Posts Tagged ‘unreal engine’

Parabellum closed beta now open for registration

Monday, May 4th, 2009

You might remember back in September we talked about Acony’s upcoming free-to-play first person shooter, Parabellum.  Powered by the Unreal Engine 3, this highly anticipated title stole the hearts and minds of gamers at the Austin Game Developers Convention.

parabellum_betaAccording to the official description from Acony, Parabellum will be a hybrid of the best elements of a First Person Shooter and a Massive Multiplayer Online game.  Parabellum will also introduce the first interactive non-linear multiplayer campaigns in addition to an advanced character and weapon development system.

Set in the future, 2018 to be exact, players take part in privatized global military force actions (not unlike what’s been unfolding on Fox’s 24 this season), where ex-soldiers, mercenaries, and adventurers can make untold fortunes.  Players will choose an alliance, either the CTN; those committed to keeping anarchy at bay, or the Syndicate, rebels hell bent on destruction and chaos.  Overseeing, or perhaps rather encouraging both organizations, the C.I.N. provides contracts to both groups depending on the pending job.  An interesting feature of Parabellum will include consequence decisions, meaning that outcomes from one mission will affect the outcome and procedure from the next mission.  Players will not fight level after level of unrelated content, but rather fight their way through entire cities.  Given the nature of the game and these missions, players are free to choose their own routes through these cities, as well as construct routes that will lead the opposing force into traps.

Taking cues from the MMO world, Parabellum characters gain experience and evolve throughout the experience.  As more and more missions are complete, player’s characters will unlock new weapons, weapon mods and attachments, body armor, accessories and appearance.  Acony is touting over 10,000 different possible combinations, a feat yet unheard of in any MMO-FPS.

Distributed in the US by K2, a quick reminder of some additional game customizations:

  • Player uploaded battle music
  • Turning off in game advertising
  • Clan logos
  • And a whole lot more ‘undisclosed’ content

On a final note, while Parabellum will be free to play, there’s a host of available items made possible via microtransactions.  However, the good folks at Acony take what they’re building here very seriously, and realize that pwnage should not depend on the size of a player’s wallet.  That’s why they’ve specifically designed the game to measure victory based on skill and wit.  None of the weapons or equipment in the game require players to pay for with real money.

So get the gettin’s while the gettins hot.  Acony is now accepting applications for their closed beta at http://parabellum.xg1.net/.  Note: you will have to create an account before applying for the beta.  Fair’s fair.

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Acclaim gives the green light to free-to-play Chronicles of Spellborn

Tuesday, September 30th, 2008

Go grab a calendar and put a big bright red circle around November 27th.  From here on out November 27th will be officially know as the North American Chronicles of Spellborn release date.

The Chronicles of Spellborn is an impressive free-to-play MMORPG in which players enter a world containing the remnants of a destroyed world.  Players delve into a fantasy world where they must collect powerful shard fragments before the forces of evil do.  Powered by the Unreal engine 2.5, Chronicles of Spellborn promises a highly developed playing environment with stunning graphics, spectacular effects, and numerous fine details.  One of Spellborn’s unique features is a rotating Skill Deck that allows players to refine and enhance their skills in real time.  In addition to a well developed Player vs. Player system, Chronicles of Spellborn also features a wide variety of nasty little creatures just waiting to be crushed, and intelligent hostile factions that can react to players abilities and known combat techniques, thereby providing a ‘smart’ battle scenario.

Naturally, coming out of the Acclaim stables in North America, Chronicles of Spellborn will be a free-to-play adventure BUT: the game will only feature a starting area that is 100% free.  The best way to think of it is as an open trial in a limited area.  If gamers like what they see, and want to continue further with their adventure, they can purchase a premium service that will unlock additional game content.  This premium service is slated to offer a wide variety of payment options.

“I’ve been playing and testing the game, and I’m having a fantastic time. The only thing that’s missing is our gamers! I can’t wait until November 27th to greet them all in the amazing world of Spellborn,” says David Perry, the US Director for Spellborn.

Acclaim is set to release details regarding the opening of Spellborn’s closed beta test in the upcoming weeks.  This closed beta is scheduled to feature several upgrades an enhancements in the class system, fame system, combat, and the quest structure.  If you’re not a resident of North America, no worries, as Acclaim is also making The Chronicles of Spellborn available in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South America.

Players can sign up for the beta at http://spellborn.acclaim.com/

Having seen and played TCoS personally at the games convention in Leipzig, I’m chomping at the bit to get my hands on this one again.  Sure, there are overtones of another MMORPG involving fantasy and classes that you might already be familiar with, but The Chronicles of Spellborn truly does have some unique features that help it to stand out from the crowd.  Think of Spellborn as a blender.  Take a dash of this MMO, a slice of that fantasy RPG, two scoops of this shooter, a pinch and a half of the Unreal Engine and blend to perfection.  The Chronicles of Spellborn features some of the best parts of a wide variety of popular MMOs, blends them all together, adds it’s own touch of originality and packs it all into an exciting new MMORPG.

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If you build it they will come

Thursday, September 25th, 2008

New European gaming portal, Key To Play believes that an active conversation with customers and meeting their needs, rather than turning a profit is the key to success.

Key to Play creative director Toni Garcia recently spoke with Rob Purchese of gamesindustry.biz regarding this simple, yet effective strategy.  Garcia believes that high quality portals are the future of online gaming, and that Key to Play can deliver high quality games to set themselves apart from other portals.

“We are gamers, all of us. The point is: we don’t want to make money. We want to make a big, quality portal. Money’s not our priority at the moment,” Garcia explained. “We want to make things that people, if they like our service, will pay for – because we need to live! At the end of the day this is a business, but it’s not our priority. That’s the difference.”

“Maybe other portals are gamers but they don’t care as much for their gamers because they only want them to pay. That’s why we decided to go ahead with Key To Play, because in the future people will only play portals offering good service,” he added.

First up on Key to Play’s offerings list will be Pristontale 2, the successor to the South Korean 2003 Best Game of the Year, Prisontale.  With 4 years of development work, support provided by Epic Games and powered by the Unreal Engine, Prisontale 2; not a shabby choice.  If high quality free-to-play’s are really going to set Key to Play apart from its competitors, Prisontale 2 is a rock solid choice.

Key to Play is planning on monetization through microtransactions via in game items and equipment.  Garcia sees free-to-play/microtransactions as a much more valid model than yesterday’s subscription basis as it gives players the freedom to test run a product and decide for themselves if they want to drops a few coins here and there to upgrade their equipment.  Hopefully, Key to Play will also follow the growing trend of providing only temporary benefits and/or cosmetic upgrades and not providing an unfair game balance.
While not letting the cat out of the bag, Key to Play promises another MMO from Japan as it’s second offering.  Garcia stresses that online worlds are/will not be the sole focus for Key to Play, as the next title COULD be a first person shooter, or maybe even a casual title.

“The main thing is to look for good games, it doesn’t matter where they come from,” he said. “If you do things well then at the end of the day the money will come.”

Here’s to hoping that Key to Play’s wide eyed enthusiasm (and hopefully well stocked bank account) will carry over to meet players high expectations.

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