When I add news to our newsroom for our reporters to pick up, I often add links that just say “such-and-such a game exists” — because just existing is what’s new, or at least new to us. Today, we had three of those, and I’m combining them all for this quick look at three MMOs and orbiting games that you’ve probably never heard of: Age of Rivals, Lothgar Online, and Little War Online.
Lothgar Online
Lothgar Online (Asylumsoft) launched yesterday. Let me warn you upfront: If you aren’t into retro pixel graphics and hardcore gameplay, you probably won’t like this MMO. The devs, who are also the folks behind the similarly styled Elderlands, call it an “Online RPG built in a classic style, paying homage to 1980s RPGs,” and yes, that means PvP, corpse looting, and attunement in addition to a giant world, guilds, skills, and questing. On the other hand? There’s no cash shop either. Old school isn’t always a bad thing! (via Reddit)
https://www.facebook.com/LothgarOnline/videos/250688798621987/
Age of Rivals
Age of Rivals (Roboto Games) just rolled out to Steam early access a week ago (it’s what’s shown in the header). You could bin it alongside other TCGs, thanks to its online multiplayer features, but it is indeed a competitive online trading card game with cutesy classical graphics, city-building quirks, and small matchups. In fact, it dubs itself “the anti-deck-building CCG,” which is probably a good thing for folks tired of traditional pay-to-win card game experiences:
“Having only minimal control over your deck encourages endless variety in each game and puts the focus on in-the-moment tactical decision-making. You may go heavily offensive one game with an arsenal of war machines and in the next game find yourself emphasizing artistic achievement and burglary. It’s all about trying to put together clever card combinations to counter what you think your opponent might do.”
Little War Online
Little War Online (Mobile Co Studios) is another early alpha 2-D pixelart MMORPG, a much more appealing one for my eyes, complete with old-school Exocet fonts and the Diablo design inspiration to match. It’s distinguished by being cross-platfom (Android, PC, OSX, Linux, and browser are available, with plans for iOS, PS4, and Xbone). It’s not yet on Steam, but it’s been Greenlit, and the devs showed the game at this year’s GDC. LWO boasts a crafting system, half a dozen classes, targetless combat, a leaderboard, and yummy pixel maps. (via Reddit)
Any of these strike your fancy?
