stylized-graphics
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Free for All: MMOs for players with a penchant for The Wolf Among Us
Ah, graphics. It's hard to describe why we like the graphical styles we do. I like the stylings of many games, but some are just so perfect that the graphics reach beyond a visual style and become a sort of textural memory in my gamer's heart. Each year, scores of games come out, and though I enjoy many of them, most do not affect me the way the look of games like The Chronicles of Spellborn or even Free Realms does. There are a lot of single-player titles that just blow me away as well. Recently I was absolutely transfixed by Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons. I stayed up late one night to finish it, and the graphics just kept getting better the entire time. Then there's The Wolf Among Us, a new title by Telltale Games, the same studio that made The Walking Dead series. It's made me remember just how amazing graphics can be without requiring a massive gaming rig. Did you like the look of The Wolf Among Us as well? Here are some MMOs that feel similar.
The Nexus Telegraph: WildStar style
There's no two ways about it: The way that WildStar looks is just plain going to turn some people off. And while I'm hesitant to say those people are wrong, exactly, I think they're missing the mark something fierce. When the game's first trailer hit, the look was what immediately attracted me to the game. Not that it had a whole lot of competition; back then, we knew the name, we'd seen a couple of vague concepts, and we had a wonderfully animated trailer. Picking the last item out of those three was almost just choosing the more substantial option. But I won't lie -- I loved the visual style, and when it became clear that the game was bearing that out all the way along, that just made me pleased as could be. Some aren't as fond of it, that's for sure. But I can think of some good reasons for the game to look how it does and at least one major flaw in the arguments against the look. I might be wrong, but heck, I'd be doing a disservice not to speak my mind on the subject.
The Daily Grind: Do you like stylized visuals?
I really want to like WildStar. I mean come on, it's a sci-fi MMO and it'll have player housing at launch. What's not to love, right? Except for that whole cartoon aesthetic. Sci-fi to me is cold, dark, and grungy with a side of heavy metal, and while I don't know what the proper artistic label for WildStar's visual palette is -- maybe "stylized" -- I know it's not my first choice. If the gameplay and feature sets are solid, it will likely grow on me. As it stands now, though, it's uncomfortably close to World of Warcraft and the cringe-worthy look of those Star Wars' Clone Wars shorts. What about you, folks, do you like stylized MMO visuals or do you prefer a different approach? 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!
Rise and Shiny recap: Faxion Online
I've been following Faxion Online for quite a while. Aww, I remember when it was just a cute little game in development, back when I visited the UTV True Games studio for a tour during GDC Online last year. The team was very passionate about its product, and there was obviously a lot of talent at work behind the scenes. One of the comments I made then (and that I will always remember) is that the devs all seemed like a bunch of gamers -- they appeared to have a love for what they were doing and truly seemed to believe in the game. They also talked about how a lot of MMO development took several years and the budget of a small country. I agreed with them on that. So they wanted to create their game in a much shorter time period yet have it still feature free-to-play accessibility along with old-school PvP. It was a tall order, especially considering the time frame they were looking at. Again, though, the team seemed capable of pulling it off. But did it? I spent half a week (I will explain later) in the game, and my impressions are right past the cut.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite use of heavily stylized graphics?
In the earliest days of gaming, games were by their very nature pretty much abstract in graphics. The Atari 2600 couldn't really handle photorealistic human faces, after all. But even though we're now in the era when realism is not that far off, many games still employ intentionally stylized looks. LEGO Universe people look nothing like actual human beings, after all -- but they're not supposed to, representing instead the ubiquitous minifigures given motion and character. Some players really don't like stylized appearances, feeling that they look cartoony or artificial. Others prefer them to realistic graphics out of a sense that the style makes the game stand out more. MMOs have run the gamut from the detailed and realistic humans of All Points Bulletin to the intentionally unreal graphics of Super Hero Squad Online. So what game has stylized graphics that you think really work? Whether or not you like the style overall, where do you feel they add to the game's atmosphere? 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!
JumpCore releases Undead Online teaser
There's a new zombie MMO in the works, and the developers at JumpCore seem to have their tongues planted firmly in cheek, if the newest game trailer is any indication. The game is Undead Online, and the clip is currently front and center on the title's website. Though the trailer clocks in at under a minute, that's time enough to give potential players a brief look at the game's whimsical aesthetic, cartoonish gore, and sardonic sense of humor. Undead Online details are fairly sparse at this point, but we do know that JumpCore is spearheaded by Cryptic alum Cameron Petty and that the game will feature episodic content wrapped in an MMOFPS skin. You can sign up on the game's official forums, join the discussion, and check out the trailer after the cut.
