September 6th, 2007

Tabula Rasa hits the shelves on October 19th

Some developers really know how to promote their game with style and apparently that’s the case with Tabula Rasa’s own designer Richard Gerriott. Voodoo Extreme attendees report of last night’s pre-launch party, linked to the Austin Games Developers Conference. It was a skillfully planned event which took place at Gerriott’s Britannia Manor in Texas. The show took about eight hours and involved a tour of the mansion, as well as a special moment including a special ops attack involving helicopters. When the day was done, NCSoft announced the street date for their upcoming Sci-Fi based MMORPG, so Tabula Rasa will hit the shelves on October 19th.

Tabula Rasa is a project long into making at NCSoft as the first reports date back to 2001. The game was initially a fantasy oriented MMO which evolved into a fast paced team based action shooter with role playing elements. It’s a mix where you can gradually improve your character’s armors and weapons while still competing against powerful NPC and players alike, all in real time first shooter mode. Reports say that maps will hold up to 400 players and 2000 NPC characters fit for massive PvP battles between rival clans. The game holds great potential for online competitions and a ladder mode, where your achievements can be compared with players throughout the servers. Still, there are voices which point out that the game still needs more polish and the playing experience isn’t dynamic enough yet. This includes pathing and movement issues, the point and spam combat mechanic and the low number of creature types per map.

Tabula Rasa is currently in the closed beta phase so you can’t get a free piece of the pie before the October 19th release. If you already preordered a copy, NCSoft promised a three day head’s up on the official servers so expect to get the game by October 16th. Meanwhile, remember to stay tuned for updates on the Tabula Rasa home since the official site is being redesigned and should be up soon.