plunder
Latest
The Perfect Ten: Pirates ahoy!
Fantasy pirates: Love 'em or hate 'em, they're deeply ingrained in geek culture to the point that they're almost impossible to dislodge. This past Monday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day, when everyone's inner pirate was encouraged to "Arr!" heartily, look for treasure in long-forgotten places, and embrace the fashion style of bandanas and eyepatches. It seemed like a perfect week, therefore, to look at piratey life in MMOs. From entire games to mere outfits and from the token pirate union that has a chapter in each game to delusional madmen, this list aims to sate the swagger of keyboard swashbucklers. It's a testament to the pirate phenomenon that most developers can't help but include a buccaneer or two, even if the setting isn't always asking for it -- a phenomenon even the U.S. Navy has accepted. Hit the jump to start, and sail straight on 'til morning!
EVE Evolved: Exploration -- Loot and plunder!
Exploration is one of EVE Online's most lucrative and enjoyable PvE professions, combining complex probe-scanning with mission-style combat. Through exploration, you'll find hidden sites across New Eden, packed full of NPCs to kill and loot to grab. Exploration is a casual PvE element that spans all skill levels, with new players able to get involved from their first week in the game. In last week's first part of this guide to exploration, I explained how new players can get into the lucrative profession and examined one of the most popular scanning techniques. A wide range of hidden sites spawn across EVE, just waiting for a lucky traveller to scan them out. Tucked away in the depths of space, you'll find hidden asteroid belts, hacking database, archeological relics, salvaging fields and unstable wormholes. Those looking for riches will be pleased to find cosmic anomalies full of NPCs to kill and dungeon-like military complexes with a chance to drop rare and expensive loot. In this guide, I look at the different types of site you can find via exploration, what loot you can expect to find in each of them and what kind of challenge you'll face.
Uncharted 2 tests experimental MP playlists this weekend
In an attempt to keep that fresh, new game smell on Uncharted 2, developer Naughty Dog will be implementing some "experimental" changes to the game's online multiplayer modes this weekend. First, a new playlist comprised solely of Plunder matches will be introduced into the mix -- a filter that the community has been requesting since the game first launched. Second, for this weekend only, all players' health will be reduced to 65 percent. It's a side effect from the game's "Crushing" difficulty setting, which the developer thinks could ramp up the speed and intensity of multiplayer firefights. Naughty Dog is asking for feedback on these temporary changes, so if you're not a fan (or, alternatively, if you're a superfan) of the new playlist or diminished health capacity, drop a comment on the studio's blog.
Joystiq hands-on: Uncharted 2's Deathmatch and Plunder multiplayer
Click to enlarge Joystiq recently attended a Sony Gamers Day event in Los Angeles, where we got hands-on time with a lot of upcoming titles that we can't speak about just yet. However, the event that capped off the day of gaming was our first hands-on time with a title that we know you're eager to see more of, along with a surprising (although not entirely unexpected) reveal: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has multiplayer. Not just any multiplayer, mind you, but three-player (!) co-op, plus five-on-five Deathmatch and a mode called "Plunder." The good news? It rocks. Randy took a long look at the co-op mode, but you couldn't pry me away from Deathmatch/Plunder with a crowbar. Read on to get the full rundown, including the weapons you'll be using, what Naughty Dog copied from Call of Duty 4, and why Plunder is much better than traditional Capture the Flag.%Gallery-51151%
Age of Booty be startin' Oct. 15, it'll cost ya $10
The Capcom blog has announced that the horrifically under-promoted Age of Booty sets sail on October 15 and 16 for XBLA and PSN, respectively. The PC version will be available "shortly after" on digital download services like Metaboli, Impulse and Steam. The game will be sold on all platforms for $10. We've had a few positive hands-on experiences with developer Certain Affinity's AoB, going back to when it was known by the less risqué name, Plunder. Hopefully this multiplayer-focused, real-time, boardgame-esque downloadable title finds an audience in the madness of this packed holiday season. %Gallery-18253%
Joystiq E3 hands-on: Age of Booty
Tragically, Age of Booty may receive our second-annual award for "worst game title," but this should not at all reflect on the game's quality. Once known as Plunder, Age of Booty is a name change and not much else from the game we've had a positive hands-on experience with in the past. Age of Booty is an RTS action/European board game expected sometime this fall and the title already feels incredibly polished. It will release with a fairly robust map editor to create and share user-generated content for the game on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Yeah, but in this age of microtransaction shenanigans, where's the catch? We were informed that DLC for the game will actually involve legitimate expansion content. As a Capcom representative informed us, "We're not going to nickle and dime with this game." %Gallery-18253%
Plunder gets renamed to Age of Booty
We thought that Certain Affinity wanted to distance itself as far as possible from the Bungie joke-game Pimps at Sea, but it looks like we were wrong. Renamed to Age of Booty from Plunder, the pirate themed hex-based strategy game stil doesn't have a firm release date (even though the site still says late spring/early summer) but we hope that a name change indicates that Capcom and Certain Affinity are gearing up for finalization. %Gallery-18289%
Video: It's Plunder gameplay, matey
Unearthed from the backlog of Capcom's Captivate 08 media is a new gameplay video for Plunder, that real-time strategy XBLA game where you get to live out your pirate fantasies. We've seen screenshots before, but this is the first time we've actually seen Plunder in action. The presentation is there, the game's look is top notch, but (for this video at least) there's just two ships shooting eachother with cannons. And that's it. Maybe that's a good thing though, so check it out and see if this kind of gaming fun tickles your pirate fancy.[Via Game Stooge]
Certain Affinity: Plunder Interview
Max Hoberman, Certain Affinity founder, sat down with Gamasutra for a Q&A about his studio and his projects, including the upcoming arcade title, Plunder. The interview is a great read and Hoberman touches on possible Left 4 Dead secrets, the inspirations for Plunder, and more. A good chunk of the interview is dedicated to the gameplay and design and should appeal to anyone interested in hearing a bit of behind the scenes of a game's conception, tweaking and more. For more product-focused players, there is mention of the plan for map-sharing and match-making. The interview is well worth a read and touches on even more things than we could mention here, so get over to Gamasutra and read it!
Joystiq gets hands-on with Capcom's upcoming PSN titles
Capcom recently hosted a Gamer's Day for its upcoming digital distribution titles, all coming to PSN. Joystiq had a chance to get some hands-on time with the following titles: 1942: Joint Strike Plunder Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 It's great to see Capcom supporting downloadable tiltes as heavily as it is. Let's just hope their upcoming efforts are a bit more inspired than Rocketmen: Axis of Evil! Gallery: 1942: Joint Strike (XBLA/PSN) Gallery: Plunder (PSN/XBLA/PC) Gallery: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix Gallery: Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3
Capcom officially announces Plunder for XBLA
Earlier today, Capcom took the curtain off of one of their latest XBLA projects officially announcing Plunder, and from the look of things, it's a puzzle pirate's dream.Scheduled for release sometime this Summer, Certain Affinity's Plunder takes inspiration from Settlers of Catan, but with a pirate themed real-time strategy twist where players take control of various locations all while toppling their opponent. Out of the gate, Plunder will come packed with multiplayer versus locally and over Xbox Live as well as 25 multiplayer maps and allow for map creation. If you can't contain your Plunder excitement, we recommend taking a look at the screenshots in the gallery below and reading over Joystiq's Plunder impressions which they obtained from a recent Plunder play session. Now move along you scurvy dogs.%Gallery-18289%
Joystiq hands-on: Plunder (XBLA/PSN/PC)
Certain Affinity is close to finishing Plunder, a downloadable real-time strategy, multiplayer pirate game. The Capcom-published title will be released in late Spring or early Summer for XBLA, PSN, and PCs. Pricing has yet to be announced. With inspiration from Settlers of Catan, Certain Affinity decided to create a hex-based game but with a real-time twist. Each player -- up to four on one system and eight online -- uses a pointer to guide their own ship. Teams win by capturing a certain number of towns or holding the majority when time runs out. I played a few test games on an Xbox setup, tapping the A button to issue movement orders. Much of the rest of the game is automated, with ships attacking towns and enemy pirates when within range. Neutral and enemy towns pelted my boat with canon balls until I pummeled them into submission. If I held the defeated town for a moment, I'd claim it, causing it to attack only opposing boats. %Gallery-18253%
Pimps at Sea (sort of) in development!
Originally a long standing joke at Bungie Studios, it appears that the fake-game moniker Pimps at Sea did provide game-makers with some actual inspiration. Certain Affinity, the studio formed by ex-Bungie devs and currently working on the 360 port of Left for Dead recently announced that their first original work will be an XBLA/PSN RTS game, inspired by Settlers of Catan and called Plunder. The pirate-themed game is based on the amount of land controlled by the players, and the designers are shooting for that sweet-spot of easy-to-learn, hard-to-master type of gameplay. Similar to Catan, the game will use a tile-based interface and will including things such as ship upgrades, town captures, curses and more. Not only will the gamplay have depth, but the feature set is very well-rounded as well. With a map editor, 4-player split screen, and a party-based online system, Plunder looks like it could steal the show when it hits this summer.
Arrr, matey: New Pirates of the Caribbean MMO deets
Disney's upcoming MMO based on the wildly successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise released some new assets this week, and you can peep the screenshots after the jump. For the more adventurous among you, try finding the developer's video diary on the Disney go.com site here. It ran our browser into rocky shores more than once, and we had to restart, so beware.This game won't match the depth of World of Warcraft, and it's looking a bit like MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach with pirate outfits on, but we have to admit it looks fun. You get to outfit your own pirate, rig out your ship and set out to make a name for yourself. Plus, you'll be able to interact with characters from the game, including Captain Jack Sparrow. Who knew that Disney would get such mileage out of Depp basically playing "a gay Keith Richards"? Those are the Disney execs words, not ours ... but if Keith Richards was a gay pirate, that might be pretty spot-on.The game runs on PCs and not Macs, which is a bit ironic considering that Disney bought Pixar earlier this year ... which was owned by Apple head honcho Steve Jobs. We suppose it's fitting, considering that most pirates are on PCs anyhow *ducks incoming cannon fire*.Check out the screenshots after the jump, and drink up me hearties, yo ho!
