Warhammer Online: Open Beta Key Giveaway
Full Disclosure: I’m an MMO junkie. My first MMO experience was Beta Testing Merdian 59, way back before anyone had attempted to utter MMORPG. I’ve dabbled with Everquest, played a good amount of DAoC, dipped my toes in Lineage 2, battled a vicious World of Warcraft addiction, played a character to the level cap in Age of Conan and, most recently, have been swept up in the Warhammer Online, or WAR, Open Beta.
Warhammer Online is based on the venerable Warhammer Fantasy setting, well known to minatures gamers, but should feel pretty familiar to anyone who’s played a game with a fantasy setting, particularly Warcraft, which was influenced heavily by Warhammer. In turn, Warhammer Online will feel similar to World of Warcraft to many players. The UI looks almost exactly like WoW and that is probably a good thing. The Realm vs. Realm PvP system pitting the Alliance of Dwarves, Elves and Men against Dark Elves, Orcs, Goblins and Corrupted Humans should also feel very familiar.
Warhammer does have some tricks up it’s sleeve however. PvP appears to be a viable path for leveling as loot, cash, and XP all drop off PvP kills. Quests are well designed and developed, adding a rich flavor to the world. Rather than Warcraft’s cartoonish and kid friendly approach, Warhammer presents a grim, dark world on the edge of destruction and your quests and experience reflect this.
Public quests and RvR scenarios are the early standouts in gameplay. Public quests are constant open scripted sequences that help move the world’s story forward and add to the epic scale of the game. I simply stumbled into the first one and quickly came up to speed aiding my faction by killing a swarm of elite enemies along with the others in the area working on the quest. After gathering the souls of the fallen, a caster NPC summoned a demonic hell-hound which went berzerk and we then killed. After this, the quest ended, loot was assigned by a weighted roll based on contribution automatically (brilliant!!!) and a few minutes later the quest restarted again. I found these public quests both fun and rewarding, and the mechanics showed great polish.
The RvR scenarios provide quick PvP action in a battleground like setting, with XP rewards as well as PvP leveling. The scenario I played a few times was similar to an Arathi Basin, with 2 teams vying for control of 3 way points. The PvP combat was fast-paced and extremely enjoyable, and certainly seems to be a more emphasized factor of the game. I’m told that at the early levels content is roughly 20% PvP and 80% PvE, but at later levels that is flipped to 80% PvP and 20% PvE. I look forward to exploring more of the PvP options in further gameplay.
But don’t take it from me, hit the link below and grab a Beta Key. Hop on, start slaughterin’ and enjoy!
WarCry Network : Contests : Warhammer Online: Open Beta Key Giveaway
TREASURE BOX
Remember those really weird flash games where you clicked on random vague things to fire off a Rube Goldbergian machine to accomplish some arcane objective? Did you enjoy them? Well, if so, check out Treasure Box, it’s no Grow, but it’s … something.
Vectoroids
What is it that makes retro-gaming so fun? Is it nostalgia, the quality of the classics or simply the fact that retro-games translate so well to the casual gaming crazy web world? Here’s another fine example, Vectoroids. Combining Astroids gameplay with the graphical chaos of Geometry Wars, Vectoroids will provide you with plenty of time well wasted.
PAX08 Recap
With the weekend now gone, it’s time to recap what we saw at PAX08.
PAX was, in short, fucking amazing. Ken Levine of BioShock fame lead things off with a tremendous Key Note, audio available at Joystiq on what it was that all brought us to Seattle. As Ken put it, we’re all just a bunch of fucking nerds. PAX is a nerd mecca, with panels, concerts and guests tailored to the nerdish pallette.
The Top 7 “That’s a Dude?” Gaming Moments
GamesRadar brings us a truly frightening list from the depths of gaming hell. Here’s 7 double-take inducing examples of extremely effeminate gaming characters. I can proudly say that they only one of these disturbed individuals I’ve encountered in my gaming ventures has been the truly terrifying Birdo. However, Birdo’s in-game appearance is far from as nightmare enducing as this one.
…Shudder…
Weekly Preview – April 14 2008
DVDs
Juno – Oscar winner for best writing, stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera in the funniest move about teen pregnancy in recent memory. Directed by Jason Reitman, who also directed the brilliant Thank You for Smoking. A great movie, worth a trip to the rental store.
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead – Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman are brothers plotting to rob the family jewelry store when all goes awry. Pulled a 7.9 on IMDB and an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. Certainly worthy of a watch.
Also out this week, Aliens vs Predator: Requiem, Lars and the Real Girl, and In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, if you’re into crappy monster movie mash-up sequels, goofy indie-flicks about love dolls or wretched Uwe Boll abominations, respectively.
You Have To Burn The Rope
“Computer games are getting so hard these days…”
Allow You Have to Burn the Rope to help you kick back and rewind with a fun, simple game with a great post game musicry. It’s no Still Alive, but it’s pretty damn good.
Weekly Preview – April 7 2008
DVD’s
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story – How can you go wrong with John C. Reilly starring in the latest Judd Apatow film? You can’t. Reilly is supported by a tremendous cast and many many cameos. Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Harold Ramis, shit even Frankie Muniz show up as character in Dewey’s amazing life. Walk Hard is simultaneously smart-funny and stupid-funny, so there’s sure to be a little of something for everyone. If you haven’t seen Walk Hard yet, do yourself a favor, as it was easily one of the funniest movies of last year.
There Will Be Blood – Daniel Day Lewis’s Oscar winning performance as an oil baron at the turn of the century, There Will Be Blood is a bit more serious in nature than Walk Hard, but certainly worth checking out. Lewis takes few roles and tends to do amazing things with them.
Also releasing this week, Lions For Lambs, The Water Horse, and Reservation Road, that is, if you’re into crappy movies or kid’s flicks. Or possibly just watching the trainwreck that is Tom Cruise.