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Popularity: 1% [?]

Kill 10 Rats And Bring Me Their Tails!

Guest author Lexton “Lunarhound” Collins discusses the upcoming Guild Wars 2, believable NPC drama, heroic errand-running, and shares his perspective on what makes a good MMO great.

Most gamers, both fans and detractors, would agree that MMO’s need shaking up. It’s happened before, when City of Heroes and, shortly afterward, World of Warcraft made camp grinding a thing of the past and brought quest-based advancement to the mainstream. Suddenly, characters had purpose-driven lives. Other games followed suit, and life was good in cyberland.

Now, several years later, gamers are growing weary of the new grind. It’s tough to ensure that every single one of the hundreds of quests necessary to keep an MMO going are interesting, and players are growing weary of the endless variations on “kill ten rats and bring me their tails”. Mini dramas acted out by NPC’s cease to feel immersive when sticking around for a minute afterward lets you watch the world reset before your eyes so that the next players in line can ride. Collecting exclamation marks and running errands for people too lazy to deliver their own letters or fight their own battles feels less like an adventure and more like checking off a list of chores. Few want to go back to the way things were, but developers, and many players, seem to be finding it difficult to see a way forward.

There have been efforts to do something different but they’ve gone largely unnoticed. Guild Wars came hot on the heels of World of Warcraft, and attempted to remedy many of the ‘theme park’ issues that came with a static world that had to reset each quest for the next player by making heavy use of instancing. Players see each other in towns, but once outside, you and your party had your own private copy of the world. This allowed them to change things permanently based on your actions. Unfortunately, this lead to many players not considering it a real MMO and, despite its commercial success, it didn’t inspire many imitators. Additional problems came from the fact that players could not jump, climb or swim and the world was full of invisible walls that forced strict adherence to the current mission path. Dungeons & Dragons Online came along a few years later with a similar world structure coupled with much better implementation of the mission-based game play and a great new action combat system, but the facts that it couldn’t (at the time) effectively be played solo and it required a monthly fee, it also ended up being relegated to niche status.

Now, Guild Wars has a sequel on the way. ArenaNet was very secretive about it for quite some time after its announcement, and even now information is limited, but what is beginning to emerge paints an interesting picture of a title that is trying to shake up the genre all over again. With the inclusion of open world areas and much greater mobility (players will be able to jump, swim and climb as they can in most other MMO’s), as well as new attitudes toward creative use of instancing, they might actually succeed this time.

In a preview at Eurogamer, back in August, lead designer Eric Flannum states that “I think I can safely say that you won’t see a single exclamation mark floating above a character’s head in Guild Wars 2.” This one little sentence makes for a pretty bold statement considering the direction of MMO’s for the past few years and, luckily, he elaborates:

“We actually don’t have a traditional RPG/MMO quest system… Instead what we’ve got are Events. Think of them as group-orientated activities. This is one of the many things that will encourage the player to explore the world – you can wander through and never quite know what you’re going to see. You might come across a fortress that’s being attacked by centaurs, or it might be that the centaurs attacked half an hour before you got there and they hold it now. You might start walking along a road you’ve walked a hundred times and suddenly there’s a caravan traveling along that road that you may not have seen, and you can go help that caravan out.”

Supposedly, these events will form a complex web within any given public area, spawning new ones and phasing out old ones based on cause and effect. An older example given is that of a dragon attacking a bridge. Players can band together to defeat the dragon, which might open up a new chain of events that can be participated in. Alternately, they might fail, choose not to help, or simply not be there when the dragon attacks, which would result in the bridge being destroyed and a completely different chain of events opening up, revolving around repairing the bridge. The difference between this and something like Warhammer Online’s public quests is that they will not simply reset repeatedly so that players can do them over again. The assertion that there will not be a traditional quest system seems to indicate that public areas will consist of countless such events and, rather than wandering around looking for someone with an exclamation mark to tell them what to do, players will spend their time looking for something actually happening. The potential of such a system to change the way questing is seen in online games is staggering.

That isn’t to say that all adventuring will be completely directionless. Each player will have a personal quest chain to play through that reflects his or her own character. From an interview with MMORPG.com in December:

“When a player creates a character in Guild Wars 2, they will be able to answer many questions about their personal character history. These answers will help determine your personal story in the game. As many fans have theorized, one of the first things you choose is a ’subdivision’ of your race, which provides a more personal feel to your character’s history. For the humans, that means their ancestry–Elonan, Krytan, Ascalonian and Canthan–and also their social status as gentry or commoners of the city of Divinity’s Reach. For charr, it primarily means their legion, whether Blood, Ash, or Iron. The asura choose between the three most respected colleges of learning; Synergetics, Dynamics, and Statics. The sylvari follow the path of their seasonal cycle, or the time of day in which they awakened, being Dawn, Day, Twilight or Night. The norn choose their personal totem, and may choose to walk in the path of bear, snow leopard, raven or wolf. From these and other initial determinations, a wealth of personalized storylines develop, so that each player in the game experiences a story that is individually tailored to their character.”

According to ArenaNet, these choices, though part of character creation, will not affect class or power in any way. Their sole impact is on the player’s own personal narrative. This sounds tantalizingly like the Origins system in Dragon Age: Origins, and is an exciting thought when considered in the context of an MMORPG.

There’s no telling, of course, how much of an impact any of this will have or how well it will be received until the game is available to the public in some form. And if these claims were being made by a smaller developer without the experience or budget to back them up, they might be only a faint cause for hope at best. But ArenaNet has the budget and the talent to back up its big ideas, and it has already proven with one successful series that it knows what it’s doing.

Most seem to believe that the ultimate feat for an MMORPG would be to topple World of Warcraft. I’m not so sure. I think the ultimate measure of success is moving the genre as a whole forward. With a new approach to quest content, a strong focus on providing the player with a personal storyline, and the lack of any sort of monthly fee, Guild Wars 2 stands poised to do exactly that. Will it topple World of Warcraft? I doubt it. But it may force Blizzard to change in order to compete, which would almost certainly lead to other games following suit. Now that would be an accomplishment.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Game Review: Cake Mania 3

I have a new review of Cake Mania 3 up over at Casual Gamer Chick.

Cake Mania 3 is an adorable time-management game for the Nintendo DS. Jill, our heroine from Sandlot Games’ PC versions of the Cake Mania imprint, is cheerfully preparing for her wedding day when she accidentally breaks a time-bender (I suppose it was wedding decor), and sends herself and her loved ones off through space and time, only to be saved through extensive cake baking! Jill must rescue her displaced friends and family, repair the time-bender and make it back for her wedding – all by making and decorating cakes.

Once Jill lands in a new location and sets up her bakery (“Oh look,“ Jill notices, “My oven works in ancient China! That’s not weird at all!”), the top screen is used for progress stats, like time spent and money earned, and icons of waiting customers. The bottom screen is Jill’s bakery. Players send Jill rushing from oven to customer with a tap of the stylus. A checkmark appears over the future actions in Jill’s queue so you can easily keep track of what she’s doing. Tap the checkmark to remove a planned action from Jill’s to-do list.

Read the rest of my Cake Mania 3 review over on Casual Gamer Chick.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Sentinel’s Fate Beta

Are you playing EQ2? Want to try out the new Sentinel’s Fate expansion?

We’d like to take the opportunity to invite everyone to register to participate in the beta program for the EverQuest II expansion: Sentinel’s Fate.

Please remember that registering for the beta program does not guarantee admittance. It only puts you into the pool from which we will randomly select participants. Also, in order to participate, you must agree to our Non-Disclosure Agreement (we send ninja monkeys after you if you leak info before the NDA is lifted) and have an account in good standing.

Click here to go to the registration page and accept the terms of the NDA.

We will send you an email letting you know if you’ve been selected with all the information you need to get set up and ready to go. There will also be a link to the beta forums for you to give us your feedback.

Via EverQuest II Players – News – Article 3364

Popularity: 6% [?]

Game Review: Women’s Murder Club

James Patterson’s Women’s Murder club has been a successful series of novels, a TV show and a series of casual mystery PC games before coming to the DS. The new Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion seems designed for a casual DS gamer to tuck her into her purse, instead of a Patterson mystery novel. Most of WMC is played with the DS turned sideways, using the read-only screen to display a list of objects to find, instructions, or images to accompany the action in the interactive screen, which creates a book-like format for more of an interactive novel feel.

WMC follows the usual pattern of story cutscenes, hidden objects and minigames. The hidden objects casual adventure game is a pretty crowded genre, so it’s hard for a new game to really stand out. Probably the most unique characteristic was the James Patterson characters.  Players solve crimes and meet with the WMC ladies as Patterson’s detective Lindsay Boxer, and supporting characters with solid personalities made this more that just a reskinned HO game.

The story progresses via cutscenes and dialogue options. Players have some choices for what to say, but it was more of a quiz on recent plot events. Believable banter makes the cutscenes worth reading, and the linear storyline makes it feel like reading a novel, not being hemmed

Random side note: The mysterious Chinese markings found on the victim actually do say bu zhong, Not Loyal. My Chinese  literacy is just good enough to be completely thrilled with the developers for using real words when dramatic red scribbles would have acceptable. (It always cracks me up when I see upside-down characters or random other words.) Good work, THQ.

A lot of the game was hidden objects, whether it was tidying a crime scene or looking for clues, but this was a particularly bad HO. The small DS screen doesn’t really lend itself to searching, and players search a picture that’s larger than the screen, for maximum squinting-at-the-screen annoyance. It was also the Highlights magazine type of hidden objects, instead of the cluttered-room HO. It felt oddly childish to look for giant peace signs and lightning bolts, especially on crime scenes with mysterious dead bodies. The game does mix up the hidden objects a bit by giving players a clue instead of a list of items, but still gives the feel of an activity book more than an adventure game.

The story leads to several minigames, which were much more engaging than the picture find. When I got the Women’s Murder Club press release, I was pretty excited to see the game included a science lab minigame, and the puzzle’s gameplay didn’t disappoint.

One of the minigames was a mah-jong game, which is also accessible under an icon that says China (This character is a different zhong, an object lesson on why I am not so good at Chinese!). I usually consider mah-jong games to be computer solitaire 2.0, but I found something charming in the tiny tiles and stylus interface, and ended up playing this minigame more than I’d expected.

Women’s Murder Club: Crimes of Passion offers a solid storyline and characters from the popular novels to fans of the hidden objects mystery.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal

I’d been meaning to play the new Monkey Island game since I first heard about the Telltale Games release, but it was the pirate-day free download that finally got me started.

Telltale’s new Monkey Island is not to be confused with the LucasArts updated re-release. No, the Screaming Narwhal is an all-new tale in the saga of Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. Elaine and LeChuck (and at least one other familiar character!) are back as well, revamped from their grainy 2d incarnations, but following the spirit of the originals.

Goofy dialogue, creative uses for found items and pirate-y silliness are the hallmarks of the Monkey Island games, and the Screaming Narwhal has them all. Guybrush uses his razor-sharp wits to deal with the wacky denizens of Flotsam Island, whether that’s a clever ruse of selling fine leather jacket, an amazing use of misdirection (Look! It’s Louis XIV!) or coming up with a believable excuse on the spot. The dialogue is not a memory test of in-game facts, but a chance for zany interactions.

The freedom of the old Secret of Monkey Island and LeChuck’s Revenge options was in stark contrast to the thousand ways to accidentally off the protagonist in the punishing other adventure games I played around the same time. (Getting killed by a passing car when Laura Bow crosses the street still sticks in my memory as the finest example of the I Made This, You Play This, I Hate You mindset.) Guybrush can stick a bomb in his pocket or attempt all sorts of athletic feats without any ill effects.

The Monkey Island games make you wonder What would happen if I…? and then encourage you to try it out! When you try to pair two objects that didn’t belong,  use something in the wrong way, or say something ridiculous, Guybrush makes a joke instead of a beep, an error message, or a score punishment. LucasArts rewarded creativity by offerings zany responses to zany questions and zany actions. The object was not to beat the level, the boss, or the game, but just to see what would happen next!

The Screaming Narwhal contains the old Monkey Island mechanic of an old pirate map for Guybrush to decipher. I don’t want to give away too much, but this isn’t the usual hidden object standard, there isn’t any squinting at the screen to find map pieces. If you’d like to make the puzzles easier or harder, the hint frequency is on a slider in your options menu, so you can adjust how much Guybrush tells you.

When I think about it, the only thing that could possibly be improved is the inventory. Oh, no, not the actual inventory, the U-tube and manatee monocle and breathmints leave no room for improvement. But the way to access the inventory is to mouse over the right hand edge of the screen. This is also the way to walk off the right hand edge of the screen or look at things on the far right of the screen. It is not a game-breaking mechanical failure, but a minor annoyance that came back every time I mean to look at something on the right and opened my inventory.

Go check it out and remember why Monkey Island was such an awesome story.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Alice and Kev

Just in case there’s someone who’s not yet reading Alice and Kev, go check it out!

RoBurky created Alice and Kev as an experiment in what Sims 3 capabilities and personality traits can do, creating two homeless sims and blogging their actions. RoBurky isn’t cheating by sending her sims out to collect valuable finds, either. Blogging a game character often seems like the worst case of let-me-tell-you-about-my-level-80-paladin ossed with blogging from the pet cat’s point of view,  but it’s an amazingly engaging story on so many levels.

RoBurky created Alice and Kev as an experiment in what Sims 3 capabilities and personality traits can do. The original Sims was more of an exercise in putting out domestic fires — sometimes literally — than actually seeing your sims’ personalities, but in Sims 3 the focus is off keeping your sims from starving to death, and on creating interactions.

I blogged the other day about emotional games, and how the personality traits of Sims 3 could have emotional implications (Watch your significant other manage a Sims couple sometime!). The story of Alice and Kev turns personality algorithms into an alternately hilarious and depressing storyline.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Beta Opp: The Secret World

The Secret World is a new, dark modern-day MMO, where all players are members of secret factions. Beta sign-up is a creepy and fun test to see which faction you’d belong to in TSW’s dark future. This is an interesting and fun beta sign-up. After all the secrecy and paranoia, the application sets you up to share your results on Facebook.
Via D A R K   D A Y S   A R E   C O M I N G.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Crying Over Games

A few years ago, I met Brenda Braithwaite at a Cyberlore company picnic, when Cyberlore was working on the Playboy game, and Brenda was pregnant with twins. After we all ate, she told me — in no uncertain terms — that I was going to sit back down and let the men clean everything up. So if I wasn’t already impressed with her contributions to game design, she also encouraged me to sit around while Stick picks up after me. Score!

This article a few months ago in The Escapist, called How a Board Game Can Make You Cry discussed Brathwaite’s shift from computer games to board games, and creating emotional, educational unplugged games. The whole article is worth reading, especially if you’re interested in bringing games into the classroom, and not just as a reward for completing traditional assignments, but one part really stuck out.

The object of [Braithwaite's new game] Train is to get a collection of people from Point A to Point B by placing them in a boxcar and sending them on their merry way. Played among a group of three people, players draw cards from a pile that can impede other players or free them from existing obstacles. The first player to reach the end of the line wins.

The destination? Auschwitz.

Although the pieces are little plastic men in little plastic train cars, this game is creepy in a way that videogames with ever-more realistic gore cannot be.  By having players share their game goal with Nazi officers, this game evokes our own individual connections to the Holocaust.

I love the idea of an interactive educational aid that doesn’t try to cram facts into an existing game format. (Full disclosure: I have done flashcard Memory and Go Fish quite a few times in my classroom, and last year I introduced Vocabulary Survivor. I don’t mean to mock putting together flashcard games or study-question games, of course, but there’s a world of difference between blackboard Jeopardy and Train.)  I love that Train makes emotional points with a history lesson instead of distilling it to a list of dates and names, and it makes me wonder what other concepts would lend themselves to similar lessons.

Train doesn’t seem to have any replay value, except for a history teacher “playing” it with a new class every year, because it’s more of a shock, a gotcha moment when you realize what you’ve done. It is interactive and emotional, but I hesitate to call Train a game. It would be best described as interactive lesson, an experiment.

While I see Train as a classroom aid to give the numbers and dates of World War II a memorable, emotional tie, I’d really like to point out the reaction that Amanda d’Adesky, anothing game dev, posted on her blog. d’Adesky titled the post “The One Who Wept”:

As Brenda described the objective of the game, which was to get all your pieces from Point A to Point B, I became misty-eyed. She explained, “You see, I had made the pieces just a hair too tall to fit through the doors easily. Because of this, some players opened up the end of the boxcars and began “stuffing” the people inside to make them fit better.” That was when the first tears started silently streaming down my face. And when she said, “It wasn’t until someone ‘won’ that the destination was revealed: They had just shipped all those people to Auschwitz,” it was all I could do not to openly sob.

I’ve often written here contesting the idea that violent games cause real-life violence. I believe that angry people choose violent games, not that violent games bring out the crazy in nice boys, but I also think that we cannot ignore that games do cause an emotional reaction. That simulated destruction can be cathartic, a way to blow off steam, not to encourage real violence.

An emotional reaction from a game doesn’t have to be disturbing, of course. Why not use the increasingly realistic Sims to practice other stages of life? We focus on guts and explosions so often, when the same tech also lends itself to building fantasy worlds with believable, engaging relationships.

It’s also worth noting that Braithwaite chose a board game format. A demo showing the games’ simple rules and simple plastic pieces brought d’Adesky to tears. When was the last time a PowerPoint made you cry?

I still think Train is more of a shock than a game, game pieces and rules setting up to an emotional suckerpunch, but it reminds me what can be done with simple mechanics.  It’s disappointing to see so many new computer games becoming shooter clones, hidden object clones, or churned-out sequels of successful games, and it’s so good to be reminded of the possibilities for educational and artistic simulations.

Quoted text via The Escapist : TGC 2009: How a Board Game Can Make You Cry, and Sojourn In A Game Tester’s Headspace

Popularity: 22% [?]

Game Review: Lost in Blue 2

I’ve been playing Lost in Blue 2 on the DS, and while I always love games about island survival, like MyTribe, Sims 2: Castaway, etc., there’s a lot of room for improvement.

Cool minigames make use of the the DS’s capabilities, but the hundredth time you have to light a fire, it stops being fun. The same can be said for cooking, fishing, catching animals, and every other repetitive action. I’m a big fan of Cooking Mama 2, but this is no Cooking Mama. Also, the actions you need to perform repeatedly are hidden in sub-menus or are only available after a chain of choices, instead of being accessible, one-click actions.

The story begins as two high-schoolers are washed up on a beach after a shipwreck. Players can choose Jack or Amy as their primary character, but they are responsible for the survival of both.

Jack, your companion on the island, is not the brightest bulb in the box. You need to feed him, making him more like a rather dim pet than a boyfriend. Every time he gets hungry, you need to let go of his hand (one click), target Jack (varies), select Talk (one click), tell him you have something for him (one click), wait for him to ask what it is, tell him it’s something to eat (one click), wait for him to ask what he’s eating, and then select the item from your backpack to feed him (varies, but you select, choose ‘give’ and confirm), he says it’s delicious (one click to confirm). Early items, like raspberries and coconuts, fill his meter between 3 and 5 percent, out of a possible hundred percent, so even if he doesn’t perform any physical labor — like a million walks to the stream to quench his inexhaustible thirst — which makes the hunger meter empty faster,  you’ll need to do this series of actions between 20 and 33 times in a day to get him full.

Items must be fed from Amy’s backpack to Jack. You cannot feed him items that he’s carrying, and he will literally die of starvation with a backpack full of lunchboxes and fruit.  To exchange items between backpack, you need to let go of his hand (one click), target Jack (varies), select Talk (one click), tell him you have something for him (one click), wait for him to ask what it is, select give  (one click), wait for him to ask what you’re giving him, and then exchange items between the backpacks. If you play as Jack, Amy becomes similarly dim-witted.

A lot of the game involves learning about the island… read the rest here.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Women’s Murder Club Coming To The DS

After  Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade Of Grey, and Women’s Murder Club: Death In Scarlet comes a new WMC, Women’s Murder Club: Crimes of Passion, this time for the Nintendo DS and DSi.  I think the portable DS system, with the stylus-driven games, is perfect for casual gaming, and I’m seeing more and more story-based casual games coming out. I’ve been carrying the  Sims (or Sims Castaway!) in my purse, and I also saw a Nancy Drew game for the DS the other day.

From the Women’s Murder Club: Crimes of Passion press release:

“When I dreamed up the ladies of the Women’s Murder Club, I knew they were women of action; women on the go,” said James Patterson. “I never dreamed they could come to life like they have in the Nintendo DS version. This new game gives fans a chance to become a member of the Women’s Murder Club anytime, anywhere.”

And by “anytime, anywhere” I think he means “while waiting at the airport”.

I was lucky enough to get a look at some screenshots from the upcoming game. I had to include this one, because there just aren’t enough science-themed puzzles in games targeted to women!

Obligatory hidden objects minigame. It works well in a mystery-solving game, but I just don’t see what’s fun about squinting at the screen.

Nintendo DSi users will get a special feature that uses the camera, (can’t wait to see how they integrate that) but the game will also be available for the regular DS.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Beta Opp: Huxley Beta on FilePlanet

If you’re a a FilePlanet member (and you probably already are), you’re able to sign up for the closed beta of the new Huxley game:

In a post-apocalyptic world where humanity has divided into three mutually hostile species, a battle for survival rages through the ruins of a ravaged Earth.

Huxley is an “MMOFPS,” a game that combines the white-knuckle action and player vs. player combat of your favorite first-person shooters with the social interactions, large-scale battles, character growth and persistent gameplay of your favorite online RPGs.

Sign up for the beta here: Huxley Beta on FilePlanet.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Beta Opp: NinjaTrick

A new Ninja will be opening soon, check out the open beta now!

CyberAgent America, Inc., today announced the launch of the open beta for free-to-play multiplayer action game NinjaTrick. Aspiring ninjas everywhere are urged to point their browsers towards www.NinjaTrick.com to get a first look at the intense Ninjutsu action.

NinjaTrick offers its own unique brand of PvP ninja action, with Japanese-inspired artwork and hundreds of stylish, personalized avatar options. Features include:

• Multiple match modes, including 1vs1, free for all, and team
• 20+ Ninjutsu and Traps
• 100+ Ninja costumes
• Virtual currency NinjaGold and NinjaCoin
• New items and battlefields introduced regularly to keep content fresh

“NinjaTrick is built from the ground-up to deliver a fun, safe and engaging experience for teens – whether they’re playing at NinjaTrick.com or on Facebook,” said Toshimichi Namba, CEO for CyberAgent America, Inc. “We invite teens everywhere to bring their Jutsu skills to the open beta and help us further refine what we think is the perfect formula – just enough action, just enough cuteness, and fun in spades.”

Join the NinjaTrick open beta at www.NinjaTrick.com. Add the Facebook application here: http://apps.facebook.com/ninjatrick/

Via VerticalWire

Popularity: 25% [?]

Game Review: Akoha

I sent out my first Akoha cards the other day. Akoha is a cool new game of social-media-meets-CCG-meets-Where’s-George. Akoha players start with a deck of real-life missions, from sending someone a book to reading a new blog, thanking someone or sending someone flowers. When they complete their missions, they give the card to the receipient, who needs to pass it on. Players can track the progress of their missions and good deeds across the country.

I sent my first missions (which I got from Gypsy Bandito… Akoha pay-it-forward magic in action!) to friends in distant states, to spread Akoha cards and coolness as far as I could.  Only one of them has been continued on, but it was a fun excuse to spread silly presents and share books. Like any social game, the coolness depends on the number of active players. Right now they’re still in beta so it’s a bit sparse, but it has the potential for a lot of chatter and connections.

If you’d like to try out Akoha for yourself, you can order your own deck from their website, or you can leave a comment and you can be the recipient of one of my Akoha missions! (At least until I run out of cards!)

Popularity: 24% [?]

Legacy: World Adventure From Big Blue Bubble

Big Blue Bubble has just released Legacy: World Adventure. While I’m downloading the demo, here’s the press release on the new game:

From the creative minds that brought you Home Sweet Home and Masters of Mystery comes a brand new adventure! Big Blue Bubble proudly announces the release of Legacy: World Adventure!

Travel the world as Emily King, an intelligent young woman with a yearning for adventure and a craving for knowledge. Help her reclaim her family legacy in an electrifying race around the globe, to win the illustrious Grand Adventurers Expedition! Legacy: World Adventure will challenge your Match 3 abilities and heighten your World Fact knowledge with exciting clues and stunning imagery!

So climb aboard our airships for the race of a lifetime, clever mini-game action, and hundreds of world facts that will push your skills to the limits!

Featuring…
• International Adventure Storyline!
• 30 Real World Locations!
• Hundreds of World Facts!
• 3 Different Types of Match 3 Gameplay!
• 5 Challenging Mini-Games!

Legacy: World Adventure supports 98/ME/2000/2003/XP/Vista. Download it from www.bbbarcade.com TODAY!

Popularity: 16% [?]

BioWare Announces Mass Effect 2

Guildford, UK– March 17, 2009– Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), today officially announced the development of Mass Effect™ 2, the highly anticipated sequel to the multi award-winning 2007 hit, Mass Effect. The Mass Effect trilogy is a masterful science-fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life forms and mysterious uncharted planets. In this dark second chapter, Saren’s evil army of Geth soldiers has just been defeated, and humans, still struggling to make their mark on the galactic stage, are now faced with an even greater peril…

“We’re going to surpass the extraordinary gaming experience we brought our fans in Mass Effect by delivering intensified combat and expanded weapon options as well as increased depth of planet exploration, all while delivering a powerful, emotionally engaging story,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, General Manager and CEO, BioWare and General Manager and Vice President, EA.“Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be an unforgettable RPG-shooter experience, taking players on a non-stop roller-coaster ride filled with stunning plot twists and no-holds-barred action.”

Mass Effect 2 is coming to PC and the Xbox 360 video game system in Early 2010. To see the exclusive new Mass Effect 2 teaser trailer check out the website here: www.masseffect.com

Popularity: 15% [?]

New Blacklight Game, Comic and Film

LOS ANGELES, Calif.– March 17, 2009 – Independent video games developer Zombie Studios has reached an agreement with Fox Atomic, a unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment, and production company Union Entertainment to develop its military action franchise “Blacklight” as a feature film, comic book series and video game. The announcement was made jointly by Zombie CEO Mark Long*, Fox Atomic President Debbie Liebling, and Union President Richard Leibowitz.

An original property created by Zombie Studios,“Blacklight” is a covert military action epic set twenty-five years in the future. The three companies will work together on a movie and comic book series to be produced by Fox Atomic and a multi-platform video game that will be produced by Zombie.

Both the film and the video game will be written by Jason Dean Hall, a veteran writer whose latest film, SPREAD, sold at Sundance to Summit. He is also writing projects for DreamWorks and Universal.

“We are excited by the huge potential “Backlight” has to succeed across multiple platforms — theatrical features, comics books, and video games,” said Liebling,“it offers us a remarkable franchise opportunity for film.”

“From the start, I have envisioned’Blacklight’ as a story that spans all of the forms of media I enjoy most,” stated Long.“It’s an ambitious project and I’ve been fortunate to find partners at Fox Atomic and Union who share that same vision. We are cooperating on the comic, game and movie at levels that are unprecedented in the industry.”

“’Blacklight’ plays to Union’s strengths as a film and game production company, allowing us to help bring a great property to consumers in both media,” added Leibowitz, a producer on the project.

Richard Leibowitz will produce and Dmitri Johnson and Dan Jevons will executive produce for Union. Mark Long, in addition to developing the video game, will serve as an executive producer on the feature. Zak Kadison and R. Eric Lieb will oversee for Atomic.

The“Blacklight” film, video game, and comics will feature the same characters and high caliber military action, but with unique, intersecting storylines that complement each other. No release dates for any of the properties have yet been announced.

*Is it just me, or would “Zombie CEO” be one of the best titles ever?

Via Blacklight | Press Release by MCV | MCV.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Game Review: Don’t Look Back

Don’t Look Back is a new game on Kongregate based on the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. This Greek myth tells the story of the lovers Orpheus and Eurydice, who are tragically parted when Eurydice dies. Unable to live without her, Orpheus journeys to Hades to bring back his lost love. Hades, the god of the underworld, and his wife Persephone are so moved by Orpheus’ love and his musical gifts, that they agree to let Eurydice follow him out of the underworld… on one condition. He can’t turn around and look at Eurydice until they leave the underworld.

As they are leaving, Orpheus is overcome with love for Eurydice (in some versions he hears her breathing or her footsteps) and glances back. Eurydice fades away and returns to the underworld, never to see him again.

I really love that tragic love story. In college, I majored in classics, which has greatly helped in my career path of being freakishly well-read. Just a few days ago, I reviewed Electric Box, another Kongregate game and really liked it, so I expected the combination of classical myth and Kongregate to be great.

No.

Don’t Look Back is an arcade platformer, which means jumping, shooting and, in my case, dying. I’m not good at jump-on-the-platform games, and since I don’t really like them, I doubt I’ll ever get good. I’m willing to try platformers with cool slants — I made an exception for the cute jumping game Momo — but they’re not really my thing.

The game opens with a blocky figure standing next to a grave, but there’s no text or explanation to tell you what’s going on. Thank goodness I have my classics degree for moments like this! Don’t Look Back was much better about telling you to use the arrows to move or spacebar to shoot than it was about telling the story.

I found that Don’t Look Back had lots of jumping and landing on platforms, but not a lot of pretty things to look at while you’re doing this. Each new screen is a surprise, with creepy crawlies set to attack Orpheus on entry, so I spent a lot of time dying.

The graphics are cutely retro, in gothy colors, but that just wasn’t enough to distract me from the problems I had with gameplay.

I really wanted to see how the developer interpreted this myth, and when I’m going to write a review, I usually play games to the end. But, even sondiering those, I never made it to rescuing Eurydice.  After repetive scenes of shooting blocky bugs and hopping over obstacles, I just wasn’t having a good time at all.

I hope that other players really liked Don’t Look Back, and that it inspires a whole trend of classical games! And I hope they’re more fun.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Indie Game Focus: Slayer of Dragon

Slayer of Dragon RPG is a stripped-down system for tabletop storytelling by Grant Gigee. The focus is on fast, simple combat, with room -but not hard rules – for roleplaying and story.  “The core of the game,” Gigee says,  “is like rock-paper-scissors in the sense that there are many ways to achieve victory but no one ‘right’ way.”

Gigee’s game system attempts to bring tabletop roleplaying away from the dice rolling and swords of +1 towards playing pretend. The rules exist to keep group storytelling from devolving into playground claims of who killed who. If you enjoy creating stories and playing pretend more than rolling dice, this is a game for you.

Inspiration for Slayer of Dragon comes from across the globe. Gigee was influenced by the simple rule systems of European strategy games, and he tries to bring that clarity and accessibility to a tabletop RPG system. His other influence is a love of martial arts movies, from Kurosawa classics to the flimsiest B-grade films.

Instead of leveling and learning new skills, Slayer characters have “revelations” in which they tell the other players what their character has always known but never mentioned before. This method of leveling, like many other elements of Slayer, is a nod to Gigee’s love of martial arts movies.

“Slayer of Dragon RPG is designed to recreate kung-fu movies,” designer Gigee says, “So I needed it to be fast: fast to make characters, fast to get into the action, and fast to move from scene to scene. A complete session can be played in two hours, only a bit longer than the typical film takes to watch.”

The Slayer RPG rules are available on Gigee’s website, StandardDeviation.cx

Popularity: 21% [?]

Upcoming Battlefield Heroes from EA

Battlefield Heroes, a new multiplayer game from EA, is re-entering beta (there was a short closed beta last fall) soon. Sign up here!

Battlefield Heroes is EA’s first title that is offered completely for free, and features a built-in matchmaking system to ensure that players of equal skill are paired together for fair play. Developed by DICE in Stockholm, Battlefield Heroes is leading EA’s new web-focused free to download, free to play business model which generates revenue through advertising and micro-transactions. With zero barriers to entry, now anyone can be a hero on the battlefield!

Battlefield Heroes is a brand new game from the team behind Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield 2. Its fun cartoon-style graphics and gameplay caters to players of all skill levels. It is easy to pick up and play but with robust character customization and a deep online meta-game, gamers can spend hours building up their characters and conquering the world.

Battlefield Heroes will be released for the PC as a free download in 2009.

Via WorthPlaying.com

Popularity: 19% [?]

Press Release — Qwak!

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – January 19, 2009 – Qwak was released today on the Archive Games distribution platform. In Qwak, players guide a duck through 70 fun and challenging levels. Players try to gain higher scores by collecting fruit. Players will also find numerous other objects in their adventure: keys to unlock doors, jet boots to fly across the screen, umbrellas that cause fruit to rain from the sky, and eggs to throw at the player’s enemies. Many more secret hidden bonuses await those who play through the game! Players do not have to brave alone the six visually stunning worlds depicted in Qwak — they can bring along a friend to help them in the cooperative gameplay mode. Players can post their high scores to a global high scores list.

Qwak was initially released nearly twenty years ago for the BBC Micro by game developer Jamie Woodhouse. In today’s PC release, the classic arcade action gameplay has remained from that age — though the graphics and sound have been updated. The end result is a highly polished arcade experience which is fun for gamers new to the franchise and those who have played Qwak on another platform before.

Archive Games, a distribution platform for independently made games, is proud to welcome Qwak to their games catalog. Archive Games, known for its selection of independently made free games, is excited to offer Qwak as its first paid game. Said Archive Entertainment owner Robby Zinchak, “We’re thrilled to have Qwak join our line-up of independent games! We hope that by distributing paid games as well as free games, we are able to financially assist the plight of the independent game developer. Archive Games allows users to quickly find great independent games, and now, even support the authors of those games.

For more information about Qwak, or to download the demo, please visit http://ArchiveGames.net/game.php?gameID=qwak

Popularity: 12% [?]

Democracy 2 Review

Playing Positech’s Democracy 2:

Democracy 2 has a
bit of a slow start, because with so many options and so many
possibilities it’s hard to get a handle on what everything does. It’s a
government strategy game, which isn’t a new genre, but Democracy has
almost endless options.

My country, Malaganga, started with some problems, and my goal was to eliminate disease and street crime, without alienating any voters. In Civ4, my usual strategy game, your citizens will tell you that religion makes them happy, and if you’re really successful, they’ll throw a celebration in your honor. (I particularly like “We love the despot!” day.) In Democracy2, your constituents are divided into smaller interest groups, like Liberals, Socialists, Wealthy, Drivers or Smokers, and your actions affect each group differently. A tax on emissions pleases Environmentalists but annoys others, free school buses please Parents, but the Tobacco tax to pay for the buses doesn’t go over so well. In addition to passing laws, random events come up, and you’ve got decide who to appoint for foreign relations, or whether to allow genetically modified produce. I really liked the random events. Sometimes a pop star would endorse me, and once a vigilante superhero appeared (I guess I had some street crime problems).

Read the rest at Simpson’s Paradox — Playing Democracy

Popularity: 19% [?]

MumboJumbo Games Coming To The DS

DALLAS (January 9, 2008) – MumboJumbo, a leading developer and publisher of casual games, has entered into a publishing agreement with phenomedia publishing gmbh to bring their latest Moorhuhn titles to Nintendo DS™ system in the North American market.

The three-title deal includes Star Karts, Atlantis Quest and The Pharaoh’s Treasure, all of which will launch in 2009 for the popular handheld gaming console at retail prices of $19.99 each.

“We’re very excited to bring these three Crazy Chicken games to the North American audience,” said Mark Cottam, CEO of MumboJumbo. “The strong character, variety of game play and overall production values of these titles make them a perfect fit for MumboJumbo.”

Developed by phenomedia, Star Karts follows the zany Crazy Chicken through an intergalactic racing competition, while Atlantis Quest is a side-scrolling action (or platformer) game that takes Crazy Chicken through 30 levels of challenges both above and below the sea. In The Pharaoh’s Challenge, players can try their hand at puzzle-solving in the Egyptian-themed adventure.

“We would like to tie Moorhuhn’s latest three adventures on Nintendo DS to international success of Moorhuhn DS. Each of these games represents a different genre – racing game, Jump&Run and puzzle – and thus not only emphasizes the platform’s diversity, but also that of the strong character Moorhuhn itself,” said Helge Borgarts, phenomedia publishing gmbh’s CEO.

Crazy Chicken originally launched in Germany as Moorhuhn X and quickly developed a league of fans who found the zany and precocious chickens entertaining and comical. Bringing the mischief and mayhem to Nintendo DS will serve to broaden the game’s already impressive audience.

Via MumboJumbo to Bring New Crazy Chicken Titles to North America Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Popularity: 6% [?]

Press Release: RotoAdventures

Guadalajara, Jalisco México – January 06, 2009 – Happy Nutz Studio releases Rotoadventures Momo’s Quest – an action/platform mouse-only game so easy to play that can be enjoyed by the whole family. The game demo can be downloaded from www.RotoAdventures.com

The game is hand draw frame by frame and tells the story of Momo, a little squirrel in a life quest for finding his owner. The game guides the player from an enchanted forest to cybernetic mines and from a school to a cursed castle exploring various themes like vandalism and ecology.

Features:
- Easy to play, you only need the mouse.
- Choose between light and dark chapters.
- Get new abilities for each chapter.
- 20 Different worlds.
- 10 Boss enemies.
- Unlock more than 20 Wallpapers.
- Different endings.

Yeah, you read that right. A squirrel (a really cute squirrel, actually) who has to choose between the light side and the dark side. Here’s a sneak preview of the freakishly cute little guy:

Popularity: 12% [?]

Free Game!: Savage 2 download

Another free game! This looks like a new MMO on the free-to-play, pay for extra advantages model. You can download the whole game — not a time-limited sample, and not a beta version — on the Savage 2 website.

I really like the pay-for-extras game model (used by my much-loved Puzzle Pirates, as well!), because I often shy away from purchasing a new game without seeing it in action. It’s easy to get sucked into buying upgrades or extra items instead of shelling out all at once, and, if you don’t want to pay (or can’t afford the upgrades) there’s usually still plenty of game to explore.

Via Savage 2 – A Tortured Soul

Popularity: 4% [?]