To go along with this great news, Konami will launch a special campaign Metal Gear Online: Commemorative Campaign, which will officially begin on November 25, 2008, awarding reward points to gamers who access Metal Gear Online during the promotion. The 10,000 reward points will be updated to account owners on the last day of the campaign, December 9, 2008.  

These reward points can be used to purchase new online gear from the in-game reward shop.

On Tuesday Edge Online posted a feature detailing the decline of third party games for the PSP.  Backed with data the findings seemed almost damning despite the last year’s increase in PSP sales.  Within two days, John Koller, SCEA’s hardware marketing head, responded to this report.

In the short, boring, and abstract, the answer is that somewhere around two years ago businesses decided that the PSP wasn’t selling super well and decided to push their resources elsewhere, specifically into the then emerging current-gen consoles. 

“This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched MMORPG in North America and Europe. Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us - they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them,” said Mark Jacobs, co-founder and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. “In three days the real battle begins – we have declared September 18th the ‘Day of Reckoning,’ and WAR will soon be upon us!”

WAR set a company record for the most retail pre-orders placed by consumers for a PC title in EA’s 26 year history. Overall, the company has sold 1.5 million units of WAR to retailers.

For those of you unfamiliar with Namco's Soul Calibur series, it's the one with the slew of weird characters vying for two powerful swords--soul calibur and soul edge--to rule, destroy, or save the world, and most of the time they look exceptionally good while doing it. Soul Calibur IV continues that trend with 33 characters seeking to use the swords to accomplish their own (often selfish) desires, including two bonus "guest" characters from the Star Wars universe: the legendary Darth Vader and the mysterious "apprentice" from the upcoming Force Unleashed. Though the game clearly fails to revolutionize the genre, it accomplishes everything it sets out to do quite well, and the addition of online play and a very robust character creation system keep the game addictive.

Click here for an explanation of our review and scoring format.

As with any fighting game, Soul Calibur IV pits you against an onslaught of characters that you must take down by lowering their health bar with flashy moves and powerful combos. Namco also included a soul gauge feature that changes color depending on your performance; block too often or receive too many strong attacks and the gauge will start flashing red, entering a "soul crush" state, at which point you're vulnerable to a one-hit KO attack called a critical finish. To keep things fresh (and because it's mildly entertaining to witness characters fighting in customizable undergarments), equipment destruction is a vital component of any fight; equipment condition is displayed in a three slot vertical bar designating head, upper body, and lower body gear, and enough attacks to the same area will break the equipment.

The soul gauge modifications manage to prevent players from over-blocking, but this is mostly because they're afraid of having their equipment destroyed--not because they fear any elite finishing moves; the critical finish attacks have to be performed a half-second or so after the opponent's gauge flashes red, and because there's a lot of action on-screen it's difficult to pay attention to both the guy that's beating your brains out as well as his gauge.

Soul Calibur IV offers up a sufficient variety of the standard modes included in nearly all of its competitors, highlighted by a disjointed, loosely named five stage story mode, a training session convenient for those new to the series, an eight stage arcade mode, and the tower of lost souls, which is a survival mode that rewards you with new equipment for completing secret objectives as you clear floors; this is a significantly less boring and time-consuming procedure than the "adventure" mode of previous games in the series, however you cannot adjust the tower's difficulty level. A versus mode is included for local multiplayer and features either a standard or special setting to determine whether skills and weapon effects are active, but sadly is limited to two players, as is online play via the PlayStation Network. What's upsetting is that you're often stuck in a room watching matches before you're able to take the winner, though the fights are usually quick and you always have the option of creating your own room and inviting a friend to eliminate the wait.

The character creation feature is extremely impressive, enabling you to modify any character's template and save up to 48 different versions of each character. You're also given the option to design your own character from scratch, modifying everything from equipment color and model physique to voice, skill set, eye color, and fighting style. When you're satisfied with your unique creation you can take it through the story mode, where it'll perform in cutscenes, or hop online to show off your creativity to the community. Though the character creation system is highly robust, unfortunately your gear options determine your character's stats and your ability to set decent skills. This gets especially frustrating when you're trying to churn out a ferocious Solid Snake or Harry Potter because characters designed with the "best" equipment will therefore have the best stats and a great battle advantage, however you can play with weaker characters in standard versus or online mode, where skills and weapon effects are inactive.

Soul Calibur IV's presentation is nothing short of stunning, with gorgeous, highly detailed environments featuring some interactivity in the form of breakable stuff; the visuals are absolutely breath-taking, with most stages featuring moving objects (space ships, animals, etc) in the background and appropriate ambient noises that change depending on the stage. The striking characters move fluidly and are detailed down to the fine texture of their clothing and every strand of hair that blows in the wind--Soul Calibur IV easily ranks as one of the most visually impressive games in its genre.

Given the game's convenient 2.6GB install option that significantly shortens loading times and unbelievable amount of unlockables it's a shame to see Namco limiting customization in other aspects of the game. For example, you can set your own stage music as an audio alternative, but only if your music consists of Soul Calibur themes purchased from the PlayStation Store, which is infuriating. You're also currently stuck with the two bonus Star Wars characters given (Vader and his apprentice), but expect to download the 360 version's bonus characters in a "fresh" and overly priced variety pack--the opportunity for Namco to make money on this feature is simply too good for them to pass up. Don't be surprised if Namco also releases downloadable equipment, stages, or other characters and bonus content.

Soul Calibur IV's only real flaw is that its modes are a tad shallow due its lack of 4-player play both online and locally, but its character creation system and even standard online play more than make up for it. The game should rank very highly on the list of anyone who enjoys a good, heavily customizable fighter--even casual players.

Namco Bandai has confirmed that the company is working on a new Dragon Ball game for the Xbox 360, entitled Dragon Ball Online, via a job posting for the Xbox 360 version.

As the name suggests the game is an MMORPG and is set to be published sometime in 2008 for Japan, while a stateside release is anyone's guess. The company has also launched the game's (Japanese) website, complete with first imagery, that you may view here. Dragon Ball Online is also slated for release on the PC.

]]> Mon, 16 Apr 2007 00:12:00 -0500 Shiva Stella http://www.gamebump.com/go/intro_to_lotr_online_arrives http://www.gamebump.com/go/intro_to_lotr_online_arrives http://www.gamebump.com/go/intro_to_lotr_online_arrives# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

The full introduction for Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar has recently hit the web and is viewable below for your convenience. The title is an MMORPG set to launch on April 24 (its open beta launches on April 5) and is being fine-tuned by Turbine as we speak. Enjoy.

divxMovie('http://files.gaminghorizon.com/introlotronline.divx',true);

]]> Tue, 03 Apr 2007 12:55:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/warhammer_online_new_race_pages http://www.gamebump.com/go/warhammer_online_new_race_pages http://www.gamebump.com/go/warhammer_online_new_race_pages# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Nate Francis.

The information trickle has become, well... less trickle-ish.

For those of you, like myself, slavishly devoted to the Warhammer IP and following the development of Warhammer Online like some sort of digital messiah, WAR's website has finally been updated with the first two of six race descriptions: Dwarves and Greenskins.

Expanding on the "tanking classes" update, the army pages provide more Warhammerish-fluff on the available races, and a better idea of the flavor involved in the game.

So named because of the color of their waxy skin, the greenskins are savagery personified. They are ill-tempered, primitive, and live only to fight. In the absence of another foe, greenskins will eventually turn on one another for want of violence. In their culture, might makes right and the weakest members of society are one false step away from being dinner.

The greenskins have no homeland to speak of. They capture other race's settlements and then make those places their own, decorating them with tribal graffiti, wood and scrap materials fashioned into crude symbols, and oftentimes, the bones of those they have slain. This leads to a very unique form of architecture that is distinctively ramshackle.

Periodically, a powerful Orc Warboss will unite the greenskin tribes into a single swarming mass called a "Waaagh!", named for the common greenskin battle-cry. In a Waaagh! , the greenskins unite into a stampede of frenzied Orcs, Goblins and Snotlings bent on destroying everything they encounter. Save for pure Chaos itself, there is no force in the Warhammer world as devastating as a Waaagh! set in motion.

Ah, the savagery that is the Waaagh. My eyes mist up at the memories.

We'll keep you updated on all the newest happenings of this greatly-anticipated challenger to the Warcraft hegemony.]]> Tue, 08 Aug 2006 08:15:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/dungeons__dragons_online_gets_a_new_module http://www.gamebump.com/go/dungeons__dragons_online_gets_a_new_module http://www.gamebump.com/go/dungeons__dragons_online_gets_a_new_module# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.The original author is Nate Francis.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach is set for a massive influx of new content.

The Twilight Forge module, released today by Turbine, is set to add some major new changes for DDO players, including an ingame mail system, enhanced grouping tools and quest tracking, brand new items, and the Drow as a playable race. I save the Drow for last, of course, to tweak all the scimitar-wielding fanboys out there. You know who you are.

Players will also have access to new dungeons, and have the opportunity to kill many new monsters from the old D&D universe.

No word on PvP yet, though. Curses!]]> Wed, 12 Jul 2006 10:57:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/eve_online_chinese_beta_launches http://www.gamebump.com/go/eve_online_chinese_beta_launches http://www.gamebump.com/go/eve_online_chinese_beta_launches# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. It was written by Philip Palmer.

CCP Games has reported record breaking results for the launch of its popular space MMO, EVE Online, in its newest country, China. An amazing 30,000 users were reported to be playing at once, with nearly 200,000 registered on the first day of open beta. The Chinese version is run by Optic Communications, and is independant of its sister gameworld of the original EVE Online release.

“It was quite amazing to see the population of EVE China exceed the population of Iceland in the second day of open Beta testing,” said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games. “EVE China has been an exciting collaboration project and continues to be so, as we continue to refine the experience to accommodate for the steep growth rate of both our English and Chinese worlds.”

While the original launch of the game took place in 2003, several expansions have hit shelves in the last few years, the next in line being The Path of Kali, forecasted to release sometime this year.]]> Thu, 15 Jun 2006 14:40:00 -0500 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_pirates_of_the_caribbean_online_images_info http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_pirates_of_the_caribbean_online_images_info http://www.gamebump.com/go/ahoy_pirates_of_the_caribbean_online_images_info# We've seen MMORPGs based on superhero franchises, fantasy domains, sci-fi settings and others, but Pirates of the Caribbean Online is poised to be one of the first to hoist its sails and hit the high seas for the genre as a film-based title.

Developed in-house by Disney Online, the game will allow players to create their own eye-patched pirate or buccaneer to interact in a sea of other seedy mercenaries and captains, though it's unclear to what extent non-player characters will populate the universe as well.

In the meantime, check out three images from the title we've looted for you, and expect Pirates of the Caribbean Online to dock sometime in 2007.

The site reported that God of War 2 will release in February for the PlayStation 2. The game will feature new magical abilities, better climbing and an ability to fly. Not surprising Eurogamer also reported that God of War will possibly make a transition to the PlayStaton 3 as well.

Meanwhile, Gran Turismo 4 Online Edition is reportedly coming out in the second quarter of 2006. The game will feature six-player online races. Players supposedly will be able to choose from 50 tracks, 700 cars. The game is also rumored to include a single-player challenge mode and many online options.

Finally, one last tidbit of information related to Killzone for the PlayStation Portable. Eurogamer reported that the shooter which will include cooperative and online play will release on November 3rd. The game will allow players to continue the story from the end of the original title on the PlayStation 2.

Of course we at Gaming Horizon must say that none of this information is confirmed. Eurogamer has since pulled down the information and posted a note that Sony has threatened legal action if they didn't comply. This could very well mean that Eurogamer was on to something.

The R.O.S.E. Online official site has announced that the game is now available for public download and that the game’s official servers are live.  New users will be given a 7 day free trial upon registering and downloading the game.  Players who were in the beta are also able to transfer their accounts over to the official game.  Happy hunting! ]]> Sat, 03 Dec 2005 03:21:00 -0600 Tim Grube http://www.gamebump.com/go/matrix_games_signs_battleground_europe http://www.gamebump.com/go/matrix_games_signs_battleground_europe http://www.gamebump.com/go/matrix_games_signs_battleground_europe# This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

The release is scheduled for mid-December. Head over to its official website by clicking here.

Matrix Games]]> Wed, 30 Nov 2005 23:35:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_rose_online_rush_on_seven_episodes_pc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_rose_online_rush_on_seven_episodes_pc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_rose_online_rush_on_seven_episodes_pc# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

R.O.S.E. Online, which stands for Rush On Seven Episodes, is a new MMORPG which will soon hit the market in North America. Currently the game is in an open beta phase, which means that anyone who wants to can register for and download the game for free. The game is being developed by Korean developer Gravity, the maker of Ragnarok Online. It's important to note that this review covers the European version of the game, and was conducted on ROSE's European server.

The storyline of ROSE centers on a war between two gods. Arua, the goddess of Good, created seven worlds which were good, happy places until Hebarn, god of Evil, took control of the seventh world and caused everything to go amok. Players are thrust into the middle of this conflict and must restore order to the seven worlds.

The star feature of ROSE is the graphics engine. The visuals have an anime look to them, which is distinctly unique to the genre. Cartoony visuals are nothing new to MMORPGs, but anime style cartoon graphics are unique. The graphics are certainly the game’s most appealing feature, as they greatly enhance the atmosphere of the game and help to slightly make up for its shortcomings in other areas.

Since the game features seven worlds, players are also able to travel between the worlds; each is quite large and features a unique set of environments and enemies. This enables players to have a large amount of freedom and leaves much to be explored within the game. If players tire of an area it is relatively simple to travel to a new world and get a fresh start.

The party system in ROSE is also slightly different than in other MMORPGs. In ROSE the number of players allowed in the party is determined by the level of the players in the party. The higher the level, the more players are allowed in the party. This encourages small groups in the beginning but opens up the possibility of huge groups later in the game. The guild system enables large numbers of players to group together and even attempt to take over entire worlds. When a guild owns a world, it gets a cut of all financial transactions that take place on that world, creating a massive cash flow for the guild. While this is innovative, the developers will need to ensure this feature doesn’t lead to price gouging in the game.

Last but not least of the good features is the style. While I’ve already mentioned the unique graphics in the game, they’re only part of the overall experience. The characters in are, for lack of a better word, cute. Also the game doesn’t limit itself to medieval-type weapons and equipment. In addition to the typical staff or sword, players can also use guns and other hi tech equipment like dune buggies. Controlling a sword-wielding, buggy-riding cute anime character as he (or she) drives around the world is an entertaining experience.

While ROSE’s look is unique, that is unfortunately about all that sets it apart from other MMORPGs on the market today. ROSE’s greatest weak spot is the lack of a well developed storyline. There is little in the game that gives the player a reason to feel motivated to play it. Quests are few and far between and are usually of the “kill-seven-enemies-of-this-type” variety. There often is not a reason to kill the monsters, other than the fact that the game said the player should. This means that instead of feeling like part of a greater story, players often resort to power-leveling and exploration for their gaming.

The game’s combat system also needs some work. Combat is simply point and click, then sit back and watch. Until the player reaches level 10 he only has one attack to choose from and watching the same combat animation over and over again for ten levels gets tiring. The enemies also leave a little to be desired. Some of the first enemies the player encounters are giant jellybeans. It’s one thing to be wasted by a cute little bunny rabbit or something, but a jellybean? That’s just embarrassing.

The sound in the game is neither good nor bad. There is little to set it apart from other MMORPGs and the music repeats often enough that it becomes annoying after a while. The combat sounds are decent, but could use more variety and power behind them.

Last of all, the character creation feels a little flat. There are only four character classes to choose from: soldier, muse (magic user), hawk (ranger), and a dealer. Each class has a few different looks to choose from, but the only real customization options the player gets to use control the character’s hair, gender and face. This leads to several players using the same or very similar models in the game.

ROSE is a decent MMORPG, especially since it is in beta and currently available free of charge. The anime look makes the game worth checking out for fans of anime RPGs and sets it apart in what is now a crowded genre. Unfortunately the game is not groundbreaking, and players can easily feel disconnected as there is not much of an overall storyline. The game is still in beta, so there is a chance that the developers will fix many of its flaws before its official launch in North America. If you like anime ROSE may be worth checking out, however there are plenty of other MMORPGs out there that offer a more engaging and entertaining experience. If you'd like to try the game out for yourself, feel free to give it at go by clicking here.
 

Not very original and the game needs some kind of engaging storyline.

Not state of the art, but the anime style is impressive.

Decent, but nothing that really stands out. Music repeats too often.

It is an MMORPG, so much of the fun comes in grouping with other players.

There is always more to see or do, and players will make friends with other players online.

]]> Fri, 04 Nov 2005 10:07:00 -0600 The Gaming Horizon Archive http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_the_matrix_online_pc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_the_matrix_online_pc http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_review_the_matrix_online_pc# This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Matthew Call.

The Matrix has been hailed as the Star Wars of the current generation, and just like Star Wars it has begun to spin-off videogames. Enter the Matrix was released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube when Matrix Reloaded hit theaters and received mixed reviews. The Matrix Online was viewed as Warner Brother’s second chance to create a good Matrix game. Unfortunately, as you will see in this review, they did not entirely succeed.

You may be thinking to yourself, “Wasn’t this game released in March? Why review it now?” Yes, you’re right about it being released a few months ago, but a review now is especially valid when considered in the context of the game’s recent history. A brief summation: the game was released by Sega and Warner Bros. in March. The game received lackluster reviews, didn’t sell very well, and was then sold to Sony Online Entertainment in June. Sony announced less than two weeks ago that it was downsizing the number of servers in the game from nine to three in order to make it easier for players to find each other and, undoubtedly, to cut costs, so The Matrix Online is in a very different position now than it was in March with a new owner and fewer servers.

Ok, with that out of the way, let me give you a rundown of the game. The Matrix Online is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, the same type of game as EverQuest or World of Warcraft. In The Matrix Online you are able to create a character and then play as that character in an online virtual world surrounded by thousands of other players all playing the same game and accomplishing the same tasks as you. The Matrix franchise would seem to be the perfect setting for an MMORPG as the premise of the Matrix movies is a virtual reality world that people jack into and interact in. Thus the player can pretend to be living in Zion or Alabama, whatever floats your boat, and then jack into the Mega City of the Matrix movies.

To top it off, The Matrix Online continues the storyline of the Matrix movies. If you wanted to know what happened after Neo beat Agent Smith and the truce was declared between the humans and the machines then you can play the game and watch as the story unfolds. Here’s a brief recap of what’s happened since March: the Matrix is in turmoil. The Exiles, led by the Merovingian, are causing havoc while the humans from Zion are going around trying to “awaken” as many people as possible inside the Matrix. The machines are worried about what will happen if too many humans are freed from the Matrix and are starting to cause problems for Zion. There are rumors that Neo might not be entirely dead. Morpheus was trying to retrieve the remains of Neo from the machines, who seemed strangely hesitant to give them up. However, Morpheus was killed by an Exile, who was disguised as a masked man, but is in reality about a million flies in a trench coat. The ongoing content is one of the game’s strong selling points since the world feels a little less static than most MMORPGs.



Now onto the meat of the review. The Matrix Online gets a lot of things right. For starters the graphics are fairly well detailed and do a great job of capturing the feel of the movies. The Mega City looks like the city seen in the Matrix movies and is full of little details such as trash in the streets, cars driving by, newspapers fluttering around and pigeons milling about. There are even pedestrians walking around as well as the typical myriad of enemies. The city feels gritty, the buildings are a little dirty, and there is also a slight haze and greenish tint in the air which makes the game feel similar to the movies.

The costumes are also extremely well done. The Matrix movies were drenched in Gucci meets Goth outfits and the game excels at allowing the player to pick a killer wardrobe. Although the selection isn’t very large in the character creation area, the player soon finds more clothing than he could possibly ever need in the Mega City. There is a surprising amount of variety from the trench coats and spandex of Neo and Trinity, to the suits of the Merovingian, and everything in between. There are even vintage 1920’s outfits if the player wants to go for an Al Capone look.

The audio in the game is also very well done. The weapons actually have some bass to them, the cool kung fu sounds of the movies transfer over well to the game, and there is some dialogue that is voiced by actors from the movie. The electronic squelch of the Matrix and ringing of telephones also adds to the Matrix feel. The music is similar to the music of the Matrix movies, although it does feel repetitive.

Combat is by far the best part of the game. The combat system uses a unique “interlock” mode to meld two combatants together once the fighting starts. Typically fights begin with guns and ranged attacks and then move into hand-to-hand fistfights. The fistfights are what make the game shine. Unlike most MMORPGs, where one player swings a sword in more or less the general direction of the character he is fighting, in The Matrix Online the combatants actually physically touch each other. In the middle of a fight the player will easily see someone get kneed in the groin, head-butted or generally slapped silly. Combine a knee to the groin with bullet time and the player will watch as time slows down and his opponent crumples to the ground, writhing in slow motion agony. The effect is quite satisfying and is used frequently enough to make the player feel good about his martial arts abilities, but not so frequently that the player gets tired of it.

Perhaps the most innovative of the game’s features is the mission system. Unlike other MMORPG’s where the player typically has to track down someone in order to get a mission from them, walk 5,000 miles to complete the mission and then walk all the way back to the person who gave them the mission, The Matrix Online uses a cell phone. The player simply calls someone on his contact list, gets a mission over the phone and calls that person back to complete the mission and obtain another mission if he so desires. The missions are always inside buildings and are randomly created, so no matter what part of town the player is in, he is always able to get a mission within about 500 meters of his current location. The missions are also fairly short so a player can easily do at least three or four in an hour.

Where do I begin? Ah yes, the learning curve. I’ve played several MMORPGs including World of Warcraft, EverQuest 2 and City of Heroes and one thing they all have in common is that they are fairly simple to get the hang of. After playing for a few hours the player feels fairly confident they know how the game works and how to upgrade and develop their character. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the Matrix Online. After playing for several hours I wasn’t entirely sure how to upgrade my character properly, although I did eventually figure out that many upgrades need to be bought from vendors inside the game. After pouring about 15 hours into the game I feel fairly confident I know what is going on, although I would say I felt the same way only five or six hours into World of Warcraft.

Next up is the population problem. The Matrix Online should be called an NSMMORPG, or a Not So Massively Online Multiplayer Role-Playing Game. From my perusing of the Internet is seems The Matrix Online has sold fewer than 100,000 copies which is ridiculously few for a mainstream MMORPG. World of Warcraft has sold 3.5 million copies, for example. Logging into the game the low population is appallingly obvious as even in the most crowded of areas on the busiest server there are only a handful of other players. Looking at who is playing also tells you a lot about the game. Most players are at the level 50 limit, and those who are less than level 50 tend to be level 25 or higher. That tells me that no one new is playing the game and the majority of those who are playing now have probably been playing since the game launched. Lack of new blood will kill an MMORPG and also makes it tougher for new people to get into the game.

There are, of course, other issues. While the Mega City feels very much like the city of the Matrix movies, it quickly becomes repetitive. The player can get lost easily since all the buildings seem to look more or less the same and there is no north or south arrow on the map. While the game’s mission system has the player constantly entering different buildings the player can’t help but feel as if he’s entering the same building he entered on the last mission. To top it off, the building’s interiors seem to cycle between about five iterations. I played one mission where I entered a building and went to a floor with two doors to find my target, then on my next mission went to an entirely different building where I went to a floor with the same two doors and found my target in the same spot! Having missions in random buildings is good, but why not randomly generate the building’s interiors as well?

While the environments feel repetitive, the missions themselves feel even more so. All the missions seem to fit a kill, steal, and deliver cookie cutout. Most missions have you enter a building, kill all occupants, take something, then go to another building and deliver the item to someone else. Kill three exiles, steal this data stick, deliver this data packet to so and so, rinse, wash, repeat. These missions are mildly entertaining at first but quickly feel like the developers were too busy working on other areas of the game to incorporate much diversity into the missions. For starters, why not have missions in warehouses, sewers or parks? Why not have hostage rescue, negotiation, or defuse the bomb missions? Anything that added a little variety to the game would have been nice.

There are also several bugs still evident in the game. At times doors won’t open when the player clicks on them and then the player is able to run through the closed doors. Also, the player automatically jumps over cars in the street but sometimes this occurs after the car has passed through the player! Also on the tutorial I got a little ahead of myself and completed an objective before the game gave it to me and was stuck in tutorial limbo because I couldn’t complete an objective that was already complete. I had to kill the game, wait a few minutes and log back in to escape the tutorial.



The Matrix Online isn’t necessarily a bad game – it just could have been so much better. A little more variety, fewer bugs and a shorter learning curve would have made this not only a good game, but a great game. I like to think of it in terms of going out to eat. A hamburger isn’t bad, in fact there’s a great hamburger joint down the street that I love, but if I could have filet mignon for the same price I’m going to go for the filet mignon. The Matrix Online is that hamburger; it gets the job done but when there are games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft that do it a lot better for the same price, I’d rather go with one of them. Overall, I’d say The Matrix Online is only a must buy if you’re tired of other MMORPGs or if you’re a diehard Matrix fan who is willing to overlook a mediocre game in order to find out what happens next in the Matrix saga.

Steep learning curve and too repetitive to be enjoyable, but the combat looks really good.

With all the bells and whistles turned on the game really captures the feel of the movies.

Sound has lots of bass, and many effects are taken straight from the movies and utilized well.

Not enough people to play with and the repetitive nature of the game drove me up the wall.

An MMORPG experience is a little different every time. The ongoing content is nice.

]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2005 16:19:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_magic_the_gathering_online_30_pc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_magic_the_gathering_online_30_pc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_magic_the_gathering_online_30_pc1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

With the tremendous success of Magic the Gathering Online and more than 200,000 customers, it's not surprising that the Wizards are planning an updated 3.0 version in the upcoming year. The game offers a completely revamped interface to be more accessible for all users.

Version 3.0 is going to be more consumer oriented and a much more user friendly and icon driven. The new interface is completely customizable so you can put all the menus in any portion of your screen; the designers really wanted to make the game experience how players want to play it, giving them even the option to put the chat away if they desire. Since we're already talking about chat, the chat will be on the right hand side of the screen instead of at the bottom. Just from the brief time we had with the interface and menus, they proved that they are all more intuitive and really help the user even more. With the better interface there is also the ability to see more cards on screen, now up to between 30 and 35 instead of the previous 12.

Besides the menus getting updated, the game's graphics are also improved. Magic has now moved to a completely 3D environment and it really does add to the game's experience. It even allows players to interact more with the avatars more. The game also features the ability to zoom in and out to better see the action. The graphics for the cards and characters are also much cleaner and sharper focusing moreso on the gameplay.

With all this and more Magic the Gathering Online 3.0 definitely sticks to its goal by making Magic the way players want it to be. The company definitely has shown that the graphics are much improved in the two and a half years since release. As the new version is scheduled to release at the beginning of 2006, players will be automatically be switched when the version is ready.

]]> Sat, 21 May 2005 21:36:00 -0500 Brian Mohr http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_irth_online_pc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_irth_online_pc1 http://www.gamebump.com/go/gh_preview_irth_online_pc1# This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content.

The massively multiplayer role-playing game Irth Online puts players in a fantasy world where three civilizations live including the Arcadians, the Morbus and the Mezoteks. In the game, players must determine the history of the three civilizations. The game involves a lot of action combined with monsters, weapons, commerce and more allowing players to determine their own outcomes.

Irth looks to feature 3,700 square kilometers to cover in the massively multiplayer universe with up to 2,500 players on their servers. The game will include day, night, rain and snow in various environments. The makers at Magic Hat are planning to have three different styles of play for the game as well, one for general play, a strictly role-playing server and a hardcore server where players stay in character. The designers did say they will look to having marriages and other such features in the future, but right now no children will be included in the game.

The game features many interesting aspects including interaction with the environment like the ability to chop down trees for wood or mining ore. Irth will also include horses, boats, airships also. Beyond this, the game will feature the use of 150 spells as well as a huge array of weapons with 75 prefixes and 75 suffixes that can be mixed together to form all new weapons.

Graphically Irth Online looks like it's not quite ready to release. The ground, characters, monsters and other items are very plain and jagged right now, but the reps did confirm that they will be much sharper upon release. The overall environments though looked pretty impressive for a demo that hasn't run through the beta test stage yet and you could tell the game is headed in the right direction.

Irth Online still has some serious question marks with only two months until release, but the overall the role-playing and action elements in the game are solid and should fill the need for MMORPG fans. With continuous updates the game will certainly be one for players to look into as the online distribution opens in July.]]> Thu, 19 May 2005 23:13:19 -0500