’s Duel really surprised me. I hadn’t hear much about the game prior to trying it out, and I wasn’t sure if it would be able to capture my interest. Yet, I found myself spending a lot of time in the game – especially on the single player campaign which I found a lot of fun. Like I’ve said a few times, the game is easy to learn but offers enough potential for new strategies and tactics to evolve, something a lot of turn-based strategy players will appreciate. Overall, I found A Druid’s Duel to be a fantastic game and wouldn’t hesitate to suggest the game to any of my friends. It’s now available on Steam, or can be bought from their official website.
Features: 4/5 – Interesting features that made sense for the type of game it is. Customization: 3/5 – Some interesting customization options, but they aren't immediately apparent. Still more could be done to set yourself apart. Graphics: 4/5 – Almost perfect. I loved the art style and the game looks great. Controls: 5/5 – No issues, no suggestions for improvement. Community: 3/5 – It needs to grow.
Overall: 4/5 – Definitely check this game out! |
| Posted: 04 Mar 2015 01:55 PM PST Showcasing some early progress on TUG‘s equipment system.
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| Elite: Dangerous Xbox One Announcement Trailer (GDC 2015) Posted: 04 Mar 2015 01:29 PM PST Elite: Dangerous announces its plans for release on Xbox One during GDC 2015.
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| MapleStory: Black Heaven Trailer Posted: 04 Mar 2015 01:24 PM PST March 11 brings the first chapter of MapleStory‘s Black Heaven update.
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| Gigantic: XBox One & Windows 10 Announcement Trailer Posted: 04 Mar 2015 01:07 PM PST Gigantic announces its plans for release on Windows 10 and XBox One.
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| Storybricks Announces Its Closure Posted: 04 Mar 2015 12:58 PM PST It seems that Daybreak’s choice to end its partnership with Storybricks on EverQuest Next was only a lead up to worse news for the company, which has announced its closure in its latest newsletter. The letter claims that the Daybreak decision has no bearing on the studio’s closure, and that Storybricks has been up for sale but without a buyer. In fact, Storybricks revealed that it had attempted to buy Sony Online Entertainment to continue EverQuest’s legacy but had been unable to reach an agreement with Sony. The Storybricks team is already moving on to other ventures, including Camelot Unchained. |
| Super Dungeon Bros Gameplay Teaser Trailer Posted: 04 Mar 2015 12:54 PM PST Super Dungeon Bros is a rock-themed dungeon brawler with on & offline cross-platform co-op gameplay.
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