MicroVolts - CBT impressions

Last Thursday, Rock Hippo Productions started their closed beta test for their first free-to-play title: MicroVolts. For those that don't know this by now: MicroVolts the localized title of H.A.V.E online, a third person shooter that managed to attract tons of angry Valve fanboys with its infamous teaser trailer that looked suspiciously similar to those "Meet the (character class)" videos from Team Fortress 2. Even though not much gameplay was shown in the teaser, Valve fanboys still wrote it off as a TF2 ripoff.

Then some actual gameplay footage came along and while it still looked like TF2 in terms of visual aesthetics, the gameplay resembled Unreal Tournament in 3rd person.

I said it!

This is probably not a big deal and all, but new ads on GameCampus's Soul Master are circulating on OnRPG.com right, and it has a quote made by me!

I said that! I totally said that. I mentioned that Soul Master's gameplay has an interesting blend of game genres in my preview article which you can see here and here!

Again I probably shouldn't make a big deal out of this, but it's nice to see that my words used to represent OnRPG.

Oh, and look out for full review of Soul Master pretty soon. It's going into Open Beta this Thursday, so full service shouldn't be too far off.

Fantasy Earth Zero - Review

My review of Fantasy Earth Zero is up! PvP fanatics apply here.

Fantasy Earth Zero (FEZ)Is an MMORPG developed by Square-Enix. Yes, THE Square-Enix. The game was first set to be released directly by Square-Enix, but they canceled the game because of severe lack of demand. Later on the publishing rights of the game was snagged up by a gaming portal called Gamepot and was turn into free-to-play title.

The game is supposedly a skilled based action MMO with no auto-attack involved like with point-and-click MMOs. While it is true that no attacking is in FEZ, the actual gameplay falls a bit short. Still, the game has more to offer then just non-targeting action.

Status update - 08/09/2010

It's been awhile since I touched my blog, but I'm back and ready to continue doing what I love. For those that don't already know (and probably don't want to know:) I came down with a swollen throat infection! It was so severe that it was hard for me to turn my head or swallow food. I had to go to a doctor and that gave me anti-biotics or whatever so I'm feeling better right about now.

This week in gaming, I'm taking a look at Zone 4, Vindictus (hopefully,) and MicroVolts.

OGPlanet's newest title: Zone 4 is a online arena fighting game like Rumble Fighter or GetAmped. It has some neat features here and there, but what urks me the most about it is that the gameplay is very reminiscent of Namco's "Urban Reign", a very underrated beat 'em up PS2 title created by both Namco's Tekken & Soul Calibur development teams, so I may or may not like the because of this.

The open beta started recently, so this is the perfect time to jump in.

Nexon's closed beta for Vindictus starts on the 10th, and I still didn't get a beta key. I'm still a bit peeved that my brother got in and I didn't. I've been hearing around the OnRPG forums that people submitted blank applications and still got in, so it sounds like they just used a sorting bot to pick applicants at random instead of actually looking at them. Sucks.

 
MicroVolt's closed beta starts on August 12th, and I had no problem getting into that one. FYI: MicroVolts is H.A.V.E Online, that infamous game that got branded as a TF2 ripoff for that early trailer they did even though it didn't show any real gameplay. The visual style may resemble TF2 aesthetically, but it has no class system (which is the point behind what makes TF2... TF2) and the gameplay is more of like Unreal Tournament in 3rd person.

I'm a moderate fan of TF2 and all, but I'm bored with it, and this looks like a fun change of pace. There's also talks in a steparu interview that they're trying to get a big name toy brand to include a special playable character into the game.

There should be plenty of MMO directories giving out beta keys right about now. I already got in and got four beta keys to spare so I'll probably give them out a day before testing starts.

Lastly: MOUSEPADS!

I picked up a free mousepad during ArtCow's free mousepad facebook promotion (which is no longer available since 4chan exploited the promotion to hell and back. Good job, guys!)
I decided to go with this hunter getting chased by a Tigrex since I like Monster Hunter so much. It came out pretty nice but colors are a bit blurry, though. I might buy another custom mousepad from these guys later on.

Run, hunter! RUN!

Mikedot's Blog - NEW LOOK!

Then suddenly... NEW BLOG TEMPLATE OUT OF FREAKING NOWHERE.

I grew a bit tired of the old template I was using, so I switch it out for a new one. I believe this new template is called "Orange Fringe" or something. It's nice and I'm liking it a lot. While I was fiddling around with the new template, I added some new separate pages up above. Now you can check out all my reviews, previews and whatnot with ease. I also added a contact info on a separate page so you can bug me or something.

What do you think of the new look? Leave a comment or something.

Aika Online - PvP Tour with the GMs

Aika Online is a free-to-play MMORPG with a strong emphasis on Player vs. Player (PvP) content. Players can create characters with allegiances to five different nations and compete in small-scale battles for glory and bragging rights, or engage in huge 2000 player wars that could shape the face of an entire nation. In this tour, we'll be taking a quick peek at some of the PvP modes that Aika Online has to offer, including Relic Wars, Battlegrounds, and the Aitan Arena.

To be honest, when the tour first got started, I was feeling a bit nervous since this was my first time covering an event. I had the feeling that would miss some important bits information or something, but as we got the ball rolling, I felt more and more comfortable about the whole thing.

Planeshift 0.5 Interview: Grinding is Pointless

Many MMORPGs like to mention that their games are "free-to-play". However, many companies like to promote free-to-play as a way to get people interested and then push extra content as premium or cash shop services. In short: "free-to-play" doesn't always mean "free-to-enjoy."

However, the developers at Atomic Blue look to change all that with their latest title "PlaneShift". PlaneShift is a 100% free-to-play MMORPG. Unlike other free-to-play MMOs, PlaneShift has no monthly fees, no cash shops and no optional premium content. Everything in PlaneShift is available free to players with no ifs, ands or buts.