The Lone Gamer

Fast Tube by Casper
Light on sights but heavy on promise.

The latest stuff from Bethesda isn’t about the upcoming Dawnguard DLC for Skyrim… but about the just-announced MMO based on the Elder Scrolls world, The Elder Scrolls Online. Details are limited as yet, but this shindig will be set about a millennium before the events in the Elder Scrolls V Skyrim, but will apparently span the whole realm of Tamriel (Cyrodiil, Skyrim, Morrowind, etc.). Players take part in various factions and will war for control of the strife-ridden land. The trailer itself isn’t anything spectacular, just a logo and a voiceover. But then, heck… the first teaser trailer for Skyrim wasn’t that exciting but see how that turned out (Best RPG Ever!). Still, I’m not putting too much into this- I’m really not an MMO guy, and this seems to reek of trying to become another WOW. I’ll most probably check it out, but color me not that into it… I’ll wait for the next chapter in the proper, main Single Player RPG Elder Scrolls, thank you very much… I AM after all, the Lone Gamer.

Fast Tube by Casper
Wow, if only the actual movies were- you know the drill…

Man, if the actual gameplay of MMO’s were anywhere near as freakin’ awesome as the action in this latest cinema for Star Wars: The Old Republic, I’d be in like Flint in a heartbeat. Sadly, it’s not, so all I can do is enjoy this better-than-the-actual-films CG cutscene and compile with the two other monumental OR cinemas. Wouldn’t a Star Wars-based Jedi vs Sith fighting game, with a Create-a-Character mode (with different sabre configurations and styles) be darn awesome? Nowhere near that Teras Kasi crap- when will we, if ever, see something like that? Who knows. But if we do, I’ll be the first one in. Now, have to watch this cinema again…

Fast Tube by Casper
The Plot Thickens!

A second cinematic trailer for the superhero-themed MMORPG DC Universe Online has been released, once again featuring impressive animation and action. The story begun in the first DCU Online ‘Who Do You Trust’ trailer is continued here, revealing more of what happened between Brainiac’s invasion of the Future Earth and that world’s Lex Luthor coming to the Prime DC Universe and spreading the Exobots that have borne thousands of new super-beings. Anyway, it’s now apparent that not everything is as it seems (which we should have known, given the title of the first trailer), and the question remains- what is Luthor planning?
So far, DCU Online has been excellent both in its storyline, presentation and, judging from the game’s popularity, gameplay. It certainly seems to be the most successful superhero-themed MMO yet. If they keep this up, this could potentially be the new WOW… with capes.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lGTfK4PmPw]
If only the actual game was as amazing as this mini-movie…

There are trailers that make you go, Eh. There are trailers that make you go, WTF? Then there are trailers that leave you slack-jawed with their kick-assedness. This cinematic 5-minute masterpiece for DC Universe Online is one of these godly spots, containing more bone-cracking, building-smashing, lightning-crackling, back-impaling and Giantess Bashing action than most full superhero movies. Yeah, the actual game it’s advertising won’t be anywhere near as freaking gorgeous or exciting, but what the heck- at least we had this bright spot of greatness for the upcoming MMO. Enjoy!

A nice bit of news that concerns Blizzard’s mammoth MMO World of Warcraft which should interest even us non-MMOers. The future film based on the best-selling fantasy MMORPG setting will be directed by Spiderman and Evil Dead director Sam Raimi. What does it mean? It means that the film should be freakin’ awesome. Evil Cam, manic action, humor, more action, scares and thrills and awesome special effects. And Blood Elves. Oh My! To put things into more perspective, Uwe Boll reportedly tried to pitch for the WOW movie. So we’re all much better off.

Even though I’m not a WOW fan, I do love a great fantasy flick, and with no big epic sword and sorcery movie on the horizon (well, Prince of Persia is nice and such but…) this could be something special. Filming on WOW will apparently start after Raimi wraps up Spiderman 4. Once again, something to watch out for in the near future.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rciCLdxTAkw]
Lone Wolves unite in battle!

Here’s the first trailer for the upcoming MMO King of Fighters Online, showing off some nifty cel-shaded 3D graphics, some Final Fight-esque battles and bouncy ninja girl love. Man, Mai should be in King of Fighters XII, not here. I guess this should have more depth than what the trailer is so far showing, which is pretty much all fighting. Will there be more meaningful interaction between the players and NPCs? A storyline or campaign to follow? And what’s with the presto-changing of characters?

Making this an MMO kinda perplexes me but hey… it’s still pretty early. For now, enjoy the cel-shaded SNK brawling.

Beautiful and Dangerous.

I’m not a big fan of MMO’s, but I’m quite interested in the upcoming Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Luckily, it’s also coming to the Xbox360 and may have an offline component, so hurray! Anyways, one of the coolest things about AOC, aside from all the customizable stuff, bloody action and deep world based on the Conan Mythos, is a girl. You’ve probably seen her in the AOC trailer- the uber-hot, big-haired assassin chick who first tries to stab ol’ King Con before giving him a status report.

Well, a name has finally been assigned to the face and bod. Her name is Keaira, a thief and leader of a secret network of spies who answers directly to Conan himself. The producers of AOC go on detail about the stuff that went into this saucy siren’s creation, from the concept to the preliminary artworks to the final, fabulous babe who has become the poster girl for the game. We expect to see more of this hottie as the game nears completion. For starters, you can check her in all her nude glory in the December 2007 issue of Playboy magazine, as she appears in the Gaming Girls feature. In-game though, she probably won’t appear naked, but players will surely want to meet this deadly-sexy NPC in the course of their AOC adventures.

Check out all about Keaira in this article. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is set to hit the PC and Xbox360 sometime in 2008.

Sad but true. Funcom’s MMO set in the Hyborian Era of Robert E. Howard’s Conan novels has slipped from an October 30 release to March 2008, due to feedback from the game’s beta testing.

MMOs are a dime a dozen at this time… a little more development time to make this title that much more playable and compelling can’t hurt. Prematurely releasing a half-baked game can. So let’s all be patient, I guess.

MMOs or Massively Multiplayer Online games are a dime a dozen these days… but while most are fantasy RPGs, the Korean-made Kwon Ho: Hero of Fist sets itself apart from the rest in that it’s an online one-on-one fighting game, in the vein of Virtua Fighter and Tekken. After installing the game’s client on your computer, you create your brawler from five different schools of martial arts (Muay Thai, Ba Ji Quan, Taekwondo, Judo and Tai Chi Quan), dress him or her up and get down and dirty in the ring.

The graphics of Kwon Ho are no VF5 though- the stages and characters are on the generic side and can’t even hold a candle to any of the PS2 VFs or Tekkens. The most can be said is that it looks a little better than the Playstation One version of Dead or Alive, though Tecmo’s game animates better and has flashier, cooler moves. But even with all that, Kwon Ho looks decent and the combat animations are smooth and well done. The fighting is similar to VF and DOA, with Guard, Punch and Kick buttons making up the controls. You can move forward and back, dash either way, and sidestep. The controls are simple enough to play on a keyboard, though true fighting enthusiasts will want a gamepad.

The characters, by nature of this being a Create-your-own-Badass, are generic; you have a few choices of hairstyles, body shapes (buff, thin, buffer), skin tones and faces. Clothing has a lot more choices, but you have to buy stuff from the store. Since gameplay is actually free, the real money made in the game is via players purchasing stuff to dress up their fighters, items and so forth. Not a bad way to go by things, I guess.

I was able to play a bit, and the game is decent, though it really takes getting used to controlling with the keyboard. Still, I liked Kwon Ho enough to not uninstall the game afterwards. Let’s see what else this game does in the months ahead.

You can check out Kwon Ho: Hero of Fist here, download stuff and even try out the game, and other stuff from the gamemakers at ijji.