first-person-shooter posts

Why You Should Be Playing Fallen Earth: First person combat

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 30th 2009 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Fallen Earth, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, MMOFPS, Why You Should Be Playing

"Why you should be playing ..." is a freeform column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we're playing them, so you can know what to play.

Fallen Earth is a staff favorite around the Massively.com offices, yet it's very rare that we really get into why we love it so much. So today I set out to end that little problem and tell you why I love Fallen Earth so much -- the first person combat.

Sure, it's not the first time that an FPS system has been used in an MMO. PlanetSide is an FPSMMO, Tabula Rasa ended up incorporating an (awesome) FPS view shortly before it kicked the bucket, and Neocron is built on FPS concepts, but that doesn't mean that an FPS perspective isn't a huge amount of fun in an MMO or any less original.

Tags: apocalypse, fallen-earth, featured, first-person-combat, first-person-shooter, fps, mmo, mmofps, why-you-should-be-playing

MAG pre-order beta has begun, game to launch on January 26th, 2010

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 15th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Betas, New titles, News items, MMOFPS, MAG

If you've been itching to try out your trigger finger with 127 of your friends, then your wait is pretty much at a close. MAG's public pre-order beta has gone live as of Monday and you can jump in by simply going out to your local GameStop/EB Games and pre-ordering the game.

The beta will be continuing until November 20th for all of the pre-order beta players, while those who got in thanks to their Qore subscriptions will find their play time ending on November 8th.

MAG has been confirmed for a release on January 26th of next year, so there will be some downtime between the beta and the release of the game for Zipper Interactive to do some bug fixing and further polishing.

Tags: beta, breaking, first-person-shooter, mag, mmofps, open-beta, playstation3, pre-order-keys, ps3, public-beta, scea, sony-computer-entertainment-america, zipper-interactive

The Daily Grind: What's Planetside 2 to you?

by Kyle Horner Sep 28th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: New titles, News items, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Like any newly announced game, Planetside 2 is still quite the enigma to all of us, but that doesn't mean we don't have our presumptions of what the game should be like. Even those of you who've never played the original more than likely have it in your head how an MMOFPS should play. So today we ask you: What kind of game is Planetside 2, to you?

Should the combat be fast, plodding or somewhere in-between? And what about progression, world design and visual style for that matter? There's no doubt that SOE has a lot to figure out, but something tells us many of you know exactly what you want to see from the game.

Tags: first-person-shooter, fps, mmofps, opinion, planetside, planetside-2, soe, sony-online-entertainment, the-daily-grind

Wishes do come true, Planetside 2

by Kyle Horner Sep 27th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items

"X game sounds a lot like Planetside. I wish they'd make a sequel to that game." is something we've heard over the years as similar-yet-different titles have been announced and released. Well who says wishes don't come true? As it turns out, SOE is planning to "expand the Planetside universe with another game" and is asking players of the original for their input via survey. Rock Paper Shotgun picked up the scent of impending sequelosity, which is a word we've just made up that describes a sequel revelation of such ferocity that it slaps your jaw to the ground.

There are a lot of games, such as MAG, that are attempting a Planetside-ish experience. However, nothing new has really attempted the scope of the game, so hearing that another is on the way infuses us with a intoxicating blend of hope and curiosity.

Tags: breaking, first-person-shooter, fps, fpsmmo, mag, massive-action-game, planetside, planetside-2, rock-paper-shotgun, shooter, soe, sony, sony-online-entertainment, survey, zipper-interactive

Redefining MMOs: The Shooter Invasion

by James Egan Sep 18th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, Opinion, Massively meta, Consoles, Crime, MMOFPS, Redefining MMOs

The MMO industry is always changing, and if we're going to stay ahead of the curve, we need to re-evaluate some of our views and ingrained notions from time to time. The Redefining MMOs series at Massively is our look at the state of massively multiplayer online games as it is today, and where we see it going. This week we're going to look at how shooters have invaded the MMO space, give you a run-down of some promising MMO shooters on the horizon, and finally tackle the question of whether or not they should be covered here at Massively.

Something we're seeing more and more is a blurring of the lines between formerly distinct game genres -- this is especially true of shooters and MMOs. There are a number of shooters on the horizon that fit the bill as MMOs (although not RPGs), but such games are a radical departure from the DikuMUD pedigree shared by most MMORPG titles we cover at Massively. These shooter-MMO hybrids may have quests, levels, and classes, but they cast few illusions about being true RPGs. They're shooters through and through, but have persistent settings or are massively multiplayer -- traits which catch our attention.

Tags: all-points-bulletin, consoles, crime, dust-514, featured, first-person-shooter, fps, game-mechanics, global-agenda, huxley, mag, mmo-industry, mmofps, opinion, planetside, pvp, redefining-mmos, sci-fi, shooters, the-agency, third-person-shooter

Huxley's closed beta now open to everyone via Fileplanet

by Seraphina Brennan Aug 4th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Huxley, News items, MMOFPS

Yes, we know, that title sounded like a complete oxymoron. How can a closed beta be open to everybody? It just doesn't make any sense!

We understand your confusion, but it's best not to question it. Fileplanet is giving out Huxley: The Dystopia closed beta keys to all account holders now, not just their subscribers. A couple quick button presses is now all it takes to find yourself braving the lunar apocalypse with all of your friends!

A small note of instruction: if you get your beta key from Fileplanet, you will have to still make an ijji.com account for the closed beta test. You can do that right over at the Huxley closed beta page without much fuss at all. Now go forth and kick those Sapiens all the way back to the early days of evolution.

Update: As so many commenters have pointed out, this offer is only available for the US and Canada. European gamers, it appears, are locked out of this promotion being offered by Fileplanet.

Tags: beta, cbt2, closed-beta, closed-beta-phase-2, fileplanet, first-person-shooter, fps, huxley, huxley-the-dystopia, ijji.com, mmofps, webzen

The Daily Grind: What is this mystery project at CCP Games?

by James Egan Jun 19th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, The Daily Grind, Consoles, World of Darkness

We know that CCP Games, creators of EVE Online, is going to announce a new project at GDC Europe in August. As CCP acquired White Wolf, creators of pen-and-paper RPG titles like Vampire, Mage, and Werewolf (the World of Darkness setting), we've known for some time that a World of Darkness MMO is in the works. Unfortunately, beyond the fact that the project exists at some stage of development, we know very little. But this mystery project announcement might not be about WoD at all. We're also aware that CCP Games has plans to release a first person shooter based on the EVE Online IP, which they hinted at during EVE Fanfest 2008.

The latest info we've found about a new project at CCP Games (via @crazykinux) is a job listing at CCP for a Senior Game Engineer. The successful applicant "will join a seasoned team based in Shanghai, China where they will work on original IP for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3." The listing also mentions development on the Unreal Engine.

Regardless of whether they're planning to unveil World of Darkness Online or an EVE Online first person shooter, you don't need to be an EVE player to appreciate how cool either of these releases could be. What game do you think CCP is going to announce at GDC Europe?

Tags: ccp-games, console, consoles, eve-online, first-person-shooter, gdc-europe, gdc-europe-2009, hilmar-petursson, hilmar-v-petursson, horror, pen-and-paper, playstation-3, ps3, rampant-speculation, rpg, sci-fi, shanghai, tdg, the-daily-grind, unreal-engine, white-wolf, world-of-darkness, world-of-darkness-online, xbox-360, xbox360

The Digital Continuum: Zombies, zombies, zombies

by Kyle Horner Mar 14th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Opinion, The Digital Continuum, MMOFPS

I firmly believe persistent online games have a lot more to offer, and every so often that fact rises up to the front of my thoughts by games like Resident Evil 5. If a cooperative and ostensibly zombie game can exist, then why not a massively version? Let me present to you, the reader, my vision of a game that could quite feasibly exist in just four or five years time:

The zombie apocalypse MMO.

Tags: apocalypse, capcom, featured, first-person-shooter, left-4-dead, resident-evil-5, the-digital-continuum, third-person-shooter, undead, valve, zombie, zombies

Quake creator repeatedly turned down MMO opportunities

by Samuel Axon Aug 6th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Interviews, MMO industry, News items, MMOFPS

John Carmack, co-founder of id Software and lead programmer of the historic first-person-shooter games Doom and Quake, told Shacknews that id has been approached by multiple publishers interested in releasing an MMO version of Quake. Each time, the company turned them down.

It was implied that id has not pursued (and will not pursue) the idea because of the etreme challenges of developing a triple-A MMO.

There's a good point here. It's not as if Carmack and friends were throwing a money printer in the trash compactor by passing on the opportunity. The concern seems valid: MMOs are expensive, risky endeavors. Even with a team of experienced developers and a well-known intellectual property, there's always a risk that id could get in over its head.

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: doom, first-person-shooter, id, id-software, interview, john-carmack, mmo, mmofps, publisher, quake, shacknews

LotRO: Seven genres in one game

by Christopher Colon May 30th 2008 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Opinion, Casual, Humor

Part of the genius of Lord of the Rings Online is how Turbine managed to wrap seven genres into one game. No, I am not talking about their Web games promoting the Mines of Moria. Rather, I am talking about how utterly different the play of each class is while being in the same environment. This is great because it aids the replayability of a game whose content, shall we say, lends itself to considerable replay for the committed player.

Each class is its own game – so much so that each actually typifies not merely a different RPG character type, but actually completely different genre of gaming.

Can you match the genre to the character class?

Tags: anti-cheating, arcade-fighter, blizzard, breakout-2000, dawn-of-war, deus-ex, doom, everquest, feature, featured, first-person-shooter, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, mmorpg, real-time-strategy, sandbox, sid-meiers-pirates, sonic-the-hedgehog, street-fighter, tetris, Turbine, turn-based-strategy

Huxley: a Brave New World?

by Christopher Colon May 29th 2008 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Huxley, Culture, New titles, Casual, Humor

It is a curious thing to hear of a game being themed after a classic speculative fiction novel. It's even more curious because the novel in question, Brave New World, has little in common with Starship Troopers (as the game's images suggest) and a whole lot in common with Idiocracy (did they have sex hormone gum in that movie?). Brave New World itself was Aldous Huxley's take on American excessive trust in technology, the future, manufacturing, science, and hedonism, culminating in images such as babies being processed in factories instead of born, people being altered to meet almost cookie cutter standards of beauty, and sex being so casual as to almost require assigned seating. One can only imagine what Aldous Huxley would think of the United States in 2008.

Huxley promises to be a great game combining the MMO and FPS genres in a new and entertaining fashion, and I am all for creativity and license. But that's just the problem. When I heard about Huxley the game, my mind immediately leaped to the possibilities of some other first person shooter games derived from the other works of Aldous Huxley, and frankly, that boggles the mind.

Tags: aldous-huxley, brave-new-world, feature, featured, first-person-shooter, huxley, jefferson-airplane, mmofps, new-game, new-games, parliament-funkadelic, the-doors, the-doors-of-perception, webzen

Huxley breaks radio silence

by Samuel Axon Mar 6th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Huxley, MMO industry, New titles, News items, MMOFPS

As we noted when we named PlanetSide our #3 Sci-Fi MMO to date, it's good to see the "MMO" try on some new (i.e., non-RPG) clothes now and again. That's why we've been keeping a close eye on Webzen's MMOFPS Huxley. Updates on Huxley have been coming in a trickle in recent months. Videos have been released now and again, and we knew it was in closed beta, but Webzen hasn't said much to the public lately. Good news: the silence was broken by an article at IGN the other day!

The basic info is all there: two persistent cities supporting up to 5,000 players in a post-apocalyptic Earth setting, instanced battles with hundreds of players, and differences between the PC and XBox 360 versions of the game. There are also several new screenshots and videos. The game looks a lot like Unreal Tournament 3. Not a surprise, since it's a first-person-shooter running on Unreal Engine 3.

According to the article, the PC version of Huxley will launch States-side before year's end, with the 360 version following about six months later.

[Via XBox 360 Fanboy]

Tags: first-person-shooter, fps, huxley, ign, korea, mmofps, planetside, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, south-korea, unreal, unreal-engine, unreal-engine-3, webzen

Next Halo game: FPS MMO?

by Mike Schramm Oct 25th 2007 at 3:51PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, PlanetSide, MMO industry, New titles

So now that Bungie and Microsoft have parted ways, what's next for the Halo universe? The latest rumor says Master Chief and company are headed to an first person shooter MMO. That... would be spectacular, given that's done right. Halo is already basically an MMO, considering all the persistent stats, customization and tracking that Bungie has put into it. All it really needs is a virtual world for the Covenant (or what's left of it), Earth, and the Flood to fight it out in, and we're off to the rocket races.

The rumor, which is actually from the latest EGM, recommends Bungie for such a task, and there has been speculation that Bungie will go to an MMO next also (although, there's been speculation that every big game developer is working on an MMO, so don't hold your breath on that one either). But it's true that while PlanetSide is entertaining, we haven't yet seen a next generation FPS MMO done right. Could be that Bungie are just the ones to do it.

[ via X3F ]

Tags: bungie, egm, first-person-shooter, fps, halo, microsoft, mmo, planetside, stats, virtual-world, xbox360fanboy