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The Daily Grind: Are dragons, zombies, or pirates the most overused?
In every fantasy MMO (and many of the other ones, too), you'll be assured to encounter three types of enemies. There will be dragons. There will be zombies. And because game developers are 12-year-old kids at heart, there will be pirates. The question is, which of these three is the most overused? Which have worn out their welcome the most to you? My vote is for dragons. Yes, they're huge, ferocious creatures that are often raid end bosses, but when every game has them as their ultimate threat, it dilutes one's proper respect of them. It's like every MMO has a Death Star. More of a big bad doesn't increase fear in the same ratio; it kind of has the opposite effect. But maybe you disagree. Pirates, zombies, or dragons -- which make you roll your eyes the most? Which would you banish to the land of well-worn tropes? 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!
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Seven zombie-infested MMOs for the survivalist in you
Let's talk zombies and post-apocalyptic futures. Sure, the undead have become an overused and watered-down genre, but it's easy to see just why it's so successful -- it practically has something for everyone. The horror fans love it for obvious reasons; there's nothing scarier than the reanimated dead. Sandbox fans and survivalist maniacs love that it represents what happens to society when everything -- and I mean everything -- breaks down. MMO fans adore it because it's all about teamwork and developing a society from the ground up alongside other people. So even though the genre is getting spread a bit thin, it's still as promising as any other. I thought it'd be a good idea to round up many of the current zombie MMOs and pseudo-MMOs so that over the holidays you can celebrate by ignoring your family to bash in a few previously deceased skulls. You can thank me later when all of the training you receive while playing these games helps you survive the coming zombie apocalypse.
DayZ footage may upset YouTube comment experts
Heads up, DayZ fans, creator Dean "Rocket" Hall has posted a new eight-minute video showcasing the current state of the zombie sandbox's pre-alpha build. As the video's disclaimer notes, the footage "may deeply trouble experts who post YouTube comments. It has not been approved by marketing and contains disturbing scenes such as poor FPS, floating loot, bad lighting, placeholder sounds, and many more bugs that obviously never occur in game development and therefore the project is completely doomed." Assuming you can get past all those gory details, you'll see some up-close-and-personal zombie killin' as well as exploration elements. "Our focus is on getting the alpha out, Hall says, "which means focusing on multiplayer [server] performance." Click past the cut to watch the clip.
State of Decay's first expansion coming Black Friday
The zombie-riffic survival game State of Decay, just recently available to PC players in the Steam library, is getting its first ever DLC expansion in time for a Black Friday shopping spree. Undead Labs has announced that Breakdown will go on sale November 29th for $6.99 on both Steam and XBLA. Players who purchase the expansion can expect more difficulty along with new achievements and new weapons as they dive into new playable survivors. This expansion also promises less story and more survival; sounds a little bit like Black Friday, no? Check out the action in the new Breakdown trailer below.
DayZ still not ready for release
You can't really call what's happening to DayZ a series of delayz, since the game haz never formally announced a release date. But a lot of potential playerz are still waiting patiently for the standalone version to see the light of day. Lead developer Dean Hall took to Reddit recently to respond to player questionz regarding the long-awaited standalone and explain why the game still isn't out. In short, it isn't the game itself; it's the strain of keeping the game going around a large enough number of people. According to Hall, the big element holding the game back iz the continued work on ensuring client stability and framerate with a large enough number of playerz and zombiez. Hall cites 15 FPS az a bare minimum for the game to function, something that haz yet to be achieved even with existing optimizationz. Not that thiz will assuage those looking forward to playing the standalone version of the zombie survival simulator, but at least it clearz up the reasons for the wait.
State of Decay comes to the PC courtesy of Steam
PC gamers feeling left out while watching their Xbox comrades playing State of Decay can wipe those tears away; the zombie survival title has arrived on Steam. State of Decay is available through the digital distribution platform for a straight-up $19.99. If you're curious about Undead Labs' maiden game, then check out our hands-on coverage. The game was a huge hit on the Xbox and hopefully will be followed by an MMO set in the same world. Undead is also preparing the first DLC for State of Decay called Breakdown that will come to both the PC and Xbox. [Thanks to Soren for the tip!]
An early look at Phosphor's survival pseudo-MMO Nether
When I first learned I'd be jetting off to meet with Phosphor Games for a first look at its upcoming title Nether, I must admit I wasn't enthusiastic. I expected to see just another zombie-esque first-person shooter in a genre already overstuffed with shotguns and undead targets. But now that I've seen the demo in person, I might just have changed my mind. It's not really an MMO, not with 64 people on a map, but it's certainly skirting the boundaries; I'd consider it a happy marriage between Left 4 Dead and DayZ, so it's certainly the type of game fans of post-apocalyptic survival pseudo-MMOs will want to watch. The game's backstory features a near-future world, about a decade after a major mutation event called "the Cull" in the game's lore. Thanks to the Cull, the majority of the population transformed into zombies violent mutated humanoid creatures. I guess there's an attempt to avoid the classic zombie trope in Nether, but who's fooled, really?
Blacklight Retribution adds Sonic Tomahawk, Dropzone map
Zombie Studios has updated its Blacklight Retribution multiplayer shooter. The title, which is published by Perfect World, now boasts a new map called Dropzone that hearkens back to Zombie's 2010 Blacklight: Tango Down. Zombie says that due to the map's small size, gameplay will be "fast and frenetic." The team has also raised the level cap from 40 to 50 and added new titles, camouflage, and gear including Riot Shield and Sonic Tomahawk melee weapons. [Source: Perfect World press release]
Dead Island: Epidemic puts zombies back in MOBAs
What's a ZOMBA? It's not that thing that roams around your floor sucking up dirt but instead an entirely new thing that makes a happy marriage of Dead Island's zombies and MOBAs: a Zombie Online Multiplayer Battle Arena. Trust us, that term will be on everyone's lips come next week. Dead Island: Epidemic is an upcoming free-to-play MOBA set in the same gory world as the PC game. Details about the game are scarce, other than the fact that it'll be for the PC, feature three players, and probably contain a thousand bad "brainssss" references. Developer Deep Silver said that more information about the title will be released at Gamescom in a couple of weeks. [Source: Deep Silver press release]
MMO Burnout: State of Decay
With an all-star dev team steering the ship, Undead Labs' State of Decay is topping sales charts and impressing fans, but it's certainly not done yet. The single-player zombie survival game for the Xbox 360 was created by several ArenaNet alumni (including ANet co-founder Jeff Strain) and aims to one day release an MMO version titled Class4. But in the meantime, it's breaking XBL sales records and showing us all how a decaying game premise like zombie survival can gain new life. I grabbed the game at launch to give me an idea of what to eventually expect from Class4, but I was quite surprised at what I found. A console game with a living world? A single-player action RPG with purpose and incentive? That's just what you get when you interrupt traditional console game development with a few designers from this crazy new genre known as MMORPG.
Hands-on: Infestation: Survivor Stories, aka War Z, is worse than actually being killed by zombies
If there's one thing we know about the games industry, it's that no success goes uncopied. World of Warcraft breaks a million subscribers, everyone starts building WoW-like MMOs. Minecraft showers its creator with enough money to buy his home country, voxel-based crafting games fall like rain. It's just how things go. It should come as no surprise, then, that some studio somewhere would attempt to piggyback on the success of DayZ, Dean Hall's ridiculously popular mod for Arma II. The title, which drops players into a dangerous, zombie-filled open world and challenges them to survive, resonated so immensely with gamers that a clone wasn't so much probable as it was inevitable. But Infestation: Survivor Stories, formerly known as The War Z, is more than just a clone of DayZ. It is a charmless, cynical, and craven rip-off packaged with one of the most sinister microtransaction models ever implemented into a game, and it's developed by a company that has on multiple occasions proven itself to be only shades away from a dedicated fraud factory.
The War Z now known as Infestation: Survivor Stories
Remember The War Z? Hammerpoint Interactive is hoping that you don't, at least when it comes to the game's checkered development and customer service history that includes being temporarily pulled from Steam and suffering a major security breach. At any rate, the firm is looking for a fresh start and has changed the zombie MMO's name to Infestation: Survivor Stories. The War Z's original URL now automatically redirects users to a rebranded website. [Thanks Paul!]
Undead Labs still negotiating with Microsoft on Class4 MMO
Undead Labs' latest game for Xbox Live, State of Decay, is a resounding success. The game moved over 250,000 copies in its first 48 hours of release, landing it the title of "Fastest Selling Xbox Live Game that isn't Minecraft." However, one successful game does not guarantee another, and Undead is still at the mercy of Microsoft when it comes to getting its next game off the ground. The studio is set to begin work on Class4, an MMO follow-up to State of Decay, but cannot proceed until Microsoft gives it the go-ahead. According to Undead's Sanya Weathers, none of this can happen until the two parties reach a "mutually agreeable contract." She also noted that the two companies must agree on the goals of the project and on where the technology will be by the time Class4 finishes its multi-year development cycle. According to Weathers, the discussion between Microsoft and Undead is "in progress."
Daily iPhone App: Dead Ahead races through a stylish zombieland
Dead Ahead is a game released by Chillingo a few weeks ago, and it's been huge in the App Store charts lately. It's an endless running game where you're actually on a moped (or, later, a motorcycle), racing through a zombie-ridden apocalypse. The game's controls are excellently simple (you move your finger up and down the screen to steer, and then there are two buttons to race forward or shoot backwards), but the biggest draw here is the game's aesthetic, which uses a very stylistic look to add a little bit of whimsy to a pretty spooky zombie setting. The game is relatively gory, as the zombies are you can either be crashed into cars (or shot apart) in very bloody ways. But for all of the gore, the zombies are also cool, and the various types you'll encounter (including big, hulking zombie bosses) mix up the gameplay quite a bit. As you drive along, you'll pick up coins and earn points, which then let you upgrade your bike, your gun, or unlock various powerups and other fun tweaks. Dead Ahead is a great title -- it's an endless runner and doesn't really break open the conventions of the genre, but it does perform its few features very well. You can download the game right now for free, and (not surprisingly) there are plenty of in-app purchases to make if you so choose.
State of Decay gets June 5th release date
While the news of State of Decay's release date was leaked out recently, today we have official confirmation. Undead Labs' maiden game will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade on Wednesday, June 5th. Founder Jeff Strain took to the official blog a couple of days ago to talk about the process of deciding upon and cementing a release date. "After that, our job is not done," he wrote. "We have a PC build of the game to finish and deliver. We will certainly want to fix a few bugs that slipped through (we saw a few in the video streams today that we jumped on immediately). And we have super secret plans for a few other treats to roll out in the future that Sanya would shoot me for even mentioning." So while it's not the MMO that will hopefully be forthcoming, it is set in the same world and it made a great showing at last year's PAX Prime.
State of Decay coming to Xbox Live in June
Undead Labs' zombie actioner State of Decay is coming to Xbox Live this June according to a brief update posted by Undead community guru Sanya Weathers. And when we say brief, we do mean brief, as the sum total of the update is "June. Officially." Fortunately the firm also released a new teaser that shows off a heaping helping of bloody, brain-bashing gameplay. You'll find it after the cut.
DayZ's zombies are getting smarter -- and hungrier
Let us ask you a serious question: Do you like to read your dev blogs or watch them? Thanks to the Bohemia Interactive team, you can do both today! The devs have posted an article covering DayZ standalone's progress as well as a 21-minute video highlighting game footage. The team's been focusing on the inventory system, a non-traditional crafting system, zombie pathfinding, security improvements, a more complex health system, map expansion, and more sensible loot. Lead Developer Rocket urges patience as the team works to complete the standalone version: "We know that you want it released, and we know you want to know when this will be -- but we're 100% committed to making this a great game, and that means we are making sure to do things properly." You can watch the full dev diary video after the jump.
State of Decay's character development detailed
Undead Labs has released a new dev diary covering skills and characters for its State of Decay zombie survival title. All available survivors have four basis skills (cardio, wits, fighting, and shooting), and each character has a star rating ranging from one to seven in each skill. Additional stars are gained by successfully using the skill, and additional stars also provide the player with both active and passive abilities. State of Decay characters also have unique trait combinations. Traits range from personality (chatterbox, selfish asshole, born leader, and more) to job history to hobbies, some of which provide additional skill stars. In terms of character customization, the game allows you to choose a weapon specialization and a number of signature abilities, with the ultimate goal being a unique survivor who is both challenging and rewarding to play. You can learn more, and see some example builds, at the game's official website.
Initial DayZ video blog shows new stand-alone footage
A lot of stuff has been happening in the world of DayZ here lately, and creator Dean "Rocket" Hall has uploaded a fresh video dev blog to bring all of you zombie sandbox survival sim fans up to speed. Hall is joined by production assistant Matt Lightfoot, and the duo have a quite a lot to talk about over the course of the dev blog's 15-minute running time. Topics include major map improvements, the new clothing system, a streamlined UI, and the newfangled ability to spawn loot inside buildings. See for yourself after the break.
Learn to live in a State of Decay with Undead Labs' new survival guide
There's a lot to consider when you're stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Do you have enough food? Will your shelter hold up against the endless legions of undead? Do you have enough of that ammo that makes zombie heads explode? Thankfully, Undead Labs is here to help make State of Decay players' transitions to the post-apocalypse as simple as possible. The studio has released a day-by-day survival guide written from the viewpoint of characters within the game's universe. The guide provides a flavorful look at some of the features players will be utilizing to survive in State of Decay. Players will learn how to construct a defensible stronghold, how to scavenge for supplies, and of course, how to defend themselves against zed onslaughts. It's quite a read, but a very worthwhile one for anyone who would prefer to remain on the side of the living in the war against the undead.
