Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a great action RPG that may fall slightly short of the series lofty bar, but still provides plenty of thoughtful thrills.
It's 2027 and humanity is at a turning point. Mechanical augmentations have become de rigeur the world over. Some see augs as the next step in evolution, while others denounce them as dangerous, contaminating the purity of humanity. This theme permeates Human Revolution, but keeps the debate sufficiently grey. There's no right or wrong, but everyone has their own viewpoint across the entire strata of society. Be it the politicians and businessmen in their ivory towers, or the working girls and gang members that patrol the streets.
It's a fine world that Eidos Montreal have built. A sprawling and divided version of Detroit with gold neon skyscrapers towering over the smoke-filled slums of the have-nots. Human Revolution is not an especially good looking game from a technical standpoint, the animation is awkward and character models strangely plasticky, but its aesthetic blend of cyberpunk and baroque is intoxicating, Blade Runner designed by Bernini.
At the heart of Deus Ex's cyberpunk milieu lies a fascinating contradiction. It's a game of empowerment, of the titular human revolution, bodies of flesh and bone augmented with technological enhancements. Robotic arms that can punch through walls, eyes that can scan and evaluate. But for a game that's so obvious in building your character as an unstoppable machine of synthetic craft, you rarely feel as vulnerable. Or as human.
You are Adam Jensen, security manager for Sarif Industries, a major player in the augmentation arms race. Jensen starts the game unaugmented, but a brutal attack on Sarif Industries leaves him an inch from death. Saved by his colleagues and rebuilt in the Sarif labs, Jensen finds himself literally augmented up to the eyeballs. A weapon.
What kind of weapon is largely up to you. The key to the augmentation toybox is handed over early and. using your hard earned experience points, allows you to power up Jensen as you see fit. Turn him into a walking tank, with razor sharp gun skills, heavy dermal armour and a ballistics system that spits out explosive ball-bearings in a devastating area attack. Turn him into a stealth operative, with a cloaking system, elite hacking skills and optical tracking system. Or dabble in a bit of everything to construct a well rounded soldier. My first Jensen was a suave, stealthy type, preferring to talk people down and lurk in the shadows than cause unnecessary noise and bloodshed. Your Jensen might be wildly different... or he might not. Human Revolution packs in some wonderful gadgets, but the augs are not as sprawling and expansive, nor have the same micro-managed minutiae as the original Deus Ex.
That's fine. Human Revolution is a prequel after all, the augmented reality is just warming up. But it should be noted the broad scale of choice isn't as prevalent in Human Revoution. The journey is tighter, more focussed. It does lose a little of that experimental sheen, but not too much, as long as you are willing to ask "what if I tried this?", using every aug, mine and weapon at your disposal. Approaching tasks in varying ways from the city hubs of Detroit and Shanghai remains one of Deus Ex's primary thrills. An early infiltration into a Police Station morgue offers a number of choices. You can charm your old buddy on the front desk, convincing him to let you wander freely around the station; you can hack your way in through a back door located in the sewers, sneaking through air vents and tapping into computers to locate door codes or, if you were feeling particularly violent, you could shoot everyone in the station and Mad Max your way through. Good luck with that last one, though, reckless gun-toting tends to lead to the game over screen. Another scenario tasked me with breaking into a gang hideout, heavily guarded against a frontal assault. I could have ventured into the sewers and snuck my way in, but I was angry, so I positioned myself on a rooftop across from the entrance and sniped the guards before dropping down and gutting any stragglers with my in-built arm blades. Ok, so maybe I didn't mind the odd bit of bloodshed.
The great thing is that each option is entertaining in its own right. The conversation system asks you to genuinely assess your subject, subtly shifting the talk in the way you want it to go. It's excellent stuff that manages to show up even LA Noire in all but facial animation. Hacking is a thrilling riff on Introversion Software's Subversion, carefully linking nodes against the clock. While shooting is, well, shooting. As an FPS, Human Revolution is quick and deadly, you are as vulnerable as your enemies and ammunition is scarce. Illogically so, in fact. Why the guards of a heavily armed conglomerate fortress are wandering around with a single bullet in their assault rifles, for example, is quite the brain teaser. Especially when they open fire with an unlimited supply of lead.
There's no doubt that Eidos are keen that Human Revolution is rarely played as a straight shooter, preferring a more tactical course. It works beautifully too, for the most part. While it's disappointing that many of the game's main mission areas are fairly bland sprawls of military corridors, restricting the chance for true freedom, it's the second-by-second decisions that end up as Human Revolution's high points. Assessing and planning become paramount, scanning an area for enemy patrols. Choosing when to move, when to run and when to fight. These split-second decisions can either lead to a silky smooth infiltration, or completely alter your course. Then it's adapt or die. Changing your tactics at the last second to wrestle victory from the jaws of defeat can often be as satisfying as a perfectly executed plan.
This tactical to-and-fro is as defined by your weaknesses as much as your augmented power-ups and weapon enhancements. You have the modern video game crutch of recharging health, but it vanishes so quickly under fire that a momentary lapse can leave you perforated. Meanwhile, nearly all of your intensive actions, down to the brutal melee attacks you can dish out to unsuspecting guards are restricted by battery life. Your energy is slow to recharge, and only a small amount of power will naturally recharge if you use the lot. It means that you need to plan your power use carefully. If you engage your cloak to slink past a security camera unseen, it's unlikely you'll have enough juice to take out the guard at the other end of the hallway, possibly leaving you dangerously exposed.
Thankfully it's all enabled by a fluid control system. Hold down the left trigger and the viewpoint will shift from first to third-person as Jensen attaches himself to cover. Purists may scoff at this concession to the Gears of War generation, but it does allow you a clearer view of the field and the implementation is slick enough that even the most sceptical might grow to like it.
Choice and consequence, planning and tactics; this is where Human Revolution shines brightest. So it's no surprise that when those assets are taken away, the game loses its sparkle. The question is: why would you take them away at all? Four abysmal, trite and utterly inappropriate boss battles against heavily augmented bad guys threaten to undermine everything the game stands for. There's no choice or planning, only a ballistic war of attrition in constricted chambers against foes far more powerful than you. If you went the tank route with your augmentations, maybe you will be ok. But given the game seems to gently nudge you away from that path, the boss fights are a bizarrely anachronistic contradiction. And they're horrifically designed, frustrating and not in the least bit enjoyable. Only the final encounter seems to offer an alternative path, but is delivered in such chaos you won't know you've chosen it until the fight comes to an abrupt end.
What exacerbates the pointlessness of these encounters is that none of the bosses are developed as characters. They form part of the black ops squad that decimated Sarif Industries, but only crop up at their predetermined points with no backstory or development. It's part of a wider malaise with Human Revolution's main storyline that leaves it feeling oddly detached. It doesn't help that Jensen is a bit of a bore and few characters truly stand out, despite some decent voice acting and dialogue.
It's the world and your actions that keep you truly invested in Human Revolution, then. Exploring the city-hubs exposes you to the society that augmentation has built, side-missions investigating cover-ups and foul play casts an image of a sick species. E-books and newspapers lie scattered around for you to read, a record of humanity's inevitable implosion. As a piece of fiction, Human Revolution extrapolates the fears of today into a future imperfect, of economic collapse, of riots in the streets and the gulf between rich and poor widening to critical levels. It's a startlingly relevant piece of work, marred by the most benign and unnecessary of flaws. But in this age of scripted rollercoasters and linear bug hunts, the thinking man's freedom of Deus Ex provides a fabulous example of interactive entertainment, if not quite the revolution the title promises.
Sony has launched its first Android tablets. The S and P models are the first such devices made by the Japanese electronics giant, with the S featuring a tapered design and a 9.4” screen, while the P is a folding, clamshell model with two smaller screens.
Sony claims both devices not only offer the best available features in the Android tablet market, with fast web browsing and PlayStation games, but it also claims that the devices offer features not available on the market-leader, the iPad.
For the S, the two key features are set to be a built in remote-control that can be used with any infra-red devices, including TVs and hifis that are not made by Sony, and the ability to use the tablet to direct digital media, such as music or films, from anywhere on the user’s network to any TV or hifi that can play it.
The new release marks a step-change for Android tablets, which have previously sought primarily to ape the iPad slim form factor, while relying on Google for the vast majority of the software. Sony has sought to shift the innovation to hardware, where its heritage lies, a company source said.
Weighing 598g the S model will go on sale in mid-September, while the 372g P will be available from November. Both include USB and SD card slots, as well as high speed web-browsing that the company claims is faster than any tablet currently on the market. Both tablets will have front and rear cameras and WiFi connectivity and 3G mobile internet, as well as 4G where it is available. The S will offer either 16 or 32gb of storage, while the smaller P will come with 4gb. Sony claims seven hours battery life for the P and eight for the S.
Last year Sony said its aim was to be second to Apple in the tablet market by 2012. That will mean overtaking rivals including Samsung, whose first Galaxy Tab went on sale last year, Motorola and RIM, manufacturers of the BlackBerry PlayBook. Analysts Gartner say that tablet sales will quadruple to about 294 million by 2015. Sony made the announcements at IFA, where it has also launched an updated version of its eReader and wearable 3D visor.
Go ninja into battle with the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition. The award-winning mechanical keyboard is still the benchmark for crisp, tactile actuations and gaming-grade responsiveness with every key press. Now outfitted with silent key switches for quieter feedback and designed with a sleek black matte finish for gamers who favor silent strikes from the shadow and meticulous pwnage. Featuring full-blown anti-ghosting, your awesome flurry of destruction by multi key presses is now possible. Round that off with backlighting, additional macro keys, unlimited on-the-fly macro recording and an ultra sleek finish, the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition is a weapon of ruthless power.
Silent mechanical key architecture for superior tactility and faster responseThe Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition’s mechanical key architecture provides a distinctive yet silent tactile feedback in form of a light pronounced tap to your fingers giving you an entirely new feel on your gaming keyboard. With an optimized actuation force of 45g and a reduced actuation distance of 2mm, the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition’s keys allow actuation of your commands faster than any other standard keyboard.
Extreme anti-ghosting for multi-key press destructionGet the jump, crouch, shot on your enemies or the left turn, brake, nitrous on the track when the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth Edition provides complete anti-ghosting of up to 6 simultaneous key presses. With the ability to execute more than a single key command at one time, it’s an absolute competitive advantage for taking your game to the next level.
Individually backlit keys with 5 levels of lightingNever miss a key in the dark with the backlighting on the Razer BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth. With light intensity configurable to your preference, you can launch assaults and flank foes even under low light conditions.
Technical Specifications:
Full mechanical keys with 45g actuation force
Silent, tactile feedback on key press
Extreme anti-ghosting capability
Individually backlit keys with 5 levels of lighting
1000Hz Ultrapolling / 1ms response time
Programmable keys with on-the-fly macro recording
Gaming mode option for deactivation of the Windows key
10 customizable software profiles with on-the-fly switching
Square Enix is one of the most well-known publishers based in Japan. That means the company unleashes the big guns (or gunblades) at Tokyo Game Show, which officially starts on September 15th. If there's a game with "Final" or "Fantasy" in the title, chances are Square Enix is showing it off. And we couldn't be more excited to get our chocobo fix.
Prominent Square Enix designer Tetsuya Nomura revealed several games in the company's Tokyo Game Show lineup to Japanese publication Dengeki PlayStation. Although this information is subject to change, we wanted to fill you in on what to expect from Square Enix this year. Will there be rose petals? Keyblades? Magical playing cards? Floating swords? We sure hope so.
Despite its controversial reception, Final Fantasy XIII was an important product for Square Enix last year. It was the first proper Final Fantasy to be developed on current-generation platforms, and it moved away from franchise traditions in favor of a more beginner-friendly approach.
Square Enix is attempting to enhance the original experience with a proper sequel that follows Lightning's sister, Sera Farron. This is the second direct sequel in the series following Final Fantasy X-2. But don't expect too many skimpy dresses, comedy, and crazy fan service -- Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a serious story designed with exploration, player choice, and combat in mind.
One of the most ambitious games Square Enix has developed for the PlayStation Portable, Final Fantasy Type-0 is exciting in every way. You control the students of Class Zero, young magicians from the magic school known as Rubrum Peristylium (Don't worry, you won't be tested on this information!).
Final Fantasy Type-0 has serious potential. The battle system is action-heavy and visually enthralling. There are also multiplayer options if you can find fellow Final Fantasy nerds in your area.
We're not strangers to the Kingdom Hearts series. The original was a memorable PS2 classic and the recent spin-offs have proven the power of portable platforms. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance will be a robust experience featuring the iconic Sora, and it might clue us in on what happens in Kingdom Hearts III. Could this be the last Kingdom Hearts spin-off before the series finally reaches its anticipated conclusion? A man can dream.
Could Final Fantasy get any more adorable? Theatrhythm is a 3DS game heavily influenced by the lore of the Dissidia universe. If that didn't make any sense to you, just picture a music game with a bunch of cute Final Fantasy characters. You'll be using the touch screen to tap and swipe your way through a collection of classic Final Fantasy tunes. Sounds good.
Full disclosure: Nomura did not claim Final Fantasy Versus XIII will be at Tokyo Game Show this year. In fact, Square Enix officially stated that Versus would not appear at the show. But knowing Square Enix's history at Tokyo Game Show, we're pretty sure a teaser trailer will show up again.
We've been dying to see more of the dark hero Noctis and his breath-taking ability to kick ass and keep his immaculate hair in place. Perhaps we'll finally see him smile (he doesn't look very happy in any of the Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailers).
Every now and then I'll be posting a compilation of Gameplay trailers of upcoming games that we are so eager to own and play. For lack of creativity, I'll be calling it "Gone in a Minute" (I first typed in Gone in 60 Seconds but that was a complete lack of originality).
For this week, we have Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Mass Effect 3, and Battlefield 3, to name a few. Enjoy!
The downloadable versions of Magic: The Gathering have been incredibly popular on Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) and Steam. Earlier this year we got the excellent sequel Magic: The Gathering -- Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 and next month we'll be enjoying an expansion pack that adds new cards, challenges, and a twist to the very cool Archenemy mode.
Simply called Expansion, the new content will be available September 14 for both XBLA and Steam. After downloading you'll find a new tab in the main menu that will take you to all the new goodies. Four cards will be added to all existing decks and we'll get a preview of the new Innastrade set for the Magic real-world card game. Three entirely new decks will be added, along with an interesting new campaign.
Magic 2012 had an Archenemy mode that pitted three players against one ridiculously powerful Archenemy. The expansion's campaign casts you as the Archenemy and lets you decimate trio after trio of opponents.
Multiplayer is also being updated so that one player can be the Archenemy and everyone else can gang up on him or her.
A price for the expansion hasn't been announced, yet, but I'm definitely going to be playing come September 14.
According to Korean media, there is a big possibility that players' long-awaited MMORPGs Blade & Soul, ArchAge and Lift will be delayed to the first half of 2012.
"The open beta testing of Blade & Soul has not been confirmed, but we're aiming for this year," NCsoft's legal representative Kim Taek Jin once said.
"Currently, we're not sure that Blade & Soul can be launched this year. But even if there is any delay, we won't keep players wait long." NCsoft's Vice President Lee Zai Ho said at the Q2 Results Announcement on August 17.
According to insiders, at the soonest, Blade & Soul which is currently under development by NCsoft, will enter into open beta testing at the end of December. The open beta testing schedule is yet to be determined by the outcome of the second CBT.
"After completing the second CBT, currently we have no further plan for Blade & Soul," said Bae Jae Hen who is in charge of the development of Blade & Soul.
According to the information released on the official site, the second CBT for Blade & Soul will start from August 29 through September 10.
CJ E&M is scheduled to launch open beta for LIFT in the first half of 2012.
"Currently, U.S.-operated LIFT undergoes a large-scale update every month. We're not sure whether to use the original version or some updated version. And the open beta testing schedule is also likely to change," revealed some CJ E&M staff.
CJ E&M has made arrangement for promoting its online games in the latter half of 2011. It seems they are not in a rush to publish LIFT.
A super large-scale CBT for ArchAge was carried out in April. Around 5000 players participated in the testing. It is estimated that there may be great difficulties for it to be published this year.
"We're planning to carry out more than two CBT before going into OBT. And there is no arrangement for the fourth CBT," revealed XL GAMES staff.
"The game market requires online games at full completion and of high quality. It is suggested that game development companies not bring their games into the market in a hurry. It's better to do that when they are fully ready," said an industry professional.
In a mobile, app-driven world, Sony is convinced that gamers will flock to the PlayStation Vita. Based on the official specs alone, Sony could be right.
In an interview with GameSpot during Gamescom 2011, Sony's director of hardware marketing John Koller said that gamers will discard their smartphones and tablets for the company's delayed handheld console, the PlayStation Vita. The comment isn't surprising given that Sony is trying to push a very expensive piece of hardware, but given that consumers typically only want to carry one device as it is, the idea seems a bit naive in an app-controlled, mobile world.
“When you look at the type of consumer that's playing cell phone games currently, it's someone that enjoys smaller 'kill time' gaming and has not gravitated to the larger, richer, deeper experiences that true handheld gaming provides," said Koller, adding that Sony has done "a lot of quantitative and qualitative research to back this up."
Let's stop right there. This mobile gamer demographic seemingly consists of two groups of consumers: those who play games to kill a little time while waiting at the doctor's office or burning flesh at the beach, and those who enjoy games both on and off mobile devices. It's highly unlikely the first group will purchase a $249 PlayStation Vita.
However, the second group may not purchase the PlayStation Vita because (1) the price (as seen with the Nintendo 3DS which actually soared in sales once Nintendo sliced off $80) and (2) they want to carry one device. Honestly, what hardcore gamer wants to carry around a smartphone, a bulky PlayStation Vita and possibly even a tablet? If anything, the Xperia Play seems to be a perfect example of where gamers are on the mobile market: they wants their games, their telephone, their Internet, their music and their movies all on one unit in their pocket.
But Sony seems convinced that gamers will want otherwise once they get a taste of the PlayStation Vita. "You're going to see PS Vita expand what a lot of people believe to be true about handheld gaming, and you're going to see a lot of those current mobile phone and tablet gamers come over to Vita," he added. "We're very convinced of that."
Could Koller be right? Will the PlayStation Vita rejuvenate the handheld console sector and pull gamers away from their apps? Will there be enough draw to convince consumers into carrying an additional set of hardware? That remains to be seen. However, the official device specs, released during Gamescom this week, are impressive enough to grant a double-take. Have a look:
CPU ARM Cortex-A9 core (4 core) GPU SGX543MP4+ External Dimensions Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5-mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection) Screen (Touch screen) 5-inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED Multi touch screen (capacitive type) Main memory 512 MB VRAM 128 MB Cameras
Late last week, HP announced that it was nuking its tablet and smartphone lines and putting WebOS on hold. All well and good for HP, but retailers still had tons of unsold stock taking up shelf space. HP's solution to that problem was a fire sale: The 16GB TouchPad was dropped from $400 to just $99, while the 32GB TouchPad fell to $149 from $500. This is in addition to the price drop that saw the sticker price for the two devices fall from $500 and $600, respectively. HP sent out the memo to its affiliates to drop the price starting August 20, but BestBuy.ca and Future Shop made the cut late on Friday night, leading to frenzied anticipation for U.S. retailers to drop their prices, too.
Of course, once they did, it didn't take long for online stores like BestBuy.com to run out of stock completely. HP's own website had trouble keeping up, suffering database errors on Saturday and 404'ing on Sunday. According to ZDNet, the company's call center also had some serious problems on Saturday; the reps simply couldn't handle the number of calls coming in from customers. In store, people queued for hours to get their hands on the limited numbers of TouchPads available and many left disappointed.
With latest games providing HD visual experiences, users normally fall short on the audio part and to put that aside the Razer Tiamat 7.1 headset claims to do so with its true-to-life pinpoint audio system and the ten discrete speaker drivers. Also, accompanying the accessory is the Razer Tiamat 2.2 stereo gaming headset, holding four individual speakers and two bass subwoofers.
Built for extreme gaming, both headsets come with the ability of providing realistic and crisp audio output, making voices, gunfire and explosions seem life-like. Possessing 5 discrete drivers on either side making a total of ten, the Razer Tiamat 7.1 headset is capable of providing third dimensional sound clarity over the accurately positioned speaker system.
The device is equipped with 2 center speakers, 1 left and another for the right alongside the surround sound front (left and right) and back (left and right) with the remaining two for the subwoofer to derive the 7.1 channel output. Additionally, the headset comes with an all-in-one volume control unit, interchangeable ear cup covers, replaceable soft-touch leatherette ear cushions and a braided fiber cable.
“The Razer Tiamat headset range is the pride of our audio engineering, the world’s first 10 driver headset, built to deliver the most powerful, clear and accurately produced positional audio gamers will ever need for the competitive edge. Surprise the enemy trying to creep up for a stealth kill, when you can hear their footsteps loud and clear behind you,” expressed Robert ‘RazerGuy’ Krakoff, President, Razer USA.
Further, the Razer Tiamat 2.2 stereo gaming headset throws in a sturdy built and a comfortable fit that states to reproduce the destructive audio found in games into a life-like experience. Sporting 4 discrete speakers from which two are dedicated towards bass output, the device offers a slim and easy-to-use in-line remote, braided fiber cable and replaceable ear cushions.
The Razer Tiamat 7.1 and Tiamat 2.2 stereo gaming headset is available for purchase on the company’s website and comes with a price tag of $179.99 and $99 respectively.
GamesCom 2011: New trailer for crossover fighter details new battle systems, expands roster with looks at aforementioned goliaths, speedy ninjas Raven and Ibuki.
Few of the potential matchups offered by a Street Fighter-Tekken crossover are as patently obvious as lifelong bear wrestler Zangief versus lifelong bear Kuma. Capcom is halfway to making that dream match a reality, as the publisher today released a new trailer for Street Fighter x Tekken, featuring gameplay of a handful of newly confirmed characters, including Kuma himself.
Sporting his bright red bandana, Kuma enters the fray on the Tekken side of the roster alongside the sunglasses-clad ninja Raven. Balancing things out on the Capcom side of the roster are a pair of Street Fighter III veterans in the lithe ninja Ibuki and the mammoth man-mountain Hugo.
The trailer also goes into the game's new fighting systems, including the various ways to tag characters in and out, often times midcombo. The clip also shows off chain combos similar to those of the Darkstalkers series, as well as tag team Cross Art super moves. Finally, the trailer shows off the Cross Assault feature, which allows for a player to call in both members of a tag team to swarm an opponent for a limited time.
Street Fighter x Tekken is expected to launch for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Vita next year.
Tera: The Exiled Realm of Arborea is one of the new MMORPGs that would soon be released, as it is still in beta testing at present. The game houses seven races and eight classes. The game's serveres would be located in North America and Europe, but the good thing is both servers would not have IP-block. Stated below is a brief over view of Tera Online from steparu.com. More details to follow in the next posts :)
Tera Online is a very user-friendly game. For instance, targeting monsters may look complicated but in fact it's really easy to pick up, especially for players who have only played point and click MMORPG's. It's pretty easy to level up and you will most likely never run out of quests. Tera Online can get very addicting due to it's new direction of combat and non-targeting system. The storyline missions can prove to be challenging on occasion but at the same time it isn't so hard to finish like the end game dungeon. Most of the monsters and areas that you will come across have their own unique feel. Having played a lot of titles, I've yet to stumble across similar monsters or areas in other games.
Gameplay It's very easy to pick up Tera Online and learn it; the gameplay isn't that hard and it will be a nice change for those of you who are looking to get away from your average point and click MMORPG's. There are a lot of monsters to kill and you won't find yourself grinding or questing in the same area for more than two or three levels. But if you want to level up efficiently, it's essential you find a good grinding spot with a repeatable quest. All the keys, commands, menus, hot bars, and such can all be rebounded to a different key. If you don't like moving around with the default WASD then you can switch it around to something else. If you don't like normal attacking with your left mouse button, then you can easily bind it to different key in the options menu or just move the normal attack skill to a different skill bar slot. You will find that most of the monsters graphics aren't recycled much, so you won't get bored fighting the same monster over and over. Even when they are recycled their textures are so different that you won't notice that they are the same monster until you see their actions.
Playable Races Classes There is a huge amount of playable classes you can choose from, along with different kinds of races. The only drawback with a lot of races to pick from is the lack of body customization. While you can customize your characters face fully, you are unable to customize your characters height and properties. Sorry boys, no boob slider for you. However, it shouldn't be much concern to you or me. Why? Because you've already got a huge amount of playable races to pick from! I won't go into detail about this matter much, but if you're interested in seeing each race during it's character creation process then you can follow the link below and see my collection of recorded videos for each race.
Some players may think playing specific race for a certain class may have huge benefits. There are some races that are suited for specific classes but they are not exactly ground breaking, which is why I chose to play an Elin Lancer. It's always fun to tank monsters that are three to ten times bigger than you. I also tried to customize her to look like my website mascot! Isn't she adorable? Anyway, if you're looking to tank monsters you would want to go with Lancer or Warrior. Lancers are actually preferred in the long run, at least until Warriors get buffed more. Either that or I haven't stumbled across any OP Warriors yet. The best damage dealers would have to be Sorcerer and Berserker, followed by Archer and Slayer. The best healer would have to be the Priest, but a Mystics wide variety of utilities can come very handy in party. Both support classes can heal very efficiently and either one of them is desired in late game instances.
Conclusion Tera is a great game, I am loving it. I will probably end up leveling an alt, at least until the battlefield system releases. I wanted to hold off on leveling another character to 50 because if I got started it on it, then this review wouuld never get published. Tera Online is one of those MMORPG's that you don't want to miss. It offers its own unique style and the graphics are amazing. I wouldn't bother comparing Tera's current end game content with any other MMORPG's. For one thing, that MMO has been out for awhile now and has gone through loads of updates whereas Tera Online was only recently released, and within the first month it has received its first update that unlocked the new instance dungeons. After playing a non-stop months of this game only, I haven't come to regret a single time I stayed up all night playing. I still have two months left remaining on my subscription and I'm not planning to quit anytime soon. I'm pretty satisfied with the game and its current content; the latest dungeons proves to be very challenging and should keep users busy for good month. Tera is definitely a game that you don't want to miss out on this year when it releases in NA. Even if you are to pay a month's worth just to see how the game is, you will be satisfied with the results.
Local servers of Tantra PH will be closed on September 01, 2011. Stated below is AMPED's message to the players.
Our dear Tantra Players,
It is with deep regret that we inform you of the closing all local Tantra servers on September 1, 2011. Management has decided not to renew our contract with Tantra developer Hanbitsoft anymore as there are no more future updates for the game in the coming years.
Because of this unfortunate news, we would like to encourage everyone to spend their remaining Taneys before the closing date to avoid having unused Taney left in the accounts. All active and inactive Tantra accounts will be inaccessible after the servers have been shutdown.
We would like to take this chance to thank all Tantra Players for their support through the years of the game’s existence. We would also like to sincerely apologize for all the setbacks and flaws that affected the game and the Tantra community as well. For users who have remaining Amped Credits left, you may try our other games Shaiya Online, WarRock, Mini Fighter and GetAmped 2.
For those who would like to play Shaiya Online, there will be exciting incentives waiting for you. We will announce more details about this very soon.
Again, we would like to thank everyone for their support. We wish everyone well.
The patch notes for the next Cabal patch has already been released. So far the updates are promising but what else can we expect from ESTsoft aside from awesome? Featuring Bike Options and Crafting, a new Weapon, and new Mission Field, why would you not look forward to this?
Read on to know what I'm talking about.
--- Jul 13th 2011 Patch notes ---
■ Modifications
Fixed bug, sometimes Cash Inventory doesn’t work correctly Fixed bug, in some situations, can not complete quests in a row Debuff icons on monsters displays with abnormal size Quests in dungeons sometimes stuck or failed In some situations, “Title” tab displays abnormally Fixed “War Clouds” dungeon quests error Fixed bug, WEXP exchange sometimes caused error
■ Changes
1. Tooltip redesign
Changed the design of skills, items, now with left align, small icons and information parts are separated
2. Some quests reward changes
Below are the introduction quests for fields and mission dungeons
3. Change the display content of Title tab
When click in an acquired title, the information displays easier to understand. Original: Title, Title bonus, Title description Change: Title, Title bonus, Requirement for acquired title
4. Change bonus effect when wearing a full set
Change the bonus effect gained when wearing a full set of same grade items
5. Blended Runes are more effective
Original: Only one Blended Rune can be active and triggered at once Change: All Blended Rune do not need to active, all of them are automatic active and can be triggered at once
6. Allow combining items
Allow combining items Potion, Return Stone, Warp Stone : Max 50 Cash items : Max 999 Change the way of merging items If the amount of total items greater than allowed limit, two items will switch the place Example : 48 HP Potion Lv3 and 3 HP Potion Lv3 If the amount of total items smaller than allowed limit, two items will merge together Example : 43 HP Potion Lv3 and 4 HP Potion Lv3 Switching items between inventory or warehouse pages applies the same rule above
7. Mailing system improvement
Add a button to delete all mails: Delete entire the mail (included the attached item and Alz inside)
Email confirmation window improvement: When sending mail, the recipient’s level, battle style and character name will be displayed in the confirmation window
8. Change items sold by NPCs
All the potions, return stones in 7, 20 and 30 stack will be deleted NPC will sell all the items with maximum limit without Honor grade limit (Honor grade removed)
9. Receive Alz from Auction Hall message changes
10. Confirmation window when selling an item the confirmation changes
11. Added “Back” button in the character selection window
Added “Back” button in character selection window, by clicking will bring back to server selection window
12. Remove unused button in Pet Training System
13. Bonus EXP will be displayed without the base one
14. Some skills and monster sound changed
15. Change the name of some monsters for quest dungeon
Some monsters in quests dungeon have been changed the names
Delete an existing bike kit items Bike Upgrade Kit, Perfect Bike Upgrade Kit will be deleted
2. Bike extracting and Bike Option Scrolls
Bike Option Scrolls can be obtained by extracting Bikes and Boards Bike Option Scroll (Medium) : Astral Bike – Blue, Astral Board Bike Option Scroll (High): Astral Bike – RW3, Astral Bike – Blue, Astral Board Obtainable items from extracting Bike Option Scrolls: Chance to obtain (not 100% chance) Material Core (Bike): 1 – 20 (100% chance) Material Core (Bike) are sold in NPC for 5,000,000 Alz Santa’s Christmas Sleigh and Unique Board (ex: Board of Phantom Pera) can not be extracted
3. Bike with slot, how to get?
Bikes can be dropped randomly with 0 – 2 slots NPC Core Alchemist in Fort Ruina sells Formula Cards to craft Bike Slot Conversion Kit Those Formula Cares does not drop in the game, can be obtained only from NPC Bike with high upgrade grade has the more success rate in conversion The Formula Card will be used and the Bike will keep the stats, only new slot is added Required Basic Craft Level 8 or above to use those Formula Cards
4. Bike Options in Slots
5. Bike Epic Crafting
Bike Epic is a Specified Crafting, it’s not One-Time Formula Card based or Basic Crafting Formula Card can be dropped from the Boss in new area of Lakeside 100% chance to succeed when trying to craft with sub-epic 1-3 (Bikes are still tradable) Other stats of bikes are maintained Material for Crafting Blue Bike Astral Bike – Blue (2 slots / 3 slots) +7 or higher Material Core (Bike) : 20 Upgrade core (Medium) : 20 Upgrade Core (Piece) : 50 Material for Crafting RW3 Bike Astral Bike – RW3 (2 slots / 3 slots) +7 or higher Material Core (Bike) : 20 Upgrade Core (High) : 20 Upgrade Core (Piece) : 50 Epic Bike Options
6. Mission field: “Saints’ Island”
New area is opened in the middle of Lakeside New area can be accessed by using the Statue near the entrance of Illusion Castle Mission field allows only characters with Nation
7. “Saints’ Excalibur Force” Weapon
Acquisition “Saints’ Excalibur Force” Weapon can be dropped from “Baikalitan” boss in Mission Field “Saints’ Island” The nation gives more damage on “Baikalitan” boss can be obtained the “Saints’ Excalibur Force” Weapon After the item dropped, there is 30 second of waiting time “Baikalitan” boss In all server, every Sunday at 20:00 for 30 minutes (this is Korean schedule), people can encounter with this boss The boss will summon monsters around the field If killed them, character can obtained cores There is a gauge to display the percentage of damage on the boss when enter the mission field
“Saints’ Excalibur Force” Weapon
This weapon can be used with special Buff This weapon can be used in Battle Mode 2 This weapon can be owned for 7 days
When the boss appear, there will be a broadcast on all channels “Saints’ Excalibur Force” Weapon owner and Guild name will be displayed
8. Introducing quest for “Saints’ Excalibur Force”
Quest Name: Saints’ Excalibur Force Required Level: Lv. 110 or higher (BSLv. 11 or higher) Start NPC: Core Alchemist Yerte – Port Lux
9. “Saints’ Excalibur Force” special Buff when owning “Saints’ Excalibur Force” Weapon
10. Add a new quest
Quest Name: Another way to unseal Required Level: Lv. 85 or higher (BSLv. 9 or higher) Start NPC: Core Alchemist Keller – Bloody Ice Details: Collect 5 x “Power sealed core” Quest items will drop to 100% from Mergaheph Reward: “The sealed core of Mergaheph” Other Quest items and Reward are Character-Binding
11. Formula Card to craft Mergaheph Ring added
Material : “The sealed core of Mergaheph” Formula Card is One-Time Formula Card Sales NPC: Core Alchemist Keller – Bloody Ice Sale Price: 99,000,000 Alz 0 Alz (Check the patch notes Jul 20th 2011 below for details)
12. DP expiring time displayed
DP expiring time will be displayed in Character window Format: 24-hour (00:00)
13. Cash Item are sold in NPC in separated Tab
In-game cash item available for purchase After buying, cash items will be move in to Cash Inventory After buying cash items, Cash will be decreased like buying from Web Cash Shop Add a button to move to the Cash Charge page
14. Add New Title
New titles are added. Killed named boss in new field is required to acquire the title
15. Add the mute button on the jukebox
The mute button on the jukebox is available. The mute button on the jukebox syncs with the Mute check box in the Options window
16. Community-related features are added in the character menu
The character selection menu: Write Mail, Guild Invite Chat character menu: Guild Invite
17. Added message in the center of screen to notice that dungeon is cleared and prompt for additional
18. Pet level and experience of the pet in the extended slot are displayed
19. Added Material Core (Bike) in Auction Hall
--- Jul 20th 2011 Patch notes ---
■ Modifications 1. Potions registered in Quickslot display abnormally, bug is fixed 2. In certain situation, Soul Ability Window can not be closed, bug is fixed 3. Could not accept many quests in a row, bug is fixed 4. Some items, which player doesn’t reach the limit of wearing, do not display in red background, bug is fixed 5. Pet training window was displayed abnormally number of Force Cores, bug is fixed 6. Tooltip of “Cube of Enchant” displayed incorrectly, bug is fixed 7. Tooltip of Saints Excalibur Force Buff and Battle Mode displayed with incorrect amount of SP, bug is fixed 8. Purify Epaulet in Forgotten Temple B1Fdisplayed wrong information in tooltip, bug is fixed 9. In certain situation,the Check button of mail system caused Client terminated, bug is fixed
■ Changes
1. Changes related to Excalibur Force Weapon
Raised slightly defense of Baikalitan Added safe zone for Mission field in Lakeside Pet is now invisible in Mission field Lakeside
2. Cash Items related changes
Change the name of Cash Item tab in NPC
- Items -> General - Cash Item -> Cash
Cash items H / N icon added
- N: New items - H: Popular items (Hot)
3. Skill, Skill Book tooltip modified
Skill Book orders: Skill Book displays the conditions Skill Book: Requirement and battle style are displayed
4. Some items sold in the store changes
Price of items which are selling by NPC changes (not the selling to NPC price)
5. Sound of some skills are changed
■ Additions
1. Add a button on the minimap
Help on the minimap allow to go to character information, inventory, quests window are added Options – Display tab “Shortcut button on the minimap display” option
■ Mission War
1. Tooltip displayed for HP amount in Mission War sometimes incorrectly, bug is fixed
--- Jul 27th 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Modifications
Fixed the bug that caused disappearing of mouse when editing guild information Quest “Those who wander in the darkness” is now fixed, can be finished In some situations, starting location in Illusion Castle is abnormal, bug is fixed Remote Shop Card caused DC in some situations, bug is fixed In some situations, Force Archer’s Astral Bow caused error when summoning Bike Option Scroll in Auction Hall caused error when searching, bug is fixed Saint’s Island sometime caused error when entering Fixed bug of changing channel / server messages “Sage’s Tower” quest is now fixed the ending scroll bug
■ Changes
Adding buddy changes Confirmation window will be show with Name, Level and Battle Style of requester A buddy who is receiving a request of adding buddy can not be requested to add as buddy Some changes added to guild system
■ Additions
Fixed bug that caused client could not handle file manipulating
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--- Aug 03rd 2011 Patch notes ---
■ Modifications
1. Under specified cases, changing channel caused jukebox error, bug is fixed 2. Quest for Saints’ Calibur Force Weapon can not be accepted, bug is fixed 3. Gauge represent for HP of Boss in new Mission Field displays abnormally, bug is fixed 4. Bonus from Astral Bow of Force Archer doesn’t include when using Saints’ Calibur Force Weapon, bug is fixed 5. Fixed some bugged scenario and dungeon quests 6. Average price of a Auction Hall sometimes displays abnormally, bug is fixed 7. Back / Forward button in Auction Hall works more correctly without reset searching conditions 8. Forgotten Ruin field doesn’t drop “Force Core (Low)” formula card, bug is fixed ■ Changes 1. Change Potion crafting
Buff potion (Low) : Disc (Lv1) x 3 + General Material x 3 Buff potion (Medium) : Disc (Lv2) x 3 + Buff potion (Low) x 5 + General Material x 2 Buff potion (High) : Disc (Lv3) x 3 + Buff potion (Medium) x 5 + General Material x 2
2. Fury Potion change the way to craft 3. Buff Potions changes
Buff Duration raises up Special buff potions : 20 seconds -> 30 seconds Other buff potions : 3 minutes -> 5 minutes Buff Value raises up
4. Added “Show item tooltips” in Options > Display tab 5. Premium benefits that are currently applied will be displayed in Premium icon 6. Icon of empty slots in the item tooltip changes
■ Additions
1. Add button to active “Caps Lock” in Login screen (where to enter game ID and password)
--- Aug 04th 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Modifications
Auction Hall charge the fee for sold items sometimes abnormally, bug is fixed Fixed bug while Force Shielder casting Astral Weapon caused errors Extract Potion STR/DEX/INT do not give the free stat points back, bug is fixed Newly acquired skills which are marked with "NEW" after changing the slot position display in abnormal position In confirmation window when buying DP cubes, the DP amount will be spent does not show up, bug is fixed Premium benefits in some special cases do not update the total benefits
----- --- Aug 10th 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Modifications
Sometimes system displays abnormally or incorrectly owner's name of Saints' Excalibur Force Weapon
Premium Bonus in Party sometimes does not apply
Under specified cases, while entering the dungeon, the client can be terminated
■ Changes
Change Quest Reward
Some quests which reward Skill books will be changed
Old : Skill book
Change : Alz
Alz reward of some general quests are slightly decreased
Buttons to + / - for skills in skill window change
Tooltip of some buff potions change
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--- Aug 17th 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Modifications
Animations of some skill of Force Shielder are displayed incorrectly, bug is fixed
Force Shielder weapon status in warp room error, bug is fixed
Bike Epic Manufacturing Formula Card can not register in Auction Hall, bug is fixed
Pet information in some situations are displayed incorrectly, bug is fixed
Some Epaulet Gift Box which are designed for specificated classes caused bug when register in Auction Hall, bug is fixed
Accessories updated with new tooltip design
■ Changes
Damage Amplicator Buff changes
Damage Amplicator Buff changes
Old: Low / Medium / High / Highest
Change: Level 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6
Damage Amplicator Buff outputs randomly 50/100/150/200 in manufacturing progress
Old Damage Ampilcator Buff will be changed into Level 3 - 6
For details view below tables
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--- Aug 24th 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Fixes
Some quests that caused client disconnect or abandoned the connection to the server, bug is fixed
Cannot register items when using personal shop, sometime items are displayed in red
EXP bonus from Blessing Bead Plus in party sometime does not apply correctly, bug is fixed
Battle Modes caused error in some situations with the attack-ability without Battle Mode animation and effect
Fixed some bugged quests
Name of NPC in some quest scripts
Quest "ASC controller" script typos
Quest "Lair of Destruction" is modified
Delete general quests caused errors in some situations
Sometime more than one confirmation windows are displayed, bug is fixed
Fixed the list of DP Cubes from NPC DP Reward Peticia
■ Changes
Auction Hall provides a better way to search among Option Scrolls
Changes related to Benefits information window (Ctrl + R)
If the benefits of Premium services are in active, the icon will be displayed as Green
If the benefits from PC Room (Korean PC Room Service) are in active, there will be a phrase in tooltip of Premium Benefits icon "Blessing Bead PC rooms"
Change the way to obtain event items
If the item is Account binding : No dice rolling needed
If the item is Character binding : Acquired via rolling dice
■ Additions
Add the color for displaying Alz consuming in Pet Training window
Add into the notification tooltip some items which are sold by NPC
Example : NPC Core Alchemist Keller in Bloody Ice sales "Ring of Luck", things like that will be added into guide (help system)
Notification of the items which were sold at Auction Hall will be displayed in additional window
Add "Delete" button for General tab of Quest window
Add "Drei Frame Epaulet" in "Epaulet" section of Auction Hall
Add some items in Cash tab of NPC
Epaulet of the Dead, Seal of Darkness, Copy of Illusive Apocalypse, Another Dimesion of Apocalypse
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Aug 31st 2011 Patch notes
--- ■ Fixes
Pressing Alt + Enter at login window will not press the "OK" button automatically
Bugged quest items displayed incorrectly in Quest Window
By talking with NPC caused error in Dream quest
Fixed the alert messages
Marquinas Outpost boss
Altar of Siena B2F: Tilia C. Deviatre
Some of the keys in Key Settings tab are impossible to verify new keys, bug is fixed
■ Changes
GPS window now can be moved
Delete the required level for using some potions
Fury Potion, Potion Glory
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--- Sep 01st 2011 Patch notes ---
■ Fixes
Caused bug when trying to buy many DP cubes in a row, bug is fixed
Caused bug when trying to change short keys for functions in Key Settings tab, bug is fixed
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--- Sep 07th 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Fixes
Fix bugs caused when switching between pets
Jukebox mute button does not work while moving between channels
Pet can not be unmounted after obtained some Pet EXP
Fixed UI bugs
Bugs while moving GPS window
■ Changes
Change the text displayed for "Party Invite" in character menu (only the display text)
Add the focus for the Quantity of items
Items purchasing
Registering items
Crafting items
Merging items in Warehouse
Removing nested content in destroying items tooltips
■ Additions
NPC Peticia in Port Lux sells "Cube of Challenge" (for a limited time)
Required : 7 DP
Output items : Dungeons entry items
Items Property:
Cube of Challenge : Character binding
Output items : Tradable
Features available only premium users
DP shop displays the amount of current DP in bottom right of window
■ Mission War
Some cases, Force Tower can not be destroyed, bug is fixed
-----
--- Sep 14th 2011 Patch notes ---
■ Changes
1. Remove "Cube of Challenge" from NPC DP Reward Peticia
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--- Sep 21st 2011 Patch notes --- ■ Fixes
Error caused when Level 1 character tries to equip "Ring of Nippertrica", bug is fixed
Using megaphone does not broadcast on all channels, bug is fixed
■ Changes
Auction Hall allows changing the minimum/maxium quantity of items for registering or selling
Single Passive: SP Regeneration 50 (every 3 seconds)
Single Trigger: when HP is less than 50% heal +300 (20 seconds cooldown)
Add the information in tooltip for Raise Spirit skill
Add section for Cash Shop Buff Potions
Add Mercenary Card Arionell in Mercenary Card in Auction Hall
■ Mission War
Some cases, BGM in Mission War plays abnormally, bug is fixed
— Sep 28th 2011 Patch notes —
■ Fixes
Trying to equip accessories with duration caused client disconnect, bug is fixed
■ Changes
Change the color of some item’s name
Minor changes for Guild Warehouse
■ Additions
Add confirmation window for Mercenary Card registration
—– —–—–
--- Oct 05th 2011 Patchnotes ---
■ Fixes
Some situations, Board in Giftbox version is bugged, bug is fixed
Aura count down timer sometimes is bugged, bug is fixed
Boards catergory in Auction Hall is now fixed
■ Additions
Add Season 8 Guild Emblems (Korean only)
■ Mission War
Some modifications added related to Chat system
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--- Oct 06th 2011 Patchnotes ---
■ Fixes
While dancing, weapons of Force Archer / Force Shielder display abnormally, bug is fixed
Warp to Green Despair causes client disconnect in some situations, bug is fixed
Images of HP/MP Potion (XL) in quick-slot display abnormally, bug is fixed
Bugs related to Guild & Whisper chat, bug is fixed
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--- Oct 12th 2011 Patchnotes ---
■ Fixes
Under some situations, using many skill continuously caused client disconnect, bug is fixed
Using auto attack with "Allow Basic Attack in Auto Attack" in Wizard / Force Archer Battle Mode 2 caused error in some cases, bug is fixed
In some cases, the first attack of Wizard in Double Caster mode caused error, bug is fixed
■ Changes
Allow to use up/down button while registering items in Auction HouseConsignment items from the store down the button is clicked during registration to change to modify the maximum value
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--- Oct 19th 2011 Patch notes ---
■ Fixes
Sometimes the number of potions in Quickslot does not refresh
In some cases, the first attack of Wizard in Double Caster mode caused error, bug is fixed
Players can see name of opposite nation players in Safe Zone in Saints' Island, bug is fixed
Can not use Normal attack in Battle mode, bug is fixe
■ Changes
Allow to change quantity when storing / withdrawing items from Guild Warehouse
■ Additions
Add Season 8 Guild Emblems (Korean only)
■ Mission War
Some bugs of Mission War are fixed (Force Tower building, can not enter)
