History of MMO Games – Part I – DevilsMMO
Part one in a series of articles examining the history of the MMO genre, starting in 1974.
Starting Out In MMO Games – DevilsMMO
It wasn’t all that long ago that I hadn’t ever actually played an MMO. They always sounded amazing, if slightly geeky, and they offered an excellent opportunity to not only socialize but also play a quality video game. The MMO didn’t have the stigma attached to it that things like Dungeons and Dragons had but with similar objectives and a more immersive setting.
For the full article, read DevilsMMO
Why MMO Games Fail – DevilsMMO
It occurs to me that the MMO, as it currently stands in the industry, is something of a hit and miss affair. The average gamer, equipped with a console and every shooter ever made, generally only ever hears about the very biggest MMOs or, failing that, the MMOs that manage to crash and burn the hardest.
This was brought back home to me last week when I received a comment on one of my articles in which the commenter believed most MMOs are destined to fail, and fail quickly. Rather than take that statement at face value, I’ve been thinking through why that would be; what makes a game that has had thousands of hours of development hours plugged into it just fail?
For the full article, see DevilsMMO
Resident Evil: Code Veronica X HD Review – LegitGamer
Code Veronica is now well over 10 years old and is perhaps the black sheep of the Resident Evil family. You’d be hard pressed to avoid mentions of Resident Evil 2 or Nemesis when in a discussion about the series, but Code Veronica would probably be the odd omission.
I’m not sure why that would be so. It had releases on the Dreamcast, the PS2 and the Gamecube and received excellent reviews almost entirely across the board, but it’s the one game that I never really see mentioned. Perhaps that is why, along with Resident Evil 4, Capcom decided this would be the game worth porting onto modern consoles.
For the full review, hit LegitGamer.net
5 Games That Deserve A Decent MMO – DevilsMMO
Last week we explored Star Wars: The Old Republic, the latest MMO set in a galaxy far, far away, examining whether it could ever live up to the hype that BioWare have created around it, some people saying it is little more than Knights of the Old Republic online. This week I’ve been playing a few games that have got me thinking about what other well-loved and well-respected titles could handle an MMO spin-off.
Now, there are a few specific points about the MMO that have brought the following games to the forefront of my mind while writing this article. Firstly, most MMOs are open world and allow for a great degree of exploration and discovery, a trait shared by every game I’ve listed below. But more than that, these are games that have captured the imagination of millions, creating not only a living breathing universe, but a living breathing universe which you wouldn’t hesitate to be a part of.
For the full article, click here.
Reviving Final Fantasy: Does Square Enix have what it takes? – GamesCatalyst
Final Fantasy XIII promised to be quite an experience when it was first revealed. With both visual and spiritual references to earlier games in the series (particularly VII) and with a fight system modelled on the high-energy combat of anime Advent Children, things seemed to be looking good.
Despite a respectable Metacritic score in the low 80s, XIII never really managed to live up to what was expected of it; in part due to linear gameplay and certainly owing to a lack of any real exploration until tens of hours in. Once and for all, Square Enix proved that pretty graphics and ‘cute’ girls aren’t enough to keep players playing.
Read and add to the conversation at GamesCatalyst.
Review: Resistance 3 – GamesCatalyst
Resistance 3 continues the story of humanity’s struggle for survival against the Chimera, a nightmarish group of monsters that have all but destroyed us. Focussing on the final push R3 depicts the redemption of the two main characters: Joe Capelli (who killed heretofore hero Nathan Hale) and Dr. Malikov, for his involvement in the Daedalus project.
If this all sounds like Greek to you, don’t worry, the story of one man’s struggle against impossible odds for his family is universal and the story is, for the most part, well delivered.
For the full review, click across to GamesCatalyst.
Can Star Wars: The Old Republic Live Up To The Hype? – DevilsMMO
I was lay in bed last night thinking about Star Wars The Old Republic – it’s one of those things I do. And the more I think about it, the more I think it’s such a strange prospect for an MMO. A quick look over the details is comforting: plenty of classes to choose from, worlds to explore and things to do. But the same could be said for a dozen MMOs, all of which are no longer here.
Read the full article at DevilsMMO.
Review: Hector: Badge of Carnage Episode 2 – GamesCatalyst
Detective Inspector Hector lives in an unusual world — a world in which homeless orphans live in fridges and make matchstick houses, a world in which churches are converted into strip clubs and black market organ harvesters sit waiting with cash for anybody willing to part with their body parts.
In the first game of the series, Hector was forced to try and clean up his home town, Clappers Wreake, by a terrorist who wanted to see the town improved. In the second episode, you must discover the identity of that terrorist by any means necessary. And when we say any means necessary, well, we mean things you’d never even want to dream of.
For the full review, see GamesCatalyst
Does the Razer Blade prove that PC gaming is DOA? – GamesCatalyst
Let me qualify the title before anybody gets offended: PC gaming probably isn’t dead. So long as there are antisocial, overweight people playing with programming code in between cashing their benefit cheques, the spirit of the late 80s and early 90s will live on, and there will be cheap (or free) quality gaming for all.
What I mean is that PC gaming is dead in the minds of so many people, people who would laugh if you even suggested spending the cost of a week long cruise for two on a piece of gaming equipment. I think it proves that the big names in gaming PCs are out of touch with what the regular person wants.
Read the rest of the article at GamesCatalyst