Saturday, September 10, 2011

Flyff Online

Fly For Fun (better known as Flyff) is one of the most famous old school MMOs around. Although the game is old, the servers are still populated. Either it's just the fanbase working or the game really is that damn good (I'd probably go with the latter one). Flyff is a very memorable game for me. Not only was it my first 3D MMO, it was also the game that exposed me to the world of flight. In game flight was pretty hard to grasp during those days, and having an option to do so makes this game extremely awesome. Looking at the in game elements and mechanics from this era, Flyff doesn't really have that much to offer; however, it was pretty huge and rather innovative during at the time. As a modern gamer, I'd say an awesome game like this demands that we travel back in time and review it as though the game was still in its prime. Compared to other MMOs, Flyff really has less to offer when it comes to character creation. You can only create up to three characters, with little premade options to choose from. Aside from the gender option, players can customize their characters further by picking between an array of premade faces and hairstyles that don't really have that much variety. The hair color option doesn't seem to work either, meaning you'll be stuck with the standard hair color until you decide to wear something over your head. If you think about it, being old does not give the game an excuse for the lack of character customization. Ragnarok Online's pretty old as well, but it still gave us the ability to change our hair color, right? 

Flyff Starting Up


After creating your Vagrant (newbie class), you'll be catapulted straight to the newbie grounds where you must satisfy a series of tutorial instructions to familiarize yourself with the ingame controls. Once you've grasped the game's control scheme, you're ready to grind like hell.Even though the whole idea of job changing is slowly diminishing from the MMO scene (at least with the presence of the archetype system), I still think that this feature is golden and must be used for other upcoming MMOs. Like I said, players will start as a Vagrant and must work their way to level 15 in order to change jobs. There are around 12 jobs in the game, including the second classes that are attainable on level 60. Anyway, let's not rush that and head over to the first jobs.

First jobs are as follows:

1.Acrobat- A long distanced fighter who utilizes the use of bows and yoyos. Your average DEX type character with a ranged twist
2.Assist- A pretty weird class... kinda like a mixture of a healer and warrior. Funny name though... kinda like a basketball player. Assists can buff and heal but are formidable attackers as well. Paladin?
3.Magician- Your average spellcaster. Can muster a burst of damage with a flick of his/her magic wand. Low HP... wonder what'll happen if they gave magic users a higher health ratio XD.
4.Mercenary- The typical warrior. Can withstand heavy attacks as much as he/she can deal them. An expert at close combat. Although I don't remember doing any of these during the old days, Flyff features a nice lineup of quests to keep their players entertained. There are dungeon quests, solo quests, and the mandatory job quests. I'm still not that impressed with the whole "bring me" factor, but having something that gives you extra exp while grinding is rather helpful when rushing levels. Guild quests are also fun to do, as it exercises the main point of why it is called an MMO to begin with.

Flyff Dungeon Quest


If you're into PVP then I suggest you enter the Open PVP server. There players are free to duel each other to their heart's content. Come to think about it, the game does have a nice PVP system as they allow players to duke it out in an open arena made for PVPers. Guilds can also participate in group battles, which in my opinion is tons better than dueling one-on-one. Nothing beats an all out war! Of course it wouldn't be FUN if we didn't talk about FLYING right? After purchasing your first broom or whatever, you'll be soaring the skies like crazy. It literally is "Fly For Fun" as the only point of getting a flying mount is for heck of it. It's amazing being able to see the world from above. You can attack mobs from the air, but I don't really see the relevance of this action as it's actually faster to grind from the ground. Much like other RPGs, players will be able to reach new places after acquiring their ability to fly. Flying is now a basic feature in other MMOs, but damn it was awesome during those times.

Flyff Fly For Fun


Although the graphics are pretty much outdated now, it served as my big leap to the 3D platform back in the day. The visuals were brilliantly laid out and the background was just marvelous to behold. I guess the best way to admire the scenery is from above, but it's not that big of a problem as the game does involve flying around. The visuals sport the same cartoony feel as Rose Online. A bit weak compared to our modern MMOs but like I said, it was practically God back then. The interface is simple and easy to comprehend. There's the mock windows start menu that gives you access to all your stats and other in game functions. It's kind of humorous if you ask me.


Flyff Graphics


Despite its age, Flyff is one tough cookie. Not only is it alive and kicking, the game also updates itself regularly with gratuitous amounts of content, allowing it to stay on par with our modern MMOs. A nostalgic game that refuses to be a memory... Flyff is still worth your time and effort.


Cabal Online



Cabal Online is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG by ESTsoft. The game has a fast paced combat system and looks a lot like a more graphically impressive Silkroad Online. The game has a fair amount of variety with its six playable classes and varied maps. The game certainly doesn’t reinvent the MMORPG genre, but it’s a polished fantasy title with a lot of unique features to explore.

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The most innovative aspect of Cabal Online’s fast paced combat is the game’s combo system. After reaching level 10, players can use combo attacks which require players to time their attacks for them to do additional damage. This is an interesting system that I’d like to see other MMORPGs employ, because it spices up an otherwise incredibly boring and repetitive part of a game; the grinding. At least in Cabal Online, you can perform combos to keep you entertained while you grind. This feature became popularized in console RPGs and I’m glad that at least one MMORPG incorporated it into its combat, as it also adds skill into the combat. The more advanced a skill is, the harder it is to land perfect combos, so you’ll need to practice to get better.























Although Cabal Online doesn’t reinvent the MMORPG genre, it’s still a fun game to play, especially if you’ve already played a lot of the Free MMORPGs out there and are looking for something new to try. The game has a fun PvP system and an interested fast paced combat system with gorgeously animated graphics. The gameplay is extremely polished and is the game’s varied classes and environments will keep you coming for more. The game used to be published by OG Planet who also publishes LaTale, Rumble Fighter, Lost Saga and Hockey Dash, but is now being published by ESTsoft, the game’s original developer.







Ran Online




Ran Online is uniquely themed MMORPG developed by the Koran studio Min Communications. While it was first released back in 2006, it failed to gain an audience outside Asia and the international service was quickly shut down. Fans were still able to access an English language version of the game based in The Philippines, but high ping and rough translations were unavoidable. In September of 2009 the original developers decided to re-launch the game under the title Ran World. Though it is still the only game of its kind on the market, Ran Online has not aged well and suffers from generic graphics and gameplay.


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Ran Online doesn’t have a formal tutorial.  Instead, new players find themselves in their university’s courtyard surrounded by hostile hooligans. Nearby NPCs, including one aptly named ‘CLICK ME!’, provide players with basic instructions and quests to perform. Additional text hints appear near the center of the screen explaining the game’s controls. RAN Online has a standard click-to-move interface similar to the system found in many Asian MMORPGs. The graphics are not very impressive, but the game supports almost every resolution, including my monitor’s native 1920 by 1080. The client runs in both full-screen and windowed mode and there are several visual settings which can be set to low, medium, or high. Additional features such as ‘glow effect’ or ‘field shadow’ can be checked on or off but even with everything set as high as possible, the visuals are mediocre at best. Ran Online does a poor job of giving new player a sense of purpose or direction. I quickly found myself simply grinding off the low level enemies in the starting area after giving up on the difficult to understand quest instructions. Luckily, the experience rate is rapid during the first few levels. Players receive three stat points per level to assign among five stats: POV, DEX, INT, VIT, and STM. Veteran gamers shouldn’t have too much difficulty figuring the stats out, but just keep in mind that ‘VIT’ raises HP while ‘STM’ raises MP.Players can buy items via the game publisher's website. Players load up with cards bought at various stores and the credits are used in buying items at the website. These items can be anything from potions, costumes, accessories, weapons, etc. Once bought, these items are sent in their Item Bank wherein the player can remove them any time to be put in his/her inventory. Whilst in the item bank, items with expiry dates will have their timers stopped.


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Players start with several skills at their disposal, along with a newbie pack that contains a pet husky, a hoverboard, and some consumables. Eventually, players will have to make their way towards their class trainer located in the ‘Main Area.’ The minimap (m) and red arrows located on the floor can guide players to this area, wherein NPCs have skill scrolls for sale. Each skill has its own prerequisites, which include a certain rank in a previous skill and a minimum value in a certain stat. Players can earn additional skill points both by leveling up and by completing NPC assigned tasks. The quests that reward skill points are generally much longer and involved than those that simply reward experience, but are still well worth doing. The first dozen or so levels in Ran are spent killing nearly identical humanoid foes with slightly varied names. ‘Hooligans’ make way to ‘Thugs’, which in turn make way to ‘Slashers’ and so on. Eventually, players progress to hunting undead monsters (such as zombies). Further down the road, demons and other more powerful, evil beings make up the grind fodder. Interestingly, the best way to progress in level throughout RAN is not by questing but by hunting certain monsters in medium-sized parties. As of now there is only a single lightly populated server for the new Global version of the game, so it may be difficult to find other gamers to play with.

Angry Birds




Angry Birds may have been one of the most anticipated Windows Phone games. Most are familiar with the game as it's been available for some time on other platforms.  While I've played my fair share of Angry Birds on other platforms, it was nice (almost refreshing) to see the popular game come to the Windows Phone platform.For those not familiar with the game, evil pigs have stolen the birds eggs and have angered the feathered population. Negotiations fail and to arms (or wings) the birds go.  The pigs fortify their positions with sticks, rocks, and anything else they can get their hoofs on.  Your mission is to destroy the pigs by hurling an assortment of birds at them from a slingshot.  You work your way through the various levels to eventually take on the pig king.Sounds easy, right? Shoot on past the break to see how the Windows Phone version of Angry Birds measures up.






From the main menu you can launch the game, check the leader board and achievements and access Angry Birds YouTube videos. When you launch the game, you'll see four chapters (plus a Golden Egg bonus chapter) and within each chapter you have various levels that will progressively unlock as you complete them. Once you complete the first chapter, the second, third and fourth chapters unlock. All in all, there's 165 levels of play throughout the four chapters to Angry Birds.The gaming screen is consistent with other versions. You have your high score for that level and current score displayed in the top right corner with a pause button in the left corner. When the game is paused, you have the options to re-start the level, access the chapter level menu, mute the sounds, and access the help section.

Heroes Of Newerth



Heroes of Newerth is a 3D fantasy MMO with team based, competitive gameplay. Inspired by DotA, Heroes of Newerth allows players to chose from a large rooster of heroes and battle it out as part of the Legion or the Hellbourne. Heroes of Newerth lets you enter the role of a member of the alliance of the previous games two opposing forces (Legion and Beasts), or as the Hellbourne, an invading force of demonic and other fellows of doubtable repute as you duke  it out over a handful of maps, but most likely, Forest of Caldavar, the traditional DotA style, community favorite map. It all functions exactly like the Defense of the Ancients described above, albeit with a bit more of complexity. You start out in the very complete menu interface, where you either get to play through matchmaking or by joining a custom, listed game. This is also the place where you get to check your stats, the Herodex and the store, but more on that later. Custom games have up to 4 playable maps, while matchmaking only has two. Most games turn out to be 5v5, but 3v3 is the second most popular, usually played on Grimm’s Crossing. There is a fair amount of modes, such as All Pick, All Random, Single Draft, Banning Draft, etc. most of which are centered on which hero you pick. This is a fairly important phase too, as which characters your team picks and how they synergize can very easily make the difference between victory and defeat, and let me tell you, the hero selection is not only huge, but also constantly growing. The downside however, is that unless you’ve purchased the heroes for use, only a limited amount of them are unlocked on a rotation each week. Once that’s done however, the fun starts.

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Games generally play out over anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, informally divided as early game, mid-game and late game. This is fairly important, as some heroes are specifically designed to excel in one of those over the others. For an example, intelligence heroes will excel in early and mid-game, using powerful non-scaling spells to slam their opponents into submission, while agility heroes specialize in late-game, and whose role is specifically to carry their team to victory after the 30 minutes mark, which they could not do earlier due to their fragility. Gameplay can generally get quite complex, and most players can expect to lose the majority of their early games. Those who do not enjoy this style of play will find out very quickly whether this is for them, as they are immediately put face to face with the learning curve and simultaneously the pressure to perform. Your performance depends directly on what kind of items you build, and your capacity to use your abilities at the right time, and the right place. Thankfully, Heroes of Newerth comes with a fairly complete tutorial geared at explaining the basics, like denying (killing your own creeps to deny the enemy money) and last hitting (in order to get money). Even more helpful is the presence of in-game character and item guides, written and approved by the community. A quick trip to the game’s forums can also explain more advanced concepts like juking, creep pulling and backdooring.

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Heroes of Newerth is great, and just one tip-toe away from being excellent. All that holds it back is its learning curve, limited maps and the occasional glitch. That said, it’s an amazing experience that successfully combines RPG and Strategy elements into a successful, addicting product. It has created around it a solid, competitive community, and as a Savage fan, I am proud to see Heroes of Newerth carry the series forward. If you have not tried it yet, there never was a better time!


Counter-Strike








Counter-Strike (or CS) is one of the most played Half-Life mods ever. Let me start off by saying the Counter-Strike is an Amazing game. For one, it has good visuals (atleast when it was released), Action Packed gameplay and realistic damage. Now, in terms of Gameplay, you have two teams: Counter-Terrorists (CT's) and Terrorists (T's). They are pitted to fight eachother in various game types (Well, 2 gametypes.) One of the Gametypes is Hostage Rescue, where there are hostages in the map and the CT's have to Rescue them into some Zone in the map. It's usually the CT's spawn where you have to Rescue them. Now the T's have to actually Defend the hostages and Kill the CT's. Most of the Time, people ignore the Hostages, so they just go on to kill the CT's or T's. A bit frustrating, but when you are playing competative or on a Server, it's all good. Another Gametype is called Defuse (hence the de_ in some of the map names.) The T's have to get a Bomb and Plant it in either the A or B bomb sites, and the CT's have to kill all of the T's. Now, if the T's do plant the bomb, however, the CT's have to Defuse it. It's really cool if you are playing competative. The guns feel also nice, because unlike Call of Duty, THEY ARE ACTUALLY BALANCED! When you die from someone, you actually feel like it's your fault. And there is also alot of Recoil. And when I mean alot, I mean ALOT.You can actually equip a Tactical Shield (or a Riot shield in Real Life), but it's pretty overpowered, because when you have it, basicly no one can kill you. In terms of sound, it's great. The Sound makes you feel like you are in a War zone, which is a Incredible achievement. Now, the Visuals don't compare to todays standarts, but they were pretty good at the time! And you think that 2 Gametypes are not enough for you? Well, since Valve opened the Floodgates to the Modding Community when HL1 was released, CS has alot of Modding tools which will help you make your own mod. You can make you're own Maps, Weapons, EVEN VEHICLES! There is endless creativity! You can even update the Visuals to meet the Source standarts! So even if you don't like the looks of the game, just download a Skin pack and depending on what Skin you have downloaded, it will make the game look much better.Don't want to make a mod? Well, why don't you join a Modded server where you can play Zombies, Surf and alot of other stuff.Bottom line is, is that Counter-Strike will entertain you for Years to come. Thank you, Valve, for releasing this amazing product.You can buy the Retail version, or you can download the Digital version through Valve's Steam platform.


Defence Of The Ancients







Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) is a custom map for Warcraft 3 that has been around for four years. WC3 itself has been around for almost five years. This might qualify it as “best game ever” status (and it indeed received this status). The flip side is, DOTA is still actively maintained, has a huge community, and has a number of sponsored leagues, including at various Blizzard events. More bizarrely demonstrating the cult status of DOTA is the work of Swedish DJ Basshunter. Accordingly, given the active maintenance and evolution of the game, it’s hard to give it the necessary dinosaur status a Best Game ever has. Regardless of what you call it, DOTA has been amusing gamers, including myself, for a very long time. It is, by an order of magnitude, the most popular Warcraft 3 custom map. The ongoing support and development of the map, particularly in today’s age of ADD gamers and game mod writers, is amazing. Most people give up after a few months. DOTA wasn’t different in this regard, but has always has a continuous team where if one developer dropped off the face of the earth (such as the map’s original designer, Eul), others have stepped up to keep the map, and community, alive.



DOTA is pretty simple in concept. You control a single hero, chosen from 80 possible choices. Although there are certain hero “types” that are similar, the skill sets are sufficiently different so as to require different play styles. Each character has three regular skills and one super skill, and can level up to 25 at the highest. You have six item slots, which can be filled with various items (some of which can be combined to form more powerful items). In the past, certain heroes were substantially more powerful than others, but nowadays the game is sufficiently mature and balanced that there are few truly “imbalanced” heroes. The map features three ‘lanes,’ with defensive towers and a steady spawn supply of computer controled grunt troops known as “creeps.” The game features up to five humans to a team, and your goal is to push out the lanes, into the enemy base, destroying their command structure (Tree of Life or Frozen Throne) for victory. The map has sufficient twists and turns between the lanes, in conjunction with some “neutral creeps” to give plenty of playing space, and lots of opportunities for ambushes (or “ganks” as the l33t kids call it). The strength of DOTA is replayability. With 60+ heroes and almost 100 items, the game has nearly endless combination that keep it from getting old. There are several ‘match types’, such as “all random,” where all players get a random hero, or deathmatch, where you auto random into a new hero upon death. Because of the many different potential hero combinations, your play style will differ based on the characters your team gets vs. your opponents team (as will your item and skill builds). The map’s developers continue to this day to update with new versions, adding new heroes and new items. This has managed to keep the game fresh, even after years and hundreds, if not thousands, of games played.