I don’t really do formal reviews, mainly because I’m not paid to do so, but here’s a few bullet points on my likes and dislikes about the game from my 10 hours in beta:

Thumbs Up:

• It was easy to pick up and play.  I thought the learning curve for doing missions wasn’t very steep at all.
• Believe it or not, the PVP is consentual.  You can only attack players that have accepted a mission or backup call against you.  Once the mission is over, no one can attack.  If you don’t feel like fighting, ignore the mission and backup calls.
• The customization is beyond fantastic.  Customize your physical character, their clothes, your car, your music…and more.
• Driving is a chaotic affair, just getting from point A to B without blowing up is its own meta game.  Learning to drive is fun, and driving well is a challenge.
• You can catch some major air if you know where to find the ramps and hit them right.
• Enforcers can kill.  They don’t have to arrest criminals, they can just be vigilantes and kill them.
• The matchmaking was nearly flawless.  I got put into groups consistently and was almost never alone.
• Aiming takes a steady hand and can be challenging.  Prepare to die.  Alot.
• Calling for backup often works like a charm.
• Teamwork pays off.  It is awesome to get a kill because the enemy is distracted by a team mate, or they kill them before you get ganked.
• The mix of different mission types was refreshing.  Some times I was guarding an area and the clock was my friend, sometimes I was racing to catch a guy with a critical item in a hectic car chase with the clock working against me.  I never knew what I was gonna get.
• The game has true crafting.  Make your own shirt decals, theme songs, you name it.  And you can sell it in the marketplace for cash!
• There are many unlockables to keep achievers busy.  Many of them help your character stand out in the crowd.
• Unlimited action district time for $10 bucks a month.
• Creating a clan (guild) was painless and easy.

Thumbs Down:

• Performance was iffy.  In two long sessions my system locked up and had to be rebooted 4-5 times due to the game crashing.  Not good, but the game is solid otherwise and can recover if this is stabilized soon.
• Only 80 players per instance might not be enough, but the city map size still kept things pretty action packed if all the car crashes I had with other players was any indication.
• Adding players to my clan was confusing.  What I tried either didn’t work, or I wasn’t doing it right and had no clue how.
• Being limited to only 5 hours of action district time stunk, and there was no way that I could tell to increase it.
• This isn’t an every day type of game (yet) like World of Warcraft .  Right now it feels like doing missions over and over will get repetitive like the early days of City of Heroes.
• What’s the end game?  Getting the best weapon and vehicle?  Then what…more missions?  See the item above this one…
• $10 bucks a month for unlimited action district play will likely not keep many people paying when they can continue to unlock hats in Team Fortress 2 and new prestige emblems in Modern Warfare 2 for free.  Even doing a pay as you go style with rollover minutes may not do the trick.  Can’t beat free in online play where shooters are concerned.
• It lacks mass appeal simply because it is a shooter.  Many people just won’t enjoy getting killed all the time because they can’t aim and shoot fast enough to compete.

With some more depth added to the action style of play, I could see myself committing more time to APB.  I had alot of fun running missions, and at the end of the day games are supposed to be fun.  APB delivered that, and I pre-ordered the game.  It has potential and I’d like to see where Realtime Worlds takes APB in the future.

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 2 comments on 06/14/2010.
Posted in: Beta, Commentary, Featured, Impressions, Opinion, Reviews, Video Tags: All Points Bulletin, Realtime Worlds

1.  PVP and PVE balance

Dismiss one play style or the other at your own peril.  There is a reason that games like Call of Duty have single player campaigns, and World of Warcraft has battlegrounds.  Both styles of game play provide a good mix of experiences for the player, and draw a wider range of gamers to a given title.  Having both in an online game seems just about mandatory for today’s games.

2. Apprentice/Sidekick System

For games with level based progression, this is vital.  This has more to do with traditional MMORPG style games than anything, but with a max level will ultimately have an end game to suit that level of player and probably some alternate method of progression to go with it.  For new players that come into a game where the player base is already mature, a sidekick/apprentice system is a godsend.  While you might still be largely left to toil away at your questing and mob killing anyway, you don’t always have to be left out of the fun your higher level friends are having.These systems aren’t perfect, but still very needed.  Even if your level and statistics are bumped up to your friend’s level, your gear or available skills are usually still that of the lowbie that you actually are.  In the end, you are usually a weaker version of those who are actually at the level you’ve been brought up to be.  There’s no developer that has pulled this off flawlessly (yet) but it is much better than not having the option to run that higher level content at all.

3.  Single Realm/World

While it is naive to think that these types of games are actually only supported by a single physical server, some games only offer one world/realm/shard selection.  They do this with with a complex configuration of servers, and it usually necessitates heavy use of instancing.  While some game developers pull it off better than others, there’s no mistaking that dealing with a bunch of instances or “zoning” is a headache for some players.

8. Integrated Voice chat, anti-cheat ware, update management, digital distribution, social networking and game play recording

These are all awesome features by themselves.  I’ve bundled them together here because there are already a few platforms out there that bring every single one of these to the table already.  Every game needs something to help manage player profiles, provide matchmaking capabilities (where applicable), manage their games, and to help players find and play with friends.  I can provide no better example of this than Valve’s Steam.  Blizzard plans to roll out a similar tool with their revamped Battle.net, and Xfire seems to be moving in this direction as well.  Having one place to log in and manage your games, your profile, groups you belong to (and much more) just brings so much value to the gaming experience that it is a must.

You also need tools to fight cheaters.  Blizzard has the controversial Warden.  Valve has VAC.  Others use Punkbuster, Hackshield, Gameguard or something similar.  Every online game needs a security measure built in, otherwise the cheating/hacking twirps of the world will begin running rampant in game.  Wall hacks, teleporting, speed hacks, currency and item duplication exploits are all things that will very quickly send the game into ruination if left unchecked.  Having the game’s launcher or other game management platform (think Steam) manage updates and patches to the game are also so very useful that they should be key parts of the game upon release, especially if you need to quickly distribute a patch to fix an exploit.

Recording game play from within the game is not a tried and true feature for online games.  However, the explosion of video sites and game related videos posted to them makes this something I’d personally like to see every online game provide.  New games like APB are setting themselves apart by adding the capability to record moments of the game and seamlessly add them to YouTube.  How cool is it to catch your guild downing a boss or capping that critical capture point for bragging rights?  Screenshots don’t do justice to the action in most games.

You need a platform to build and supply these services.  Basically, you need Steam or something like it associated with your game.  Not only are many MMO’s sold via Steam, but some new ones are Steam Powered, meaning the game itself is integrated with Steam’s features and benefit from all the platform brings to the table.

9. Game Integrated Web Site and Services and Apps

This probably has alot to do with the item above, as a full platform of tools like Steam would help with this, but not fully.  Features that should be offered like realm transfer (hopefully not necessary, see the single realm/shard paragraphs above), faction transfer, character customization change, name change, and other associated services should be available.  Character, guild, and item look ups should available along with zone, quest, skill/spell abilities, and bestiary.  See everquest2players.com and wowarmory.com for wonderful examples of how to extend an MMO to the web.  Consider a mobile phone app out there too, as Fallen Earth and World of Warcraft have done.

10. Variety of subscription/payment options

Last but certainly not least, flexible payment options are needed. Many people are tired of being tethered to a $15.00 a month subscription fee, as it may limit their ability to play multiple games.  Others like buffet style pricing and don’t want to feel “nickle-and-dimed” by item shops and constant sales pitches.  Modern games need to be flexible enough to provide both, lowering the barrier to entry to everyone yet still proving the stability of established subscription games.  I can find no better example of this than Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Do you agree or disagree with these items?  What features do you want to see in your games?

- br3ntbr0

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 6 comments on 01/26/2010.
Posted in: Featured, Opinion Tags: All Points Bulletin, BioWare, Blizzard, Cataclysm, Global Agenda, Modern Warfare 2, Steam, Valve, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft

The 1st Annual 2009 Golden Noob Awards

In the same vein as every ceremony that awards a trophy to an actor or musician we bring you ITG’s 1st annual game awards: The Golden Noob Awards! The Golden Noob is a virtual trophy awarded by ITG staff every year as a way to bestow praise (or disdain) upon the games that have crossed our paths in the year that was. Getting a Golden Noob trophy is an honor (or disgrace, depending on why it is awarded) to receive because we are all gamers as well as writers.

Without further delay, here are the ITG staff picks for game of the year, as well as our picks in other categories that we formulated to cover our 2009 gaming experiences. Keep in mind that some of us own consoles, some don’t. Some of us have played certain titles, and some of us didn’t have it in our budgets to play everything out there. We all own PC’s, but please understand that there are many games we haven’t played. These picks cover the things we experienced, and some really good (or bad) games might be left out. Not all games were necessarily launched in 2009, but had an impact on us enough to warrant them finding an award in this post. That said, let’s begin!

Category: Let down of the year. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Aion
Aion was so predictable to me. Flashy graphics with metro-sexual, emo-styled characters and an over abundance of grind. A few gimmicks were there to keep a few hundred thousand around for a while, but that will be crushed under Blizzard’s Cataclysm boot and be in the same boat as Warhammer. I knew it wasn’t the game for me, and that it was very likely to contain all the MMO things that Koreans like and Americans don’t. After reading story after story about boredom, grind fests, PVP problems and the like…no other game can claim this title. I’m glad I resisted the urge to buy this game, simply because it was the popular game to jump to in September. Honorable mentions go out to Warhammer Online, Fallout 3 and Champions Online.

Rackham – Warhammer Online
For me it was Warhammer Online. We all believed the hype and drooled at the IP, but at the end of the day, technical issues and lack of end game draw was enough for me to leave it. It was a gorgeous game and the PVP mechanics are unmatched, but it just was lacking that special something.

Oakstout – Champions Online
Champions Online was a fun and enjoyable game, but overall it felt like a game rushed out the door. It felt like City of Heroes 2, not that this is a bad thing, but it wasn’t going to pull people away from an already well established game, which would have been their core player. It had quest progression issues that left people grinding mobs just to level up without anything substantial for them to do at end game. It was pretty and there were nice effects, but if you don’t have the content to keep people interested your going to lose players. To be honest, it seemed more like a game to generate money while Cryptic worked on bringing Star Trek Online to the masses.

Kaldeem – Warhammer Online
I’d have to agree on this one, as I pre-ordered WAR only to play for 3 months and cancel my subscription. While yes War was fun and a bit different, I think there was more hype then potential in this game, and I hate to see something with so much potential go to such a waste.

Carlosjuero – Aion
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised at how disappointed I was with Aion – it was truly over hyped for a game that already was released and doing ‘well’ in Asia. That said I did jump in hoping to be proved wrong – sadly, the anticipation I felt for the game for years died out within a few weeks into Beta. While some of the ideas are interesting (Flight), it just has this feel of… well.. mediocrity. Top it off with a community that can, at times, but ‘The Barrens Chat’ to shame – this game definitely is the Bomb of the Year. (Close second: Champions Online)

JoBildo – Champions Online
I wanted to love this game so badly. Part of me still does. The character creator is amazing, the combat can be a lot of fun, and the Crisis Zones are a good way to do story-driven content. But the bugs, the lack of documentation, the rubber-banding, the lack of content in the mid-levels, and of course the infamous launch day patch made this a game I’ll probably check in on from time to time, but never really dig into the way I’d once hoped to.

Genda – Aion
What can I say. Not really surprised here as this was obviously the Flavor of the Month from the get-go. I’m sure it has a lot to recommend it, but I stand by my original call on The Grouchy Gamer. The two biggest things going against it are the Asian influence (the grind) and the PVP-dependency. I still don’t think you can have a persistent world that is based around PVP because of balancing (classes and factions) and lack of actual content. Not hard to see this one coming, obviously if I did.

Winner: Aion.

Category: Surprise of the year. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Dragon Age: Origins
There were a few things I didn’t think were all that great about dragon age, but let me stress the word few. I know its hard to believe that I was surprised by a game so highly hyped and advertised before its launch, but I was someone who wasn’t even really looking forward to playing the game. Maybe I was so surprised because I had never played a BioWare RPG game before, but I was really sucked into this game. I enjoyed the story lines and played through the entire campaign twice. I was really surprised at how much I liked the combat. It was very tactical, but didn’t make me feel like there was more going on than I could handle. It came very close to being my game of the year, and the only reason I didn’t make it my game of the year was that it was such a surprise that I liked it so much. So, I made the surprise of the year category and it fit here just perfect for me. Honorable mentions go out to Modern Warfare 2, Dungeons and Dragons Online (post f2p change), and Torchlight.

Rackham – Wizards 101
Yes, you heard me right! My son was getting bored of his “kids’ MMO”, Fusion Fall, when I decided to look into this game as a possible alternate. I found myself enjoying this game so much that I signed up for two accounts right away. One for my son, and one for me. After showing the game to my (very non-gamer) wife, she was immediately drawn in. Not long after, I found my current Wizards101 account hijacked by my wife and we ended up buying the family subscription to the game. Any MMO that has my ENTIRE family playing together online is something short of miraculous. For those enticed by that story, Wizards 101 is definitely a kids game, but works on a card-combat mechanic. If you’ve ever longingly looked at all those old Magic: the Gathering cards collecting dust on your shelf, then be sure to check this game out. You’ll be hooked during the first tutorial mission!

Oakstout – Torchlight
I can’t say enough about this little game. It is everything a Diablo successor should be and more. So many great innovative features from having a pet that will run to town and sell items out of your inventory to being able to have an account bank that lets you trade items among your different toons. The graphics are superb and don’t require a massive machine to run. It is a great hack and slash game that is easy to get into and out of without too much trouble and for $20.00 it’s a steal.

Kaldeem – Dungeons and Dragons Online:Eberron Unlimited
While I haven’t gotten far in DDO, this is by far the most fun I’ve had in a MMO in a while. The graphics are grade A even comparable to Wow/War. Huge player base from what I can tell and is just really well done. WELL DONE!

Carlosjuero – Torchlight
I probably shouldn’t have been surprised by this game considering the development team (creative minds behind Mythos, and many Diablo development vets) – I was blown away at how fun it was to just dive into and go around chopping things up. Sure, long term-playability (vanilla) isn’t great – but it is an awesome game for a low budget indie title. With a toolset released that is the same as used to develop the game, this game has a ton of potential.

Jobildo – Batman: Arkham Asylum
So many comic book games are utter garbage. Batman has never had a hit, and the closest I’d say he’s come was the movie tie-in of Batman Returns back on the SNES. So I was admittedly skeptical that an unknown studio could make a stellar game based on the Caped Crusader. But the blend of stealth, action, puzzle solving, and story-telling (not to mention a really well done focus on Bruce Wayne’s gadgetry) made this one of my favorite games of this and recent years.

Genda – Torchlight
OK it’s not Diablo, and it’s kinda smallish. But for $20 you can’t find more bang for your gaming buck. Hack and slash your way to the bottom of the dungeon and collect your phat lewts. If this had multiplayer it would probably be my GOTY.

Winner: Torchlight

Category: Best game I didn’t play. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Borderlands
Borderlands looked like a unique game. Cooperative games like Left 4 Dead scratched my small group itch very well, and this game appeared to be in the same mold. I watched plenty of footage, read many articles and followed this game closely. Alas, my budget didn’t allow me to grab this one as it launched in a period when many games were coming to market. Honorable mention goes out to Fallen Earth, but my lack of enthusiasm for post apocalyptic games is very low. However, I have yet to hear any knowledgeable gamer say anything very bad about it.

Rackham – Dragon Age: Origins
I’m breaking from my standard mold by not being one of the millions out there playing this game. If that response sparks the “Aww man! You REALLY gotta try this game!” response in you, then fret not. I may give the game a go around Christmas. Nobody can top Bioware in storytelling, and eventually I’ll cave in and experience this game to the fullest.

Oakstout – Dawn of War 2
Dawn of War 2 is at heart a RTS game that is trying really hard to break into the RPG genre. You can level up your main character, adjust stats, load in and out different squad mates for specific missions and there lots of great loot to be shuffled around. But like all things, I purchased it at the beginning of the year right around the time I got back into World of Warcraft so its been sitting on the hard drive collecting virtual dust, but it is a great game and well worth picking up.

Kaldeem – Tie: Dragon Age/Torchlight/L4D2
Here are three titles that I really want but didn’t get to buy (so far) and have plans on picking them up in the next few months. Not much more to say about these titles but I can ogle a bit for visual effect?

Carlosjuero – Left 4 Dead 2
This iteration of Left 4 Dead seems to build on the promise that the first one just hinted at, with more ‘long term’ love available I think. With all of the hoopla about the ‘Boycott’ the gaming world certainly turned around quick and L4D2 is one of the top played games on Steam (at least in my friends list) from what I have noticed.

Jobilido – Borderlands
I didn’t completely avoid Borderlands. I own it, in fact. But I’ve yet to really dig into it, despite my friends’ begging and pleading that I do. It doesn’t take a lot of brain power to see why a game that blends the loot and leveling addiction of the Diablo series with the run and gun action of Gearbox’s other titles might make for one hell of a co-op experience. I’ll get around to enjoying this one in 2010… maybe.

Genda – Dragon Age: Origins
Just didn’t have time to play it right now. From the looks of the blogosphere and the outrageous amount of attention this got in my Twitter circle, this was an amazing release. I’ll probably give this a look down the line although single-player RPG’s haven’t ever really been my cup of tea. I’ve been able to avoid spoilers thanks to most of the bloggers being really good about posting spoiler alerts. Thanks guys!

Winner: Dragon Age: Origins

Category: 2009 overall game of the year. The nominees:

Br3ntbr0 – Left 4 Dead 2
I’m a huge fan of valve games. Team fortress 1 and 2 will make the top of my all time favorite games lists, and so will Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. Valve continued their great game making by taking a fantastic game and improving and expanding on it in some very good ways. The characters are funny and likeable (Coach’s “one man cheeseburger apocalypse” makes me laugh every time I hear it), the new game play modes add strategic twists to already fun game play, the weapons are just flat out better, and the new special infected shake things up in new, fun and challenging ways. The upcoming Midnight Riders DLC already gives more to look forward to in this game. There’s just not been anything better in 2009 than finding 3 strangers to battle zombie hordes with. If only more on the ITG staff played, we’d have our own regular squad! While some might argue against this game citing “more of the same” I’d just say to each his own. These are opinions we are each entitled to have, and this was – in my opinion – the best game I played in 2009.

Rackham – World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Any game that can keep me returning back to the running treadmills for 5 years must have something going for it. The game has grown to such a degree that it is the benchmark by which other MMOs are measured, whether they intend to or not. Eventually the ivory tower may crack as eventually others games with much more creative thinking behind it will eventually chip away at it. Either that or Blizzard employees will drown to death in their massive stacks of money.

Oakstout – Dragon Age: Origins
This game wasn’t even on my radar. Sure, Pete would blog about it every other day, but still, nothing I would really see myself playing. I’d tried Mass Effect and wasn’t into the whole dialog tree of gaming. If I wanted to read, I would pick up a good book, not play a video game. However, this game is awesome. The dialog is fun and helps propel the story forward as opposed to bogging it down. There are a number of different characters you can play and each story is unique. The best part of the story telling is that it is a doorway to the best part of the game, the fighting. The game is full of the best action I’ve seen in a game in a very long time and it gets pretty tense and hairy at times. Although the game is available for many console systems, I chose the PC version because it gives you the ability to pause the action anytime to reassign melee attacks and spell casting so you can best protect your little adventuring group. The game is full of surprise and it looks fantastic. They did a very good job on the graphics and sound for this game. I can’t think of any other game that I would even consider for game of the year.

Kaldeem- World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Yeah, I would have to agree with Rackham here. I like Wow, and had HIGH hopes for Wotlk upon rushing to Walmart and spending my last $50 on this, I mean it was freaking great the first time I hit 80, and yeah…treadmills suck in real life, and that carries over in game also! Still my GOTY vote!

Carlosjuero – Dragon Age: Origins
I am a complete ‘fanboi’ when it comes to this game, and I am not afraid to admit it! I haven’t played an RPG in many years that drew me in as much as this one has – from the choices that have to be made (some of which may not be your particular cup of tea) to the in depth characters and story… Dragon Age delivers on all levels for me.

Jobildo – Dragon Age: Origins
BioWare has consistently made the best and most engaging role-playing experiences since 1990s and this trend doesn’t change with the spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate. I’d even be bold enough to say that Dragon Age bests the classic Black Isle Studios series to the point where I won’t go back every couple years to play them, and instead I’ll be taking a trip down memory lane by diving into Ferelden once in a blue moon. BioWare’s at the top of their game these past few years, and if Mass Effect 2 is as good as Dragon Age is, I’ll be even more excited to see what the Canucks bring to the MMOG table with Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Genda – Borderlands
I haven’t played this as much as I’d like but the multiplayer is a freaking blast. Good story, good music, fun gameplay. All in all a good run at a console game. Truthfully, I’m looking forward to next year to see what rises up. Some really good games this year, but I’m hoping for greatness in 2010. Especially if Bioware comes through and if Cataclysm is as big an improvement over WOTLK as Wrath was over TBC.

Winner: Dragon Age: Origins

So there you have it. The gamers have spoken, and BioWare’s RPG comes out huge with 2 Golden Noob awards and positive mentions in other categories. Borderlands, Left 4 Dead 2, Torchlight and World of Warcraft come away with positive mentions as well.

What do you think? Agree or disagree with these nominations and the chosen winners? Let us know!

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with 2 comments on 12/07/2009.
Posted in: Featured, Opinion Tags: All Points Bulletin, Awards, BioShock 2, Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins, Global Agenda, Left 4 Dead 2, Modern Warfare 2, Star Wars: The Old Repbulic, Torchlight, World of Warcraft, WoW

APB’s podcast went up recently and it shows the final stretch of the long running game play segments that RTW has been showing us through these podcasts.  This time, we see more gun play and a little vehicle action but also a bit about how player’s levels are displayed and the “call for backup” mechanic.  An additional feature was shown, where the cops can arrest a criminal…or your crooked cop buddy can execute them while you are reading them their rights.  Check the clip below to see it all in action:

© Posted by br3ntbr0 for Im Talkin Games with No comments on 10/17/2009.
Posted in: Beta, Featured, Video Tags: All Points Bulletin, Podcast, Realtime Worlds