So, it seems that there's to be a new 40k game. This time, however, it seems they are trying to revive the dark millenium-style MMORPG experience. We all would have loved to see the multiplayer titan battles in DM, but sadly the studio THQ (also behind Dawn of War) went bankrupt and the project died.
So, a few years later, we have another company going for essentially the same thing. I was certainly not the first to compare the two, but apparently they are totally separate projects. Eternal Crusade is styled an action-MMORPG, meaning that the combat more resembles Halo than WoW, both in the precision/timing divide and in the existence of pilot-able vehicles. And, you know, dakka.
Whereas the traditional MMO has the player leveling up and increasing in power over time, Eternal Crusade`s focus is much more on replayable battles - in my opinion they are taking the success of the recent Space Marine game and comparing it favourably to the curdled milk sponge that was Warhammer Online.
The problem with WAR's model was that it was simply too similar to WoW. Warcraft has the fantasy MMO market, period. Pretty much no other game can touch that, and that was even more the case five years ago when WAR was released. The leveling experience had some cool gimmicks (public quests and PvP experience are cool in theory, at least until you remember you're on the internet and people are assholes), but overall I had already played that game, in Azeroth. The people who had to clean up WAR's shit-stained, drooling carcass learned that you cant crack that lvl 90 citadel.
To this end, so the story goes, in Eternal Crusade, once you select a class, your basic capabilities are the same as any one else's; as you progress through the game you unlock specialized wargear and tactical abilities, but presumably your character is never less powerful than anyone elses. This lets you get right into the most intense gameplay right from the get-go, while still maintaining the satisfaction of advancement. Hopefully the power differential will not too badly skew the game balance, although as they are going for a factional rivalry, its inevitable that we will get the "orks iz overpowered, spess mahreens are too shitty" etc.
Just a few notes as regards whats already been spoiled. There are four playable races so far (pic below), though they optimistically note that more will gestate over the lifetime of Crusade.
Whereas the traditional MMO has the player leveling up and increasing in power over time, Eternal Crusade`s focus is much more on replayable battles - in my opinion they are taking the success of the recent Space Marine game and comparing it favourably to the curdled milk sponge that was Warhammer Online.
The problem with WAR's model was that it was simply too similar to WoW. Warcraft has the fantasy MMO market, period. Pretty much no other game can touch that, and that was even more the case five years ago when WAR was released. The leveling experience had some cool gimmicks (public quests and PvP experience are cool in theory, at least until you remember you're on the internet and people are assholes), but overall I had already played that game, in Azeroth. The people who had to clean up WAR's shit-stained, drooling carcass learned that you cant crack that lvl 90 citadel.
To this end, so the story goes, in Eternal Crusade, once you select a class, your basic capabilities are the same as any one else's; as you progress through the game you unlock specialized wargear and tactical abilities, but presumably your character is never less powerful than anyone elses. This lets you get right into the most intense gameplay right from the get-go, while still maintaining the satisfaction of advancement. Hopefully the power differential will not too badly skew the game balance, although as they are going for a factional rivalry, its inevitable that we will get the "orks iz overpowered, spess mahreens are too shitty" etc.
Just a few notes as regards whats already been spoiled. There are four playable races so far (pic below), though they optimistically note that more will gestate over the lifetime of Crusade.
Right now they havent determined what payment model they are going with, although it seems that in any case they will have multiple fees- apart from the game key itself you're looking at either microtransactions (for bits of new gear and doodads and such) or a monthly subscription (ala premium). The way that they put it, they hope to build a lively community with this game so hopefully they will have alot of freebies, or hopefully a free to play option. Theyve also mentioned player organizations (guilds or battle companies or what have you) based off of orbiting warships, so thats really fucking cool too.
Honestly, though, as this game in not slated for release until the end of 2015, I cant get my hopes up too high yet. I remember when my excitement for Warhammer Online reached a peak fully a year before the game was released. How many goddamn delays did we have for that game? I waited and waited and watched all of those maddening development diaries. How many other amazing projects have been strangled over their elongated development cycle? I just hope this promising project meets no catastrophe of its own, and hopefully by 2015 they will have a game I would be willing to pay for.
Hopefully by 2015 I'll have a computer that can play games.
ReplyDeleteThis looks sweet so far...but yeah with it coming out in 2015 we may get one different package. Lets hope for the best...the gameplay video looks cool. Bolter tracer rounds look suitably big and spray-ey, I hope chainswords are done well. I'm also hoping not everyone is a Space Marine, i.e. they have cool classes for xeno scum as well.
ReplyDeleteYeah i know i was a bit confusing but the gameplay video i posted was for Dark Millenium which is now dead... A different company is filling in the opening but there arent yet any gameplay trailers for Eternal Crusade. The closest you can get is a small over the shoulder look at some alpha/pre-alpha gameplay here:
Deletehttp://youtu.be/OzqRigwDVAI