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Marvel Heroes to use Unreal 3 engine
Gazillion Entertainment has announced that it is licensing Epic's Unreal 3 game engine to power the upcoming Marvel Heroes MMO. The game, informally known as Marvel Universe Online, allows players to step into the shoes of Captain America, Iron Man, and Spider-man (among others). Gazillion says the third-party toolset will enable its developers to focus on delivering a high-quality game experience. "We [...] love the flexibility we get from the actor components, which have empowered us to make all kinds of customizations without sacrificing the built-in features of the engine," says Jeff Lind, head of Gazillion's Secret Identity Studios. Gazillion hasn't mentioned a timeframe for the game's release (heck, there's no official website yet, either), but we'll keep you informed as we hear more. [Source: Gazillion press release]
Marvel announces official MMO title: Marvel Heroes
The Marvel Comics MMO formerly known as Marvel Universe Online has finally been officially christened. Gazillion Entertainment announced in a press release today that, due to the central role that classic Marvel heroes play in the upcoming title, the game will be known as Marvel Heroes. And to back up the news, Gazillion has also released a new teaser image displaying everyone's favorite web-slinger. For the brand new Spider-Man art, just click on past the cut. [Source: Gazillion Entertainment press release]
Marvel Universe Online reveals Thing as newest playable character
Watch out, Marvel Universe Online fans. It's clobberin' time! The Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm has been announced as the latest addition to the MUO cast. For those of you who are keeping count, Thing's arrival brings the total playable character count up to five. So keep the guesses comin', folks. Whom do you want to see next?
Marvel Universe Online's newest addition is... not U.S.Agent
When Cable was revealed as the newest Marvel Universe Online hero, another mysterious character was teased in silhouette form. No, guys, it's not U.S.Agent. We know, we're just as shocked as you. In fact, it's his less-popular counterpart, Captain America. What a disappointment. All jests aside, it's now official: Cap is the newest addition to the MUO roster, bringing the total count up to four. So what do you think, Marvel fans? How is the roster shaping up so far, and who do you hope will be added next?
Cable joins the Marvel Universe Online roster
Marvel Universe Online's roster keeps growing steadily, with newcomer Cable being announced as the latest playable character at New York Comic Con this weekend. The gun-wielding, telepathic, telekinetic son of Cyclops joins Wolverine and Deadpool as the game's third announced character. Also teased is another hero whose silhouette should be distinctive to any comics fan (or anyone who went to the movies anytime this summer). Who could this mysterious avenger possibly be? Follow on past the cut and find out for yourself.
Global Chat: All about the controversy edition
Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat! Wouldn't it be boring if we all agreed with one another all the time? The general consensus is usually "yes," and I've got to agree. Global Chat this week is all about differing opinions, so follow along after the jump to see a few of those opinions, then hit the comment button and add your own!
Gazillion's David Brevik on Marvel Universe Online, story, and changing the perception of MMOs
A new interview with Gazillion's president and CEO David Brevik is up on Gamasutra today. The interview focuses mostly on the ongoing development of Marvel Universe Online (though Gamasutra tries to pull a fast one to get a tip on Jumpgate Evolution, to no avail) and has shades of BioWare in the discussion of the "Holy Grail" of story in MMOs. As the interview points out, Brevik is familiar with the ups and downs of the industry, having been involved in the hugely successful Diablo II and the failed (and soon-to-be relaunched) Hellgate: London. A persistent theme of the interview is figuring out how to change the way that MMOs are viewed and how to prove that an MMORPG can be more than a DikuMUD clone. In addition, Brevik talks about the philosophy behind making MUO ostensibly the first free-to-play (from launch) Western AAA MMORPG as well as how the studio is planning to bring the epic overarching stories that Marvel comics are known for to the world of MUO. For the full interview, head on over to Gamasutra.
Marvel Universe MMO written by Bendis, will be free to play
If you're a comics fan, you're probably well acquainted with monthly fees, as you have to shell out for a pile of books in order to keep up with continuity. However, that won't be the case for Gazillion's upcoming Marvel Universe MMO. During a press conference yesterday, Marvel announced that the MMO will be free to play. It may also have a story worth following. Marvel also revealed that Brian Michael Bendis, creator of the "Ultimate" universe, has signed on as writer. According to a liveblog of the event, Bendis said he planned to make the game "a grand, epic tour, a reimagining of some of the biggest events in Marvel history." Like that time they all got into a fight with Capcom characters? That would make a really cool game.
Marvel Universe Online will be free-to-play, penned by Bendis
Move over, Batman: After a few false starts, Marvel's finally poised to become the next big MMO superhero thing. Thursday evening, I attended Gazillion Entertainment and Marvel's live San Francisco reveal of Marvel Universe Online's head writer, the jovial Brian Michael Bendis. Joining Brian for a lively Q&A panel were Gazillion President and COO David Brevik, VP and Studio Head for Secret Identity (fka Gargantuan) Jeff Lind, and VP of Games at Marvel TQ Jefferson. Brian's involvement in the game's story wasn't the only announcement the panelists had in store for attendees -- they almost casually confessed that players will slip into the spandex of iconic Marvel characters and that the game will be free-to-play, making it perhaps the first Western triple-A title to be designed for such a model from the ground up. Because I knew you'd be disappointed if I didn't, I dutifully asked an amused Jeff Lind about PvP, housing, crafting, voice acting, character customization, travel powers, advancement, and all those other goodies, but as you can probably guess, the devs aren't in a position to talk about sweeping systems just yet -- they want to "retain the ability to change [their] minds." So manage thy expectations accordingly! Fortunately, both Jeff and Brian were willing to chat about story, tie-ins, and MUO's niche in an increasingly crowded superhero MMO field, so hit the break for their thoughts and my round-up of the hot topics from the panel.
Bill Roper hints at secret identity mechanic for Champions Online
Italian fansite mmorpgitalia.com spent some time recently with Bill Roper, talking about where Champions Online stands four months after release, and where they are going from here. Roper answered some popular questions regarding issues such as the social aspect of Champions Online, the game's level of completion (or lack thereof) at launch and how Cryptic has progressed from there. The interview also covered questions about Cryptic's upcoming plans for CO, such as the upcoming secret identity mechanic. It's an exciting idea for players, but one that Roper's not quite ready to divulge in detail about yet: "We're in the early design stages of this feature, so I'm not ready to talk about it. One of the things I have learned about communicating ideas is that once it's in an interview, it becomes gospel no matter how much you qualify it as being "mere ideas" or "discussions."" The full interview covers these points in more detail and several others as well, and is a good read for anyone interested in Champions Online.
