Tips and trick game: PC Preview

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Spec Ops: The Line

Posted by Manusia dan Dunia On 1:08 PM 0 Comment

February 19, 2010 - Dubai, the playground of the rich, famous, and infamous has been destroyed by an apparent natural disaster. The entire city is engulfed in millions of tons of sand, and while sand is a natural element, it's not entirely clear that the sandstorm itself was a natural occurrence. This suspicion is fueled by an unsavory element that is attempting to take over what remains of the city. What could they possibly want with a buried city? Who are they? Like a sandstorm, you can't see things clearly until it's over, and you'll have to prepare yourself for a lot of grit.

A formidable team of American specialists known as Delta Force is dispatched to Dubai after a devastating storm in an effort to search for, and rescue, Colonel John Konrad and his squadron. A weak distress signal is your only sign that someone from the squad is alive. Making your way through the wasteland is treacherous enough with the sand dunes, but a group of terrorists inhabiting the ruins promises to make your mission more deadly than anyone could imagine. These terrorists are armed with an incredible array of weapons including rockets. This is one sandbox you might think twice about playing in.
The sand in Spec Ops: The Line is an interactive, dynamic element. It will not only serve to hinder your progress and, at times, attempt to swallow you, but it can also be harnessed to create bridges and destroy enemies. By the proper use of weapon detonation, it's possible to shape and influence the sand to do your bidding. Dunes can be created to bridge skyscrapers, making them accessible to your team. Or you can create an avalanche when the enemies are at the bottom of a large dune. Sand trapped in buildings can be released by shooting out large windows, causing the built up sand to be expelled on an unsuspecting mob.
According to the developers, Spec Ops: The Line isn't a mindless shooting gallery, there is plenty of depth to the gameplay with a variety of physical and mental situations. Stealth and cover will play a large role in the game, thanks in part to members of the development team responsible for the Splinter Cell series. The one major rule in any combat situation is not to get shot, and you don't want to get taken down in Dubai - a fairytale land of glorious palaces reduced to crumbling sandcastles. The landscape is unworldly, like another planet. It's difficult to get in, and almost impossible to escape from. To maintain your life you're going to have to rely on your wits and any recon information you can gather. For that you're going to have to go on the offensive, but there are plenty of surprises in store, you just won't know where and when.

The title The Line is used mostly figuratively in the game. It describes a situation where you have to make difficult choices, many involving the lives of others. These situations are something you're not trained for. They're designed to test your mettle, as well as your logic and reasoning. Like a triage situation, you will have to decide who lives and dies, sometimes taking a gamble with others' lives. Only you can decide what's best, but you're not the only one that will have to live with your decision.
Commands can be sent to your two A.I. squad members to send them to virtually any points on the map. Hopefully then can take care of themselves, and you as well. A co-op mode will be available for those that place a little more confidence in human-controlled characters. Other multiplayer modes in the offing are still in development. The storyline is purported to have many branches, with the possibility of multiple endings. Graphically, the game promises plenty of eye-candy. Utilizing the Unreal Engine 3, details such as particle effects used to create the sand will be very refined.

A release hasn't been set in stone; it's only been drawn in the sand. Hopefully we can expect to see Spec Ops: The Line in November of 2010. It's already been in development for three years, so let's hope the wait is worth it.
By Cole Smith (cheatcc.com)

50 Reasons to play WoW: Cataclysm

Posted by Manusia dan Dunia On 1:53 PM 0 Comment

Rumour has it that Blizzard’s massive new expansion for World of Warcraft entered alpha around the same time as the final raid instance was patched into Northrend. That means we’re already counting down towards launch – and that Cataclysm should be ready this year. Here’s why we can’t wait. And why lapsed subscribers should probably return to Azeroth.

1) It’s going be explosive
The Cataclysm name comes from the violent eruptions that will precede its launch. Nothing less than outright destruction can satisfy Blizzard’s requirements. They want to blow up the original world. Volcanoes will erupt across Azeroth, tsunamis will break against the shores, mountains will crumble and the entire geography will change forever. The reason? To bring boring old vanilla WoW up to the standards of new WoW.

“The cataclysm event provides a great hook for us to make all these changes that would ordinarily seem very strange,” says Tom Chilton, one of World of Warcraft’s lead designers. “It’s hard to go back to old content and change it without creating questions about ‘Why was that here one day and not today?’ Something that we always hear from players is that they would like the world to be more dynamic. Even though players want the world to be more dynamic, it’s very important that you do it in a way that makes sense.”
2) You’ll fight the ultimate dragon...
Who’s behind the events of the Cataclysm? Step forward Deathwing the Destroyer. Formerly known as Neltharion and Lord Daval Prestor, the father of Onyxia and leader of the Black Dragonflight. He has been missing and presumed dead since the events of Warcraft II. Actually, according to the Warcraft lore, he’s been recuperating on the Elemental Plane and it’s his re-emergence into Azeroth, directly through the world’s crust, that’s torn everything asunder. He’s a bit of a bad dude.
3) ...or just irritate him for a bit
One thing that Blizzard’s designers are proud of in their last expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is that you’re aware of arch-villain Arthas from the moment you step into the new continent of Northrend. His repeated appearances help to give purpose to the expansion, and have built up anticipation for the final fight. Deathwing will have a similarly slow but pervasive introduction.
4) You’ll meet goblins...
New content means new characters to level up. The good news is that the Horde are getting even more green: Goblins are joining the fun. They’re going to make their home in Azshara, just north of the Orc city of Orgrimmar, and their engineering prowess has to be seen to be believed. Their greatest triumph? A giant, skyscraper-sized rocket launcher that should protect Orgrimmar from aerial attack.
5) ...and become a refugee
Goblin players begin their life at their home in Kezan – a factory city that’s churning out sludge and trinkets. When the Cataclysm hits, an earthquake destroys Kezan and the fleeing gobbos are sold into slavery by a treacherous leader. They’re saved when a battle between Horde and Alliance breaks out around their boat. Epic drama: the battle is over a caged Thrall.
6) Goblins can fly

The Goblin racial abilities are already hilarious. They have their own personal banker – a hulking Troll slave that can be summoned at will. They have a jetpack that launches them into the air. Because they’re such great hagglers, they’ll receive the best faction discounts in the game. And, they get a one percent increase to their attack and casting speed. The result? They’re completely overpowered.
7) Try Goblin Rogues
If you want to start a Goblin character, you’ll have a range of classes to choose from. You can be a Goblin Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock or Warrior. We’re torn between a Hunter (the goblins are smaller than their pets) or Rogue – their sneak animation is hilarious.
8) You could be a werewolf
You know what the Alliance needs? Furry roleplaying Twilight fans. The new Alliance race is the Worgen – cursed humans that, when they start fighting, turn into wolves. If you want to find out where they come from, try visiting the Greymane Wall. Just head directly south from the Undercity, at the base of Silverpine Forest. Worgen will be leaving from here come Cataclysm.
9) You’ll try new werewolf fashions

Worgen are originally from Gilneas, a kingdom that has spent the past five years sheltering behind the Greymane Wall. The look of the native Gilneans is pure Victorian punk: they favour waistcoats, top hats, and expensive tailoring.
10) Worgen will be top of the charts
Worgen’s innate racial abilities mean they’re perfect for WoW players who want to hit the top of the damage meters – they’re granted an automatic one percent bonus to their damage output. They’re great at skinning, and they get a free sprint bonus every three minutes. Not quite OP. But pretty powerful.
11) You could be a feral Death Knight
Worgens have eight class options. You can create a Death Knight, Druid, Warrior, Hunter, Mage, Priest, Rogue or Warlock. A werewolf death knight? Yes please.
12) Cataclysm chooses fun over efficiency
The talent trees for all character classes are being completely overhauled, and the main goal is to prune out boring but valuable talents that passively increase damage or healing. That should mean more toys to play with, extra buttons to click and more variety in playing styles. “I’d expect to see a further pruning of critical class buffs and debuffs,” explains Chilton, “because it’s still a little more restrictive than what we’d like to see. A lot of what Mastery (see 13) and the talent changes are about is making sure that the choices players make about their character are interesting. Hopefully that will add character depth without making the game more complex.” Is this the end for two button raiding?
13) You’ll master your role

Instead of spending points on passive skills when it comes to deciding your talents, you’ll earn ‘Mastery’ bonuses. A rogue might pick up bonus poison damage for each point in Assassination, for example, and hit rating for every Combat skill. It’s a way for Blizzard to prune technical talents and exchange them for fun clickable abilities.
14) Play through five new levels
The previous level cap for World of Warcraft characters, 80, is being raised to 85. Previous expansions have shifted it in increments of 10 – 60-70 for Burning Crusade and 70-80 for Wrath of the Lich King. The disparity may come from the sheer amount of quests and zones players currently have to play through. Leveling a new character is a huge amount of work.
15) You’ll gain the right to choose your build
At level 85, players will have access to an outrageous 76 talent points. Blizzard’s Greg Street points out that this means you can have a signature 21 point talent from one tree and a 51 point ability from another, hopefully removing the reliance on ‘cookie cutter’ builds for raiders.

16) You’ll be a tomb raider

Recurring NPC Harrison Jones may have some of the best lines in WoW, but he’s going to be joined by friends in Cataclysm. Everyone. That’s thanks to the new Archaeology skill. With it, you can find hidden artifacts, uncover tidbits of lore and enter phased events. Perhaps you’ll even see secret messages written on the eyelids of a cute girl in the third row.
17) Progress won’t stop at level 85
Linked to the Archaeology skill is a brand new way of leveling called Path of the Titans. There are six Paths to choose from, linked to each of the mythical Titans (the creators of Azeroth) and you earn new abilities in them by cashing in your archaeological finds. Joining the ‘Cult of Golganneth the Thunderer’, for instance, hardens you against physical damage – perfect for Player vs Player orientated players. Significantly, you’ll pick your path independently of your class and talent spec.
18) You’ll find even more glyphs

Path of the Titan talent trees will feature several choices at every tier, and the new abilities are added in the form of ancient glyphs, which sit on the same panel as your current glyphs. If you’re an inscriptor, it may be worth stocking up on materials right now.
19) A new way to use professions
Currently, all players can customise their gear with gems and enchants – an essential step for top-tier raiders. In Cataclysm, most of the professions will be able to tweak the stats on items. Tailors, blacksmiths, leatherworkers, jewelers and engineers will be able to alter weapons and armour by ‘reforging’ it. That means taking 50% of the bonus for one stat and replacing it with a brand new one.
20) It’s going to tell better stories
Blizzard’s phasing tech, which can show players in the same zone different terrain and NPCs depending on their progress through a quest chain, is going to be everywhere in Cataclysm. The new starting zones for Goblins and Worgen, for example, will change as you level towards the cataclysm event itself.
“Phasing is a powerful tool,” says Chilton, “but it can be disruptive to the player’s perception of the integrity of the world if we use it too much or in the wrong ways.” The narrative of Cataclysm is going to be even more heavily embedded in the quest chains than it was in Wrath of the Lich King.

“We don’t really approach any quest line or story with the idea that we need to use phasing here,” Chilton explains, “We approach it based off the needs of what it is that we’re trying to achieve. So if we’re talking about the Barrens, we’ll try to identify the most core thing to do with what’s going on with the story of the Barrens and we’ll try to focus more on those than we ever did before. And if in the process of doing that we have an idea that’s awesome and will be supported really well by phasing, then we decide whether or not to use it.”
21) The Cataclysm will be prophesied
Blizzard have made it clear there will be a large scale world event, like the pre-Lich King zombie invasion, that heralds the launch of the expansion. It could be happening already. Players have reported random earth tremors shaking their screens from all over Azeroth. It’s almost like there’s something ready to explode out of the ground.
22) Entire zones are being rebuilt – permanently

Deathwing’s emergence from the ground is the start of a new chapter in World of Warcraft’s development. It’s given the developers a chance to go back and assess what worked and what didn’t in the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. All of those zones will be touched by the cataclysm – and all players will see the effects. The effects will be permanent. Once the expansion launches, there’s no going back to classic WoW. New or returning players won’t have to buy the expansion to see the changes, either. They’ll be open to all, even if they just own the base game.
23) You’ll be flying
The most common complaint for WoW veterans? That the flying mounts available in Outland and Northrend aren’t available within the original world. That’s changing. The new Azeroth geography means it’s now suitable for flying mounts.
24) It’s the end of brown desolation
Desolace is WoW’s most boring zone. That’s changing. Desolace is getting a greenwash - its ancient bone-dry sands replaced with verdant jungle. Speculation abounds that the botanical miracle is something to do with executed leader of the Tauren, Cairn Bloodhoof, not being as dead as he seems.
25) It’s splitting Barrens chat
The most impressive change comes in the Barrens, the Horde starter zone. The new design gets rid of the large, sprawling areas and replaces it with two new, tightly packed zones. They’re split horizontally via a river of red lava.
26) Darkshore faces destruction?
Long, thin and eminently skippable, Darkshore will be pretty much eviscerated by the events of Cataclysm. It’s becoming a new front for Horde troops.
27) Thrall is off

Orc Warchief Thrall is leaving Orgrimmar to take up a meta-position as Guardian of Tirisfal. Unfortunately he’s left Overseer Garrosh Hellscream, leader of the Horde expedition in Northrend, in charge. Garrosh has never quite got the hang of the Alliance/Horde ceasefire. Lok’tar Ogar! And all that.
28) War is back
One of Hellscream’s first acts is to declare open war on the Alliance. “We’re setting up a change in the attitude of the Horde,” says Chilton, “They’ll become more reminiscent of the Horde of the past in terms of aggressiveness and attitude towards the world. This is the World of War... craft after all.”
29) Stormwind is rebuilt
Sadly there’s no convoluted storylines for the Alliance (yet): all we know for sure is that Stormwind is getting a werewolf quarter for the Worgen to live in. “There are a lot of changes going into the Eastern Kingdoms and the traditional Alliance zones and storylines,” says Chilton. “There are definitely changes that happen to the Alliance structure too, but I wouldn’t say they’re as dramatic as those on the Horde side.”
30) The Horde is getting political

As well as setting his sights on the Alliance Humans, Dwarves, Night Elves, et al, Hellscream is also stirring up trouble for his own side. He’ll execute Tauren leader Cairn Bloodhoof for treason, throw most of the Undead and Blood Elves out from Orgrimmar and then redecorate the city in tasteful black iron. Smell that? That’s an epic shitstorm approaching.
31) There’s a new emphasis on raiding
There’s a reason the new level cap is only five levels, rather than the usual expansion 10. It’s so that the designers could concentrate on getting more endgame content ready for the launch. There’ll be four new raid dungeons and eight heroics open from the start. Raiders: start gathering your consumables now.
32) Classic dungeons are back
New versions of Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep are being planned that will be playable by top level characters as heroics. These ancient dungeons are long forgotten classics – the Deadmines ends with players fighting atop an underground Galleon. It’s the Goonies!
33) Grim Batol is opening

There’s a stronghold in the East of the Wetlands behind the Dragonmaw gates that’s currently protected by level 60 elites. You can fight your way to the doors, but they won’t open. It’s in here, in Grim Batol, that Deathwing will set up his home in Cataclysm. The area will be transformed into a new zone, Twilight Highlands, with the keep locked off as the final raid encounter open at launch.
34) We’re going to Rapture
The first leveling area for level 80 characters will be the underwater area of the Sunken City of Vashj’ir. This naga city is the gateway to the Abyssal Maw dungeon as well as one other five-man. It wouldn’t be overly surprising if a later raid featuring Deathwing’s ally, naga Queen Azshara, is patched into Vashj’ir later.
35) You’ll fight in the mountains

Mount Hyjal often crops up in the mythos of Warcraft, and in Cataclysm it’ll be under attack by old foe Ragnaros. Like the City of Vashj’ir, Hyjal will be an early 80s zone for leveling. The early quests see you putting out the fires burning throughout the zone. Later, you’ll be reclaiming the top of the mountain.

36) You’ll fight underwater

One leveling zone is entirely underwater – with players adventuring on the surface of the seabed. Another dungeon, the Abyssal Maw, features astonishing views of Azeroth’s sea life, showing off Cataclysm’s new water and lighting effects. Somewhere within lies the ancient sea-god Neptulon, who holds a weapon that can control the entire seas. That might be useful when fighting a giant angry dragon.
37) We’re going underground
There’s a theme to the new zones and raids in Cataclysm: the elements. Each is a level on the Elemental Planes that Deathwing has shattered on his journey. Representing Earth is Deepholm; vile caverns filled with worms and stone giants. There’ll be at least one five man instance in Deepholm.
38) Ragnaros is back
Ragnaros, a vicious and much loved fire elemental, is back. He used to live inside Blackrock Mountain, until a steady stream of level 60 adventurers banished him/spanked him all the way home. To add insult to injury, we’ll now fight him in his resting place on the Fireplane – a level 85 raid. Pwned. Again.
39) We’re getting an underground train

A zone called Deepholm will serve as a central hub for the level 80+ zones. “The new areas we’re creating are scattered around the world,” says Tom Chilton, “so it would be very inconvenient for players to have to fly backwards and forwards across the continents all the time. Deepholm, because it’s the Elemental Plane of Earth and is not necessarily directly attached to Azeroth in a physical sense, acts as a gateway. You might want to invest in a gnomish/goblin mining hat.
40) We can fly underground?
There’s talk of Alliance and Horde airships inside Deepholm. We think you should expect air and gunships similar to Icecrown’s mobile HQs, but given the geography of Deepholm – all narrow rock pathways and long drops, it could mean an entirely new form of transport.
41) You’ll fight the wind
Earth, Fire, Water... the Air plane is represented by Skywall, home to a mid-80s leveling area, one five man dungeon and a single boss raid. Since Warcraft lore says Skywall is home to Al’Akir the Windlord, it’s safe to assume that he’s the big boss.
42) You’ll be going to Egypt. Ish.

Situated far south of Un’goro Crater, Uldum is a desert zone with two instances themed around ancient Egypt. It’s home to a lost Titan city and a race of giant stone cats, the Tol’vir. We think the final Uldum dungeon, currently just a giant facade at the very south of the zone, will be patched in as a raid later on.
43) You’ll be back at Blackrock...
In vanilla WoW, play culminated in Blackrock Spire and Blackwing Lair. They were epic instances, taking hours to play through. Now, they’re back. In Cataclysm, Deathwing’s return as head of the Black Dragonflight stirs up more trouble under the mountain. A raid dungeon, Blackwing Descent, will see you face off against Deathwing’s son Nefarian, alongside a five-man, Blackrock Caverns.
44) ...and back to the battleground
Arena fights are widely regarded as the pinnacle of World of Warcraft’s PvP. That’s going to change. Do well in battlegrounds, now, and you’ll have the same access to rated arena gear as gladiators. Hot loots for all!
45) New alts are coming
Ever thought that the cruel pigeonholing of Dwarves into axe-wielding warriors and paladins was a bit prejudiced? Then rejoice in the new class combos Cataclysm allows, like Tauren priests, Human hunters and Blood Elf warriors.
46) Wintergrasp’s getting a sequel
The new world PvP zone in Cataclysm is the Isle of Tol’Barad. It’s an off-shore prison policed by mages from Dalaran and Stormwind, but its main purpose is to host faction-level battles between Alliance and Horde.

Don’t fear for lag, though: these battles aren’t going to be concentrated around the prison fortress. “In Wintergrasp, explains Chilton, “players are so concentrated that it becomes difficult for the server to handle. We’ll be trying to spread players out among different objectives more effectively.” Chilton didn’t confirm it, but spread out objectives and vehicle combat suggest that boat-to-boat fighting might well be a mainstay of Tol’Barad battles. When the battle for control of Tol’Barad is over, it will become a daily quest hub, which the designers are hoping will encourage yet more fighting.
“We thought that when the battle wasn’t going on in Wintergrasp, it would be a good environment for spontaneous world PvP,” explains Tom. “But the way the Lich King economy developed, players didn’t stay after the battles to farm for primals. What we’re trying to do is meld the idea of Wintergrasp with the Isle of Quel’Danas (the daily quest hub from the Burning Crusade). That felt like players were naturally there and had activities they wanted to do, and PvP spontaneously happened without us needing to force it.”
47) Your guild will level-up

Guilds in World of Warcraft are about to be overhauled, with the intention of making it much harder to bounce from group to group. Guilds will be able to gain levels and achievements and invest points in meta-talent trees. These abilities will range from reducing costs for new gear, to increasing gold drops, removing reagents for buffs and mass resurrection. It’s just another reason to play with friends.
48) You’ll be recruited
Guild leaders largely find new members by either spamming advertisements into the trade channels, or via word of mouth. A new Looking for Guild interface should make recruitment less of a trial. Group calenders should also make guild alliances and informal PUGs easier to arrange.
49) You can ditch the spreadsheet
World of Warcraft’s statistical mechanics are largely incomprehensible to the average player. That’s changing – with arcane numbers like armour penetration and mana-per-five being removed from the game entirely. Say goodbye to your spreadsheet.
50) Tier upgrades are staying

In Wrath, Blizzard finally nailed how to keep players interested in the very best loot in the game: upgradable tier items. Bought over a period of months, each armour set can be upgraded twice, by combining it with tokens earned in raids. That’s how top-end loot is likely to function in Cataclysm, too. “We really like the idea of having each tier set broken into three stages like that which players can progress through,” says Chilton, “A lot of players have access to the tier set, but the upgrades still give players a way to express their awesomeness.” Your tier 11 set is going to rock.

Mar 25, 2010 (gamesradar.com)

Star Wars: The Old Republic developers tell all

Posted by Manusia dan Dunia On 1:51 PM 0 Comment

Welcome to The Old Republic: a massively multiplayer BioWare RPG set in the Star Wars universe. That means space opera plot, tough choices, and in all probability a lot of arguing with your asshole friends. Rather than follow the MMO template of pop-up quest text with little more than an ‘Accept’ button by way of interaction, BioWare are giving you the kinds of major choices that have come to define their single-player games. The difference in The Old Republic is that you can take your friends with you and pause to chat about the big decisions before you make them.

But this is more than just a cinematic RPG with extra players. This is a game on a scale BioWare have never attempted before. They’ve previously made their stories feel epic by hinting that there’s more going on in the universe around you, but this is the game where there actually is.
“It’s just such a huge game,” says James Olhen, creative director on the project. “It’s the biggest game I’ve ever worked on. I’m surprised at the enormity of it every other week... We’re creating more content than Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 1, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic put together, and throw in Baldur’s Gate too.”
It’s so big that even a year from release it already has more recorded dialogue than the Mass Effect games combined. By the time it’s done, it’ll have more than the sum of all of BioWare’s 17 other games – James calls it “one of the most ambitious voiceover projects in the history of the videogame industry, perhaps of the entertainment industry itself.” It’s not so much the talking that’s exciting, though the cast list does include returning favourites from other BioWare games. It’s what that says about the sheer amount of stuff that will be available to do. Imagine a Knights of the Old Republic that lasted for as long as you cared to play it. Unless they screw it up, this will be BioWare’s magnum opus.

Above: And you can be a Sith
Yet it’s hard to see how such voice-acted, scripted, personal quests could fit with a massively multiplayer game. It’s tempting to imagine The Old Republic might be one of these pseudo-MMOs: Champions Online, for example, relies heavily on instances, creating multiple copies of busy zones that rarely contain more than 30 people at once. The Old Republic doesn’t work that way. “Our public areas are part of one contiguous world,” Olhen says. “Not just our cities – 90% of the game, actually, will be a public area where you can run into other players.” He says the number of players per server will be comparable to World of Warcraft’s, some of which are home to 30,000 players at once.
“We really want this to be a classic massively multiplayer game, and have that feel. We are using instancing to tell some of our more complex stories, but it’s definitely not going to feel like a heavily instanced game. The very personal missions that revolve around who you are and your class – they’ll take place in instances. But missions that are group-oriented, that you can do with your friends, those’ll take place in public areas.”

Above: Dual-bladed lightsabers and force lightning? DO WANT
Neither type of quest will be like anything we’re used to in MMOs. Even the best-made of those know their little boxes of quest text aren’t engaging: World of Warcraft spelt them out line by line to force players not to skip them. Last year Blizzard’s own Jeff Kaplan announced at GDC: “Basically – and I’m speaking to the Blizzard guys in the back – we need to stop writing a f---ing book in our game, because nobody wants to read it.”
The Old Republic’s talky scenes will not only be voiced, but custom animated and cinematically directed like the best of BioWare’s single-player work. Their last game, Mass Effect 2, set a new standard in this both for BioWare and the industry at large. So it’s good to hear that the man principally responsible, lead cinematic designer Armando Troisi, has since moved to The Old Republic team.

“In other MMOs,” Olhen says, “a lot of the time, you just have designers who aren’t writers writing up a quest and coming up with the dialogue.” Olhen says. “And it shows, right? That’s probably the biggest change. High quality voice actors, writers, directors, editors – those are the things that haven’t been done. It’s huge for immersion, right? It’s not just getting a text bubble that comes up, it feels like you’re part of a movie. A non-player character feels like more of a real person living in this universe.”

And it’s not just a single movie BioWare want to draw you into with The Old Republic: each of the eight classes has its own story, tailored to the role you’ve chosen to play in the world. It might take place thousands of years before they were born, but you’ll still be able to play rough analogues of Luke Skywalker (Jedi Knight), Han Solo (Smuggler), Darth Vader (Sith Warrior), Darth Maul (Sith Inquisitor), Yoda (Jedi Consular), Grand Moff Tarkin (Imperial Agent), Boba Fett (Bounty Hunter) or, er, a Republic Trooper (Republic Trooper).
“I was lead designer on Dragon Age before I came here,” says Olhen, “and a lot of the things from Dragon Age – like each origin having a separate storyline – we took that. And we took it even further: each class having their own story all the way through the game.”
So there is a main questline, but it’s personal. After all, if your mission was to vanquish the Sith, it’d make the other 29,999 players rather unhappy if you achieved it. These eight stories will give a profound new meaning to alts – the practice of starting a second character to try a different class. Here, it’ll be a different game in both play style and content.

Above: Star Wars Galaxies never made Tatooine look this cool
Something else we’re not used to in massively multiplayer games is having a computer-controlled party. As in other BioWare games, certain key characters you meet in your quest will be up for joining you. These are unique to your class: the Sith Inquisitor’s first friend is a Force-resistant warrior to help him fight Jedi, and we’re hoping the Han Solo-inspired Smuggler gets a Chewbacca-inspired chum.
“We introduce a companion character early on,” Olhen explains. “That’s your first. But then as you adventure, much like in any other BioWare game, you’re going to meet other interesting characters and they’re able to join your party.”
Eventually you’ll have a considerable roster of superfriends, but you can only have one at a time physically by your side. “When you arrive at one world, you might decide ‘Ah, I’ll adventure around with my wookiee because I really need someone who’s really strong and can take a lot of damage. Plus, I like my wookiee.’ But then on a different planet, you might decide to go with your femme fatale character, because you like the relationship that’s developing with her and you want to see what’s gonna happen, or you like the sarcastic comments she says, or because you want a DPS (high damage-per-second) companion.”

Above: This is the droid you've been looking for
As in Mass Effect 2, your companion characters will have their own personal stories and quests that get you mixed up in them. And because they’re unique to your class, these can also tie in to your own storyline. The downside of this system is the same reason it’s not normally done in multiplayer games: you’re going to see other people running around with the same friend as you. “To take your Chewbacca example,” Olhen says, “if you run into a Smuggler, and he’s adventuring with his wookiee Chewbacca, yes, the stories of the two companion people will be the same, they’ll be doing the same interjections in your conversations.”
This, you will notice, is silly. “It was one of our concerns early on in design,” Olhen admits. “But you’re not going to have identical companion characters. We’re thinking of ways to make sure you can customise them so you don’t get confused, so you don’t get the Chewbaccas mixed up.”
When playing with friends of different classes, at least, it’s going to be fun jetting around the galaxy with your chosen AI pals. They’ll round out your team’s abilities and have things to contribute during conversations with NPCs. Since your real friends will also pipe up in these exchanges, they’ll start to feel more like scenes from films than the usual interview-like format of game dialogue.
In The Old Republic, your class determines your story, your voice, your companions and your abilities. But the latter aren’t completely decided by your initial choice: as you level up, you’ll come to a point where you have to make a key decision about your character’s future. You can evolve your skillset into one of two more specialised classes, suiting your character better to the way you prefer to play them.

Olhen gives an example: “The Sith Inquisitor is the more agile rogue character: he doesn’t wear heavy armour, he’s much quicker, and when he gets to a certain level, he has to choose between two different paths. One path is more like Darth Maul, where you have the dual-bladed lightsaber and you’re all about acrobatic lightsaber moves. Or you can choose to do another path which is more of a ranged path, and more of a Emperor Palpatine path. You’re less about the lightsaber, more about the range and force powers.”
It’ll be nice to make such a major choice late in the game: usually we’re asked to make the biggest decision about our style of play before we have any real idea what it’s going to be like. And it won’t be your last opportunity, either. “Once you’ve made that choice, you still continue to make choices about how to customise your character from there... There are certain powers that you can unlock or have locked away from you as you level up.”

The biggest worry right now is presentation. The simplified visual style looks great for environments but rather ugly for the plastic-wigged, big-nosed characters. It’s presumably related to the sheer amount of content they have to create: more than their five biggest games put together, yet their team is “not a huge amount” larger than Mass Effect 2’s. “It’s not like we’re double,” Olhen says.
The Smuggler class can use a rudimentary cover system, but the others seem to stand in the open whittling people’s hitpoints down – like most MMOGs, but unlike other BioWare games. There’s a lengthy video of some normal play so you can judge for yourself whether this stuff is going to bother you.

Since the game’s not due this year, BioWare are being careful about saying too much too soon. Olhen reckons that “Fighting and questing is going to be 90+% of what you’re doing,” but he’s vague about the other 10-%. “We’re going to have some open world PvP. As for the more structured PvP, I can’t go into details on that, but we will have it. We have talked about crafting, that’s something we are going to have in the game. And we’re fans of trying to manipulate the economy of an MMO. That’s something we definitely want.”
It’s a similar story for endgame content - the stuff that keeps players happy once they’ve hit the maximum level. “We’re looking at classic systems, but we’re also doing something brand new, that hasn’t been done in an MMO before. So we’re going to mix those two together. I can’t really give you any more details on that, from the look [brand manager] Deborah’s giving me right now.”

Above: Hopefully the Republic Trooper's story arc is more than just "I'm a clone? Do I have a soul?"
He did say, though, that they want the player to still be questing. “We want to make sure that the endgame isn’t completely different from what you’ve been doing. So there will be a natural progression... We want to make sure that when people play ToR they feel like they never run out of content, they always have something to do, that it’s an epic story.”
We get the impression that even if The Old Republic doesn’t tick all of our MMORPG boxes, if it feels a little weird to be chasing a personal story alongside thousands of others doing the same, it’ll still be a great BioWare game. We hope that’s their priority: we’re drowning in MMOs that ape the WoW template, and while plenty of them are nice enough, most of us are still waiting for something worth paying a monthly fee for. A Knights of the Old Republic with eight different stories, multiplayer conversations and near-limitless quests would certainly do it.

Mar 26, 2010 (gamesradar.com)

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier

Posted by Manusia dan Dunia On 1:44 PM 0 Comment

According to US military advisor Jean-Louis DeGay, “The future of the solider is an F-16 on legs.” It conjures up weird images of Metal Gear Geckos and constipated Transformers – but it’s also the philosophy at the heart of Ubisoft Paris’ latest foray into near-future military warfare. Hard to believe, but the gazillion-selling Ghost Recon series has been in hiding for three years now.

“GRAW was a big learning curve, a new engine, a new machine – and a very different approach to the series,” reflects senior coordinator Adrian Lacey. “Now we’re trying to capitalise on what we’ve learned in those ensuing years. Lots of titles have come out in the meantime; some have done an extremely good job. Do I feel the pressure? Every day! But it makes it more of a challenge.” Lacey’s team hasn’t been afraid to shake things up, and the big news is: Future Soldier doesn’t look much like GRAW at all – and it sure as hell doesn’t play like it.
Release either of the GRAWs today and they’d still hold up as engaging, ultra kinetic shooters – both on and offline. Future Soldier also principally revolves around the team unit on the battlefield. Ghosts are the best – the Spec Op geezers hunkered behind the furthest, deadliest enemy lines. They’re a compact, precise unit packing complementary skillsets – in this case, that means Commando, Recon, Sniper, Engineer and Drone classes – and they’ve got enough tech, firepower and savvy to take on an army. Sounds mostly pretty familiar, right?
Actually, not really. As the effectiveness of guerrilla warfare is proven time and again in Afghanistan, surgical incursions that even tactical missile strikes can’t perform become the answer. This is where the new breed of Ghost comes in. GRAW did a superb job of conveying medium-distance gunplay, even if blasting away at red diamonds did begin to outstay its welcome after a while.

In something of a paradigm shift, Future Soldier’s central premise involves getting close enough to see the whites of an enemy’s eyes... before blacking them with a dose of Close Quarters Combat. In other words, this is a shooter that’s all about the melee. “We’ve basically been trying to fit it into Ghost Recon since the first Advanced Warfighter,” reveals Lacey. “Players have been begging for that extra little facet for ages. It’s effectively the same principle as the knife in Modern Warfare – but evolved.”
This isn’t simply a fistful of knuckles to the gob then, but a fully realised range of takedowns – from sliding tackles and Krav Maga locks through to wrestling-style slams. It’s primarily down to the new exo-suit tech donned by the Ghosts, which ramps up their range of movement and physicality. “It’s real world-influenced, and not a Crysis suit or accelerator suit like in GI Joe,” warns Creative Director Olivier Dauba. “It’s handy when it comes to deflecting knives, but since bullets are evolving too it won’t necessarily stop a high calibre round.”
That said, the Thermoptic Camouflage many fans lamented after seeing Future Soldier’s second trailer is coming – and it’ll help the Ghosts get close enough to unleash their new brand of physical hurt. However, when you fire your weapon, the camo switches off and you become detectable. “Capturing somebody could prove more important than killing them,” explains Lacey. “That’s another advantage of CQC. Detaining foes grants access to their Cross Com variant, and the position of each member of their squad. Plus, when we really want to add pressure, when you’re getting close to a scenario’s objective – that’s when CQC will really come into its own.”

Ubisoft are aware of the backlash from hardcore Ghost Recon fans, who appear to prefer their terrorist foiling to be grounded in real-world military tech. Lacey is at pains to quell suggestions the series is going sci-fi. “You wouldn’t believe some of the prototypes Olivier and I have seen. Some prototypes – such as the DARPA research on muscular tissue regeneration and real-time holographic gun sights – we’re like, ‘f**king hell that’s too futuristic!’ But it’s real! Be assured that every device and item we incorporate into Future Soldier has undergone a detailed process of deliberation about its functionality and usability. Most importantly, it needs to translate into a fun gaming experience.”

The build we were shown was very early, and illustrated one of the opening missions – a foray into Norway. A series of crippling cyber attacks, which had limited the States’ ability to see what was going on in Russia, had been identified as emanating from the land of the fjords. Enter new man Kozak (allegedly Scott Mitchell with added personality) and his team to ‘sort things out’. Later on, we witnessed a multiplayer level that was almost certainly Afghanistan, replete with obligatory stone huts and sinister cave network.
While both levels lacked the polish of a finished game, the action was running at 60fps on an advanced iteration of GRAW’s YETI engine. Notably, it also sported a bold palette of bright blues, greens and whites – a far cry from the oranges, yellows and khakis that the GRAWs were composed of. (Intriguingly, the Cross Com HUD was entirely absent, though we were later reassured that it simply “hadn’t been added yet.”)

Even better, Ubisoft is laudably promising to maintain this spanking visual quality through single and multiplayer, as well as a “seamless transition” between the two modes. That means single-player, split-screen, jump in/jump out co-op – quite possibly for up to four players. Bonus. Also expect bigger explosions than ever - no mean feat considering GRAW pulled off some of the most memorable kaboom in the business in 2007.
As for the plot? Well, it’s typical pseudo-future territory – a “techno thriller with a Clancy level of detail”, to quote Ubi – even if the aged Mr C isn’t directly involved in writing duties. Pesky Russian ultra-nationalists have abducted the legitimate President, and invaded Northern Europe to boot. The US and what remains of the loyal Ruskie army leap into action, and the scene is set for another jingoistic, ever-so-morally-patronising globetrotting adventure packed with fun shooty bits.
Interestingly, Kozak’s Cross Com will no longer relate titbits of story info; instead, Ubisoft Paris wants Future Soldier to convey the ‘humanity of war’. To that end, you’ll see the story unfold through the eyes of its various protagonists. Examples cited included a Kremlin-based mission as a Russian Presidential bodyguard attempting to foil his abduction, or as a brave civilian defending his hometown from invasion. Lacey and Dauba assured us these won’t just be inconsequential titbits, but fully fleshed-out levels – if not quite as long as the Ghost scenarios.

Granted, it all sounds very Modern Warfare – but if you’ve ever read one of Tom Clancy’s Bible-long thrillers you’ll know the man himself was weaving first- and third-person narratives together when Grant Collier and his Infinity Ward strike team were still wearing their varsity jackets. “The overall geopolitical stuff, the tale of the terrorists – we really wanted to make more of this,” stresses Lacey.
“We told a good story in GRAW, but perhaps it didn’t let you focus on the true events. Now we let you physically play the plot, you’ll understand it more, plus it’ll inform your attitude towards the enemy – make you really want to take them down.” Even better, it also means the devs get to mollify fans who like their weapons ‘real world’ – their loadout of approximately 45 firearms will include classics like AK-47s and AN-94s, not just fancy stuff like SCAR-Ls.

Recognising that no game so far – not even GRAW – has really nailed the squad mechanic, the Paris team moves onto their second massive reveal. First of all, they set the scene – expounding upon the real-life function of the squad. Spec Ops live, train and (sometimes) die together. They’re a band of brothers with a hive mind and are constantly aware there’s no room for mistakes.
Ubi wants to transfer this synergy to Future Soldier while keeping it as simple as possible. Using the metaphor of pro-gamer clans, they claim they’re consigning squad babysitting to the history books. Their baby? The Link-Up system. Okay, so Future Soldier technically isn’t the first game to sport this mechanic – Army of Two beat them to the punch there – but this is a much more refined evolution, and here’s how it works...

Just one contextual button snaps you in and out. Up to a squad of four are then tethered within a certain radius (a couple of feet by our estimation), and can all move through a 360 degree range of motion, making for fast, fresh, dynamic gunplay. To counteract your new versatility, linear maps are out and enemies will now rush you from all angles on the battlefield, utilising a vast range of flanking and pincer attacks.

Another advantage of Link-Up is that it also grants you access to an ally’s unique class abilities and weapons, opening up entirely fresh tactical avenues, while also incrementally increasing your firepower depending upon the size of the cell. (You’ll also gain access to class skills, including mortar shots, EMP bombs and even air strikes.) Every class is able to heal one another, and you’ll also have access to tech like acoustic monitors and heart rate detectors to help identify and track the enemy. Link-up also spells an end to squad commands; there’s no more move to point A or B, no more being spoon-fed field orders by superiors. It’s a drastic departure, but an exciting one.
Ubisoft are billing Link-Up as a multiplayer revolution, at once both a teaching/accessibility tool for newbies and a point of pride for veterans. When we raised concerns over online piggybacking, Ubi couldn’t disagree more. “When you’re a good player you’ll take pride in people tethering to you, in being the ‘leader’ as you show them around levels and sweet spots,” reckons Lacey. There’s another good reason for sticking together – there’s less chance of being captured. “Go lone wolf and get knocked out by the enemy, and you’ll give away precious team info,” warns Dauba.
While Ubi controversially hasn’t yet deigned to implement any new multiplayer modes along the lines of Bad Company 2’s brilliant Squad Rush (expect stalwarts like Capture the Flag, Team Domination, Deathmatch instead), they’re banking on the Link-Up mechanic to provide fresh online impetus. “Eight versus eight at 60fps guarantees exciting, fast-paced matches,” promises Lacey. Once again though: Red Storm are not directly involved in coding the multiplayer. Also: there is weapon unlocking, but no actual vehicle action.

Ghost Recon games have traditionally been bombastic affairs, but Future Soldier is also promising sonic revelations – conveying the illusion you’re in the heart of battle like no other shooter. The new 360 degree battlefield means, armed with the proper surround setup, bullets really will be whistling past your ears from all angles, while GRAW’s shock effects have been pumped up to new heights. And if you’re able to remember rounding that corner in the original Advanced Warfighter only to be flattened by the embassy blowing into a billion pieces, you’ll understand how exciting this is.
With time running out, we pulled Ubisoft up on the press release for Future Soldier and its promise of the Ghosts ‘using a perfect combination of diplomacy and force’. Was that just PR guff? “Um, yeah,” admits Lacey with a grin. Doesn’t he reckon that with Ghost Recon’s potentially epic body count that the devs have some sort of obligation to deal with moral issues on the battlefield, though? “There will now be civilians in certain missions running about so you’re not able to simply blast away. You’re not necessarily punished for killing them, but you will get a ticking-off.” Nevertheless, the team remains interested in the addition of role-playing elements to the shooty-shooty stuff, in the Mass Effect 2 vein.

“I think the Clancy universe lends itself to that, more than any other series I can think of. But Ghost Recon specifically? I’m not sure it’d be something we’d ever do. Interconnectivity is interesting though.” One final question: are those legendary helicopter chaingun sections making a comeback? “There will be certain rides,” teases Lacey. “Plus, obviously fixed machine guns and the like. But we’ve tried to put extended focus on drones and UAVs this time around – they’re our ‘vehicles’ now.” Like we said, GRAW, but not as you know it. We can’t wait to play more.

Mar 25, 2010 (gamesradar.com)

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