MMO News Week - 1/19/2013

Well I'm starting to get back into the swing of things in terms of news recaps for OnRPG. Hopefully I'll be able to continue recapping on a bi-weekly schedule just to keep up with what's happening in the industry.

This week: I re-cap OnRPG/MMOHut's 2012 awards and 2013 predictions, TERA (NA) transition into F2P, a review for Age of Wushu and more.

Warframe - CBT Impressions

A unique F2P title is coming at us this year, and its being brought by some long running pros in the industry. Digital Extremes, developers by behind the original “Unreal” series is now working on a new third person shooter called ‘Warframe’. In this game, you play as ancient galaxy warriors called Tenno, which have been re-awaked to take down several different factions that have been wreaking havoc all over solar system. With katanas and alien firearms, you’ll invade several enemy ships and complete several different objectives as quickly and/or as silently as possible.

In simpler terms: You’re a freaking space ninja and will do whatever a space ninja can to save the day.

Arctic Combat - Review

With FPS titles running very rampant in the F2P market, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to find a unique one that stands out for the rest. Many of these titles claim to be unique in one form or fashion, but ultimately end up feeling like nothing more than a rehash of titles that inspired them.

Take Artic Combat (AC) by Webzen for example: On the outside: It looks a lot like a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare clone with some slight tweaks, but on the inside:

  

…It’s a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare clone with some slight tweaks. AC feels and plays like CoD: MW and it certainly does not try to hide it.

Previously: I got to try AC out during some early closed beta impressions, and I was surprised by how much the game kept a pacing similar to CoD: Modern Warfare games while keeping the tactical tension of Counter-Strike, but with my extended time playing in the Open Beta, the tactical tension started to wear thin, and AC revealed itself to be nothing more than an another imitator, rather than an innovator.