gameplay
Latest
BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II gameplay panel notes
Rob Pardo and Chris Metzen hosted the Starcraft II gameplay panel here in Anaheim this afternoon at BlizzCon 2008 -- they showed off, for the first time in public, some of the adventure-based gameplay and ingame cinematics that will come with Blizzard's next RTS release (or next three RTS releases, as the case may be).After the break, what we saw of Starcraft II's Terran campaign, and Rob Pardo explains the reasoning behind Blizzard's decision to turn Starcraft II into three separate games.
How to play Superstruct
While dealing with these sweeping global issues would seem to be impossibly complex, Superstruct's gameplay -- fortunately-- is not. The game is comprised of a kind of storytelling on the part of its players, based off of the scenarios and updates presented by The Institute for the Future. Some of these scenarios, like the superthreat videos seen earlier, are there to establish the game's backdrop, but more info is on the way. Superstruct players will spin off their own ideas based on both the IFTF-provided scenario updates and (especially) player-generated content. In this respect, the gameplay is quite freeform. Playing the game breaks down to a few easy steps: Join the Superstruct community by registering at the official site. Create your 'future self' through your personal survival profile. Discover the superthreats (via the breaking news videos). Adopt a superthreat. Tell a superthreat story, through whatever medium you choose, via the Tell-a-Story form. Search for allies. Start superstructing on the wikis (sharing your ideas for redesigning the future.) Check out the video below and let one of the game's creators, Jane McGonigal, show you how the game is played, and be sure to note her tips on how to succeed in Superstruct.
Tips for using the new Shadowmeld wisely
One of the topics we talked about indepth on last Saturday's WoW Insider Show was the racial ability revamp that Blizzard did in the latest beta patch -- I said that I wasn't even under the impression that racial tweaks were on the table, but apparently Blizzard still doesn't think they're done, and it looks like they're using those abilities to build in a lot of baseline things like threat reduction and resilience against movement-impairing effects.After all the dust settled (there was one more revision in the works, and there may be more so far before the patch goes live), it looks like Shadowmeld is going to be getting one of the aforementioned threat reduction tweaks: Night Elves will be able to kick in Shadowmeld instantly and even while in combat every three minutes, and it will drop (though not wipe) threat, cancelled on moving. This adds, as Phaelia notes, a few new wrinkles to Night Elf gameplay -- not only will NE Priests have a new aggro "pause" (since the aggro doesn't actually disappear, all that will happen is that they'll have to wait for the tank to grab enough aggro to get focus back), but soloing Night Elves will have a new way to dodge a pull gone bad, and Druids who happen to be pulling in raids will be able to end a bad pull early, hopefully without wiping the entire group.Pretty slick for just a racial ability. As always, this may change before the beta ends (originally, this was a Human ability called The Fall of Humanity, though Blizzard wisely decided it didn't work too well as that), but this extra functionality might give NEs an extra panic button when they need to switch threat around fast.
MMOGology: Why bother with story?
I recently went through a burn-out period on MMOGs. In addition to a job change and lots of personal commitments that limited my time, I'd simply grown bored with the genre. I think we all go through those periods. Times when we're just done with the grind and we need to recharge our gaming batteries on something different. This seems especially true once we've reached end-game and we're grinding the same old dungeons and flailing away in the same old PvP battles. It seemed like the only thing I had to look forward to was an eight year old telling me how bad I got pwned or watching yet another piece of gear drop that I couldn't use.My burnout period also coincided with the purchase of a brand new gaming rig. I think the last machine I purchased was back in 2004, and I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy a new rig. If you're like me (and I know I am), the first thing you do when you get a new gaming computer is test it on the most graphically advanced game you have available; that special game that brought your old machine to its knees. For me, that game was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Although my old machine could run it with the settings on low, now I can finally play it at high resolution with all the bells and whistles turned on. I'm proud to say my new rig cuts through Oblivion like a hot knife through butter. I played Oblivion a lot when it originally came out, but because my old rig struggled with it, I never played more than about a quarter of the way through the game. I decided to start over from scratch and as I progressed I remembered why I love single player RPGs: the story. A great story provides a level of immersion that's only possible to achieve when playing alone. It was really refreshing. And it made me wonder, why do MMOGs even bother with the pretense of a story at all?
Left 4 Dead 'Infected' gameplay featured on GameTrailers TV
After years of reading literature and watching films concerning the subject, we consider ourselves fairly knowledgeable when it comes to surviving the inevitable Zombocalypse. That's why we've never been too intrigued by what we've seen of Valve's co-op horror title, Left 4 Dead -- we've hypothetically been there, and we've hypothetically done that. However, a spot on last night's episode of GameTrailers TV featured gameplay footage from the "Infected" (see: Zombie) point of view, giving us our first look at how the other half lives. (Un-lives?)It looks like they've done a great job of balancing the highly armed survivors with the shambling brain-eaters, giving pulseless players enhanced zomb-o-vision as well as a myriad of interesting abilities. Check out Chapter 3 of the online episode if you want to see the reanimated carnage -- just don't forget whose side you're on when the world goes all Thriller on us.
Disaster: Day of Crisis survival guide explains gameplay
As is usually the case with oft-delayed titles, details concerning the mystery-shrouded Disaster: Day of Crisis have been slim indeed. Thankfully, the official Japanese site for the disastrous survival game recently added a few explanations on how you'll be guiding optimistic protagonist Raymond Bryce through his very own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.According to a translation from Siliconera, the combat portion of the title plays like a light gun shooter with a Time Crisis-esque cover system. However, you'll need to bust out your best Smooth Moves to make it through the motion-sensitive survival segments, furiously shaking your Wiimote to outrun a tidal wave, push a bus, perform CPR or place an irate phone call to a puzzlingly absent FEMA. We'll have to wait on reactions from our Eastern Hemisphere acquaintences to see how these two great tastes taste together.
WoW Moviewatch: If Shepiwot had a love child that made PvP videos ...
(Apparently Vimeo decided that this video wasn't artistic enough. They deleted it!)It's a well known fact that I rarely feature gameplay and PvP videos on Moviewatch. However, as long as they're artistic, I don't have a problem with them. As a matter of fact, now that I'm playing WoW again (as Moowi on Mal'Ganis!), I actually enjoy seeing them. The thing is, the UI needs to be off, some shots need to be sweeping, and I look for an overall cinematic quality in general.Paus, of Bathing with Ghosts fame, has created a beauty of a movie to show off the PvP skills of Ayanas, of Trollbane EU, in Waarom Fred zuigt in PvP. It makes me wonder what Shepiwot, of the How to Paladin series, would be capable of if he had a more complex editing program than Windows Movie Maker. As for actual display of skill, the poor guy keeps dying, but that's dwarfed by high definition (Boooooo, Vimeo!) spinning and jumping, plus an epic soundtrack!If you have any suggestions, such as artistic PvP videos, for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com with a brief explanation of the action.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Four Champions Online gameplay videos surface
Fans of Champions Online are getting their first hands-on time with the game at GenCon Indy this year. The superhero MMO is finally being shown openly to the public, which means a fan by the name of ikky68 was able to take plenty of gameplay footage without being melted holy grail-style by Jack Emmert's laser eyes. There are four videos in total and they're each anywhere between two to five minutes long, so we hope you've got a little time to kill. Each of the videos features a different person playing a different character, which means a good amount of variety to each play-through of the demo Cryptic is showing off this weekend. We have to say, the game is looking pretty good -- even through shaky-cam goggles. We loved being able to finally seeing the Snake Gulch robotic cowboy mobs that the players are pummeling. Thankfully, it's very apparent that Cryptic's style of slightly tongue-in-cheek enemy design is fully intact. There's just something about that little bit of cheese that makes our superhero weekend excursions all the more enjoyable. Check out all four videos below the cut!
First Impressions: Maple Story
Welcome to our First Impressions of the king of all 2D MMOs, Maple Story! If you haven't played it, consider this a dip of the toe into its cuter-than-thou madness. We're not divulging secrets here, this is not a guide of any sort; this is just a record of the way we found the game during our first hour or so of play. Caveat emptor!First of all, please notice the banner ad at the top of this post. That should tell you everything you need to know about MS in a nutshell: Cute superdeformed anime-esque graphics, goofy-themed gameplay, and an engaging sense of humor about itself. Cyborg turkeys, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Don't forget, clicking on the following pictures leads to their hi-res versions. Read on, O brave audience!%Gallery-29725%
Upper Deck releases WoW Minis "demo"
The WoW Minis game is picking up steam towards a release later this year, and after a first play chance at the ComicCon last week, Upper Deck has posted a downloadable demo of the game on their website. In this case, a "downloadable demo" actually means a printable PDF, complete with little figurines to cut out and assemble into a game board. Not exactly the most quality experience, but a DIY demo is a pretty interesting way to test and see how you like the game mechanics.And inside the PDF, you can find a coupon that you can redeem at Gen Con this coming weekend for a chance to play in a preview event, and walk away with some real product from the game. If you can't be at Gen Con, don't worry, Upper Deck is planning some WoW Minis events for BlizzCon later this year as well.And if you don't have the cash or the time to be flying all over the country and visiting huge groups of nerds enjoying their favorite pasttimes in packs, no big deal either -- the WoW Minis game itself is set for release sometime this Fall. So pretty soon you'll be able to play it yourself in your own nerdy way.
Anti-Aliased: Do you actually want to play the game anymore?
I was kicking around Silvermoon City of World of Warcraft a few nights ago, working on a new Blood Elf warlock as a way to relax and just forget about the long day, when I saw an extremely peculiar conversation in my chat window. What it boiled down to was a guy who was trying to get help with the warlock Voidwalker quest because he couldn't figure out where to go to find the void crystals specified in the quest log.Now, instead of someone responding with a generalized location as to where you could find these crystals, the response, "Get QuestHelper and it will tell you where to go," was made. Needless to say, this guy was new to the game, and he was pretty baffled.With the advent of custom interfaces, it seems that many people would rather have the game play itself than take the time to actually work things out. At the worst, people would rather pay to be able to "skip" through the game; thank you RMT. So, the key question around here remains: "Does anyone actually want to play anymore?"
Outlaws of EVE Online: Verone
EVE Online's futuristic setting of New Eden is one of sprawling galactic Empires and megacorporations, imposing order on uncharted frontiers through massive industrial infrastructures, elaborate networks of trade routes, and military fleets that ensure the galaxy remains firmly in the grasp of the technocratic elite. But beneath this orderly paradigm in New Eden, criminal organizations thrive. They prey upon those who cling to the illusion of safety in an unsafe galaxy. They reject your system of values and play by their own rules. They are relentless in pursuit of their goals and completely without mercy. One notable criminal organization devoted to piracy is Veto Corp, headed by their CEO Ethan Verone, who is without a doubt one of New Eden's more notorious pirates. Under his guidance, Veto Corp has been linked to numerous incidents of ransoming, hijacking, and illegal arms sales, among their many other crimes. Their modus operandi of shunning territorial control in favor of remaining fast and free ensures that Veto can conduct 'business' and hit targets anytime, and practically anywhere. Massively recently managed to lock down Verone for a line of questioning, and discussed the allure of life as an outlaw.%Gallery-28407%
Death Knight Gameplay Movies: Frost and more Blood leveling
We bought you Jadefury's Unholy and Blood Death Knight game play videos yesterday, and now he's released another batch. This time, his Death Knight is a bit higher level, and he puts two new talent builds through their paces. In the video above, he focuses on the Frost tree. You can see the control that Frost provides specifically - the freezing effects actually seem to last a remarkably long time, certainly long enough to set up a nice chain of abilities and spells for maximum damage. A Hungering Cold followed by a Deathchill and finished up with a Howling Blast can be particularly devastating. Jadefury also points out that if you have any lingering diseases on any of your targets, you can use Blood Boil to quickly wipe them out, doing extra damage and making them susceptible to being frozen again. Frost, reports Jadefury, is probably the least solo-friendly build. Because you need to go very deep into the frost tree to get all the abilities you need for maximum control and damage, You can't get the self-sustainability talents in the Blood tree such as Vendetta. That said, Frost should still be amazing for groups, since you'll be able to provide some very passable crowd control and damage, and I myself am still looking forward to seeing what a good Frost Mage/Death Knight team can do in PvP. Now that his Death Knight is a bit higher level, Jadefury also released a second Blood tree video that showcases a higher level build.
Get your first look at a LittleBigPlanet boss
When it was first announced that LittleBigPlanet's Sackboy would be going fisticuffs with all manner of textile-based baddies, we were perplexed as to how these throwdowns would be executed. After all, Sackboy doesn't exactly look like a fearsome opponent -- though we suppose the same could be said for overweight plumbers, oddly-hued rodents, and most other 2D platforming superstars.However, this recent gameplay clip from Media Molecule shows off how everyone's favorite ambulatory sack will tussle with one of the game's bosses -- by using a moving platform to bounce his own exploding barrels back at him. It looks pretty fun, though not incredibly deep. Perhaps that's a good thing -- if bosses can be this simple, will we perhaps be able to create our own? We'll have to wait until October to find out.[Via PS3F]
E308: Champions Online gameplay video
It's late in E3 week but we've still got plenty of goodness coming. We've got a fun tidbit from the folks at 2K games (Champions' new publisher), a brand new gameplay video for Champions Online. It doesn't have a lot of guidance as to what we're seeing onscreen, but we do get to see a lot of day-to-day style gameplay. Heroes fighting baddies is really what it's about, right? Join the likes of Sword Guy, Electro Man, and Desctro Dude (these names are guesses) as they take on the forces of VIPER and their multitudinous foes.Check below the cut for the full video, and let us know what you think. The game is about a year away from release and is already looking pretty darn good - are you as pumped as we are?
Project Lore aims to play WoW and get you to watch them
Alex Albrecht, prolific pod and vodcaster and formerly of Tech TV's The Screen Savers, has come up with what I think may be the most sublime and brilliant way ever to get people to support his World of Warcraft gameplay. He's going to record instance runs!Well, okay, Project Lore looks to be more than that. But tell me that the first thing through your mind once you read what they have planned isn't Oh My... why didn't I think of this? It's brilliant! I play WoW and people watch me doing it! They're clearly aiming for more than that, with instance guides, WoW news, and a glossary as well as the video feeds. The first few videos are of them at level 70 running normal Hellfire Ramparts, which is not really what I was expecting. To be honest, I felt a little bit like they were doing too much with camera angles, loud music and video effects and not letting you see enough of the gameplay. But I know that as we head into Wrath of the Lich King this could have the potential to be very useful for people running those instances for the first time. Our own Daniel Whitcomb said that at present, it reminded him of an old EQ commercial. We'll see if it evolves into the one-stop shop for WoW gameplay videos and strategies that it seems to be aiming for. And at any rate, the ability to watch videos of various instance runs, if executed properly, could be a real boon to new players, giving them context into ideas like tanking, DPS, CC and other dungeon roles that are hard to grasp if you've not seen them in action.
On a roll with Mister Slime
Mister Slime makes his DS debut this week, and in his honor, we've got a little follow-up to last month's gameplay preview. If you're looking forward to getting your goo on -- microphone-blowing notwithstanding -- then let DS Fanboy give you the lowdown on a few more techniques for success in the land of slime.%Gallery-17549%
First Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe gameplay trailer is toasty
The weekend before E3 is a magical time for video game trailer connoisseurs -- many game developers, in an attempt to get a head start on the hype frenzy, will release new media for their blockbuster titles in order to pique the interest of E3 attendees. Not exactly the wisest move, as most of these West Coast-bound bloggers will be spending most of their weekend deciding if it would be a fashion faux pas to bring a fanny pack to the convention, in order to house their digital cameras, iPhones, audio recorders, handheld gaming devices, and their precious energy drinks.With our staunch anti-fanny pack mentality already set in stone, we're able to skip said deliberation and show you these trailers -- the first of which being the gameplay debut for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. While our mind still boggles at the logistics of how Superman can even feel our measly human punches, the game looks gorgeous, and the mid-air combat between arena tiers looks badass. Hopefully, Midway's E3 booth will give us a chance to get our hands on MK vs. DC, and, as a result, murder some of our favorite childhood heroes.
Understanding Guild Wars gameplay
Some MMOs are fairly straightforward, and we have come to expect a certain formula. Create a character, gain levels as quickly as possible, cram as many skills as you possibly can on your modded interface and get that phat lewt before the next guy, right? Well, what happens if someone comes along and introduces a new type of game? is it difficult to acclimate to this new type of gameplay?A great example of this is with Guild Wars. The gameplay is based on strategy and working with what you have available to you at that time. This is a point that Shamus Young over at Twentysided has admittedly just realized. In his recent post about GW strategy gameplay, he explains that eureka moment he had when he realized that GW is not like the games he's used to, but it's more like a card game, where the skills you have in your 8-slot skillbar are the only ones you can use once you leave for a quest or mission. His new-found respect for the game is inspiring, as you can tell from the comments. If you find yourself confused on the purpose of GW gameplay, check out this post.
Submerge yourself in the world of Mister Slime
We may not have LocoRoco or even World of Goo on the DS, but we do have a sludgy platforming hero of our own: Mister Slime. Little Slimy will be setting out in his self-titled platforming adventure next month, and we've got some exclusive gameplay tips for all future gamers looking to protect the gooey guy's home village from the invasion of evil Axons. Stretch out and get comfortable -- we've got all the info you'll need after the break!%Gallery-17549%
