I tried Star Trek Online

 

After literally months of intent i have finally downloaded a Star Trek online trail. The download its self was quite a large file sizes i assume, from the size that even though its marked as a trial client that it is in fact pretty much the whole game. The trial has no time restraints and gives you a fairly hefty chunk of the opening game.

The character creation is simple but satisfactory i chose a Trill character. and grinned to myself as i selected my uniform.

The original and only Mr Spock gives a wonderful voice over about what it means to be in Star Fleet and some blah blah blah later you start your game.

The game is in many ways a fan boy paradise, you open on a space station (or ship I’m not sure really) that is under attack from the Borg, like any Star Fleet officer worth his salt you quickly spring to action and run about the station shooting Borg drones and messing with important looking panels, that is after a conversation with the commander in his big chair.

Then after some more running about, and some destruction of Borg property you get on a transporter pad (that’s very over sized) and next thing you know your flying a space ship (impressive looking 3rd person view not a command chair on bridge as I had hoped)

Please be aware that this this is over simplifying a very sold plot sequence. I must say i did squeal to myself when i saw a run-about in a hanger and my first moments commanding a ship where very entertaining.

The problems i had with the game cropped up very quickly. i was given a phaser rifle as soon as i started my first away mission and spent the time shooting Borg’s i realised that this would not be a game about diplomacy and discovery and would be  about shooting things and getting loot.

Then when I eventually got to a station (a very traditional earth style mushroom looking station) i had the immersion breaking slap in the face of a large display that ready ‘happy anniversary star trek online’ and then after face-palming in the style of Captain Pickard. i moved on to an entertaining party that was making some noise just down the hall, to find that the party was being thrown by none other than Q… who apparently thinks there is no point being omnipotent if you can’t have a little fun.

I think that the game is fragmented and the more traditional ‘away mission’ type sequences feel detached from the space combat almost like i as playing two different games. as for the MMO aspect, it felt almost an after through to the strong single player experience i was having, this is becoming a trend for Cryptic Games though, they are more co-op than MMO and on a whole they have not got the sense of environment that you get from other games, each area feels more like a ‘map’ than a part of a world or in this case galaxy.

The game is great looking and handles well but there are issues. I think STO will fair much better as as free to play game, and at this point we can all see that that’s where the game is heading but even as a free to play title I’m not sure i can forgive the immersion breaking events that Cryptic seem so happy to insert into the game.

I’ve seen allot of star trek over the years and have loved deep space nine and the original series but its rare that star trek is about shooting and running, its never about loot and its always about the human condition and the constant striving for self improvement and peace, this game misses that point completely. i was in the end left unimpressed.

Champions online. 20 hours in.

I was looking forwards to champions online. Then when it was released there was no trial, so did not buy it. When a trial came i was let down by the game and ignored it for a good few months.

Recently i picked it up cheap at my local game store (£5) i installed updated and did not expect to be blown away by it. and then i played for a while (as my Xfire Profile shows)

I was wrong, the game has improved allot since its conception and all those little bugs that ruined the trial for me have been fixed (or at least lots of them have)

 

The Game is still great looking and very comic book even if not traditionally pretty its still easy on the eyes and runs very fluid (much better than when i ran the trial a few months ago)

For anyone who has not tried champions its worth saying that the game play is both simple and rewarding. You create your unique looking character (in the amazing creator) then go into the very busy feeling world (or tutorial)

you have two types of ability, ones that build ‘power’ and ones that use it. its better played on a pad as the game feels very arcade and i found myself hitting ‘x’ (my PowerBuilder) until the enemy’s where half way dead, then finishing them with my ‘Force Blast’ on the ‘Y’ button.

Not exactly LotRO’s level of finesse or refinement when it comes to combat but it is allot of fun to pound the bad guys until the fall down.

I am only 20 hours into the game but at this point i am having a great time zipping about Millennium city and kicking ass. the quests all pander to the games strengths too, the text is written tongue in check and its easy to figure out what you need to do, and to make it easier there are big green circles on the map pointing out ‘Target areas’ for you. usually i would say that this type of quest helper makes things too easy but in the case of Champions its more that is points you to the action than ruins any immersion.

There does seem to be a bug with the game that makes it impossible to play without a router reset once a session (appears to flood the connection) this is an irritation but the reset gives me time to get coffee. its also much more playable with a pad than a mouse and keyboard as the controls feel more responsive and fluid.

In conclusion i would say that the game is fun. not big or clever but fun. will i pay £8.99 a month for it? i don’t know, while i am having fun yes but if it starts to get old then i will stop playing, there is no long term ‘hook’ that i can see but when hitting bad guys is this much fun i don’t worry about the future much.

404 Radio #42, “Panda has a poo ”

 

 

404 Radio #42, “Panda has a poo ”

This week we wait while panda goes to the toilet, we love cryptic again, everyone thinks Hex loves too much when he hates on the closure of original Xbox live network. we also pass some hate to apple and talk about myst online

Listen now: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/404-Radio/~5/VcNZwDCOf1M/404radiopodcast-214080-02-16-2010.mp3

Get us over at: http://www.tamworthgamers.co.uk

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Star Trek Online Developer interview.

As you may or may not remember us folks at 404 Radio/Tamworth-Gamers went to Eurogamer Expo in Leeds. While there we accosted a nice man with a Cryptic branded jacket, luckily you don’t have to take our word for it as we had it on video…..

We got some nuggets of information that are not that well publicised including some ship info and some mention of star bases.

Hope you enjoyed it and that it gives you some new insight into the game.

Euro Gamer Expo. Video’s and Pictures

Okay, so, I spent the day at Eurogamer Expo in Leeds (that’s in the UK you know) I had a fantastic day meeting up with people, chatting to game developers including some nice people from Introversion, Cryptic and Hi-Rez Studios.

I have uploaded some video I took on my phone and some pictures,Ii hope people enjoy them and don’t flame me too much for the quality but my little camera phone could not quite manage presentation quality. Its good for general sense of the game mechanics and animation though.

Bellow are three of the games I saw that impressed me the most, some pictures and video of each.

Star Trek Online

STO was really fluid looking, the game is really solid looking, it was no secret though that we where seeing a polished but early beta. the demo was 3 areas, one space area and 2 away missions, I am really sorry about the low quality video but unfortunately its the best i could get at the time.

if that above video does not play (upload issues) then here is the link to a version that will work http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkDiNwe_iyo

The above image is the Loading Screen, how awesome is that? those professional bloggers never show you loading screens lol.

One of the first things stat struck me about the space area is how its not black and cold looking, this zone is rich and interesting but still feels vast and epic.

Again, interesting and inventive space based eye candy. better than cold black space with little stars. there is a place for that kind of thing but it is nice to break it up a little.

Combat is inspired by naval battles with each monolithic ship ‘standing off’ against the other. We where assured that smaller ships take on a more fighter like feel but this slow and powerful combat works well for the larger ones.

the pop—up comes after you have completed your space based mission and gives you the ability to beam down to the planet for your first away mission.

Home Page: http://www.startrekonline.com/

Global Agenda.

Global agenda is a fantastic looking game with an interesting pricing plan in the works, apparently you buy the box and have free access to the standard PvP/PvE arena content then there is a optional subscription for advanced PvP and the PvE Story.

The video is really bad on this one but you can get a general vibe for the game, its got some of the best attention to detail i have ever seen in an action game, the movement is superb and the armour is fantastically well animated with no clipping or popping at all. i was really very impressed with this game.

Home Page: http://www.globalagendagame.com/

Cletus Clay.

This is an odd game its been created using stop motion animation, that means that they did not use 3D models but instead they had clay models that they animated to create the game motion. its really very fun and looks much better than my camera makes it look.

It is one of those smaller titles that really gets your attention. i found watching it in motion fascinating.

Some Stills from this game

All game models where crafted in clay to give the game an interesting look that is natural.

The images taken from the Clay models are used as textures for the 3D replica’s, this seams to give the game this unusually solid look, the models look and feel heavy and very solid. its really very interesting to play and watch.

All images can be clicked on for larger views

Home Page: http://www.cletusclay.com/

Thanks for reading/looking/watching.