Games Review

RaiderZ

by
RaiderZ

In all honesty, the fact that this game is called “RaiderZ” should have been the first warning sign. It should have been the first indication that this was a game to be avoided. But no, I chose to ignore it, to soldier on in hopes that I’d find a few redeeming qualities mixed in with the digital offal. Surprisingly enough, I did find a few – though they weren’t anywhere near enough to rescue the title from itself. As I so often do, I’ll start with the good – slim though it may be. 

The strong point of RaiderZ is definitely the combat. Mechanics are crisp and responsive, animations are relatively smooth, and the leveling and loot system are relatively unique, allowing players to build their characters through whatever means they see fit. Wanna be a greatsword-wielding sorcerer who rains down holy fire on his foes? You can do that. Thinking of being an assassin who happens to hit like a ten ton truck? Yeah, that’s definitely possible. All of this taken together is a welcome change from most traditional MMOs, where you’re more or less stuck along a class tree once you’ve selected everything. 

Also of note is the musical instruments system, where players can learn to play instruments such as guitars and join with other players to create impromptu orchestras and weave together beautiful songs. It’s an awesome mechanic, and I feel as though more MMOs should at least attempt to incorporate it. More music is always grand, right?

Alright, we’ve dealt with the good. Now for the bad. Fair warning, there’s a lot of it. 

First of all, the aesthetics of the game somehow manage to toe the line between blandly generic and eye-poppingly gaudy. Everything about the title is animu to its core, right down to the grossly impractical and skimpy female armor. Not only that, character customization options as far as appearance runs the whole gamut of cliched anime protagonist, from the square-jawed samurai to the droopy-eyed, sarcastic thug. The monsters admittedly look really cool, but that’s nowhere near enough to save the game from its own visual fumbles.

Oh, but it gets worse. Both the writing and voice acting in RaiderZ basically feel like they were outsourced to a bunch of bored teenagers hanging out by a 7/11; there’s absolutely no pride behind any of it – it feels like it literally exists just to make money (more on that in a moment). Character voices are painfully acted, the text is poorly written, and the whole thing demonstrates an almost vehement distaste for quality. Not surprisingly, everything about the narrative and the world is boring. I did find a bit of humor in the fact that there were Christmas trees and lights decorating the entire game world…in February. 

What’s more, the game is so poorly optimized that even high-end systems might encounter framerate issues, and the lovely inclusion of nProtect GameGuard as a piggyback program means that, while you’re playing, any other processes on your system will be effectively unusable. Toss in a few borderline pay-to-win elements, server instability and botters and you’ve got yourself a surefire recipe for failure. 

As an action-MMO, RaiderZ had a great deal of potential. Unfortunately, it’s abundantly clear that the developers don’t give a fig about either the game or its players beyond how they can use them to line their pockets. Long story short? Avoid the hell out of this game. If you want a good free-to-play action MMO, go play Tera. If you want a good monster-hunter game, wait for Monster Hunter Online.

As for me, I think I need a stiff drink. 

Loadout

by
Loadout

2014’s not even in full swing, and already we’ve got a contender for best shooter of the year. Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Loadout. This carnage-filled frag-fest basically mashes Gears of War and Team Fortress 2 together into one giant, steaming pile of mayhem, with liberal amounts of gore, violence, partial nudity, and profanity. Basically, it’s a game that revels in the fact that it’s completely and utterly ridiculous, and ends up being amazing for it.

Those of you who’ve already heard of the game will likely have heard that Loadout’s main draw – aside from the impressively fluid gameplay, which combines third-person shooter mechanics with fast-paced platforming – is the sheer volume of customization you’re given regarding how you want to play the game. Truth be told, everything feels a little overwhelming, at first: you start the game with access to four different ‘types’ of weaponry: rifle, rocket, beam, and pulse. Each ammunition type has its own unique set of traits and capabilities, and as you complete matches, level up, and gain “Blutes” (Loadout’s primary currency), you’ll be able to access new parts with which to customize your weaponry.

Want a mortar that fires clusters of bouncing napalm? You can do that. Want a Gatling Gun that fires spiraling, electrified balls of doom? You can make one. A sniper rifle that causes an explosion on impact? That’s probably somewhere in the game, as well.

In addition to the weapon customization options, players also have access to a fairly diverse tech tree. Using Blutes, the player can choose to gain new combat gadgets (such as a shield or the ability to throw down a turret), unlock new parts and ammunition for their weapons, or upgrade weaponry that’s gained enough experience to level up. The system might seem a little confusing to new players at first, but by the time they’ve done a few matches, most people should have more or less gotten the hang of things. 

Loadout’s got several primary gametypes, all of which should be more or less familiar to FPS veterans. Jackhammer is your basic capture the flag, Blitz is king of the hill, and Death Snatch is your standard team deathmatch, with the added quirk of having to pick vials up from an enemy’s corpse in order to confirm kills. Perhaps the most unique gametype I’ve seen thus far is Extraction, which tasks a randomly-selected player with running across the map and grabbing Blutonium to return it to any of a number of drop points. Whoever gathers the maximum amount first wins. 

Regardless of which game-mode your playing, there will be blood. There will be gruesome death, gleeful destruction, and a general air of havoc and devastation. If you’re anything like me, you’ll love every minute of it.  

Of Loadout’s matchmaking, I’ve but a few complaints: Firstly I wish games allowed for more players. At the moment, the maximum players per match is eight; I feel like there’s so much mayhem below the surface just waiting to be unleashed if only a few more players were added. The lack of any sort of FFA gametype stings a bit, as well – but I’m sure these are two features Edge plans to release at a later date. Second, I noticed during my time with the game that the menus tended to be a bit buggy, suffering frequent communication interruptions. Again, this is probably something that’ll be fixed as we move forward. 

Oh, it’s also worth mentioning that Edge of Reality manages the freemium business model beautifully. None of the purchases in the cash shop really give you a noteworthy edge over other players; everything’s either purely cosmetic or purely convenience. You can’t buy items, you can’t buy blutes, and you can’t buy guns. In other words, everything is pretty much as it should be. 

At its core, Loadout may be a simple and somewhat crude frag-fest, but damned if it isn’t the most fun I’ve had with a shooter in well over a year. I’d urge you all to give it a try – you won’t be disappointed. 

Dark Orbit Reloaded

by
Dark Orbit Reloaded

DarkOrbit Reloaded is an epic space action MMO that boasts a refined new look, an immersive sci-fi narrative and important reworks. The game will build upon the success of its predecessor to make it easier for newcomers to get into the epic space battles that the game is known for.

DarkOrbit Reloaded will feature over 200 new missions with a sci-fi storyline, new maps and characters that weren’t found in the original, as well as an update in the gameplay that makes it bigger and better than the last. An updated UI is planned as well as high-resolution graphics to make this game into one of the best sci-fi space games around.

The game was just announced and released by Bigpoint on January 3rd, 2014.

Divergence Online

by

Divergence online (DO) is a third person shooter and Sci-Fi MMORPG that is currently under development. The game recently launched a successful crowd-funding campaign lead by head developer Ethan Casner and Stainglass Llama Studios to receive funding for continued production. Ethan recently announced that DO will be a box title, meaning there will be a purchase price and a potential subscription model instead of a micro-transaction business model.

Divergence will feature a “hardcore” sandbox environment where player freedom is the main priority. The PvP system will be true to hardcore in that there will be open PvP at all times, anywhere in the world without exception, as well as potential for permanent death. The sandbox feature will allow for terrain modification such as raising, lowering and leveling, planting and farming, and gathering of natural resources or raw materials. There are four “Genomes” to chose from–humans, Veli, Lokri, and AI– with each respective genome having its own subdivisions of breeds.

Embers of Caerus

by

Embers of Caerus (EoC) is a medieval fantasy sandbox MMORPG currently under development by Forsaken Studios. On June 19,2012, Forsaken Studios closed the books on a crowd-funding campaign goal of $25,000, raising $46,050 to continue production.

In Embers of Caerus, players will immerse themselves in a world of freedom and danger, guided along by a gripping main story-line that takes place over a millennium. Players will have the ability to create everything from weapons and armor to vehicles and ships, as well as homes and shops eventually building up to a player-ran town, city or kingdom. Players will also be given the choice to either restore an old world religion or create their own unique religion and god! You may chose to rebuild one of 12 available factions, or create your own entirely.

Embers of Caerus will not feature a classes or levels, instead focusing on a skill-based character system. The harsh environment will be unforgiving, forcing players to be resourceful and clever in their survival, and the many creatures, magical beings, demons and gods will make surviving a challenge. But, that’s not your only worry! PvP will also be available with full-looting rights.

There will be plenty to do in EoC, so join thousands of others as you forge your own destiny!

Gloria Victis

by
Gloria Victis

Gloria Victis is a Fantasy medieval MMORPG currently under development by Black Eye Games. The developer’s focus with Gloria Victis is utter realism, meaning all game mechanics are modeled after real life. The game will feature non target-based combat, meaning players will have to manually aim and time their attacks. There will be a dynamic weather system with seasonal changes. Gloria Victis will introduce players to a rich crafting system with over 10 different professions.

If you’re a fan of lore, there will be over 2000 multi-pathed and non-linear quests spread across more than 16 different zones, allowing players to immerse themselves entirely. The quests and missions place the player in moral dilemmas, with each decision changing how the game progresses (including changes in NPC attitudes toward you).

There will be a strong sandbox PvP element to Gloria Victis, with everything from good ol’ backwoods tussles to epic castle sieges and even knight tournaments. The classless character system will allow players to build and customize their avatar to their own preferences and play-styles, ultimately putting it to the test against other players throughout the world.

Infinity: The Quest for Earth

by
Infinity: The Quest for Earth

Infinity: The Quest for Earth (Infinity) is a space simulator MMO that is currently in pre-alpha testing. In Infinity, players will fly through different celestial bodies from various galaxies attempting to establish a legacy for themselves. Traverse through planet terrain, explore multiple star systems, and visit galaxies on your custom ship!

But do not be fooled! Infinity is no simple exploration sim. It will feature fighting, trading and bartering, and vast exploration as well as character development. Players can mature their characters through the completion of missions, quests, bounty hunting, etc. with each completion affecting how your legacy unfolds. The open-ended adventuring system will allow players to live and interact peacefully, or act aggressively.

Life is Feudal

by
Life is Feudal

Life is Feudal (LIF) is a medieval fantasy MMORPG set in a sandbox environment. The world is massive and immersive, allowing players to control almost every aspect of the physical environment. Build everything from huts to homes, to outposts and even villages. Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, you can create your own mega-castle! Work the land for natural resources, craft weapons, and armor, and gain valuable player skills in order to stay alive.

There are unlimited terraforming possibilities in Life is Feudal. Dig tunnels, mines, and even moats raise and lower the ground, and diversify your land with many different types of surfaces. If you’re into city planning, the free build feature in LIF allows players to build communities on any part of the map. If you just want to fight and wreak havoc, Life is Feudal will feature a hardcore full-loot and free PvP system. Be a part of an organized field battle, or try your luck in a full-on siege!

Play Now

Velvet Sundown

by
Velvet Sundown

Velvet Sundown is a brand new free to play dramagame from Tribe Studios. In the game, you are aboard a luxury yacht, where you will play through hundreds of different experiences, based on how you interact with others. The game is all about social reactions between all the players.

The game is a little bit like the board game clue, in the way that you will have to interact with others to find out different things about them, and ultimately whether or not you want to pursue different avenues. Velvet Sundown is as much of a role-playing game that you can get. There is no combat, no raiding and no loot. But for those of you with a strong imagination, that can put yourself into the scenarios laid out for you, you will love this dramagame.

Destiny

by
Destiny

Destiny is a highly anticipated first-person, Sci-Fi, shooter MMO developed by Bungie. It will be releasing for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 9, 2014. It is set hundreds of years in the future during a Golden Age where humans have spread throughout the universe and colonized different planets. A sudden “Collapse” causes tremendous chaos and leaves humanity in an isolated city. You must take on the role of defender and save your people from a violent alien race that threatens your already fragile existence.

Destiny will be set in an open world with a highly interactive environment. It will not be modeled after the traditional MMOs, instead it has been labeled as a “shared-world shooter.” The new Umbra 3 engine and updates to the matchmaking system will make this game unlike anything you’ve seen before. Bungie will also be incorporating Social media into Destiny, allowing players to stay attuned to living universe in Destiny as it will always be changing.

Keep an eye out for the beta as it is rumored to be launching sometime this summer!

Defiance

by
Defiance

Defiance is a third-person sci-fi shooter MMO by Trion Worlds based on the Syfy television series of the same name. It released on April 2, 2013, and is available on PC, PS3, Xbox 360. The game is set in the San Francisco Bay area, following a war between Humans and rogue extraterrestrials known as Votans.

Defiance has five different DLCs planned for release, with Castithan Charge Pack and Arkbreaker already available for sale. Defiance is loaded with dynamic events, main story missions, side quests and challenges. Players are given a large amount of control over character appearance. There are no pure classes, you must chose an “Origin” and fill the role of either Veterans, Outlaws, Machinists, or Survivalists. Veterans and Outlaws are survivors of The Pale Wars who roam the land and seek opportunity. Machinists focus on scavenging, while Survivalists are simply trying to get by.

You don’t have to be a fan of the show to like this game. Check it out through Steam or play it on your console for some good ol’ third person shooting.

Darkfall: Unholy Wars

by
Darkfall: Unholy Wars

Darkfall: Unholy Wars is a fantasy action MMORPG by Aventurine. It is set in Agon, a land that has been in chaos for hundreds of years thanks to a war between demons and gods battling for dominion. Darkfall: Unholy Wars focuses on real-time gameplay, PvP, city building, a full-rights looting system, and an intricate class system.This sandbox PvP allows for real-time battles between clans on player-built cities and in the natural environment. The world is large and immersive with seamless transitions between zones. Territory control is crucial as clans battle to create and conquer cities and villages.

Armed with a deep character system, players advance with Prowess and can choose from a diverse list of classes and jobs. The Warrior, which can be specialized towards close combat aggression or elite protection; the Skirmisher, which can be disciplined towards archery or agile combat; the Elementalist, which can be utilized as either either a long distance fire mage or close distance air warlock; and the Primalist which is mostly a healer but can also be used as a enhancer. You can build your legacy as a fighter, a merchant, craftsman, even as a politician, and so much more.

Continent of the Ninth Seal

by
Continent of the Ninth Seal

Continent of the Ninth Seal (C9) is a 3D fantasy action MMORPG developed by Wizden. In Continent of the Ninth Seal, players must free the land of Blenheim from the grip of evil Neper. It is up to you to stop Neper’s quest to open a magical gate and unleash the power to destroy the world. C9 features over 2000 quests spread over 5 continents, an action-based combat system with endless combat combinations, and a dynamic PvP environment.

There are four basic classes to chose from: The Fighter is a melee warrior who uses various weapons and shields to gain an advantage over enemies, eventually becoming either a Blademaster, Guardian, Warrior, or Berserker. The Hunter is a devastating ranged combatant who has daggers in case enemies get too close, this class can become either an Assassin, Ranger, or Scout. Shamans are the support class of C9 healing allies and damaging enemies with spell power, they may become Illusionists, Elementalists, or Taoist after level 20. Last but certainly not the least is the Witchblade, who combines its quick physical attacks with strong magical abilities.

C9 is a highly customizable and enjoyable action MMORPG for all fans of the genre.

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen

by
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is the latest high fantasy MMO from one of the original EverQuest creators, Brad McQuaid. The game will feature a classic take on the epic adventure MMO, developed by gamers who aren’t afraid to take risks and present challenges. There will be a heavy focus on character development, an immersive world and cooperation with groups and guilds being at the forefront of how the game plays out.

The game was only recently announced via Brad McQuaid twitter account, and the Kickstarter campaign began in January 2014. Those looking for more information have plenty of time to do so, as the game is not expected to be released until 2017.

Visit all the Pantheon Rise of the Fallen tags on MMO ATK for the latest about the game.

Nosgoth

by
Nosgoth

Innovation is a funny thing. In this modern age game developers are often blasted by critics for their refusal to develop new, innovative ideas instead of continuously pumping out mass-produced soulless experiences designed to do one thing – convince as many people to spend as much money on a product as possible taking the fewest risks. Nosgoth proves to be an interesting beast that kind of flies in the face of typical convention and how we judge innovation. What’s up guys? This is Zac with Attack gaming bringing you a first impressions video for Nosgoth a new team-based third-person shooter published by SquareEnix and developed by Pysonix – a company specializing in outsourcing talent to work on multiplayer modes for games based out of the Unreal Engine.

As the name might suggestion, Nosgoth takes place in the famed Legacy of Kain universe. This is both the source of heightened interest and disgusted contempt, hence the rather interesting predicament Psyonix and SquareEnix have found themselves in with this title.

In a genre positively inundated with massive amounts of multiplayer everything, do we really need yet another cash-shop infused multiplayer shooter? Likewise, there hasn’t been a legitimate sequel to Legacy of Kain since Defiance and even that game was so far removed from the traditional titles in the series that some would argue it shouldn’t even be considered a part of the main series.
The decision to take a series known for its emphasis on exploration and story and to turn it into yet another multiplayer shooter rightfully sets off alarms in the head of many jaded gamers, but let’s think about that for a moment.

Innovation is defined by creativity and a willingness to take risks with no guaranteed payoff. I think it’s safe to say that morphing a third person adventure title into a multiplayer shooter is a pretty huge risk, and when you actually judge the game on its own merits, it’s pretty awesome.

Unlike generic modern military shooters such as Call of Duty and Battlefield, Nosgoth pits humans versus vampires in a battle for utter survival. Oh sure, you say. Tons of games offer multiple factions. Well, there’s huge variety in how the two factions play and within each faction, various classes excel at different things so the game remains fresh throughout. Some classes are good AoE damage, others excel at single target with others still specializing mainly in crowd control. Some of the vampires are illusive and can jump long distances. Others are huge tanks which can bulldoze through enemies. Others still are demon-like creatures which can fly in the air, snatching up humans and dropping them to the ground for massive damage.

The game is asymmetrically balanced which is basically a fancy way of saying there isn’t parity between the vampires and the humans. The vampires are ridiculously overpowered—at least you feel that way when you first start playing. Featuring the ability to run and jump across rooftops ala Assassin’s Creed and the ability to pounce on enemies from insane distances, vampires are a force to be reckoned with and tons of fun to play.

Playing as a human in many ways turns the game into survival horror as you are just trying to survive, keeping the score as close as possible until it’s your turn to play as the vampires. While Vampires can scatter across the map and often succeed at taking out multiple enemies at once, humans are forced to band together sticking close to shrines which grant ammo and health attempting to fend off as many waves of vampires as possible before finally becoming overpowered.

The individual classes in the game can be kitted out with special weapons, abilities, and perks. Each character can possess three abilities which function like special attacks in an MMO that are bound to various hotkeys. Perks are added bonuses like increased speed or increased health that last for a game or for a round.
The variation in play across each faction as well as the various ways in which you can min-max the individual classes leads to tons of theory-crafting and lets itself well to maximizing teamwork through strategies tailored for the strengths and weaknesses of each class.

There are essentially 2 game modes currently available – Team Deathmatch and Siege. Team Deathmatch is your standard 4v4 battle to the death. To keep things fair, both sides receive the opportunity to play as both factions, meaning you spend one round as a vampire and one as a human. The winning team has the most kills at the end of both rounds.
Siege mode is available after level 10 and offers different objectives for each faction. Humans must capture and hold various strategic objectives scattered throughout the map while vampires earn points for killing humans and preventing them from capturing objectives.

Like I mentioned previously, the game does have a cash shop, although I wouldn’t clarify it as pay-to-win. While it’s true that you can spend real-money to purchase items, you can also do so with cash earned in-game. Some items like additional classes can’t be purchased with in-game currency but can be unlocked via artifact tokens which you receive every five levels.

Graphically, the game is beautiful. While it’s not as technically advanced as Killzone or Destiny, the art direction is excellent.
All in all though, after singing this game’s praises, it’s not all roses and sunshine as you just can’t escape the fact that while this is a very fun game, it just wasn’t the game that Legacy of Kain fans wanted, and I’m not sure the game has enough mainstream appeal to warrant much of a player base. Yes, I realize the game is still in beta, but it can be hard to find a match where often times you spend quite a while doing this……instead of doing this.

Still, I urge you to check the game out if you can find a beta key or if you’re willing to spend money on a Founder’s Pack through steam. It’s an excellent multiplayer shooter whose innovation breaks the mold for what a multiplayer shooter should be. This game is really an object lesson in how sometimes even if a game developer cranks out a title that absolutely no one saw coming, demand can’t be ignored. You know what though. Having never been a Legacy of Kain fan, the game does draw me into the game world and makes me want to learn a little bit more about it. After playing it, I feel compelled to check out some of the other games in the series, and that has to count for something right?

If you want to learn more about the game, check out its official website at Nosgoth.com.