E3 2003: IGN Vault MMORPG commentary

[Nadia]

http://vault.ign.com/articles/409/409585p1.html
Game of Show

Winner: Horizons

Horizons is shaping up to be one exciting game. Artifact Entertainment is the first developer to put focus on communities working together to fight off a common adversary. When you add together everything Artifact Entertainment has put into Horizons: a deep and immersive crafting system, nine playable races including Dragons, player owned property, and player built cities, Horizons is the game to get this year. We cannot wait to battle the Undead Armies for the Frontier!


Runner up: Star Wars Galaxies

Star Wars Galaxies, in development by Sony and LucasArts, will feature a high level of character customization, hundreds of skills, and over 30 professions. The development team is working closely with Lucas Arts and the game will feature a race that has not been seen much in the Star Wars universe, Bothans. According to Skywalker Ranch: Bothans in Star Wars Galaxies will be the definitive interpretation of the race - something the developers are proud of. Plus, there are Wookiees and the Force!


Best Graphics

Winner: Middle Earth Online

Middle-earth Online is quite possibly the hardest MMOG any developer could make. The game has legions of hardcore fans and people who take the works to heart. Turbine Entertainment has built a fantastic engine and is following the art style in the books to the letter. The game will feature every effect known to human kind to create a visual stunning world, and features what we believe is the best in-game water in any MMOG. When the mighty Balrog appeared on the screen suddenly, I was in fear. If the game plays as well as it looks we're in for a treat.


Runner up: World of Warcraft

The world of Azeroth keeps its cartoony feel it has had throughout the Warcraft series, though at the same time made it extremely visually appealing with vibrant colors and detailed textures. The world is composed of numerous different areas for each race, each with their unique feel and colors to them, not to mention numerous structures around the world to give all parts of the world a unique look. This was a very difficult category to judge, since all games this year were beautiful, but WoW stood out of the crowd.


Best Sound

Winner: Star Wars Galaxies

Star Wars Galaxies features fantastic sound effects. During our demo at this year's E3, I could not tell apart the sound from the game and the movies on my home stereo. From the sound of a Wookiee to that of a gun everything features a high production value and will immensely help players immerse them selves into the Star Wars universe. Plus, when you start up the game, you get to hear the Star Wars Theme music, what can be better to get you in the mood to roleplay?


Runner up: Horizons

Horizons: Empire of Istaria, from Artifact Entertainment, will feature tremendous sound effects. During our demo we had the chance to run into a storm caused by one of the Undead antagonist of the game, the storm felt real and when lighting struck it made us shiver. The music players hear during combat is fast-paced and exciting. The most awe-inspiring sound we heard is from a Dragon standing up and using its fire breath weapon.


Best Expansion

Winner: Anarchy Online: Shadowlands

Funcom continues to impress us in this expansion. Along with different areas to explore, including some underwater and aerial locations, the theme of this expansion sounds fun. Based on the seven levels of hell in Dante's Inferno, players will be able to discover the history of Rubi-Ka and the war between the Redeemed and Unredeemed. Include raising the level cap, tons of new monsters, static dungeons and lots of items, this expansion looks to expand the content in Anarchy Online by epic proportions.


Runner up: Dark Age of Camelot: Trials of Atlantis

Featuring impressive underwater levels which players must swim around in or ride sharks, Trials of Atlantis will be adding a lot of content of Camelot. Each realm will get a version of the same expansion. Riddles will need to be solved in order to figure out what happened to Atlantis. Underwater combat adds a new dimension. Did I mention the underwater levels are gorgeous?


Developer of the Year

Winner: Turbine

No other developer out there has four MMORPG's on their plate. No other has two of the biggest licenses to ever be made into games. No other is willing to risk it all by funding their own game and doing everything themselves (like they are with Dungeons and Dragons). They currently have 2 games live (which are patched monthly with content by 2 separate live teams), 1 in major development phase and 1 in concept and design phase. All we can say is, Jeff Anderson and crew probably won't be sleeping much for a long time to come.


Runner up: Artifact Entertainment

Given that they have the game of show, they must be doing something right. We really liked what we saw from this development group. David Bowman sat down with us numerous times, including our Executive Editor on two separate occasions, the 2nd time to show her some things that weren't being shown in the demo. All in all, this developer has their act together and we have high expectations for what is to come.



Developer most likely to receive death threats

Winner: Turbine

Turbine has taken a lot on their plate. They have two licenses to produce games for what can be considered the most rabid fanbases out there. They have a lot of pressure on them to be true to Middle Earth and Dungeons & Dragons. Turbine has guts, that's for sure.


Sleeper Hit

Winner: Guild Wars

There are a few reasons we believe this little-known game will end up taking the industry by storm. First of all, it's a beautiful game. Second, it has a unique concept - persistent state characters in a non-persistent world where players take on quests. Completing a quest will open up new ones. We love this idea! Finally, there is no cost associated with it besides the client cost. That's right, a massive online game that has no monthly fee! We think this is going to bring in a huge portion of the market who just won't pay that money every month.


Most Innovative

Winner: Matrix Online

We didn't get to see much of this game and it is a long way off, but what we did see leads us to believe this will take combat and graphics to a whole new level. Jumping off walls, time slowing down with special moves, impressive city graphics with buildings you can enter and a continuing storyline written by the authors of the movies give this game a lot of innovation and potential.


Best Booth

Winner: NCSoft

NCSoft had 6 games to show total this year, 5 of which are MMO's. One isn't slated for release in North America yet (Shining Lore), but that still leaves 4 MMO's. Interestingly enough, all 6 games they were showing were available for anyone who walked by to play. They had chairs and computers set up in a such manner that people could play the game real-time and get a first hand experience with each of them. You have to love booths that let you sit and play the game! And having so many games to show just makes the booth that much better.


Best use of tech

Winner: Final Fantasy XI

Square-Enix has definately proven themselves by not only making an excellent game, but also by showing what they can do. Final Fantasy XI is the first MMORPG that will not only allow players from both a console and PC to play on the same online world, but also allow gamers who don't even speak the same language to communicate with one another. Those two features alone are incredible enough, but they took it a step further by adding in things such as weather effects that actually have an effect on your characters abilities, allowing players to combine their abilities, and much more. We can be sure that there's plenty more to be seen, it's only a matter of time. Square-Enix definately earned this award without a doubt.


Game we most want to see next year

Winner: Mythica

Though only recently announced, Mythica sounds as though it will offer gamers everything a gamer has always wanted. Not only is it visually stunning with the fiery tower and explosions, but it also has some new unique features never before seen in an MMORPG. Live cutscenes taking place in real time, quest NPCs to guide you through quests, combined player spells to destroy giant towers, private realms to allow for a rich RPG experience, and much more are only some of the reasons we're excited to see what Microsoft can wow us with next. Be sure to keep an eye on this game, as we most certainly expect this to be one of the most anticipated MMORPGs of the future

[Minute]

Did you post that twice or are my eyes beginning to fail me in my old age?

Btw... Horizons? That is so... 1998

[Nadia]

i cant stop pasting !!