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Marvel Heroes' Brevik thanks community, touts anniversary infographic
Marvel Heroes creator David Brevik has published a thank-you post to gamers who have made the superheroic online ARPG a success over its first year. He lauds the game's community for its unflagging support, and he also lists quite a number of improvements made over the past 12 months as well as a list of very recent and upcoming tweaks. Oh yeah, and there's one of those spiffy infographics, too! Click past the cut to have a look.
Watch a small Insomniac team make its next game, Slow Down Bull
Ratchet and Clank series developer Insomniac Games announced a new pet project this week, Slow Down Bull. The game is in development for PC by a small team of four or five people at the studio. Slow Down Bull is an action game in which players will attempt to rein in an "overachieving" bull named Axel, who is keen on collecting "beautiful things." Axel's nature is of the more temperamental and tumultuous variety however, so players will need to help Axel stay stress-free while collecting the game's goodies. Little else is known about the project, such as its targeted release window, though it is being created in Unity. A small piece of concept art for the game can be found after the break. The small team does intend to host livestreams of Slow Down Bull's development process every Friday afternoon on its Twitch channel at 2:00 p.m. PT (5:00 p.m. ET), starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, a larger chunk of the developer is working on getting its Xbox One exclusive game Sunset Overdrive ready for its release on October 28. [Image: Insomniac Games]
Silver Surfer hangs ten into Marvel Heroes
Is more than one color for a superhero costume maddening to your sensibilities? Do you look at caped crusaders and wonder, "If only they used beach sports equipment for physics-defying purposes?" Are you the sole die-hard fan of the second Fantastic Four movie? Then today, my friend, is your day. Marvel Heroes has added the Silver Surfer to its in-game hero roster. The Surfer is an alien who used to work for the planet-eating Galactus but has since defected to the forces of good. The new hero has two costume options, including the Savage set, and is available to purchase either with money or Eternity Splinters.
Marvel Heroes is adding dual specs
If superheroes have dual identities, why not player characters? Marvel Heroes is leaning this way, which is why Gazillion is working on a dual spec feature for the game. "We have dual spec coming sometime in the next eight weeks [or] so," the devs posted on the forum. "The current plan is to offer everyone a free second spec that they can use for PVP or anything else (raiding, solo, groups, different builds, etc). Currently the UI for it is being designed, then we'll get the back end server systems set up for it and put it on test center."
Marvel Heroes begins Mac open beta
The Mac open beta for Marvel Heroes started yesterday, welcoming a new community of wanna-be superheroes into the fold. The open beta includes all of the content that PC players get, including the recent Battle of Muspelheim raid. Gazillion is selling two special packages to go with the beta that include heroes and costumes. The packs are available for purchase by both PC and Mac players. Currently, Marvel Heroes is celebrating its first anniversary with a month-long in-game celebration.
Marvel Heroes celebrates its first anniversary
Marvel Heroes turns one year old today and it's throwing itself a fabulous birthday party. Don't worry: You're all invited as well. Gazillion is handing out an anniversary gift per day per account for players level 30 or higher who log in and talk to a special NPC. In addition, the team has toggled the server to boost XP, RIF, SIF, and cosmic chest rewards by 50%. Marvel Heroes has big plans coming up later this month, including achievements, login rewards, the Silver Surfer, and a special surprise.
Marvel Heroes celebrates Mac open beta, releases Surtur trailer
Marvel Heroes is celebrating the upcoming Mac open beta with two new content packs: the Mini and Pro Pack. The Mini Pack includes four heroes, eight costumes, five iBoosts, and four of each Fortune Card. The Pro Pack includes eight heroes, exclusive Iron Man Armor, 21 costumes, two team-ups, 15 iBoosts, pet mini Dragon Man, six of each Fortune Card, the Mac Pro Founder forum title, and Iron Man Guardians of the Galaxy White Variant avatar. These packs will be available to both PC and Mac players. The advance and exclusive content will be available at a later unannounced date. Gazillion says that the Mac open beta is coming "very soon." Gazillion has also launched a new Surtur trailer that previews content coming later this month! View it after the break.
Swordsman announces closed beta dates
Eagerly anticipating a chance to dive into Swordsman testing? Then you're in luck -- the closed beta is kicking off next month. Beta will start on June 16th at 5:00 p.m. EDT and run until June 27th at 5:00 p.m. EDT, giving players a first look at the game. Registering for beta appears to mean a definite spot in the testing, and it also means getting some bonus in-game items once the free-to-play title goes live. So if it seems like your sort of thing, now's the time to go sign up and get ready for some action-based martial arts mayhem.
Sentinel siege going on right now in Marvel Heroes
Siege of the Sentinels is happening now in Marvel Heroes! The towering baddies are spawning randomly throughout Gazillion's action RPG, and they'll be doing so through next week's patch. After you take a few down, you can bring looted Sentinel Parts to Hank Pym and you'll eventually be able to craft a couple of new items, according to Gazillion's announcement blurb. The devs have also buffed up X-Mansion loot and released Psylocke as a playable hero available in the game's cash shop. If you don't want to pony up for Psylocke or grind shards to unlock her, you can watch Massively's MJ stream her live on May 24th at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
Co-op shooter Helldivers drops this summer on Sony systems
As the weather clears up, we tend to break out our list of items well-suited for summer. Namely, we like to cruise in drop-tops and play top-down shooters once the sun is out and the temperature rises, and a recent PlayStation Blog post noted that Arrowhead's Helldivers will be one of those two to toy with in the sun (as a game, not a car). The multiplayer-focused, twin-stick action game will debut this summer for PS4, PS3 and Vita after it was first announced at Gamescom in August. Players on those three systems can come together in online cooperative missions to tear apart procedurally-generated levels thanks to its Cross-Save and Cross-Play support. Arrowhead locked in friendly fire for Helldivers however, so the term "cooperative" gets an extra point of emphasis for the game. There's still no word on whether Helldivers will be Cross-Buy-eligible, though. [Image: Arrowhead Game Studios]
Marvel Heroes introduces One-Shots!
Greetings, True Believers! If you've been enjoying the scintillating storyline swiftly strung throughout Marvel Heroes, you're no doubt happy at the thought of more tantalizing tales of heroes and villains. But when the game is built on a broad base of boundless maps and mazes, where could the writers weave a web of wonder without damaging the delicate designs of Doom's decisive defeat? Why, the answer is simple -- it's time for the game to embrace the might Marvel One-Shot! One-Shots are episodes carefully crafted to comic concerns, focused on isolated incidents rather than breaking up the flow of the central narrative structure. The first one pits heroes against the sinister schemes of Man-Ape as he seeks to subdue the people of Wakanda and ruin the regency of Wakanda's rightful ruler, Black Panther. Any hero of level 20 or above who's cheering for a change of pace can pick up the One-Shot by selecting the Terminal from any waypoint, so by all means, jump in the next time you're in the game. Excelsior!
Hyper Light Drifter dev reveals 4-player battler Kyoto Wild
Teddy Diefenbach is among the developers working on Hyper Light Drifter, but he's also been working on a title of his own in his free time called Kyoto Wild. Describing it to Eurogamer, Diefenbach explained that Kyoto Wild pits one player against as many as three others, encouraging a one-hit-kill, weapon-aided fight to be the last one standing. The survivor of any of Kyoto Wild's single-screen spaces advances to the next, where bested rivals await a rematch with a fresh round of characters. Though characters mostly play similarly to one another, the variety lies in a player's arsenal: "Each character fights with what they're using when you encounter them, whether that be a sword or something non-traditional like a rake," Diefenbach said. "When you throw a weapon, you equip the next weapon you're carrying as a backup, so there's sort of an economy of weapons to the game." Diefenbach also teased that environments will contain secrets, and that Kyoto Wild's sense of exploration will separate it from the one-and-done battles of games like Samurai Gunn, but he's withholding further details until the game advances a bit more in development. [Image: Teddy Diefenbach]
Marvel Heroes hosting Bounty Hunter Week
If you're having gift box withdrawals following the conclusion of last week's Marvel Heroes event extravaganza, you'll be happy to know that the devs are kicking off something called Bounty Hunter Week starting May 9th. The festivities involve obtaining A.R.M.O.R. research drives and then turning them in to a special vendor in exchange for new uniques, artifacts, Ghost Boxes, and costume cores. Login gifts are back, too, as everyone showing up on May 10th will get a Bounty Hunter box while everyone who plays on May 11th will get a Mother's Day gift.
The Daily Grind: Have you ever been put off by double XP?
Marvel Heroes features a bunch of firsts for me. It's my first prolonged exposure to the Marvel universe. It's the first ARPG I've enjoyed, and it's the first game that's kind of annoyed me with its promotional XP bonuses. Let me explain. I hate leveling in MMOs. I don't play MMOs for leveling or progression and 99 percent of the time these tropes act as timesinks that get in the way of what I actually want to do in a virtual world. So, normally I love, love, love double XP. Well, last week in Marvel Heroes I was blowing through the levels so fast that I ended up way ahead of the story in terms of level-specific areas. I want to play through the story once, enjoy it, and then go about speed leveling, trying all the other characters, etc. But that was almost impossible to do since I couldn't log in without levels and loot bags hitting my character in the face! Anyway, it's my own fault for starting the game during a promotional period, and I'm not really complaining as much as I'm looking to start a discussion topic. So, how about it, Massively readers? Do XP bonuses ever seem counterproductive or annoying, or is it just me? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Perfect World Entertainment announces Dawn of the Immortals
Perfect World Entertainment is expanding its catalog of games and heading off of your desktop. While the company already runs several free-to-play games, thus far almost all of them have been shackled to your home computer. Dawn of the Immortals is not; instead, it's shackled to your tablet or your phone. That's right, it's a 3D mobile action MMO for both Android and iOS devices, albeit one not currently available for beta testing. At this point there's very little hard information about the game available -- a 15-second trailer past the break, the promise of both major mobile platforms, and the opportunity to sign up for a mailing list. Signing up for that list will also net you a little in-game doodad, which is probably nice, and it will also prepare you for when the game finally does head into the beta arena.
Marvel Heroes makes visible the Invisible Woman
Marvel Heroes today revealed new playable character Invisible Woman, though I suppose we'll have to just take the studio's word for it since, you know, she can turn invisible. Sue Storm is the latest member of the Fantastic Four to be added to the roster and joins her brother, Johnny Storm the Human Torch, and Thing in Marvel Heroes. Able to bend light surrounding her to create force fields for both defensive and offensive use, she is informally known as the most powerful member due to the limitless potential of her powers. Gazillion has provided Massively's readers with a special code for a mystery gift in the game: RUNE3. It expires Saturday morning at 2:59 a.m. EST, so if you want some mystery, use it quickly. The studio also announced the start of Rune Week, an event that implements brand-new rune types and doubles rune drop rates across the game. [Source: Gazillion press release]
The Daily Grind: Has an MMO ever sparked your interest in its IP?
IP-based MMOs are a big draw, as games like Star Wars: The Old Republic, Lord of the Rings Online, DC Universe Online and even World of Warcraft have shown us. Clearly these IP-based games have brought pre-existing fans of said IPs into the MMO fold. Does that work in reverse, though? It's working in my case, as my current addiction to Marvel Heroes has caused me to purchase a few X-Men comic books. What about you, Massively readers? Has an IP-based MMO ever sparked your interest in an IP? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Who's your favorite Marvel Heroes hero?
I'm having a hard time picking a main character in Marvel Heroes. I started out with Storm, then F2P guilt intervened so I ponied up for Nightcrawler. Then I got a free Spider-man as a result of Gazillion's 10-month anniversary promotional shindig which only added to my indecision. It's a good problem to have, though, and I guess for now I'll go with Nightcrawler because, well, teleporting. What about you, Marvel Heroes players? Who's your favorite and why? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Happy Wars glad-handing Steam this year
Happy Wars, the free-to-play, multiplayer action game from developer Toylogic, will launch on PC via Steam later this year. Toylogic will take applications for the game's closed beta starting April 30 until May 13, which players can sign up for on the game's official site. Beta testers will put Happy Wars' matchmaking system, functionality and server capacity through its paces to prepare it for its as-yet-unknown date with Steam. The beta program will not include the ability to purchase paid content in the game. Happy Wars launched in October 2012 on XBLA and surpassed six million downloads one year later. It originally required players to have a paid Xbox Live Gold subscription to play, a requirement that was removed for non-multiplayer modes in January. The colorful game features magical multiplayer battles with up to 30 participants, from which characers earn parts, weapons and accessories. [Image: Toylogic]
Marvel Heroes kicks off Big Ten Week
Ten months ago, Marvel Heroes launched. Most games would save their big celebrations for a year or half a year or something else, but Marvel Heroes is celebrating the not-quite-a-year mark with the Big Ten Week. And what's coming back for this week? Well... everything. Every big holiday rush up to this point is coming back in one way or another, with the festivities lasting until Friday, May 2nd. Did you enjoy the whole bonus loot rotation from the Don't Fear the Reaper event? That's back. What about the St. Patrick's Day rewards? Yes, those too, with legendary recipes and the Luck of the Draw promotion (buy a hero and get another random hero for free, buy a costume and get another random costume for free). Winter holiday gifts, Lunar New Year gifts... it's an explosion of celebrations. If that's the sort of upgrade you like to see, you can check out the full list of repeats on the official announcement. And if you're looking for a free random hero this weekend, apply the code RNDMHRO to your account. More free things!
