The superhero game lends itself so well to the idea of the cash-shop and the foundations of this were established by the booster packs that Paragon Studios had introduced over the past few years. If you want a new costume part then just purchase that one part or the whole outfit if you prefer, or perhaps you’ve seen a new cape someone is wearing and decide your character would benefit from owning it.

Despite being a paying member (VIP) the shift move to the freemium model truely sank in with the release of the “Street Justice” powerset, which requires a cash shop purchase. Of course the cost was more than the 400 points that are given for being a VIP player. So you either have to wait 2 months or stump up the extra cash for points.

That said the cash shop items are nearly all cosmetic and thus don’t impact your gameplay if you don’t acquire them.
But to make the perfect costume you may have to buy some extra parts rather than using just the vanilla sets.

The general thoughts people have about the shop are very positive, even when compared to existing games that sport cash shop models.
Have you tried it out yet? What are your thoughts?

Humble Origins

As we’ve all come know, EA is pimping its own distribution platform big time with the Battlefield brand which means this game isn’t available on any other download retailer. The install from disc is rather confusing as Origin carefully tells you it’s now downloading the game, until you are prompted to insert disc 2.

What is really strange as all Origin appears to do when you attempt to launch the game is to open a webpage which is where you make your choice about what game-mode to play, view your stats or choose a Multiplayer server.

Not only do you need Origin but then you have to install a browser plugin to allow the BattleLog website to interact with the game. The strange thing is that EA have stated that Steam was too restrictive but in my experience the MMOs on there use Steam purely as a method for purchase and download, once installed the MMO is standalone and will update itself using it’s own software/network and the any dependency on Steam is non-existent.
I have no idea why that couldn’t be the same here.

Campaign

Within 5 minutes of starting the game I was rather frustrated by a number of quick time events.
Don’t get me wrong, when used correctly QT events can bring fun to a game, Space Marine used them very sparingly and they were pretty much dynamic in their occurrence. BF3 uses them as scripted events in the linear timeline, so when you have to repeat a section you have to endure them again & again.
I’ve been enjoying the story so far, but a combination of the re-living events via the medium of the “Flashback” and jumping between people & places gives you a dis-coordinated telling of a story. And kind of makes you feel like Dr. Sam Beckett.

Multi-player

I broke my rule and have started playing the multiplayer before completing the single player campaign. I am really glad that I did as the MP has redeemed the game for me somewhat. Here are the best elements for me:

• First up it’s nice to have a game that allows prone positioning and movement, It really gives an extra element to the battles and makes everyone a little more on edge.
•  The second item that is nice to have is Team death match, this game mode wasn’t in BF:BC2 and I did miss it. You see the squad death match isn’t want everyone is looking for, I for one just wanted a Team V Team without capture points being involved.
•  The maps (think I have played them all now) are nicely designed with balance being a good part of them. The maps increase or decrease depending on the server capacity/game mode. There is a mixture of Range long (good for aircraft) and close quarter maps which means you get some great combat in places.

That said, there are some serious lag spike issues at the moment that appear to be impacting all players. This often makes playing the game unbearable and I hope they get sorted out soon or it’s going to put people off.

Last Point

My final bugbear is with the use of the Origin/BattleLog webpage at launches the game for you.

Imagine you are playing on a conquest game server and fancy swapping to a Team deathmatch game. In any normal game you would exit to the menu selection and find a new server and connect.
BF3 is far more cumbersome in it’s design, you play each map which loads the resources into memory, but when you exit the that server, it exits the game and unloads everything from memory.
You then find your next server and connect at this point the game is reloaded and as you enter the server all the resources have to be loaded into memory again.

It’s a horrid method and results in having to open and close the game multiple times in one sitting.
Not a massive problem, but when I have a finite amount of time for gaming I really don’t want to spent it looking at a loading screen.

Of course this isn’t anything new to the genre, potions and medkits have been stable component of our games for many years, However I’ve always been frustrated by cool-down systems that games use to limit the speed of consumption of these items,excluding PVP balancing I struggled to find a clear reason for this implementing this in PvE, other than slowing me down.

Using a health potion every 3 minutes isn’t ideal, for me it will often result in death. Mainly due to my fondness for soloing but I also like to face obstacles that offer me a challenge. I don’t want to be limited to. Grey mobs just because I play a supporting class.

I know may will argue that “it’s a multi-player game for a reason, find a healer”.
Of course finding a healer that wants to spend an evening playing whack-a-mole is never that simple and I want the ability to play a character that is able to solo between grouping.

So I use up twice as many health potions, but my enjoyment of the game increases too.
Anyone else with a similar opinion or am I just being awkward?

Echo Bazaar is a web-based game that uses social networks (Twitter and Facebook) for sign-in authentication. Of the countless games on my radar that grapple for my free time this one only asks for 10 minutes at a time, but I have a tough time deciding what to do with those minutes.

Setting

The game is set in Victorian London that has been pulled into the earth and now resides in what is commonly known as the ‘Neath. For what purpose? Well I’ll leave that for you to discover but I can tell you that this isn’t the first city to have been ‘acquired’.
The are many common elements that appear familiar but often have an unusual twist in this game.

Gameplay

You are limited to a maximum of 10 actions at any one time, these gradually refresh 1 every 6 minutes, you are also limited to a total of 60 actions in one day.

The type of actions you can perform are defined by your location and by your progress in one of four skills. These shape your character and the path they follow, new tasks are unlocked and old ones vanish as you gain experience in each skill.
Additionally there are also opportunity cards that can be played at any location.

Interactions

Although it uses social media for sign in, thankfully it doesn’t demand that you pressure your friends into playing to increase your enjoyment or bombard your social feeds with information.

The only messages are sent with your full knowledge/permission, messages to friends on twitter are sent via Direct message rather than appearing in your timeline.

Summary

The tales found in the game are entertaining and each new thing you discovers gives a little more insight and knowledge about Fallen London and it’s inhabitants.
There are many avenues to travel in order to progress the stories, whether it’s joining a lynch mob, lecturing at the University or spending time in the local pub, each is unique and unlocks more clues or mysteries.

The game isn’t without niggling issues that frustrate players, sometimes there is a lack of options and you need to grind the same content for a level, there is much that can be done without purchasing any in game premium currency (Fate), but without it some areas are locked from you.

That said  I still find the game really enjoyable, I’ve been playing on and off since early 2010.  You can ask friends to help you out, normally at the expense of their sanity, but that’s all part of life here in what remains of London.

Sanctum is a Tower Defence game blended with elements of a FPS, set in the futuristic landscape of Elysion One, your goal is to defend a (power) core from hordes of aliens.
You achieve this by controlling the path of the enemies and building towers to inflict as much damage as possible on said enemies.

It follows a standard defence game format:

• Setup time (build)
• one wave of enemies(fight!)
• Repeat

The first person perspective allows you to blast away alongside your turrets, tackle those troublesome enemies before they become a bigger problem.
This certainly gives the game a fun and different slate on the defence genre, but sometimes the maps are awkward to traverse, this is overcome by instant teleporters.

The Unreal engine works nicely and the soundtrack is well designed to match the games tempo.

I’ve not really had much chance to try out the co-op/multiplayer mode so this write-up is purely from a single player perspective.

Playability 3 | Graphics 3 | Audio 3 | Longevity 2 | Originality 4
Total 15 out of 25

The orignal game isn’t huge and you can burn through it rather fast, there are some alternative game modes that extend this briefly but the core gameplay won’t take more than 5 to 10 hours depending on the
difficultly.
However the game has some DLC including a few new maps available for purchase, however I believe that a newly released gold version of the game includes this DLC.

I’m paying, I should play
I have to admit that Free to Play games are a mystery to me, I believe that much of this is due to my indifference towards those games before they go ftp,in these instances the lack of a monthly fee guilt tripping me into logging on means I don’t really bother. Which speaks volumes about my overall feeling towards the game.

That said we’ve opted for VIP accounts to ensure that we play, and get shiny goodies.

Maybe we’ll see you in game sometime, my global is welshtroll should you want to look me up.

This rather nicely polished game uses a cash shop, monthly bonus membership model, which means the game itself is free to download and start playing. Which is a bonus for a attracting gamers and the download isn’t too large either.

The game consists of 15v15 arena matches, the maps are varied enough and well laid out that each match is different, combined with each team fielding a variety of ordinance leavens the mundanity that can be frequently encountered with many online shooter titles.
This is almost helped by the way the matches are created, each round sees you teamed randomly with other players which works wonders for avoiding rage-quits after being repeatedly kill by the same player.
Due to the unique match setup once you have been destroyed you can leave the match hop in another tank and start another, without forfeiting any rewards from the match still on going.

The enjoyment/frustration of the game is of course the leveling up of your tanks, this persistent element means you can slowly earn xp and cash toward you’re next upgrade.
The tech trees in the game allow you to unlock smaller improvements before needing a little more to reach the next vehicle unlock in the branch you’re training in.

Playability 4 | Graphics 3 | Audio 2 | Longevity 3 | Originality 4
Total 16 out of 25

WorldOfTanks

Greetings from FreeMarch!

I am currently holidaying in Rift and having an absolute blast.
There were some large queues on arrival but things have settled down.

There was a huge spectacle on the beach yesterday with amazing
special effects.
We had a whale of a time hitting beasts on the head in exchange
for planerites.

By the next time I write I hope to have crafted some wonderful jerkins.

See you soon.

Welshtroll

“The planet of Auraxis in a distant star system cut off by a collapsed wormhole from their homeworld, locked in a three way struggle for power on an alien world where the dead come back to life.”

Over the last 8 years I’ve attempted to find another game but too many MMOs seem to focus on tempting you deeper into the game with various phat loot carrots, rather than inspiring a sense of accomplishment or teamwork. Running through-out Planetside was a underlying feeling of comradery that I haven’t encountered in any other game, this was every person working together as part of the global team and thus giving reward to everyone for their hard-work if it came to fruition.

The game is designed around support, both direct and indirect, it was the back-bone and heart of the game. It was sadly was discarded as they began to reward people for less team-work, for achievement whoring and kill-stat information, it was at this point the foundations of the system began to crumble and the 110% effort that people gave began  to drop and loyalty wavered. This was followed up by a never ending stream of cheaters that slowly strangled the last good elements of the game.

Some of my best and most vivid memories include base re-secures with 5 seconds left on the clock, a wave of MAX suited troops charging across the terrain of Cyssor & the determination that people had to stop just one base falling to the enemy. A unified feeling from all players that what you were doing no matter how trivial was important and that the global fight could benefit.

Here are a few screenshots from my time in Planetside and with it my hope that the sequel is half as good as the original was.

OK stop the press! As if by magic I started to write this post and discover that John Smedley has tweeted this:

And my faith in the new version of the game increases slightly.

If you want to learn more about the history of Planetside I suggest you start here : http://planetside.station.sony.com/howto/manual_detail.vm?chapter=0

What did I miss?

If I had to choose one thing that I find better about playing solo it would have to be the ability to see  a lot more of the content, you have the time and chances to read the history behind a quest, discover the reasons behind them and actually read the dialogue. I’ll not deny it is going to take longer to reach the end game content and I may never see the level cap but the general idea is to enjoy the journey as much as the achieving the ultimate goal (max level).

Currently I heard the Van Hemlock podcast episode 135 in which Mr Vanhemlock explains the vast world of tome unlocks he has encountered in Warhammer Online and how he tend to approach it alone and not as part of the static group. I have to agree that soloing is perfect for those players that enjoy achievement whoring. I must have spent a massive amount of time in City of Villains just working toward various badges (sell X number of items on the market, Craft 1000 recipes, take Y million points of damage, kill 250 enemies of type Z) the solo play-style is wonderful for picking away at those ingame achievements without boring fellow players to death, unless they are after the same achievements of course.

Easy Ride?

I don’t expect any game to give me an easy time just because I’m not teamed up, generally I will approach a game with the assumption that I’ll be completely out of my depth. That said we are starting to see games now are altering the lower end content to make it easier for soloing, in a hope that players can reach the level cap sooner but this also double up as an incentive for us solo players to give that game another try. A while back Matt “Positron” Miller wrote about solo players on his MMO Designer blog and it’s nice to see how developers think about solo players and how to take them into consideration when balancing game-play, even though we seem to give them a headache most of the time.

Messing with your play-style

With solo game-play comes adjustments to your play-style, taking a more strategic approach to quests & tasks. Without doing so you’ll find wading into an enemy mob, with swords flailing will most likely result in failure. You have to choose your targets, carefully watching that you haven’t aggro’d more than “you can chew”. Unless your character is blessed with a heal ability you’ll need to equip yourself with some kind of health restoring device (potion/medkit) to help when you get into trouble.

Most of all you have to accept that you are playing a game designed for groups and you may no be able to check every box. At times you are going to get splatted over and over and there isn’t a great deal you can do about it other that come back in a few levels time and try again. City of Heroes is great game for solo player as you can raise or lower the difficultly as you see fit, this allows you to still enjoy the game despite you character not being great at offensive attacks.

Learn the classes

A big factor in the solo game-style is the class. Knowing the game is really the only clear way to understand which classes work well in a soloing capacity. There are normally good guides about which classes work for the solo gamer, generally they tend to be those with massive armour or healing powers. Some people will like the challenge of attempting to solo a class that isn’t one that is typically used, I have one such character in City of Villains that doesn’t sound to fun to the normal player but I have some wonderfully different experiences that make them a pleasure to play.

In all soloing isn’t everyone idea of fun, but we each enjoy these games in different ways.