apocalypse
Latest
Earth Eternal pushes the do-over button as it goes into open beta
Clinging to the last vestiges of life, Earth Eternal has been brought back from the brink of destruction for another try at glory, as Outblaze announced that the game has gone into open beta mode as of today. Players interested in seeing what the new and revised version of Earth Eternal looks like are encouraged to sign up for the beta on the website and jump into the game post-haste. Testers will not only get to see the newest features in the game, but will receive a nice in-game goody bag with a banner, helmet and XP boost. There's also a special reward for those who hit level 30 or higher during the beta period. This unique MMO combines a hodge-podge of seemingly contradicting flavors -- including a post-apocalyptic setting, sentient animals, and magic across Europe -- and melded it together into a delightful concoction. If you're interested in what we think about Earth Eternal, you'd do well to check out Beau's Rise and Shiny impressions of the title!
The Daily Grind: Has Massively ever inspired you to try out an MMO?
One of the joys of being part of the online gaming community is hearing recommendations and testimonies of players who are trying out titles that you don't have time (or the inclination) to sample. Sometimes those testimonials can lead you into trying out a game you wouldn't have on your own. About six months or so before I joined Massively, Shawn's repeated love notes posts about Fallen Earth finally penetrated my brain to the point that I was curious enough to give it a go myself. After sampling it, I was hooked and spent many wonderful months crafting ATVs and exploring the wilderness of the apocalypse. I know that if it weren't for this site, I probably wouldn't have done so. So today we want to know: Has Massively ever inspired you to try out an MMO that you wouldn't have otherwise? How did it go? Did you stick with it or find yourself at odds with the testimony of the writers here? 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!
Rube Goldberg Machine to set new world record, bring forth apocalypse
If you've never seen the rise and fall of humanity as told by a series of pulleys, levers, and CO2 rockets, now's your chance -- a team of Purdue engineers have built a contraption that not only tells the history of the world through the end of days, but is also a contender for the world's largest Rube Goldberg machine. The Purdue team's "Time Machine" catalogs a history of dinosaurs, war, and rock 'n roll before finally culminating in a cataclysmic inferno and efflorescent renewal in 232 steps -- narrowly beating out the previous record of 230 set by Ferris State University in 2010. Impressive, but not officially the "world's largest" just yet-- the team is submitting a video of a flawless run to Guinness World Records to certify the historic thingamajig, hopefully eking out a victory with its two step lead.
MMObility: The quiet brilliance of Die2Nite
It's rare to find a game that does something with design that makes me think, "Huh... why hasn't anyone else thought of that?" There are a few cases, of course -- the Wurm Onlines, the Spellborns -- but they do not happen often enough. In the world of browser and mobile gaming, the chances of finding something that really tickles your design fancy are even lower. After all, this is a market of RTS games galore and embedded worlds for younger players. So when I found Die2Nite, I was very excited. It took me a while to warm up to the game and the idea (I'm sick of zombies, too), but once I got into it, I found some brilliant design. Keeping things simple is a rarity in games these days. Click past the cut where I'll discuss how Die2Nite creates atmosphere, tension, and a wonderful gaming environment with just a few icons and a browser.
Choose My Adventure: It's ALIVE!
Alrighty folks! I have consulted the crystal ball (polls) and now have the answer we have been so anxiously awaiting: It was Mr. Green, in the study, with the candlestick! Er, wait... sorry, let me just dust it off a bit. There we go. Actually it's armed MJ in Secret Cove with a shovel! Go terraforming. Thanks to your votes, we have the backbone of the next Choose My Adventure guinea pig. For the most part, you Massively readers were pretty unified in your support; armed combat and terraforming led by a landslide, while Secret Cove and architecture also maintained significant leads. The only choice that was a close call was the second skill -- scavenging beat out hunting by a mere three votes. Although we had plenty of choices for our polls, they didn't come close to covering the choices that must be made when creating a character before we ever set foot into the game world. Age, birthday, stat points, and multiple choices to create skin color are just some of the other choices the greet a new player in Xsyon. Follow me past the cut to get an in-depth look at the creation process and to meet your guide/puppet/object of amusement in the land of Xsyon. Tahoe, ho!
Wasteland Diaries: The Nerfpocalypse
I don't know about you, but when I think about a post-apocalyptic future, I think about bands of merciless raiders, anarchy and danger along every roadway. Does Fallen Earth have all of these things? Yes, but it is hardly the lawless, danger-ridden place (once you get acclimated to it) that you would expect to find when civilization has collapsed and there are mutants running amok. Fallen Earth is hardly the quintessential post-apocalyptic future. Games like Gamma World (a pen-and-paper RPG from days of yore) and Wasteland captured the bleakness of a destroyed world much more convincingly. But who knows. Maybe the folks at Icarus got it right. We'll never know until the earth is destroyed. And games won't be such a matter of import when almost everyone is gone. Anyway, what I am getting at is the setting. The setting looks fantastic; the art department has certainly captured a desolate wasteland. The writing is great, and the towns and encounters are well-designed. Fallen Earth has the ambiance nailed. But the wasteland just doesn't have that sense of danger about it. Not for me, at least. After the cut, I'll discuss what I thought FE was going to be like, what it is, and what I think it should be.
Choose My Adventure: Destination - Apocalypse now
So my bags are packed (what exactly do you pack for an apocalypse? I vote toothbrush, regardless!) and I'm setting out for the Lake Tahoe region. Yup, our itinerary is set -- Xsyon has won the hearts of the readers for this next escapade in the Choose My Adventure series. I find this kind of exciting, as I grew up frequenting this area out here in the real world and look forward to seeing it represented in the game. Now, I have a confession to make: I watched the vote carefully. Too carefully. OK, I was obsessed with it! I don't think I can even tell you how many times I clicked refresh in one day; it was quite addicting to watch the numbers creep up as the readers cast their votes. And since six weeks of my life was on the line, I had a vested interest in the outcome. At least, that's how I tried to rationalize my maniacal refreshing. Xsyon commanded the lead straight off, but Pirates of the Burning Sea had a good showing and maintained a solid second place throughout the contest. Four games kept running neck-and-neck: DC Universe Online, Earthrise, EVE Online, and LEGO Universe. I admit to rooting some for the underdogs as well -- each game has special and unique features I would enjoy delving into. Think about it: Can you imagine life as a LEGO? But in the end, no one could topple the promise of a vast wasteland filled with mutants and an empty canvas for players to fill in. So now that we have the setting, all we need is the character. Unlike many games, Xsyon demands that you pick things such as your crafting skills at character creation, so please forgive the number of polls attached to this week's article. Head on past the cut to learn a bit about Xsyon and vote to make me build the CMA creature of your bidding!
The Perfect Ten: MMO cataclysms
Today sees the launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, which represents a destructive "reboot" button on the world of Azeroth. The old has been made new by virtue of fiery explosions that have rent the very earth in twain, and WoW gamers will have to find their footing all over again. As you might imagine, it's made one big-ass mess, which is compounded by the fact that there are no janitor classes in the game to sweep it up (the next hero class, perhaps?). However, the notion of an in-game cataclysm is hardly the sole domain of Activision-Blizzard; on the contrary, large-scale apocalypses pop up all the time in MMOs. After all, nothing grabs the attention like the end of the world (but hey, you still feel fine)! In a list that in no way is meant to capitalize on any expansions that may or may not be on the market, we're going to strap on our Kevlar suits, slather our arms with 1000 SPF sunblock, and take a brief tour of 10 worlds that have dated cataclysms -- and lived to tell the tale.
One Shots: Apocalypse please
It doesn't matter what MMO you play -- you'd had to have been hiding under a rock to not know that the largest MMO PvP battle ever recorded recently took place in EVE Online. For those of us who call New Eden home, the closest many got to the action was pulling up the map, hitting alerts, and marveling at the enormous red blob over LXQ2-T. Thankfully, one thoughtful pilot named riverini captured screenshots of the enormous masses of ships to share with us here on One Shots! I'd note that I am also breaking slightly with format: Not only am I posting all of the images in one post, but you'll find the full-size images linked after the break. With that said, here's rivertini's note: "[Here are] some shots from the epic pew pew that happened in the LXQ2-T; our FC ordered us to align in preparation for the Russian counter assault. The Northern Coalition and the Red Noise Coalition (Russian bloc) tested their prowess in the mother of all space battles." Captured a picture of something epic in your home MMO? In the mood to brag about your accomplishments? Send your screenshots in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in to us! %Gallery-85937%
George Romero's App of the Dead shambles to the App Store soon
To put it lightly, George Romero hasn't had the best of luck in recent years. His past few films haven't been that great, and the last game he had his name slapped on a game (2005's Land of the Dead: Road to Fiddler's Green), wasn't received well. We say this because his name is being slapped onto another game: App of the Dead, coming to iPhone and iPod Touch. Developed by Additive Games, this tie-in to Romero's latest movie, Survival of the Dead (which you can actually rent right now on Amazon) offers a "unique first person shooter mechanic to lay waste to your zombified pals and loved ones." It lets you save photos of your friends and family so that you can kill them in a zombie game. That should add an interesting dynamic to the next family get-together, eh? There's currently no timeframe for release, price, nor are there any screens or video to go on right now. With Survival of the Dead opening in theaters on May 28, we're willing to bet it'll be available for download soon. We'll keep you posted.
'Pixels' short film imagines the coolest apocalypse ever
We're totally expecting December 20, 2012 to come and go without bringing about the end of existence as we know it -- but should the end of days actually befall us, we think we'd want it to look like Patrick Jean's latest short film, "Pixels." There's something about the prospect of everyone and everything turning into glossy, multicolored cubes that really tickles our fancy more than a bevy of natural disasters or aggressive, bureaucratic aliens ever could. Check out the two-and-a-half-minute film after the jump.
Xsyon working towards release
The last time we heard from the development team in charge of upcoming indie sandbox post-apocalyptic MMO, Xsyon, they had planned to let players in prior to launch in small groups. The primary reason was to allow the developers enough time to test, then let another group in, and repeat. Staggering the pre-order invitations to ensure they had bugs fixed sounded like a wise move to us. Now, in the most recent posting to that thread, the current plans are to let the remaining players in to get their hands on Xsyon starting this upcoming Wednesday. From there, they'll focus on fixing the last of the bugs and hopefully testing for two weeks. At that time, they intend to do the final wipe and then let players have their pre-order week.
Wasteland Diaries: Wasteland travel guide
Fallen Earth takes place in a vast wasteland. There are a lot of distances involved that you definitely don't want to traverse on foot. That's where mounts come in. "Mounts" are a bit of a misnomer however, because Fallen Earth also has vehicles. I like to refer to them collectively as "go-fasters." But, whatever you call them, they are a necessity. Each mount is classified by its type: either cargo, combat or alternate fuel. Each fulfills its particular role better than the other types at a sacrifice in the other roles. Read on to learn more about pros and cons of each type.
Why You Should Be Playing Fallen Earth: First person combat
"Why you should be playing ..." is a freeform column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we're playing them, so you can know what to play. Fallen Earth is a staff favorite around the Massively.com offices, yet it's very rare that we really get into why we love it so much. So today I set out to end that little problem and tell you why I love Fallen Earth so much -- the first person combat. Sure, it's not the first time that an FPS system has been used in an MMO. PlanetSide is an FPSMMO, Tabula Rasa ended up incorporating an (awesome) FPS view shortly before it kicked the bucket, and Neocron is built on FPS concepts, but that doesn't mean that an FPS perspective isn't a huge amount of fun in an MMO or any less original.
Chet Faliszek crushes Left 4 Dead 2 DLC rumors
Remember those pair of error messages that a few folks found in the demo for Left 4 Dead 2, referecing "Miracle" and "Apocalypse" DLC? Yeah, those ain't no thing. At least, not according to Valve's Chet Faliszek, who recently addressed the error messages while speaking at the Eurogamer Expo. "What, those error messages?" he reportedly said, "Why, those ain't no thing." Of course, Kotaku's slightly more accurate transcription of this quote had Faliszek saying, "if you're reading in the forums and you're reading about the 'Miracle' DLC or whatever, that's test code." He added, "to get tested through Microsoft certification we had to do test scenarios with DLC. We haven't actually come out internally with what we're going to do yet." Hmph. We liked our version better.
PS3 gains instant pizza-ordering functionality
We're finding it difficult to decide whether this piece of news indicates the beginning of a beautiful, shining era for humanity -- or whether it's an irrefutable sign of the swiftly approaching end of days. The PS3's internet browser home page now includes a "Papa John's" button, which allows esurient clickers to order hot, delicious pizza with a few quick taps of the DualShock 3's face buttons. To put it in Console War terminology, the PS3 just discovered the atomic bomb. Unless the Xbox 360 learns how to give foot massages, or the Wii actually starts printing money, the unthinkable invention of PSPizza has ensured Sony's inexorable reign.
The Daily Grind: Are you down with the apocalypse?
Fallen Earth is getting a lot of traction recently, especially with their August 17th open beta sneaking up ever so quickly. We here at Massively have been following the game extensively, and we'll have more information for you on Fallen Earth as soon as the NDA is finally released on the game.But while we wait for that day to come, what have you guys thought about Fallen Earth so far? Now don't go breaking the NDA or anything for us. We're looking for your general thoughts on the game at large, not about any gameplay specific things. Is it your style of game, or is it something you're just not that interested in? Will you be pre-ordering and grabbing yourself one of those sweet, sweet Wasteland Runner mounts, or are you more interested in the five day head start that the pre-order customers will be getting?We're interested people here at Massively -- interested in your thoughts! Speak to us, and more importantly, speak to your fellow commenters. Discuss at will! Go!
Don't forget about the Fallen Earth Dev Hunt!
Just a friendly reminder to all of those interested in shooting some Fallen Earth developers -- the developer hunt contest is this weekend! Yes, remember that Saturday, August 8th will be filled with developer chasing action! You can even win some nice prizes, as we've said before!Plus, even if you aren't a beta tester, you still have time to actually register your interest for the contest! Go to the Fallen Earth website and fill out the registration form before tomorrow, August 6th. Once you do that, you'll be registered for the contest and good to go. But it's only open until tomorrow, so you better act fast if you want to have a taste of the apocalypse mixed with the blood of developers!
Three guards suspended for nearly blowing up planet with PSP
There's an appropriate time and place for portable gaming. Stuck in a dentist's waiting room? Of course. In the back seat during a lengthy road trip? Go right ahead. Waiting for the movie to start? Acceptable! Working as a security guard stationed in the heart of one of the nation's oldest high-security nuclear weapons plants? No, sir. A thousand times no.A report from a Knoxville news station turned our eyes to the plight of three security guards who were recently suspended without pay from the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, TN. Their misconduct? They brought gaming devices "with transmitting capability" (the original article specifically mentions the PSP) into the plant's "protected zone," where cell phones aren't even allowed, because THAT'S WHERE THEY MAKE NUCLEAR WEAPONS. We sure hope those brief rounds of Lumines were worth risking nuclear holocaust, you jerks.
