In the realm of MMOs, there’s no doubt that World of Warcraft is at the top of the pecking order. Each new MMO released, is inevitably compared to Blizzard’s raging giant and invariably, found wanting. Now comes a new challenger however, with the benefit of immense brand recognition on its side; Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.
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Sigil Games Online’s flagship MMO, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, is a tough game to review for three reasons. First, the reviewer was never very fond of EverQuest—and Vanguard is very much a follow-up to EQ. Second, the reviewer has seen a late Beta version of Vanguard, the retail release version of Vanguard, and most recently the newest patched version of Vanguard—making it feel as though there are three separate games to consider instead of just the one. Third, because World of Warcraft holds the MMORPG world by the proverbial nuts, Vanguard is and always will be held up to Blizzard standards whether or not that system of judgment seems fair. Regardless of these three reasons, it is the duty of any reviewer to put aside personal biases and give a game an honest chance to make a good impression. To do that however, we feel the need to look at Vanguard’s protracted life story in an effort to show the hardcore and casual gamer just what this MMO has been through in its journey from development and onto your computer where it sits pretty consuming tons of memory.
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When Pirates of the Burning Sea finally goes live this January, we’ll be halfway to the Pirates vs. Ninjas MMO that ever uber-nerd has been dreaming of since they first laid eyes on the internet. But there’s a lot more here to be excited about than living out closet (or not so closet) obsessions with swashbuckling; PotBS marks a shift in attitude towards in-game combat that many other MMOs (cough, World of Warcraft, cough) have struggled with.
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Richard Garriot’s “clean slate” goes live in October and MegaGames has got the scoop on everything from the live Beta to the two year time sink that went into the game’s original (and scrapped) design. For those of you living under a rock, Richard Garriot is the creator of the Ultima series – the infamous “Lord British” who brought you the pinnacle of fantasy MMO gameplay. With Tabula Rasa, Lord British is looking to side-step his reputation as a king of fantasy, and revamp his image as an MMO innovator. No more orcs, wizards, or ninjas; to hell with the typical lore-hemorrhaged plot. Tabula Rasa is an action sci-fi shooter cross-bred with good old MMO gameplay.
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