My latest stab at a TV series that has the potential to make an MMO game involves a TV series that I doubt any of you have even heard of, The Hurricanes. I’m not even sure if the show aired in the US and it wasn’t overly popular here either, but it would make an awesome MMO game.
The Hurricanes blended sports with exotic exploration as a fictional soccer (I hate that word) team toured the globe with the hopes of winning the soccer league. Stretching back about as far as my memory can take me, I believe the series may actually have been American in origin as the token English guy was about as stereotypical as you can get. It ran for a few years in the early 90s and garnered a cult following that still exists today, albeit somewhat slimmed down.
I don’t usually include videos in my TV to MMO articles but the theme tune for The Hurricanes became the theme tune of my childhood. I had to literally run home from school to catch it in time but I was never disappointed, despite the fact the show would be a total flop if released today.
We’ve had some soccer MMO games come to fruition over the last few years but very few can compete with FIFA; and that’s the standard they have to match if they want to hit mainstream. Football Superstars done quite well capturing the essence of the sport itself but outside of that, the game is a shallow title with massive dependencies on micro-transactions.
So improving on the engine and features of Football Superstars, and adding exploration, questing and storyline from The Hurricanes series, it does have the potential to be a decent MMO game. Of all the sports games online most aim at the realistic audience, with the exception of golf and a few crazy tennis titles. Is there room for a fantasy soccer MMO that blends sport with RPG fantasy mechanics? Leave your thoughts below.