Game News

I'm waaay behind, so I'm just going to be lazy and post the press release thingaroo right here.  You can get what you want from that, I'd bet.  ArchLord is the game...

Codemasters Online Gaming are excited to announce that we are throwing the doors open to the ArchLord BETA in preparation for the climactic end of BETA event that is scheduled to take place very soon!

The planned epic stress test will offer the last opportunity for people to enter the game before the final release and will give players the opportunity to take part in this climactic, large scale PvP event planned to celebrate the end of BETA. The final location and time are still to be announced however one thing is for sure this will be one of the biggest PvP battles ever seen within any MMORPG.

Taking part is easy… Go get your BETA key now at www.archlordgame.com/requestakey and then follow the instructions to create your character and then enter the BETA. From here you will then need to join one of the four guilds taking part in this epic battle. The guilds are headed up by the champions of Chantra below:

• Brumhart - Champion of Zylok
• Ziann Champion of Anchorville
• Evengarda Champion of tullan
• Gaiahon Champion of terranoa

 

To enter the battle you will need to apply to join one of the four guilds lead by the champions above. For a full list of instructions on how to enter the event visit the ArchLord Forum for full details!

Get ready to join the thousands of players who have already pledged their allegiance and entered the ArchLord BETA. Make ready your weapon and prepare to fight for your very survival……

Visit here for more information on how to join a guild

Get your BETA key now at www.archlordgame.com/requestakey

Busting out their big bad Alpha muscles, Turbine has powered The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar into the alpha phase of development.  Already, over 125,000 players are said to have registered to get in on the upcoming beta program, so I'm sure alpha news will make quite a lot of hearts go pitter-patter.  Speaking of the beta, if you haven't yet signed up, here's where you'd do it. 

 I honestly don't have anything else to say about this at the moment... maybe I'll go sign up for beta, too.  We can all go have a big signup party on their site.  Par-tay.

Again with the slow news... I know, I'm not helping you all get your timely MassMOG fix. Sorry 'bout that. :P Today, I bring you (late) news that the free online FPS War Rock is in open beta! Wheee! Ain't that grand? "Yes," is the answer, in case you're confused.

Yet another of the free play games coming out (K2 Network's calling it Free2Play, specifically)... War Rock is an online first-person shooter featuring modern weapons and vehicles ala Battlefield games and the like. It's looking really, really sweet on the outside. As usual, though, I'm having trouble scrounging the time to get in there and check it out myself. Thus, I don't have a review for you or anything like that. I will drop this bit of marketing text to get you interested, though:

Though still in Beta test, gamers can play all three game modes (Mission, Infantry and Vehicle), pick from five distinct combat specialties and tote an armory-full of guns into the frontlines while driving the combat vehicle of their choice. Depending on the game-mode selected, players can duel up close and personal in war-torn streets or take their battles to land, sea and sky. Combatant vehicles range from motorcycles and Humvees, to gunboats and Blackhawk attack-choppers.

The commercial launch, set for later this summer, will include an ever wider selection of weaponry, vehicles, and maps; K2 Network also expects to update the game on a regular basis with new content, as well as host tournaments and provide support for a growing competitive clan community.

"The game is free to download, free to play, and players can advance to the top tiers of competitive play without ever paying a dime to K2 Network. There will be options that some gamers may want to buy to customize their in-game experience, but they will not affect play balance at all," according to War Rock Producer Matt Norton.

I've mentioned Shot-Online in these pages before, but I hadn't discussed it for about a year now. I got a prodding from PR folks to give it a try and I'm happy to say it's really fun! The game isn't quite launched in its full retail state (should be September 12, 2006) but there's a lot of activity in the game now. It's been in widespread beta and stress testing for a long while now, so there are plenty of people in there knocking balls around 450+ meters while my initial driving range shots were closer to 170m max. I'm not sure if that means I just suck, or that they have great equipment and built-up skills... I'm sure it's the latter! ...can't be that I'm a poor player. Can't.

So, my initial look at the game is very pleasant, although brief at the moment. I haven't committed any of my hard-earned in-game cash to buy upgrades yet, since I have no real idea when my user skills will be the fault of my poor scores, requiring some equipment shopping. The game is on the "free to play" list of MMOGs, with in-game cash won through playing but ultimately you can add cash to your account by removing cash from your wallet. Upgrades to your character's wardrobe and equipment, as well as course fees and tournament entry fees will eventually start to drain your character's bank account. At that point, there are a few ways to gain money - one being to plop down some real world cash. When the retail box comes out, you can pay $29 (retail) to get a lot of goodies with the box that people downloading the free client won't get up-front. Again, the initial free experience is looking very good so far. Definitely give it a shot. (bah.. unintentional pun)

I'll smack some balls around later to get a more thorough look at the inner workings soon. I just figured you could use a quick reminder of the existence of this game so you can go snag the free client download and get on the course! Good stuff. I'll talk about it more soon.

Oh yeah... I'm late on this (sorry) but there's still time for you to power-level your way into the Shot-Online Summer Kickoff Festival. You have to register by 7/26/06 so it's cutting close.