Official Site: http://www.gamersfirst.com/fallenearth/
Steam Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/113420/
Source: Youtube Channel MMOHut
Fallen Earth looked like an interesting game when it first released. Players are dropped into a post-apocalyptic world torn asunder and are free to roam anywhere they want. The game is played like an Action game so it requires aiming and attacking in real-time rather than auto-target and auto-attack. It was like a dream MMORPG for fans of Fallout 3 and to those who like open-world RPGs. However, the game received poor reception from critics and players for its low quality in graphics with erratic animations and dated textures. Well back 2 years ago, the game was a pay-to-play game and I didn't really have the intrigue to play the trial. The game recently went free-to-play a few months ago as it has been taken up by GamerFirst and has also been added to Steam which players can use their steam accounts to log-in with. With the game so readily available for me to play, I thought I tried it out.
One thing that a lot of players and I myself find worth praising is the atmosphere and immersion with the world that the game is set in (post-apocalyptic earth). The dialogues have voice-acting, the environment is dark and grim, and the world outside is massive. The one thing that caught my attention when the game first released was that it was a First-Person Shooter in a MMORPG, much like what Borderlands did. I suppose the game had its influence from Fallout 3 (or perhaps other open-world games similar to it) with the freedom to go anywhere, the action of an FPS, the depth of an RPG, while adding the ability to play with hundreds of players in an MMO. This aspect made combat different in that players play the game like an action game and have full control of their character's attacks rather than the traditional auto-attack. Aiming for the head will grant the player more damage to the enemy and missing a shot or hit would be justified and not relied on chance. The game seemed great, but I quickly picked up on all its fallacies and made me realize what so many negative feedback was given to the game.
I was expecting the game to be played more like an FPS than anything else, but the controls were split into two different modes: combat and interaction. The game can be played in first-person or 3rd-person, it's up to the player to choose. First-person makes it easier to shoot, 3rd-person makes it easier to see around the player when wielding a melee weapon. Then the player has to switch between combat where they fight, aim, and shoot and interaction where they drag the camera around, interact with objects, and speak with NPCs. Switching between the perspectives and modes was clunky and a hindrance to the flow of the game. One moment you have to fight an enemy, another you're picking up an item, you and you don't know if you're looking around or moving your mouse cursor. This made combat incredibly aggravating. Sadly, even with an action-orientated combat system, it was still pretty boring. When you shoot an enemy, you aim and shoot. When you use a melee weapon, you stand and click. Moving does little in combat unless the enemy happens to stay where they are and there's cover nearby. With the enemies, their paths are predetermined and their AI is programed simply to hit anyone close to them. There isn't much dynamics to combat and sometimes they'll just glitch out and starting doing their own thing. I saw enemies getting stuck halfway into a wall, some running back and forth in the same area, and the smartest ones are the ones that stand there to hit or shoot you. It was already bad enough that the combat was boring and the controls cumbersome, but the graphics would spaz out or lag, animations would be rigid or erratic and affect combat, the looting system was annoying with the way the controls are set up, and the inventory is really messy considering that it's pretty similar to all other MMORPGs. Despite having an amazing atmosphere and a life-like living, breathing town outside, the color palette combined with an insane amount of texts and UI (from player names, NPCs, skill hotbar, etc.) create a convoluted crowd of people and information that the game doesn't quite explain clearly.
The game has a lot of potential and great ideas, but like many other games with potential and great ideas, it was executed poorly and had many mechanics that just didn't work fluidly and effectively. It was a big disappointment and I highly doubt I'll revisit the game again. I couldn't stand the game anymore so I didn't continue farther, which is why I didn't write a full review as I didn't truly see all the aspects of the game. It's fine though, I rather not bite that bullet.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
GameLight- Hybrid
Official Site: http://www.whatishybrid.com/
Source: Youtube Channel gametrailers
Another developer is taking up the task of creating another shooter, and it's a fierce competition in the market right now since there are so many of them. I'm not really sure how I came across this game anymore, but Hybrid is a competitive multiplayer 3rd-Person Action Shooter that is set to launch on the Xbox Live Arcade and PC. From the trailers I've seen, players can fly around with jet packs and take cover behind obstructions and walls. The heavy sci-fi theme isn't unfamiliar, but still leaves quite the impression looking at it. As I've mentioned many times in the past, I'm really sick of all the multiplayer-only shooters that keep releasing in the market when they can't hold a community longer than a couple of months. More accurately, I'm sick of spending money on those types of games only to end up not being able to play them because no one plays them anymore. Look at those graphics and fast-paced action. It looks like a lot of fun, right? When the community dies out, there's no possible way to play it anymore because the game's experience relies solely on its players. Unfortunately, many of these multiplayer-centric shooters are created by indie-developed teams and distributed digitally which means it won't reach all of its potential audience and the team may not always have the resources to keep the community stable. There isn't much detail on the game other than that it's a competitive multiplayer 3rd-Person Shooter where the player takes the role of a Paladin or Variant. You can fly, hide, and shoot and possibly stab too judging from the ending of the trailer. Whether there will be a single-player campaign or any relevant storyline following the game is unclear at the moment. The release date of Hybrid is TBA possibly sometime in 2012.
Source: Youtube Channel gametrailers
Another developer is taking up the task of creating another shooter, and it's a fierce competition in the market right now since there are so many of them. I'm not really sure how I came across this game anymore, but Hybrid is a competitive multiplayer 3rd-Person Action Shooter that is set to launch on the Xbox Live Arcade and PC. From the trailers I've seen, players can fly around with jet packs and take cover behind obstructions and walls. The heavy sci-fi theme isn't unfamiliar, but still leaves quite the impression looking at it. As I've mentioned many times in the past, I'm really sick of all the multiplayer-only shooters that keep releasing in the market when they can't hold a community longer than a couple of months. More accurately, I'm sick of spending money on those types of games only to end up not being able to play them because no one plays them anymore. Look at those graphics and fast-paced action. It looks like a lot of fun, right? When the community dies out, there's no possible way to play it anymore because the game's experience relies solely on its players. Unfortunately, many of these multiplayer-centric shooters are created by indie-developed teams and distributed digitally which means it won't reach all of its potential audience and the team may not always have the resources to keep the community stable. There isn't much detail on the game other than that it's a competitive multiplayer 3rd-Person Shooter where the player takes the role of a Paladin or Variant. You can fly, hide, and shoot and possibly stab too judging from the ending of the trailer. Whether there will be a single-player campaign or any relevant storyline following the game is unclear at the moment. The release date of Hybrid is TBA possibly sometime in 2012.
Monday, February 27, 2012
GameLight - Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes
Official Site: https://wrathofheroes.warhammeronline.com/
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Over the weekend, I finally took the time to download and play Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes as it has been released to the public in its open beta testing. Wrath of Heroes is a special PvP (Player vs. Player)-centric multiplayer take on Warhammer Online's main MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Age of Reckoning. It takes two modes (at the moment, Capture Point and Death Match) and pits three teams against each other using pre-made characters, each with their own unique abilities, role in the team, and 5 usable skills. Joining a game from the main menu is much like joining a PvP in other MMORPGs with players joining getting matched up and placed into a server to play. When the match starts, the player can choose from any of the characters available and can purchase more later on when they earn enough in-game currency. When a player dies, they will respawn and choose to play the same character or choose a different one to adapt to the situation. Like any MMORPG PvP match, knowing your role and complimenting them with your team mates' characters is the key to victory. You have the tank who charges in and pins down the enemy while the damage dealer takes care of them, the healer who keeps their team alive, the support who buffs allies and debuffs enemies, the DPS (Damage Per Second/Damage Dealer) who causes the most damage, etc. Since each character only has 5 skills to cast from, sticking to their role is very important. An assassin charging in head first will probably get killed before they can take down their target. A healer trying to hard to fight will do no damage and have their team suffer. And the classic: if everyone chooses a DPS, the team will most likely fail to achieve anything as their tanks, disablers, and healers will overwhelm the team.
The gameplay feels a lot like any MMORPG in PvP mode, which is great for anyone who like PvP but hates grinding for levels and farming for equipment. The game provides the most bare necessities for a fun PvP experience placing everyone on equal levels. Victory is dependent on skill and teamwork and focuses on that as they take out any variables of class paths, items, character level, or perks. The game is very fast-paced and can be confusing for new-comers of the genre, but I believe it's pretty easy to pick up after a few rounds (considering that I don't PvP that much in MMORPGs, I learned pretty quickly). By simplifying it down to 5 skills, players won't have to juggle a series of skills to figure out what does what and be able to catch on the strategies to the character more quickly. The game is free to play and is available as an open beta. Click on the official site up top and register for an account to try it out. It's great for any players who likes PvP but don't have the time to play a full blown MMORPG to do so.
Source: Youtube Channel gamespot
Over the weekend, I finally took the time to download and play Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes as it has been released to the public in its open beta testing. Wrath of Heroes is a special PvP (Player vs. Player)-centric multiplayer take on Warhammer Online's main MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) Age of Reckoning. It takes two modes (at the moment, Capture Point and Death Match) and pits three teams against each other using pre-made characters, each with their own unique abilities, role in the team, and 5 usable skills. Joining a game from the main menu is much like joining a PvP in other MMORPGs with players joining getting matched up and placed into a server to play. When the match starts, the player can choose from any of the characters available and can purchase more later on when they earn enough in-game currency. When a player dies, they will respawn and choose to play the same character or choose a different one to adapt to the situation. Like any MMORPG PvP match, knowing your role and complimenting them with your team mates' characters is the key to victory. You have the tank who charges in and pins down the enemy while the damage dealer takes care of them, the healer who keeps their team alive, the support who buffs allies and debuffs enemies, the DPS (Damage Per Second/Damage Dealer) who causes the most damage, etc. Since each character only has 5 skills to cast from, sticking to their role is very important. An assassin charging in head first will probably get killed before they can take down their target. A healer trying to hard to fight will do no damage and have their team suffer. And the classic: if everyone chooses a DPS, the team will most likely fail to achieve anything as their tanks, disablers, and healers will overwhelm the team.
The gameplay feels a lot like any MMORPG in PvP mode, which is great for anyone who like PvP but hates grinding for levels and farming for equipment. The game provides the most bare necessities for a fun PvP experience placing everyone on equal levels. Victory is dependent on skill and teamwork and focuses on that as they take out any variables of class paths, items, character level, or perks. The game is very fast-paced and can be confusing for new-comers of the genre, but I believe it's pretty easy to pick up after a few rounds (considering that I don't PvP that much in MMORPGs, I learned pretty quickly). By simplifying it down to 5 skills, players won't have to juggle a series of skills to figure out what does what and be able to catch on the strategies to the character more quickly. The game is free to play and is available as an open beta. Click on the official site up top and register for an account to try it out. It's great for any players who likes PvP but don't have the time to play a full blown MMORPG to do so.
Friday, February 24, 2012
VGCulture - Mass Effect 3 DLCs on day 1
Official Site: http://masseffect.com/
Source: Youtube Channel biowaremasseffect
Mass Effect 3 nears its launch date of March 6th, 2012, and apparently EA has made quite a few fans unhappy after announcing that there will be a DLC available the day it releases. Downloadable-Content (DLC) has been looked down upon by the community as what was once a great idea to offer more out of a game well after its release as it has become a dirty practice in the industry to purposely taking out contents of a game that should have already been in the game only to sell it back to the players for a price. What keeps this trend going is that it is an effective business system as people still buy the DLCs knowing that it will eventually cost more than the game itself. It's a reflection of what business model works best in this generation. Games or content that cost only $1-$15 has become a normal trend in buying games through digital distribution or micro-transactions/DLCs for existing games. With such small price tags, it gives the illusion that one is not paying all that much for their purchase. $5 doesn't seem too bad for a DLC, but the customers are already paying $60 for the entire game already and would expect the most out of it for full price. Just a few years ago, games would launch at its full entirety for the retail price people would pay for. With the new trend making more money, games are rushed out sooner with less content for the same price which is what's bothering a lot of people.
Personally, I am very against DLCs and have only bought them for insane discounts on Steam as I find their existence to lower the quality and ethics of game development in the industry. I think it's great when a developer wants to offer more out of an existing game; however, the price tag that they (or their publishers) place on them just feels like a cheap way to make more money without being justified as a worthy purchase. The matter on Mass Effect 3's DLC doesn't really bother me too much as I don't plan on getting the game anytime soon. I have yet to finish 1 and 2 (lost my save files from my laptop crashing, remember?) and so I feel I can wait it out and eventually get the game when I'm ready and play through just the main story. Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6, 2012 and the demo is available for download now.
Source: Youtube Channel biowaremasseffect
Mass Effect 3 nears its launch date of March 6th, 2012, and apparently EA has made quite a few fans unhappy after announcing that there will be a DLC available the day it releases. Downloadable-Content (DLC) has been looked down upon by the community as what was once a great idea to offer more out of a game well after its release as it has become a dirty practice in the industry to purposely taking out contents of a game that should have already been in the game only to sell it back to the players for a price. What keeps this trend going is that it is an effective business system as people still buy the DLCs knowing that it will eventually cost more than the game itself. It's a reflection of what business model works best in this generation. Games or content that cost only $1-$15 has become a normal trend in buying games through digital distribution or micro-transactions/DLCs for existing games. With such small price tags, it gives the illusion that one is not paying all that much for their purchase. $5 doesn't seem too bad for a DLC, but the customers are already paying $60 for the entire game already and would expect the most out of it for full price. Just a few years ago, games would launch at its full entirety for the retail price people would pay for. With the new trend making more money, games are rushed out sooner with less content for the same price which is what's bothering a lot of people.
Personally, I am very against DLCs and have only bought them for insane discounts on Steam as I find their existence to lower the quality and ethics of game development in the industry. I think it's great when a developer wants to offer more out of an existing game; however, the price tag that they (or their publishers) place on them just feels like a cheap way to make more money without being justified as a worthy purchase. The matter on Mass Effect 3's DLC doesn't really bother me too much as I don't plan on getting the game anytime soon. I have yet to finish 1 and 2 (lost my save files from my laptop crashing, remember?) and so I feel I can wait it out and eventually get the game when I'm ready and play through just the main story. Mass Effect 3 releases on March 6, 2012 and the demo is available for download now.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
NewNews - The Last Story confirmed for localization
Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment
According to Gamasutra, publishing company Xseed Games will be bringing "The Last Story" for the Wii to North America. To have Xenoblade Chronicles confirmed for localization was a special treat, but this announcement was mind blowing! From before, the decision to "not" bring it over to stateside seem adamant and irrevocable, but I suppose seeing the strong support from the fans in the West convinced Nintendo to bring Xenoblade Chronicles over to North America. Upon seeing the overwhelming positive reaction by the community, publishers might have felt a bit more optimistic about taking the responsibility to bringing the other games over.
For those unfamiliar with "The Last Story", it is an Action-RPG developed exclusively for the Nintendo Wii with Hironobu Sakaguchi of "Final Fantasy" leading the project with Takuya Matsumoto along with renowned videogame composer Nobuo Uematsu. Sakaguchi takes on the Action-RPG genre by formulating a new and unique combat system that mixes tactical planning with fluid hack 'n slash attacks. As always, there is a focus on story, the environment, and character development to keep the game's progress moving and the player involved.
The game has received high ratings and praise by critics and players who played through the Japanese version. One of the major arguments pointed out by a lot of supporters of the petition to bringing the 3 JRPGs (Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower) to the western market was that they are possibly the last few games developed for the Wii considered worth buying anymore for the aging console who has failed to come out with anything new or interesting other than those developed directly by Nintendo (The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword). Judging from 2011's abysmal list of game releases, I'd say that seems to be the situation. So Wii owners and JRPG fans rejoice as 2 out of 3 of the petitioned games have now been confirmed for a stateside release. The Last Story does not have a release date yet.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
GameLight - ORION: Dino Beatdown
Official Site: http://spiralgamestudios.com/
Source: Youtube Channel SpiralGameStudios
When I first heard the name "ORION: Dino Beatdown", my first reaction was "oh no, not another dinosaur game". But upon watching the video above, I'm rather keen on the idea. The gameplay looks fluid, the user-interface is clean, the fact that it's a large open-world map interests me, and gaining more credits to upgrade items and equipment is a nice incentive to play the game more than once. Spiral Game Studios is a new development team formed by talents ranging those who have worked on BioShock, Ghost Recon, Unreal Tournament, Forza Motorsport, Jade Empire, Halo, Borderlands and Mortal Kombat. I like Sci-fi games where you can jump and hover around with jet-packs in large worlds. I guess I like the freedom of it as opposed to be limited to realistic gravity which feels limited. I guess in a way, the presentation of the gameplay reminds me of FireFall. Everything is so "large" in scale and a lot of action is going on. Here are some key elements from the game posted directly on their official site:
KEY FEATURES:
5-PLAYER, OPEN-WORLD CO-OP
Varying Objectives, Multiple Bases A.I systems populate the worlds.
3 MASSIVE WORLDS
Covan (Desert), Depth (Night Forest), Eden (Grasslands)
IN-GAME SHOPS & STORES
Three types of stores - Barracks (Player), Armory (Weapons), Garage (Vehicles)
CLASS-BASED GAMEPLAY
Three player classes - Assault (Jetpack), Support (Medic), Recon (Cloak)
PERKS & UPGRADES
Class Abilities, Player Upgrades, Weapon Upgrades and more.
CREDIT SYSTEM
Earn and Spend credits from completing objectives and progression.
15 WEAPONS, ITEMS & GRENADES
Magnums, Shotguns, Machine Guns, Laser Rifles, Rocket Launchers and more.
4 VEHICLES
Hover-bikes, Buggies, Tanks / Mechs & VTOL’s.
3 UNIQUE DINOSAURS (@LAUNCH)
T-Rex, Raptor, Rham-Phorynchus.
50 STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS
Gotta catch them all!
"Large worlds with tons of stuff to kill dinosaurs with" is what I got out of everything, and I'm liking it. I'm really hoping that this game will turn out to be great because I'm really enticed by the concept of its design. There's a bit of Action, First-Person Shooter, some adventure, some RPG, and some co-op tactics involved. I'm not sure how many friends I can convince getting this game, but having at least one person I know to play alongside with me would be nice (anyone who plays online games with pubs know what I mean). The game is set to launch March 2012 on Steam and OnLive for a very affordable price $9.99. As long as they don't start spamming with DLCs and constantly charging extra for every little thing, I'm in.
Source: Youtube Channel SpiralGameStudios
When I first heard the name "ORION: Dino Beatdown", my first reaction was "oh no, not another dinosaur game". But upon watching the video above, I'm rather keen on the idea. The gameplay looks fluid, the user-interface is clean, the fact that it's a large open-world map interests me, and gaining more credits to upgrade items and equipment is a nice incentive to play the game more than once. Spiral Game Studios is a new development team formed by talents ranging those who have worked on BioShock, Ghost Recon, Unreal Tournament, Forza Motorsport, Jade Empire, Halo, Borderlands and Mortal Kombat. I like Sci-fi games where you can jump and hover around with jet-packs in large worlds. I guess I like the freedom of it as opposed to be limited to realistic gravity which feels limited. I guess in a way, the presentation of the gameplay reminds me of FireFall. Everything is so "large" in scale and a lot of action is going on. Here are some key elements from the game posted directly on their official site:
KEY FEATURES:
5-PLAYER, OPEN-WORLD CO-OP
Varying Objectives, Multiple Bases A.I systems populate the worlds.
3 MASSIVE WORLDS
Covan (Desert), Depth (Night Forest), Eden (Grasslands)
IN-GAME SHOPS & STORES
Three types of stores - Barracks (Player), Armory (Weapons), Garage (Vehicles)
CLASS-BASED GAMEPLAY
Three player classes - Assault (Jetpack), Support (Medic), Recon (Cloak)
PERKS & UPGRADES
Class Abilities, Player Upgrades, Weapon Upgrades and more.
CREDIT SYSTEM
Earn and Spend credits from completing objectives and progression.
15 WEAPONS, ITEMS & GRENADES
Magnums, Shotguns, Machine Guns, Laser Rifles, Rocket Launchers and more.
4 VEHICLES
Hover-bikes, Buggies, Tanks / Mechs & VTOL’s.
3 UNIQUE DINOSAURS (@LAUNCH)
T-Rex, Raptor, Rham-Phorynchus.
50 STEAM ACHIEVEMENTS
Gotta catch them all!
"Large worlds with tons of stuff to kill dinosaurs with" is what I got out of everything, and I'm liking it. I'm really hoping that this game will turn out to be great because I'm really enticed by the concept of its design. There's a bit of Action, First-Person Shooter, some adventure, some RPG, and some co-op tactics involved. I'm not sure how many friends I can convince getting this game, but having at least one person I know to play alongside with me would be nice (anyone who plays online games with pubs know what I mean). The game is set to launch March 2012 on Steam and OnLive for a very affordable price $9.99. As long as they don't start spamming with DLCs and constantly charging extra for every little thing, I'm in.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
GameLight Review - Realm of the Mad God
Official Site: http://www.realmofthemadgod.com/
Play on Kongregate: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Wild_Shadow/realm-of-the-mad-god
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/200210/
Source: Youtube Channel MMOHut
Developer: Wild Shadow Studios, Spry Fox
Publisher: Wild Shadow Studios
Platforms: PC
Release Date: June 20, 2011
Genre: MMO Danmaku-Bullet Hell Shooter
Pros:
-No need for registration, can use account of Kongregate or Steam to login for saved account
-Fast-paced, instant-action, easy to pick up and play
-Lots of content to extend its replay value
-Designed to continuously keep players involved and working together
-Challenging, provocative, and downright fun
Cons:
-The game was intended for browsers, so it doesn't run smoothly full screen
-Lag can be an issue in the harder parts of the game as the player loses control of their character
-Cooperating with other players can be great, but they can also steal the loot you fought for
-Perma-death sound unforgiving, and for some players this is a turn-off
-Needs to have a better method of keeping track of friends and finding each other
Realm of the Mad God has been in development as early as 2008 and was put in public beta in 2010 before being officially released in 2011. This is why it surprises me that I have never heard of it till just yesterday when it was released on Valve's Steam client as a free-to-play MMO. Upon watching some videos and looking at screen shots, I was already entranced by the simplicity and design of the game. It's a truly unique online game where it plays like a shooter in a fantasy MMORPG-like setting. Players don't have to worry about setting up parties, instances, gathering quests from NPCs or preparing a path for a skill tree to play on. Players simply just jump on, choose a dungeon and start fighting against hordes of enemies with other players with the capacity to have 85 player co-op in one dungeon. The game is designed so that players would inevitably work together, play carefully/on edge (perma-death is implemented, meaning you lose your character when it dies), and continue playing even after dying (gain currency through each death and unlocks new classes). It's definitely worth a try for ANYONE as it is free, very accessible, and doesn't take long to get the gist of the game. You won't even be wasting that much time as you can start playing immediately by playing on the official site or Kongregate (Steam version requires download, but only 36 MB) and the tutorial is at most 3-5 minutes (and can be skipped). The game still has a lot of room for growth: more items, dungeons, classes, enemies, and any additional mechanics they choose to add, and so it will still be a game that has a lot to offer after hours of playing.
Aesthetics
The first and most noticeable aspect of the game is the retro 8-bit pixel art style the game goes for. It's simple, very easy to distinguish between objects and differences in classes, and quite charming. Bullets and enemies are easily detectable on screen which is extremely important as players will come to understand when enemies and bullets start to move quicker and dangerously close. Although the inventory/equipment system is archaic and has a limited space, its intended design is impeccable. The game cannot be paused and action is constantly around the player in the battlefield. It's fairly easy to keep an eye on health, mana, and items as well as the map and the actual gameplay screen. The map can also be zoomed in or out using the buttons above it or by using the mouse scroll. The user-interface is well thought out and implemented into the game quite effectively. The game can also be played on full-screen; however, the game's frame rate and response rate drops dramatically around highly populated areas and can cause the player to lose control of their character or have very delayed responses. It might have something to do with resolution as my 17" laptop screen has a high resolution but causes everything to slow down in full screen. Using full screen on my 20" secondary monitor that has a low resolution ran a lot more smoother, though still a bit laggy at times. It would also be nice if the screen was pulled back a little as everything just comes out of nowhere and gives little time to respond to it. I understand it's part of the design to keep the tension high and the risk consistent, but it's so hard to see things sometimes. Although the graphics are two dimensional, the camera can actually be rotated and can be very useful in the battlefield.
Sound is an important aspect in the gameplay as the visuals can get overwhelming. Sound effects cue players of having "no mana", types of enemies near-by, and feedback on hits and damage. The music, unfortunately, doesn't take much precedence in gameplay. There's only one song loop that plays throughout the entire time you're playing the game and it gets really boring/annoying after a while. You can turn off the music and play your own music in the background (which is what I eventually did), but I generally try to play a game with its own music. It'd be nice if there were more songs that it could cycle through (like what Dungeons of Dredmor or Granado Esapada did). Placing consideration of the faults in optimal process speed in the visuals and lack of variety in music, the graphics and audio are sound and used effectively. Aesthetics: 8/10
Buttons
Almost all the keys in the game are configurable which is good for anyone used to playing their games with a certain part of the keyboard or a certain way. The game is played like a top-down 360 degree shooter using WASD keys to move the characters and the mouse to aim and fire at enemies. If the player decides to enable camera rotation, they can use the Q and E keys to turn it at an angle they find comfortable. The special ability, by default, is set on the space bar and so any player who is used to the left-hand crab style/FPS style controls will feel comfortable. As mentioned in aesthetics, the user-interface is well designed and placed for the most effective use of the player's information without obscuring the screen with menus. The controls can go a bit haywire and incontrollable when there's a lot going on or if full screen is used on a high resolution monitor which is troublesome in dangerous dungeons. Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
The major points of the game's design is: to keep players constantly interacting with each other without having to create parties or guilds, having high risk - high rewards through its difficulty and harsh consequences, and being able to continually enjoying the games without any obstructions or slow downs. It's common in MMORPGs to have a ton of dialog, picking up quests everywhere and running around to talk to people. Then after grabbing a lot of quests, the player is then usually set out to fight and kill a certain number of enemies. Realm of the Mad God touches upon those aspects of "fantasy" and "RPG" in terms of growth, cooperative play and looting; however, they skip all the towns, dialogs, running to grabs quests and such and focused on its core "combat design" which plays much like a top-down action shooter combined with a danmaku/bullethell shooter. It's a very simple concept of killing waves of enemies and quests randomly generate to have the player fight strong boss monsters. The arcade like feeling makes it very easy to pick up and learn how to play and isn't too complicated so that even non-gamers would be able to play should they take the chance to try it out. The way it's set up, players can play anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours and have their character eventually die. The points they gathered then becomes the currency used for their next characters. Along the way, more classes will be unlocked for players to try out and play. Dungeons seem to appear by chance or through items. So much like an MMO, the world is consistently changing. Another design within the "cooperative" play with others players I find interesting (evil to some) is that players don't receive their own loot and so items go to whoever grabs it first. This reminds me of the old school arcade days where players work together (in a beat-em-up or top-down shooter like gauntlet) but can take food and gold from each other. That bit of competition reminds players that they need to be aware of their surroundings and that it's still every man for themselves. The main objective essentially for the player to survive as long as possible while fighting and looting more items. There are many aspects to the game that certainly aren't new (online game with pixel characters, top-down shooter, MMORPG experience in a short amount of time, etc.) but the combination they put together seems to blend well and offers a new innovation to online gaming. The one major draw back from the way it's set-up right now is that the player can touch upon all the game's content and unlock everything in a short amount of time. From then on, it's up to the player to keep the game interesting and find the draw from the randomly generated dungeons, enemies, loot, and events to stay entertained. There's also a cash shop (micro-transaction style business) where players can pay real money for in-game currency for certain items (but they're main cosmetic and does not alter the balance in gameplay between players). For the most part, the developers intended design has worked and has been continually updated for more content. Concept & Content: 9/10
Duration
This game is super fast-paced. A player can hit their max level of 20 in 30 minutes if they go straight to the more difficult areas. There isn't a long intro or a required grind so players can jump right in and play with everyone else. The beauty of this game is you can play for 5 minutes and still get something out of it or play for hours and still be entertained. For someone like me who's always busy and can't find the time to play for long durations (which is generally required for a lot of MMOs, especially RPGs), this game really does well with what I want in a online game. It starts up quickly, I get instant action and gratification, and offers a variety of content for me to stay interested and continue to play. I'm not sure how long this game will keep me entertained. I'll eventually unlock everything and have seen all the levels available, but so far it's doing a great job of bringing me back to it. Duration: 10/10
Fun
I knew I had to try the game when I saw it appear on Steam. The first thing I noticed when starting up the game (besides how quickly it started up) was that I didn't need to make another account specifically for it just to play (something I dread doing now for every new online game). This saved me the time of creating a new account, going through registration, verifying my e-mail, activating the account and THEN finally getting to play it. Even if you don't play on Steam and on their official site, you can jump in as a guest and play right away to try out the game yourself. When I started the game, the game made sense right away (WASD to move, mouse to aim and shoot). I then configured it to run on full screen and really didn't like how unresponsive and choppy the frame rate became. I also didn't like the music after a while but remedied that by turning it off and playing my own music (something I generally don't like doing for games). While I was preparing to go into a dungeon, a kind player started a trade with me and gave me a strong weapon for my Wizard for free. I thanked him/her and went into my first dungeon. It wasn't a big deal at first. I killed a few enemies, walked around and watched what other players did, got the quest pointer asking me to kill a boss monster and fulfilled them. After about my 2nd boss monster, I was hooked to the game. It was fun killing things and leveling up. I was gaining more power, getting stronger, fighting more enemies, and finding better loot. I kept wanting to explore and I eventually ran into some players and we started following each other. At one point, there were 5-8 of us fighting hordes of enemies. It's very possible to reach 85 players cooperatively fighting enemies together, and that possibility interests me. When I decided to exit the game and finish for the day, I still felt like I wanted to play it. Just like now, I still want to play it. I think I genuinely like the game, a rare feeling to a lot of games I play nowadays. Fun: 9/10
Overall
Realm of the Mad God isn't without its faults, but its core game design is solid and has plenty of room for growth. The game is easy to get into while still being able to challenge players with unforgiving waves of enemies. There's a lot of content and random events to keep the game interesting. And like other online games, I think the community/players is what creates part of the experience within the game. Sometimes there will be groups who will work flawlessly with each other while other times there might be players following around taking all the loot but not doing any fighting. There's a lot of dynamics despite not having complex gameplay mechanics or in-depth leveling systems. It's a fun distraction from all the main games and can very well be treated as a main game to play depending on how involved a players becomes with the game in finding more loot or reaching the highest score. Overall: 8.8/10
Play on Kongregate: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Wild_Shadow/realm-of-the-mad-god
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/200210/
Source: Youtube Channel MMOHut
Developer: Wild Shadow Studios, Spry Fox
Publisher: Wild Shadow Studios
Platforms: PC
Release Date: June 20, 2011
Genre: MMO Danmaku-Bullet Hell Shooter
Pros:
-No need for registration, can use account of Kongregate or Steam to login for saved account
-Fast-paced, instant-action, easy to pick up and play
-Lots of content to extend its replay value
-Designed to continuously keep players involved and working together
-Challenging, provocative, and downright fun
Cons:
-The game was intended for browsers, so it doesn't run smoothly full screen
-Lag can be an issue in the harder parts of the game as the player loses control of their character
-Cooperating with other players can be great, but they can also steal the loot you fought for
-Perma-death sound unforgiving, and for some players this is a turn-off
-Needs to have a better method of keeping track of friends and finding each other
Realm of the Mad God has been in development as early as 2008 and was put in public beta in 2010 before being officially released in 2011. This is why it surprises me that I have never heard of it till just yesterday when it was released on Valve's Steam client as a free-to-play MMO. Upon watching some videos and looking at screen shots, I was already entranced by the simplicity and design of the game. It's a truly unique online game where it plays like a shooter in a fantasy MMORPG-like setting. Players don't have to worry about setting up parties, instances, gathering quests from NPCs or preparing a path for a skill tree to play on. Players simply just jump on, choose a dungeon and start fighting against hordes of enemies with other players with the capacity to have 85 player co-op in one dungeon. The game is designed so that players would inevitably work together, play carefully/on edge (perma-death is implemented, meaning you lose your character when it dies), and continue playing even after dying (gain currency through each death and unlocks new classes). It's definitely worth a try for ANYONE as it is free, very accessible, and doesn't take long to get the gist of the game. You won't even be wasting that much time as you can start playing immediately by playing on the official site or Kongregate (Steam version requires download, but only 36 MB) and the tutorial is at most 3-5 minutes (and can be skipped). The game still has a lot of room for growth: more items, dungeons, classes, enemies, and any additional mechanics they choose to add, and so it will still be a game that has a lot to offer after hours of playing.
Aesthetics
The first and most noticeable aspect of the game is the retro 8-bit pixel art style the game goes for. It's simple, very easy to distinguish between objects and differences in classes, and quite charming. Bullets and enemies are easily detectable on screen which is extremely important as players will come to understand when enemies and bullets start to move quicker and dangerously close. Although the inventory/equipment system is archaic and has a limited space, its intended design is impeccable. The game cannot be paused and action is constantly around the player in the battlefield. It's fairly easy to keep an eye on health, mana, and items as well as the map and the actual gameplay screen. The map can also be zoomed in or out using the buttons above it or by using the mouse scroll. The user-interface is well thought out and implemented into the game quite effectively. The game can also be played on full-screen; however, the game's frame rate and response rate drops dramatically around highly populated areas and can cause the player to lose control of their character or have very delayed responses. It might have something to do with resolution as my 17" laptop screen has a high resolution but causes everything to slow down in full screen. Using full screen on my 20" secondary monitor that has a low resolution ran a lot more smoother, though still a bit laggy at times. It would also be nice if the screen was pulled back a little as everything just comes out of nowhere and gives little time to respond to it. I understand it's part of the design to keep the tension high and the risk consistent, but it's so hard to see things sometimes. Although the graphics are two dimensional, the camera can actually be rotated and can be very useful in the battlefield.
Sound is an important aspect in the gameplay as the visuals can get overwhelming. Sound effects cue players of having "no mana", types of enemies near-by, and feedback on hits and damage. The music, unfortunately, doesn't take much precedence in gameplay. There's only one song loop that plays throughout the entire time you're playing the game and it gets really boring/annoying after a while. You can turn off the music and play your own music in the background (which is what I eventually did), but I generally try to play a game with its own music. It'd be nice if there were more songs that it could cycle through (like what Dungeons of Dredmor or Granado Esapada did). Placing consideration of the faults in optimal process speed in the visuals and lack of variety in music, the graphics and audio are sound and used effectively. Aesthetics: 8/10
Buttons
Almost all the keys in the game are configurable which is good for anyone used to playing their games with a certain part of the keyboard or a certain way. The game is played like a top-down 360 degree shooter using WASD keys to move the characters and the mouse to aim and fire at enemies. If the player decides to enable camera rotation, they can use the Q and E keys to turn it at an angle they find comfortable. The special ability, by default, is set on the space bar and so any player who is used to the left-hand crab style/FPS style controls will feel comfortable. As mentioned in aesthetics, the user-interface is well designed and placed for the most effective use of the player's information without obscuring the screen with menus. The controls can go a bit haywire and incontrollable when there's a lot going on or if full screen is used on a high resolution monitor which is troublesome in dangerous dungeons. Buttons: 8/10
Concept & Content
The major points of the game's design is: to keep players constantly interacting with each other without having to create parties or guilds, having high risk - high rewards through its difficulty and harsh consequences, and being able to continually enjoying the games without any obstructions or slow downs. It's common in MMORPGs to have a ton of dialog, picking up quests everywhere and running around to talk to people. Then after grabbing a lot of quests, the player is then usually set out to fight and kill a certain number of enemies. Realm of the Mad God touches upon those aspects of "fantasy" and "RPG" in terms of growth, cooperative play and looting; however, they skip all the towns, dialogs, running to grabs quests and such and focused on its core "combat design" which plays much like a top-down action shooter combined with a danmaku/bullethell shooter. It's a very simple concept of killing waves of enemies and quests randomly generate to have the player fight strong boss monsters. The arcade like feeling makes it very easy to pick up and learn how to play and isn't too complicated so that even non-gamers would be able to play should they take the chance to try it out. The way it's set up, players can play anywhere from 5 minutes to 5 hours and have their character eventually die. The points they gathered then becomes the currency used for their next characters. Along the way, more classes will be unlocked for players to try out and play. Dungeons seem to appear by chance or through items. So much like an MMO, the world is consistently changing. Another design within the "cooperative" play with others players I find interesting (evil to some) is that players don't receive their own loot and so items go to whoever grabs it first. This reminds me of the old school arcade days where players work together (in a beat-em-up or top-down shooter like gauntlet) but can take food and gold from each other. That bit of competition reminds players that they need to be aware of their surroundings and that it's still every man for themselves. The main objective essentially for the player to survive as long as possible while fighting and looting more items. There are many aspects to the game that certainly aren't new (online game with pixel characters, top-down shooter, MMORPG experience in a short amount of time, etc.) but the combination they put together seems to blend well and offers a new innovation to online gaming. The one major draw back from the way it's set-up right now is that the player can touch upon all the game's content and unlock everything in a short amount of time. From then on, it's up to the player to keep the game interesting and find the draw from the randomly generated dungeons, enemies, loot, and events to stay entertained. There's also a cash shop (micro-transaction style business) where players can pay real money for in-game currency for certain items (but they're main cosmetic and does not alter the balance in gameplay between players). For the most part, the developers intended design has worked and has been continually updated for more content. Concept & Content: 9/10
Duration
This game is super fast-paced. A player can hit their max level of 20 in 30 minutes if they go straight to the more difficult areas. There isn't a long intro or a required grind so players can jump right in and play with everyone else. The beauty of this game is you can play for 5 minutes and still get something out of it or play for hours and still be entertained. For someone like me who's always busy and can't find the time to play for long durations (which is generally required for a lot of MMOs, especially RPGs), this game really does well with what I want in a online game. It starts up quickly, I get instant action and gratification, and offers a variety of content for me to stay interested and continue to play. I'm not sure how long this game will keep me entertained. I'll eventually unlock everything and have seen all the levels available, but so far it's doing a great job of bringing me back to it. Duration: 10/10
Fun
I knew I had to try the game when I saw it appear on Steam. The first thing I noticed when starting up the game (besides how quickly it started up) was that I didn't need to make another account specifically for it just to play (something I dread doing now for every new online game). This saved me the time of creating a new account, going through registration, verifying my e-mail, activating the account and THEN finally getting to play it. Even if you don't play on Steam and on their official site, you can jump in as a guest and play right away to try out the game yourself. When I started the game, the game made sense right away (WASD to move, mouse to aim and shoot). I then configured it to run on full screen and really didn't like how unresponsive and choppy the frame rate became. I also didn't like the music after a while but remedied that by turning it off and playing my own music (something I generally don't like doing for games). While I was preparing to go into a dungeon, a kind player started a trade with me and gave me a strong weapon for my Wizard for free. I thanked him/her and went into my first dungeon. It wasn't a big deal at first. I killed a few enemies, walked around and watched what other players did, got the quest pointer asking me to kill a boss monster and fulfilled them. After about my 2nd boss monster, I was hooked to the game. It was fun killing things and leveling up. I was gaining more power, getting stronger, fighting more enemies, and finding better loot. I kept wanting to explore and I eventually ran into some players and we started following each other. At one point, there were 5-8 of us fighting hordes of enemies. It's very possible to reach 85 players cooperatively fighting enemies together, and that possibility interests me. When I decided to exit the game and finish for the day, I still felt like I wanted to play it. Just like now, I still want to play it. I think I genuinely like the game, a rare feeling to a lot of games I play nowadays. Fun: 9/10
Overall
Realm of the Mad God isn't without its faults, but its core game design is solid and has plenty of room for growth. The game is easy to get into while still being able to challenge players with unforgiving waves of enemies. There's a lot of content and random events to keep the game interesting. And like other online games, I think the community/players is what creates part of the experience within the game. Sometimes there will be groups who will work flawlessly with each other while other times there might be players following around taking all the loot but not doing any fighting. There's a lot of dynamics despite not having complex gameplay mechanics or in-depth leveling systems. It's a fun distraction from all the main games and can very well be treated as a main game to play depending on how involved a players becomes with the game in finding more loot or reaching the highest score. Overall: 8.8/10
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