Hello lads and lasses! Here is a quick recap of the most interesting upcoming MMO games that were showcased during day 2 of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. If we have missed anything be sure to let us know! Anyway, without further ado, I present you with the top notch MMO games presented at E3! Starting with:
Nosgoth, a team PvP 3rd person class based shooter / melee game, has been showcased at E3 today. A deathmatch was shown between two teams consisting of Vampires and Humans, as they were fighting each other to the death. Nosgoth is still in development by Psyonix, yet they are proud to present new features every now and then and they enjoy communicating with the community. They have introduced a new map at E3, and they were explaining their thoughts on their game and the direction of where it is going.
New Map!
Nosgoth is not a run of the mill run and gun shooter, it leans more on the RPG genre because of all the different classes’ players can choose from. Players can decide to play a healer, a support, a tank, and can fight in either ranged or melee type fashion. Currently, people can try the closed beta in Steam if they are lucky enough to receive a key. You can obtain a key by applying for one on their official website.
Prophet is the newest class that has been added to Nosgoth. This ranged pistol dual wielding Human Hybrid class deals large amounts of damage and heals herself up.
Nosgoth is currently only available via Steam and PC, and will be free to play once they enter open beta (and on release of course!)
H1Z1 is a persistent world survival MMO, set in a beautiful backyard woodland location with a map size of 64 Square Kilometers. In terms of gameplay, it’s more challenging than what you’re used to in other zombie survival games. Teamwork is more beneficial and rewarding rather than trying to survive by yourself. Of course it is entirely possible to play the game by yourself, only it is recommended to find a team and work together. However, you better watch your back. You never know when your friends can become your enemies and stab you in the back.
The SOE developers have been showcasing the development of the game via livestreaming with Twitch. The Community aspect is a very important focus for them. They love to sit down and talk with the fans, read what they have to say on Twitter and Reddit, to get some feedback on the game is crucial so they can adjust any flaws or gamechanging bugs.
Building, crafting and customization.
Navigation in the map is by ground and air. H1Z1 is based on the Planetside 2 engine. Off road vehicles are the earliest vehicles that can be accessed. Players gradually earn their way up to more potent vehicles, but this of course takes a while to achieve.
The developers already have an up and running 24 / 7 day and night cycle implemented in to the game, including different weather patterns. Zombies change the way they behave every day too. Wildlife and zombies interact with each other as well. So for instance, a heavy storm breaks out and some deer get frightened and run away frantically. Zombies can see the movement of this deer and run after it to try and eat it. This creates a certain type of realism and immersion for the players.
Other important features in H1Z1 are exploring the world, crafting, barricading and maintaining your own fortress. Crafting especially is a lot of fun since the game handles a discovery system with different item combinations. There are a lot of different items to find in the world of H1Z1. And these items bring a lot of different combinations for the player to explore.
For the medical or health system, the development team is still uncertain on what to do, in terms of how realistic they are going to make it, without ruining the gameplay experience too much.
The devs love to stream, and discuss ideas with the fans. So don’t hesitate to check out their streams and see for yourself how much they care about their game and your opinion. Oh yeah, and before I forget to mention: H1Z1 is coming soon to Steam Early Access this year and it will be completely free to play.
The Crew is a seamless open world racing game. And this game is infinitely big. You can drive across America visiting all the greatest cities. But more importantly, you can race your way across the country, with or against your friends! Build your own crew of four drivers, which only takes a couple of minutes, and venture with them on a wild adventure across America.
In the Crew, there are Different types of racing, different types of activities to engage in while driving. For instance, you can simply race. Or you can takedown an enemy vehicle, collect some valuable goods, or try escaping from enemies as they try to chase you!
The Crew
The developers have added a story element to the game, so you don’t get bored. You have a sense of direction as to why you are going certain places.
Tons of different customization options, including vehicles, paint jobs, accessories everything. Tuning your hot rod is a big deal in The Crew, and you are going to stand out from others if you spend a little time in doing so.
In The Crew there are different car classes, similar to an MMORPG. You can take one car, and evolve it further, from a street car to a race car. This allows for some crazy customization options. The cars currently available in the game are Ferrari, Maserati, Nissan, BMW, Chevrolet and many more.
Players can opt in for the Closed Beta, which will start on July 23rd.
Gameplay mechanics in the Division are more like an RPG than a shooter. The misconception is that it is a third person shooter only. However this is not the case, because there are many RPG related elements added to the game, like different weapon archetypes and skills related to those weapons. Synergy with skills and weapons are vital here, they are very important for the player to understand and utilize. Character creation and customization is important. Your avatar needs a personal touch to make it feel like it’s your own, which is vital to the gameplay experience.
When you get Division, you can play the singleplayer campaign, offline, and you never have to run into other players. However, there is so much more fun to be had in multiplayer, and that is what the Division is centered upon. You can opt into situations with friendly or hostile players.
The Division
“Respawn and death mechanics aren’t unveiled until the end of the development cycle. Death needs to be punishing, but not too punishing. You definitely respawn, but we have to look at where that location is. As for punishment, still unclear on how hard players will be affected by death.”
“We want combat and fighting to be meaningful for the player. You’re the hero, not some random good guy defeating bad guys.”
A lot of different factions like thugs taking advantage of civilians or the sick. The other faction, are the cleaners. The Cleaners are the baddies who are trying to get rid of sick and dying people, or infected survivors. They seek to purify the city.
The survival mechanic, besides having to deal with enemies, is taking care of yourself like drinking water and eating food.
The game could have been done on previous generation of consoles, but nowhere near the level that the latest generation of consoles brings with them. The details in particles and textures look amazing on the next gen consoles.
The Division is set to release late 2015 for the Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age is a cooperative action RPG for up to four players, set in a dark and gloomy world full of horrors and monsters ready to be slain by you: The Hunters.
This brand new IP has been announced by Crytek, just a couple days ago, but has been in development for about a year. There was a playable demo at E3 today, and the game certainly shows some promise.
Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age
The game resembles Left 4 Dead, a teamwork based 3rd person coop shoot ‘em up game. There are different enemy types to be slain, missions to complete and some other interesting quirks you have to deal with, like being captured and hung upside down. This changes the perspective of the player, forcing him to watch his friends’ battle monsters to try and save him, all of it being upside down of course.
A wide array of weapons can be used; all of them have a 1800s Victorian design. The environment looked pretty neat as well, on par with most other AAA games. I didn’t expect anything less from Crytek.
Expect the game’s release somewhere in autumn 2014.
Jump Tank is a game being developed by independent studio Mechanical Butterfly. This game revolves around players building tanks, and battling each other 5vs5 in a city, like it’s a giant arena of death.
Before battle, build your ultimate battalion consisting of three tanks. Fit them with one of 30 pilots, each with their own buffs and debuffs, game changing stat boosts and special abilities.
Jump Tanks
Gain kills, gain gold, customize your tank to fit your personal playstyle. Your tank can be modified by chassis, weapon types and tank hulls.
As for collecting tank parts and pilots, Jump Tanks is similar to Trading card games. Buy ‘boosterpack’ sets to collect parts and gear and tanks.
Jump Tanks is available for Steam, but it’s still in beta early access.
Evolve is a very interesting new game coming soon. It revolves around 5 player matches, with one player being the giant terrifying constantly evolving monster, while the other 4 players are the specialized hunters that need to take down this monster.
There are 4 classes to choose from when it comes to the hunters, but there are more to come. As it is now, there are two monsters that you can play, The Goliath and the Kraken, the latter being the newest one you can play. This new creature can fly, and evolve, and has a different set of skills to take down those pesky hunters that are trying to take him down.
Unleash the Kraken!
As for the hunters, the different classes have different skills as well. The assault deals heavy damage, the support cloaks its team with invisibility and utilizes attack drones. The medic heals and revives teammates, and the trapper tracks down the big monster with his pet daisy.
The team behind left 4 dead is making this game; they had a cool mini tournament during the second day of E3. I am not sure how seriously they are going to delve into the eSports scene, but with the professional commentators and an easy to watch spectator mode, I definitely had a good time watching the game being played.
The game is scheduled to release in October 21, 2014.
Make sure to check in tomorrow for some more updates on MMOs of E3, and check in on Friday the 13th for our top games of E3 list!
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