In browsing the internet, looking at videos, playing flash games, etc, I kept coming across two different ad banners. Both were advertising MMO games of sorts, but I had never seen games like them before. I decided to investigate. One was named Rusty Hearts, by Stairway Games, the other was called Elsword Online, made by KOG Studios. Both had a heavy emphasis on an anime style in terms of graphics, as well as story. What made them both jump out at me though, was the fact that you didn't make your own character. I'll go into more detail with each game as I discuss them in this blog.
Rusty Hearts is set in a fictional world, involving the undead and vampires. How players interact is simple, they pick from a set of pre-made characters, each having their own unique skills and abilities, then enter a server with other players. Only one player may be playing a particular character, so there are no multiples. The purpose of this is the game follows a "story" progression, and the characters are all unique in it. This is completely different from the standard MMO build of "making your own story" as you play. The game actually has a plot to it that the players are following. Because MMO's are built on sustained play it's probably a safe assumption that the plot does not have a definite end (I couldn't find one, in any case.) To date there are only three characters, but I feel like they'll probably add more down the road, as the game only recently came out in the US. Other than these features it plays like a fairly standard action MMO, with a large emphasis on hack n' slash as opposed to pointing and clicking. Sadly due to the new nature of the game I couldn't find any screenshots off the official website, but I did find a bunch of pictures through google. I don't think I can post those, so instead I'll link to the official site and to a gameplay video on Youtube. Here's the main site and here's the video. A fair warning though, the comments are a little harsh, mostly children bickering, but the video gives a solid look at the game.
Elsword Online is a side-scrolling action MMO, with a similar build to Rusty Hearts in that you pick from preset characters, but they have their own unique progression. The art style is done similarly to Rusty Hearts as well, focusing on a Manga-like appearance, even having comic "frames" appear during certain special attacks. The game has an over-arcing story that the players follow as they progress, and based on the artwork I'm inclined to believe players actually watch their characters grow up as they progress in level. The action is also similar to Rusty Hearts with emphasis on combos, hack n' slash mechanics, and a generally hectic pace. Screenshots were a little hard to come by, but again I'll post a link to their site here and a video here. All in all, it looks interesting, and action packed.
As new companies try new ways of approaching the MMO genre, we get oddballs and we get staples. I'm not sure what I'd call these games, but one thing is for certain, they are definitely different, and I figure that's a step in the right direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment