The Bioware team made a name for itself in the computer gaming business as one of the best RPG developers, albeit on the fantasy line, but what we see today furthers from the beginnings. To the delight of role playing and sci-fi fans everywhere, Mass Effect finally hit the shops today as an Xbox only release. In the later years Bioware was synonymous with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, but should you ask the question again in one year, the answer might as well point out at Mass Effect. The action RPG title is the kind of game where a stuffy story line meets tactical combat as you get immersed deeper into the plot thinking about an interactive sci-fi movie experience.

Bioware turned Mass Effect to high definition, along with signing some pretty impressive names in the voice talent department. Seth Green, Marina Sirtis and Lance Henriksen get the job done, so don’t feel ashamed if it feels like Alien 5 somewhere along the way. Starting off into the game you take up the role elite human Spectre agent, Commander Shepard, upholding the law until you turn rogue to uncover a mystery beyond the boundaries of conventional thought. The role playing factor turns up in a non linear story where you are faced with the consequences of your own moral actions. In the end these too will influence the outcome of the scenario, where you are tasked with stopping a threat so great it could destroy all life in the galaxy.

>Mass Effect managed to get the attention of the SCI FI Channel and will have a featurette tonight, November 20^th 11 p.m. EST. The special it’s called “Sci vs. Fi: Mass Effect” and will explore the ways that technology and human ingenuity came about to create the premises encountered in the Mass Effect storyline. Somewhat like a look behind the scenes, with more information available on the official site.

Mass Effect has been rated M for Mature by the ESRB. There is a limited collector’s edition available and includes pretty trinkets like the “Galactic Codex: Essentials” fiction book, the “A Future Imagined” artwork book, four documentaries about the creation of the game on a DVD and 10 songs from the game’s soundtrack.

The fate of this game was decided long before the actual work for it had even started. The developers are the same ones who left from Blizzard a long time ago and are the authors of the Diablo game series. The history of this game started in the house of one of the developers and later on they had a fully working studio which got the name “Flagship Studio”. The fact that they started out in a small place working on this project bonded the developers very much. What they wanted was to give life to a new game that would create a new genre within the list of the types of games of today.

<-250x250 Square - left->The original idea that gave inspiration for the concept of Hellgate was “Half-Life meets Diablo”, according to one of the developers (Diablo2 was the only game that lasted more than 2 years on my hard drive – so you can only imagine how interested I was when I heard that a new game made by the same team was in the works). The result is pretty much a lot more than they originally expected – thousands of fans are active daily on the official site posting in the community. Yes, this game is more like “next-gen”, but you should take this phrase literally – the requirements are pretty much important and need to be respected, otherwise you will never enjoy the game at its best. The game has a multiplayer version as well (where you can go with your friends from your clan and defeat the demons together), based on monthly subscriptions with relatively good prices. If you hurry up, you might get a lifetime subscription as well.

You will need a dual core CPU with at least 2GHz, 2GB of RAM – yes it needs a lot of RAM, the more the better (seriously this game needs 4 GB RAM because of the high amount of data that keeps being loaded as you progress from one area to another so that the transition would be smooth), latest generation and especially top level video cards – the developers have worked mostly on Nvidia cards and that is also what they promote in their game. Momentarily, the 2x00 ATI cards work very well with the game, but only with the Catalyst 7.9 driver series. The page-file of your computer needs to be resized to a little above 10GB and the hard drive requirements are 7.5GB. You may wonder why this game needs so much – well it’s because of the engine. Even if you install the memory leak patch from Microsoft that the set-up will ask you to, it will still have problems with managing the video memory and the RAM memory – it would certainly need some tweaking, and the developers have released 3 patches so far, one after another, each giving a better overall performance, but the memory issue hasn’t been solved completely yet.

latest game trailer

The story of the game is neatly connected with its development - they began the concept arts with the Templar Knights because they have existed for a long time and they know how to deal with threats, always protecting the humankind. And around this idea the other classes have caught shape. “First person shooter meets RPG” – this was the full concept that determined the developers to create a fully featured and brand new game-engine, specialized in generating new maps and in handling massive amounts of characters, monsters and other 3D objects in motion, infinite replayability and an individualized gaming experience through dynamically created levels. As you can imagine it was not easy, and it took them years before they even came close to an alpha version of the game, when I received an invitation to take part in the testing. I was very happy that somebody was finally thinking of making something quite revolutionary, while bringing new concepts.

The alpha and beta testing went pretty much OK, but I can tell you now – the alpha version was already very good and performed impressively nice. The beta was tweaked and changed a few things, like the design of most of the tube stations. There are as many “levels” as many stations – in each of them you will have to do some “chores” in order to gain some experience points and there is of course the main line of quests, meant to bring you closer to the “Hellgate”. I am presenting the game levels from the point of view of a Knight, so it’s a Templar Knight’s version of the story, following mostly the main quest. The other classes have pretty much the same path, although they will definitely use their own special abilities to move through the hordes of demons and travel to each station doing good deeds.

Although, you will have to take up as many quests as possible and solve them, there is a purpose for this – increased experience will give you many points to allocate to the skills panel and 5 attribute points per gained level to distribute to the accuracy (the precision of the attacks), strength (for wearing the heaviest and strongest armors and also to hit better the monsters where it hurts), stamina (the life power – this increases directly your health levels) and willpower (the magic abilities). What this game has to offer is high-action single player that can be played also on the multiplayer. I strongly believe that this game is one very good advertiser for tourists who wish to visit London (as if there weren’t too many already). The weapons in the game are very capable of tweaking and have slots for inserting items that give them aditional and enhanced abilities. So here it goes:

“I still remember the orders from the first day I arrived at the Holborn Station, after meeting Murmur and helping out the Techsmith to restore the gate towards Covent Garden: “Fire and Glory! Remember the dead but fight for the living! Leave NONE (meaning demons) alive! Save London!” What happened that lead to this totally unbalanced universe: “A post-apocalyptic London has been overrun by hordes of terrifying demons, leaving the city desolate and scorched by hellfire. Those who were unlucky enough to survive now gather in the only sanctuary left, the Underground, banding together in order to gain a foothold against the minions of darkness and ultimately save the bloodline of humanity.” There are 3 factions with the necessary skills for “demon-thrashing” and these are:

The legendary Templar Knights were the ones who have been doing “this job” for centuries and were specialists in sword attacks and extreme physical damage. They have developed quite unique and highly advanced armor along with cutting-edge powerful swords. The game’s general idea is focused around them and they were the first ones prepared to face the demons. Since I was “called for duty”, I had to join them and “regain” my former armor. I was ready as a blademaster to “match the blades” against the demons again, but this time it was going to be the end of them.

Blademaster Templar in action

The Cabalists were the students of the dark arts and advanced science. They find themselves pretty much at the border between good and evil, luckily they use their forces to help the armies of the knights in mid-range combat against the demons. They use the force of the demons against them. This class reminded me of the Necromancer one from the Diablo game. They don’t do very much physical damage themselves - it’s the summoned creatures and the spells that do the tricks for them.

Cabalist Summoner in action

The Hunters are former highly ranked and trained military operatives and spies who make use of advanced technology to defeat their opponents – while they also use a lot of guns. They are the ones to show us the real first person shooter mode within the game. The developers wanted to make them look outstanding and not just like the "usual" marines.

Hunter Marksman in action

Moving on with the story, I managed to help the Techsmith in fixing the gate towards Covent Garden and I literally hacked and slashed through the restless packs of demons in order to reach the Covent Garden Station. This is where I met one of the highly ranked knights, namely Brandon Lann. He was pretty full of self-importance, but later on when I met him again he was very respectful. He sent me to search for one of his wounded knights from one of the Hellrifts (small portals between human world and the demon one). There I found a device that helped me destroy the Hellrift from the British Museum and I met “the oracle”, The Sage (very amusing, just like in the Matrix) who told me a “piece” of the truth. And that is what happened in Act 1 from the game.

When I came back, Lann sent me to Lord Arphaun, from the Charing Cross Station. Here I got the orders to clear out the Piccadilly Circus and the surrounding areas. While my skills have improved and I gained some “cash” I decided to get “some respectable gear”, as Lann suggested, at least until I would get the armor I was waiting for such a long time. And I must say I really enjoyed talking to Holloway, and I bought a lot of items, armors and swords from her. She is one of the cutest people to talk to, (but only before you apply any patch to the game – the patches remove her cool personality). Here, I was sent to talk to Lucious Aldin, a crazy old fool who proved to be pretty skillful in managing to keep me busy for a while in the Green Park Station and in Chocolate Park. After bringing down some uglies in the Millennium Battle and in the level that turns out to be RTS-like, namely the Embankment Redoubt, I reached the end of Act 2.

Embankment Redoubt
The next stop was the Temple Station – this where I found armor which resembled very much the one I’ve been waiting for. It wasn’t very sleek looking, but it protected me lots of times during my travels to The Barge House, The Big Gundown, The Puddle Dock and the Angel Passage. Rorke Pherral was in charge here, and he was from the Hunter faction. I noticed that the Templar Base was just one tunnel away, but I only visited it for the new gear and armor at that time. Things were starting to look better and the occasional “epic battles” were bringing me closer to the final fight against the big demon with blue eyes. When I went through the Angel Passage, I saw a lot of big and very ugly wart-like creatures that released a lot of infesting fumes – I used the special gun from the wizard-lizard Lady from the Temple Station to get rid of them and I finally met another form of “truth”, in a heaven-like area.

That was the end of Act 3 and the beginning of Act 4, and I moved on to the Monument Station where I was happy to find Lord Arphaun again and he asked me to rescue some fellow knights who were located in Aldgate, Canon Street Rail, and to clear out the Tower of London area. I helped the Techsmith to fix the train from Canon Street Rail, by bringing back the missing pieces and then I attacked the demons that were standing in the way of the train. I also returned to the Templar Base where I felt pretty much like home and very welcome, although Lord Maxim was arrogantly abusing his power. Hilariously enough, the game has a sense of knowing how good the player is and I received a hint during the missions from the Templar Base, and that was: “You should really know what you are doing by now” and I was like “wow, no kidding, you think?”

Next, at the beginning of Act 5, I went to Liverpool Street Station, in order to meet Jessica Sumerisle, the young lady with blond hair and blue eyes, the leader of the Templar and of the whole movement against the dark forces. This is where I finally found the armor I’ve been looking for from the start. I helped Jessica to find the Sigil Sign in Necropolis and then I was sent to Finsbury Square to prove again in 5 “simple” tests how worthy I was to face the most dangerous demons out there. These tests reminded me a lot of the adventures from the Unreal Tournament, especially the “capture the flag” competitions.

The tests (Knowledge, Fellowship, Leadership, Beauty and the Final Test) weren’t exactly easy, but I managed to pass them in a relatively short time. I enjoyed very much the travel to Ploughyard, where Lucious Aldin and his 314 Techsmith were waiting for me along Murmur and Emmera: I was given a big robot to fight against the huge demons and I was very happy to use its automatic machine guns against the Furies that were standing in my way. At the end of this test, Murmur disappeared mysteriously because of the big demon, Sydonai, who made a short appearance. The last form under which the truth took shape was a child who foretold the future of the final battle. Next, Emmera encouraged me to go and be victorious in the battle at the Hellgate from St Paul’s Station, the final stop.

Just when I thought it could get any better armor-wise I was bewildered to discover that the knights have developed another type of armor, a newer one that was visibly stronger and thicker. When I put it on, I felt as if I was one of the Transformers, those really awesome robots. And it wasn’t a bad thing at all – I actually felt invincible in that “voltaic” armor. Before proceeding to the Hellgate, I saw that all the important people were at the entrance towards the gate, like Jessica, Lann, Arphaun and Emmera – they all wished me well and said they hoped to win the war. There is just one thing I need to mention now – all the knights that I encountered on the battle field were either stupid or simply incapable to handle the monsters – I had to “dispatch” the uglies up close and personal.

So it wasn’t something new when I saw the "little" Templars on the streets fighting without any hope against the demons. I cleared the path as usual and proceeded into Hell in order to fight against Sydonai. First I had to defeat 5 big demons who impersonated 5 lies (flaws), and then Sydonai showed up. Emmera used her powers to weaken him but she soon fainted and sent the remaining energies to me. So I took the chance and started to bring on all the “heavy artillery” I had available and also used a little magic to boost my finishing moves. It was a good idea because the big blue-eyed demon fell down struck by the lighting from my swords.

What happened next was the biggest surprise of all: Murmur showed up, but totally disfigured and he thanked me for clearing up the place for him – he casted a spell upon me and sent me back, outside the Hellgate, while he remained there reading and casting spells from a book he just unwrapped. I was told that this was the end and that the story would begin again in Nightmare mode, but it would have to take a lot of time before I was to return to the battle field – I needed some rest.”

Signed,
Lt. LightSabre

The developers have worked a lot on the detail of the sound in the game, and each effect was tweaked as much as possible in order to give a realistic feel. The thematic music wasn’t present in every action scene, but it was very well spread throughout the game, especially in the “crowded” areas, in order to stimulate the player. For more details check out the interview with the developers from the video below:

Interview With Hellgate London Developers

As a conclusion, I would like to thank the developers, especially Bill Roper and Max Schaefer, for creating such a great game, for giving life and shape to things I’ve been dreaming ever since I was a very young boy and for putting into spotlight moral values that make the humans stick together through hard times. Even if the game is not perfect (but then again nothing is!), it brings a totally new perspective for the gaming communities, by combining RPG elements with FPS style and even RTS features into one big and solid package. I would also like to thank Ping0 from the Hellgate London Community for keeping us up to date with the latest patches and news regarding the game development.

Digitainment Mark: 10 out of 10 (for creating a new genre in the gaming universe)

Developer: Flagship Studios

Publisher: EA, Namco Bandai Games, HanbitSoft, IAH games

Official game website: http://www.hellgatelondon.com

<-180x150 Small Rectangle - left->The multitude of games promoted under the banner of NCSoft never ceases to amaze me. At first I had troubles taking in the double account system, when you first need to setup one NCsoft mater account and then separate accounts for every game you play, but seeing how many they are, I am beginning to see some utility. We have Guild Wars with all its expansions, City of Heroes/Villains, the now defunct Auto Assault, Lineage, Lineage 2, and Tabula Rasa which will soon join them. Dungeon Runners is the one title I left out and today we’ll switch focus on this pretty much underrated action RPG which was released on May 24, 2007.

An inconvenient idea

Dungeon Runners is set in a medieval fantasy world, parody to every role playing game cliché known to man and the hack and slash game mechanics only add texture to the game concept. I still have to decide if this profane point of view to the world of role playing games is what I want, but the game has and overall casual feeling, enforced by the free to download and free to play policy. NCSoft has a premium package available for a monthly US 5$ which will nab you the right to wear the best armors in the game, along with epic swords, better healing potions and access to a larger character bank. So if you want to get in, bash some monsters, get the loot and log out, Dungeon Runners is the right choice, since you won’t be involved in intricate puzzle solving during your quests and the dialogues follow a strong satirical line.

Even NPCs are self explanatory, just like the Hermit you’ll meet in the starting area, always babbling and nagging you that he’s alone and doesn’t see many people. It’s definitely not an oversight that he’s the most talkative character in the whole game and incidentally, also a merchant. I wasn’t the least surprised when later on I entered the city of Townston and found a dark dungeon entrance to the Horrific Dungeon of Legend. I remember there being a whole wave of second rate computer RPGs in the ‘80s, filled with generic dungeon talk, lacking substance and continuity, but this time Dungeon Runners does it on purpose.

Character evolution revolves around getting better armor and improving stats. Strength gets more melee damage and armor, agility will increase range damage, just like endurance boosts your hit points and intellect changes spell damage. The interesting bit is that character surnames change according to your statistics disposition. A high intellect, low level mage using lightning spells mostly would hereby become Studious Noobie Obsidian Mage Five stat points can be distributed on each levelup. Should you get tired of the current playing style, you can always re-spec (re-specialize). In exchange for a paltry gold sum you can redistribute all your acquired stats points and turn into a massive warrior if the situation calls for it. I can see me now, playing a high profile mage, swore to fireballs, when the greatest bow in the game drops and I re-spec ranger at the blink of an eye.

Hack and Slash for your right to party

The initial choice boils down to either getting a mage, a ranger or a warrior. Dungeon Runners sports a classless system when your character evolves solely governed by the increase in attributes and the skills used. This starter pack rules the way your playing experience will be like in the lower levels. It’s a matter of preference if you want to hurl lightning bolts, swing axes or fly arrows at your opponents, because later on your character can learn each and every skill available to the game. Keep in mind that you can only use 10 skills at any given time, similar to the Guild Wars system. You just drag and drop skills to the quick cast bar and start spamming. I chose the caster type myself and found it to be a great power leveling choice. His area of effect damage spells coupled with good running speed made him a perfect killing tool by kiting two packs of creatures and then bursting them down in an instant.

As you enter the game world, three newbie NPCs wait in line to get the starting quest, as the quest giver himself tells you to get in line. Lusting for fame, fortune and ridiculously powerful loot, you get lured to this particular realm, where dungeons are ripe with monsters to kill. Be sure to get the two stating quests and head on to the dungeon represented by the reddish looking portal to the right. Remember when I praised the mage? Dungeon Runners monsters are usually grouped in packs of two to four, linked together even if they’re at a distance. I don’t really think there is a threat system thoroughly implemented, but you will get agro if you go straight in. It’s a “first seen – first attacked” system. With three assailants on your tail, the inability to kite can be a killer. Healing is handled by potions which stack up to 20 in one group and restore up to 40% of your maximum hit points over 5 seconds. Premium users get access to a more powerful version which heals 50%, and yes, this automatically implies there are only two types of healing potion in the game. The same goes for mana potions, but they are harder to come by and don’t stack up at all.

The regular inhabitants of these woods are wolves and rats, the kind that carry magic items in their pockets and vast sums of gold. The game uses item color coding, ranging from grey – for poor quality items, to green, blue, golden and finally purple. The best items in the game have some hilarious descriptions, randomized by the item creation tool; Nodnarb’s Battalion Splinter from the Unpopular Nether Region anyone? More-evil-than-evil item names are common place in the world of Dungeon Runners.

The scenario follows suit in the Diablo line. You first find the entrance to the dungeon, and then kill everything in sight before going down the stairs to the next level. Rinse and repeat from five to seven times, until reaching the final map where the big bad boss waits surrounded by large minion packs. Now it would be a good time to use a waypoint scroll (read town portal) and slide back to the last visited town. Get the quest to slay the beast, if you didn’t get it already and start the fight. You know a creature is tough when the bottom right mouse over tool tip no longer says it’s “Normal”. “Champion” is a good description, but there are many others. Champions are hard to solo and a whole pack of champions definitely require a group to tackle.

As the boss bites the dust, loot can be outlined by pressing Alt. Bosses usually have a chest or two stashed away from sight so be sure to check those too. Inventory space is an issue and you’ll thank the gods there is such a thing as waypoint scrolls all over the place. Just go back in and sell for a hefty profit since gold is needed to buy skills and many, many potions. I was about to talk about plot advancing quests but there aren’t any. Some important quests reward you with king’s coins, an alternative currency used at certain NPCs to attain class armor. Let’s presume you are a powerful marksman and require better armor specifically tailored for your needs. That would mean faster running speed, agility, some damage additions and endurance is required. In Townston and beyond, friendly men work for the King and would gladly commission you such items in exchange for king’s coins. It’s the NCSoft way of rewarding players for completing quests. I forgot to mention that completing quests gets you gold and the said coins, but never experience.

What you see and hear

The control scheme is somewhat troubling because mouse look is dependent on pressing the Shift key (we're not playing poker here). This implementation comes from the inane controls which bind left click to move and right click to attack (or spell attack) and the fact that your camera will not adjust to the terrain automatically. Since Dungeon Runners features a complete 3D-modeled environment, you’ll be spending one third of your actions just for camera repositioning, even in the heat of battle. In terms of gameplay it’s still possible to kite, but harder to perform. Graphics are not that flashy and tend to create a cartoon-like environment. While you can zoom out for a better overall view, the small corridors and tight forest spaces forces you to play at half distance, third person. From this point of view textures look half decent, with bright slightly unnatural color tones. For a 2007 release, I’d say graphics are too old, resembling a 3D mutation of Diablo 2, native to technology that’s already six years old. In the end, graphical quality reflects on the low system requirements. Sounds do the job in stereo without being exceptional and background music follows the same line. It’s somewhat the standard with hack&slash games, where you focus on your next target rather than ambiance.

The Multiplayer factor

Once logged in I was surprised to see only 180 players online across 6 servers. It wasn’t prime time though, but I find such numbers disappointing for a title which saw final release five months ago. Bearing this in mind, I join the most populated PvE server, hoping for better interaction with the 80-man player base (and prepared for long solo-play hours). There is also a PvP serve available, but having only three users online defeats the whole purpose or player killing.

All NCSoft games follow the pattern of instanced content, where cities are the only places to set up trade relations, chat and group for powerful bosses. While there won’t be anyone bothering you while slaying ten beasts at a time, I find this playing style lacking. We’re talking about fully fledged MMO games here, yet the “massive” factor is nowhere to be found. You can, however, group with other players and they will be able to join the same copy of game word you are currently using. One popular request is for Sissirat groups, since he’s the lowest level world boss, not counting the one in the Dew Glades. Since there are no dedicated healer classes, the warrior type must take the beating with his massive health pool and armor, while the others deal damage as fast as possible. Since we’re talking about a hack and slash game, don’t expect crowd control capabilities. Comparisons to Diablo 2 are unavoidable, thus you can expect the same single-player type gameplay with a multiplayer component, but if you are looking for 20-man raids, then Dungeon Runners is the wrong place to do it.

Gameplay

A stunning conclusion

Dungeon Runners suffered from a very long development cycle which started in 2001. After two intermediary names, and subsequent different development teams, a long silence ensued until NCSoft started developing the title in-house in 2005. Such perilous journey usually dooms a title to mediocrity doe to the rough development conditions and I dare say Dungeon Runners witnessed the same fate. Although it’s played exclusively online, the game is addictive enough if you aim at an experience on the single player side. Hack and slash never gets old and the advantage of having a low player base is that you can rise and be the best in not time. Casual players will appreciate Dungeon Runners and its lack of intricate designs, somewhat in the vein of old dungeon crawler games that went out of fashion lately. Since the game is free to download and free to play, be sure to take a look and try it on for yourselves.

NCSoft home - http://ncsoft.com
Official game site - http://www.dungeonrunners.com

The first time I experienced the magic of an RPG was about 10 years ago, when I came across Vandal Hearts II, a mediocre strategy RPG with a good story, average graphics, interesting customization system, addictive gameplay and now that I think about it…INCREDIBLY STUPID LOOKING MONSTERS.

And this is the only major problem I have with RPGs, I’m not a very picky guy, give me an engaging storyline with a few twists in the plot, interesting characters, make the game playable and I don’t even care that much about the graphics and all the rest.

But don’t ruin everything by making me battle a plant…that’s just wack. I can’t remember how many games told me I have to save the world or rescue a princess…but in order to do that I had to defeat “powerful” enemies like bunnies, bats, plants, goofy birds, jelly lookin’ blobs and many many more. And every time, I sighed and moved on hoping the next time I play an RPG things will improve…but here we are…and the goofball enemies are still there (sigh).

I understand there are a lot of young kids playing these games and I’m not asking for “intense violence and gore” or gruesome monsters…but since the characters do carry weapons, which they use to kill and the story isn’t always about how great and pink the world is, I feel it’s unnatural to use fluffy things as enemies.

I have no problem with funny looking critters when it comes to games like Mario, Sonic, Crash Bandicoot, they fit perfectly there, but excuse me for loving beautiful games like last year’s Final Fantasy XII, which the developers chose to ruin by making us fight against bouncing bunnies, overweight birds and the ever popular slime balls. And what’s really sad is that things really did some damage, some even more than heavily armed soldiers…the horror…stop the horror!

I’m an RPG enthusiast and always will be and I’m not trying to criticize the genre, I just think things could be so much better if the guys in the artwork department would make an effort and come up with some reasonable looking enemies.

Just to be clear, I’m especially referring to Japanese RPGs like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Suikoden and not to games like The Elder Scrolls or Neverwinter Nights which tend to be more serious.

Codemasters announced that a key role in its attempt to bring a new thrilling gaming experience to the market in 2008 will be played by Rise of the Argonauts, an action- RPG game of epic proportions.

In this upcoming game players will take part in a gladiatorial adventure set in a mythological ancient Greece. The players will lead a team of well known heroes of Greek mythology- including Hercules, Jason or Atalanta- through numerous exciting quest and brutal battles in a world ruled by the gods.

The game is being developed by Liquid Entertainment for all leading console platforms and for the PC.