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What's on your Gaming Radar?
Part of Keen's adventure in MMORPG, Random things
We're approaching one of those points in time where several good games are coming out or projected to come out in the near future. I've been thinking about which games seem most interesting to me and why.
1. Star Wars: The Old Republic - For obvious reasons this one is hottest on the radar. Combining my love for Star Wars, polished gameplay, and my weakness for games with potential, it all makes for a game really worth watching. I'm hoping they don't make it a MSORPG or butcher the idea of a persistent world too badly.
2. StarCraft 2 - Although it's probably not going to release in 2009 (I'm still hoping for a late Fall release), SC2 looks to be another fine Blizzard RTS game (for which I am a sucker) that will be capable of holding my interest on and off for a few years. I really don't care about the idea that it's going to be a reskinned SC1, even though it's not since SC1 wasn't even partially 3d. It looks like fun, it's predecessor was fun, so it's probably going to be fun.
3. Mortal Online - This one is up there on my radar simply because it's going to be another different type of MMO. Even further 'out there' than Darkfall, and potentially not as screwed up when it comes to exploits/bugs/crappy post-launch development, Mortal Online seems to have (at first glance) what Darkfall lacks. If I can get past the supposed 1st person only view then I think this will be worth a shot. Anyone in beta? Do tell.
4. Diablo III - If it weren't for the launch being so far out I might have put this at #1. It's Diablo... what else is there to say?
5. Warhammer Online* - A game that has been out for a long time being on a radar? Yep. I'm considering the launch of LotD and the token system as a "relaunch" and will resub to check it out. The lack of the Darkness Falls mechanic made the game feel empty to me after one play-through and I didn't have the drive to continue playing deep in to T4 (or alts) without it. if Mythic can recapture the Darkness Falls experience and provide a place for people of nearly all levels to level up, collect tokens, get gear, PvP, and enjoy gameplay that isn's chaptered then I'm all over it. I'll even be looking for a guild to join up with on a good server, as I will starting a completely new char.
6. Star Trek Online - Like Star Wars, I'm a Star Trek fanboy. I'm eagerly awaiting the opportunity to Captain my own starship and explore the Alpha quadrant. The opportunities for content and exploration are seemingly unlimited. Having an avatar and a ship is a huge plus. Let's hope they can get it right; I don't think Star Trek will have another shot at a MMO if this fails.
7. Global Agenda - Not much to tell right now. This mix of Tribes, parts of Planetside, and massively multiplayer elements appeals to a pickup-and-play side of me. It has just entered my radar since it's still in Alpha.
8. Jumpgate Evolution - I'm keeping this one at arms length. I was given a demonstration of the game at E3 2008 and thought it looked very nice. However, it's one of those games where your ship is your avatar and you're forever stuck flying around in space. Additionally, there are no sim elements to the game. It's like flying a WoW character around. When I asked the rep who showed me the game about raising shield levels, altering phaser power, adapting your ship to your playstyle he just sorta shrugged and said that it wasn't planned. If it's going to be twitch, I'm going to need more than spaztactics in space. Still, I want to give it a try.
9. Champions Online - I want it to be really cool. I want to enjoy playing a super hero MMO. I just can't get past how much it appears to be like City of Heroes (A game that I did not enjoy at all). It looks like a carbon copy with elements from Marvel that were half-way scrapped after losing the IP and just a new pass on elements that bring CoH up to code. If Cryptic can make it different enough I'll try it. It's starting to fall off the radar for me but it's there.
What's on your Radar?
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