The Bottom Line: Fallen Earth

Graphics-9/10

Not the highest quality, but still very detailed mapping gives you a good sense of the post apocalyptic setting.

Gameplay-8/10

Hack and slash combat with melee weapons and fps combat with guns makes it intense and takes skill to take down the toughest foes. Still, the world does seem a bit too big and exploration can take many hours out of your play time.

Community-8/10

There are too many starting areas which splits up the players a lot. But other than that, there are tons of ways to play with friends including the new Blood Sports PvP arena.

Overall-8.5/10

+Detail Maps

+Fun Combat

+Massive World

+Intense PvP

-Too Much Exploration

-Too Many Starting Areas

-Small Community

The Bottom Line: APB

Graphics- 9/10

Good looking graphics, but your customized items loose a bit of shine when outside the editor.

Gameplay- 5/10

Repetitive missions, little sense of progression, and frustrating combat mechanics

Community-7/10

Few social opportunities, too much instancing, poor matchmaking system, and the max party size is only 4!

Overall-6.5/10

+Great Graphics

+Amazing Customization Options

-Bad Gun Mechanics

-Repetitive Missions

-Bad Combat Mechanics

-Very Few Social Features

-Poor Matchmaking

Promising In Development MMO's

The MMO industry is really booming this year and major projects are popping up everywhere. The online worlds we play today are completely outmatched by the new and innovative MMOs of tomorrow. And the best part is, tomorrow isn't so far off...



All Points Bulletin (APB)

APB is part of the growing numbers of MMOFPS's. APB is basically a massive game of cop and robbers where you choose to live a life of law or crime. From what we have seen so far, the gameplay is very fast paced and full of action. One second you will be robbing a bank with your comrades at your side and next you'll be chasing criminals through busy streets in a tricked out police car. The game is set to release later this year for PC and Xbox 360.



The Secret World

Little is known about Fun Com's latest MMO, but what we have seen thus far is truely amazing. The game takes place on Earth in real world locations during an apocalypse. It also features many elements of mythology and from the CG trailers they've sent out thus far, we know there will be magic as well as guns and blades. The few screenshots show off some amazing visuals and detailed models. We hope to see more of this throughout 2010.




Project V13

Finally after Bethesda won their court case with Interplay, the Fallout MMO continues. Very little info has been released about this rising title, but we do know it won't be coming out as soon as we hoped. Bethesda already has their hands full with the new Fallout: New Vegas, but knowing them, they have put out major games pretty quickly in the past. Project V13, as it is titled, will hopefully encompass all the greatness of the Fallout series into one amazing MMO. Stay tuned for more post apocalyptic awesomeness.



Guild Wars 2
The sequel to NC Soft's widely popular MMO has finally come to light. Guild Wars 2 takes the original Guild Wars world 100 years in the future with some amazing new graphics and features. Two trailers have been released so far showing basic gameplay and we have our fingers crossed for a beta test this year. It will feature new persistent zones where you can group up and fight with large groups of people as well as some new technology like guns and robot companions. The game is already set to release in 2011 and hopes to bring a massive amount of gameplay to its millions of fans.


There are many more major MMOs coming out soon, but we can only take about so many. These few are just the most major titles in development for 2010-2011.

Allods Closed Beta Review

Review By: RM Long

Intro

Allods is a F2P MMORPG being developed by Gala-Net. It is a huge success in Russia and is now migrating to Europe and the US. It features some amazing visuals, great features, and a growing community of players. I got my hands on the first closed beta Allods had for the US as well as the three others they have released. I may not be the max level or even close, but I got a great look at this rising star in the MMO industry.

First Impressions

Allods is a very complex game, you create a character from one the the 2 factions, 6 races, 8 archetypes and 28 classes. This may seem a bit overwhelming, but actually it isn't, based on your race and class combination, it gives you various titles, so your warrior archetype can either be a Champion, a Brawler, a Vanquisher, or a Brute.

Now after tweaking your character's appearance and entering the game you are humbly greeted by a storyline driven tutorial. If you are on the League faction you start off fighting a rising demonic force that has attack your leader and destroyed your home or if you are part of the Empire, you must save a dieing ship from League invaders and a gigantic Astral beast.

Overall it is a great intro to an even greater game.

Gameplay

The gameplay, like most other MMO's, is centered around questing. But on the plus side, Allods features a wide variety of quests to give players a break from the boring kill X mobs quests (which they still do have a lot of). You will be repairing broken pipes, gathering bounties, and escorting the helpless in just the first 10 levels.

The combat can be somewhat repetitive at times since your character does not have many spells in their arsenal and party play can be a bit glitchy. Your character progresses through a small single tree of spells, unlike the popular US game World of Warcraft, which has 3x the spells. Plus grouping is not very well done. Every time an enemy drops an item being a piece of junk or a quest item, you have to roll for it, making it so that item you just had to fight for to acquire to complete that really hard quest... you have to do it once more for each party member so they all get the item. It seems like more of a chore than a help to players.

Graphics

Allods at first looks like just another rip-off of World of Warcraft's unique graphics style, but if you look past the textures and at the models, the game is actually a steam punk, fantasy/sci-fi masterpiece. The game features some amazing lighting and great attention to detail as well as a full day and night system with moving clouds. The water looks great too which is usually the downfall of most cartoon style games.

The other thing is that Allods features some of the best animation in a F2P MMO I have seen for a while. It is fully motion captured and every detail is taken into account. So your tons of emotes can be spammed in epic detail as you annoy your friends in the capital city.

Community

Like I've said before, Allods has only been in closed beta for a few months, but it's community of new and experienced players is amazing for a game that didn't really go mainstream in the US. I ask a question in game and am instantly given an answer by the hundreds of supportive players constantly talking in Zone Chat.

If this keeps up Allods could be just as much of a success in the US as it was in Europe. I just can't wait for the Open Beta and the rise of more players to quest and raid with.

Overall

8.5/10
Play It!
+F2P
+Amazing Graphics
+Expansive World
+Massive Community
-Buggy Party System
-Repetitive Combat System
*Only a Beta!

Check it out At: allods.gpotato.com

The New MMOverdose

MMOverdose was going to be an extremely active 2d Indie MMO Blog, but it really failed due to the lack of games coming out right now. So I'm thinking of returning to the site's original idea, rating any and all MMO's.

This will allow the site to have much more content as the MMO industry is booming and more and more epic online games are coming out. I will now be giving reviews on the top MMO's currently out, posting info on upcoming new MMO's, and having contests with prizes.

Here is a list of the current MMO's I am hoping to review soon:

• Aion: Tower of Eternity
• Allods
• Champions Online
• Global Agenda
• Fallen Earth
• Huxley
• Warhammer Online

Reviews coming soon, spread the news of the new MMOverdose!

Asphodel Game Making Contest... Fail

Well the contest wasn't all I thought it would be since almost no games finished and the few that did had tons of server problems as well as very little content. Overall, the contest turned out to be a disaster for the developers having tons of issues with the practically featureless engine they had to use.

Still, it was great idea and I congratulate Team Galactic, the winner of the contest. I just hope the next one they have will be a better success (and I hope to get into it myself).

Help Me Out!

I'm looking for a game to review and really, there aren't that many out right now. So I ask you, the viewers to please, suggest me something I can rate.

Just make sure it is:

• A 2d MMO
• Currently in Beta or Released

Post your suggestions in the comments. Thanks!