Today a coworker of mine pointed me to a web based Zombie MMO. It’s called Urban Dead, and once you get past its utilitarian interface, it proves to have considerable depth. First of all, as with all MMOs, you choose a class at the beginning of the game. You can be a Scientist, Civilian, in the Military or a Zombie. Aside from the Zombie class each class has multiple subtypes as well.
Urban Dead takes place in the sprawling suburbs of Malton. Although it’s conveniently blocked, it contains a fairly balanced and diverse territory. UD has a definite old school RPG feel to it. Each movement and action uses Action Points (AP), of which you are limited, and must replenish when you run out. You must make sure you are in a safe place before you log off, or you may get eaten. To give you an idea of a random player’s experience, I started the game scavenging ruins and searching for a safe place to stay. I chose a Scientist class, so I quickly began trying to take DNA samples from shuffling zombies. I became too ambitious and actually got infected from a bite. Now I have to find a hospital to cure myself before I become a Zombie. If I do become a Zombie, I can stay a Zombie, and hunt the survivors. Or, I can seek revivification from a Doctor.
Another interesting aspect of UD, is its involved community. It’s been out for a few years, but people are still battling for control of key areas. There are an astounding amount of factions and groups of both survivors and zombies. One look at the map of the suburbs shows that the zombies have pushed survivors to the brink. Drilling down to a specific suburb shows you an almost daily update of its progress, and even reads like its own little narrative. Currently I am hiding in Peppardville, which you can see is fairly volatile at the moment.
Although UD’s gameplay can be limited by its finite Action Points, it definitely encourages you to make multiple accounts, and provides an immersive experience. Give it a try; did I mention it’s completely free?
Don’t worry, this post isn’t about Metroid. Well, it’s not entirely about Metroid. Last night I found myself watching the latest editions of Game Trailer’s Retrospectives of Metroid and Final Fantasy. The episodic feature is a very well produced and intelligent look at specific game series. Last year, to coinicide with the Twilight Princess release, they did an amazing job on the Zelda retrospective. And this year to go along with Metroid Prime 3, and a slew of Final Fantasy releases, they are giving those games the same treatment. Check them out if you have a chance. If you have an Xbox 360, I would definately recommend burning all of them in WMV format on a disc, and watching them on your TV.
Don’t forget, yesterday Nintendo made available the original Metroid on the Wii’s Virtual Console. Also, Nintendo posted some more videos on their Metroid Prime 3 preview channel. One such video tells us of the Aurora unit computers, and their striking similarity to a certain maternal cerebrum. Since I was in such a Metroid mood, I found quite a detailed Wiki on the subject, and found a few random downloads. First of all, in case you need to port an old game save, or just start the game at any given point, someone has made a nice Metroid password generator program. Also, yet another selfless fan has translated the recent Japanese manga canon backstory. In what will hopefully be a regularity, I posted them both in my new Download section. Hope you enjoy.
In case you hadn’t noticed that pulsating blue light on your Wii, let me fill you in. Today, Nintendo released a “Metroid Prime 3 Preview” channel and has proclaimed August to be the Month of Metroid. (Cue Fanfare) The preview channel is a streaming video client to showcase some impressive MP3 clips. So far 2 videos are available and 2 more to be available on 8/13. The videos are pretty amazing, and just had me wanting MP3 even more, though I didn’t know that was possible.
That’s all well and good, but here’s the kicker: Metroid and Super Metroid will be released on the VC over the next couple of weeks! Metroid will hit on 8/13 for $5, then Super Metroid on 8/20 for $8. This will all culminate in Metroid Prime 3’s release on 8/27. By the way, did I mention that Super Metroid is the greatest game ever made!? Super Metroid is the first title I thought of when I heard of the Virtual Console concept. Needless to say, I am excited.
Last night I downloaded the demo for the upcoming JRPG, Eternal Sonata. What at first was mild interest quickly turned into intense anticipation. This game is so polished. Now in case you aren’t familiar with the title, it has a pretty odd plot. Basically, the 19th century Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin is on his deathbed with Tuberculosis. You are playing in his dream. Now when I say it like that it sounds pretty dull, but you play in a beautifully vibrant fantasy world where music plays a key part. It’s interesting that we see such unrealistic fantastical elements and the dark reality of the death of a historical figure wrapped up into one story, but it seems that’s exactly what ES is attempting. To be honest, the plot isn’t what has me anticipating this game, it’s the beautiful world, intense gameplay, and wonderful music that all tie together. The battle system is very fun to play. It is kind of a mixture of action RPG and timed battle systems, with character specific abilities that change depending on environment. And aside from some cheesy localization dialogue, everything looks polished and AAA. Eternal Sonata hits store shelves (and my Xbox 360) on September 17th. Check out the trailer embedded below.
In a previous post, I ranted about the subtle downfalls of digital distribution. One point I made was the relative inflexibility of fake digital currencies like Wii and Microsoft Points. In what must have been a reaction to my complaint, Circuit City has the mother of all sales on Microsoft Points this week. Basically, the sale lets you save $20 when you buy two Xbox Live products. For some reason, this includes the $20 Microsoft Points cards. Essentially, it is buy one get one free for points that never go bad.
Sounds too good to be true, right? Well the problem is that just about every Circuit City in the country has sold out of them. Luckily, by using store policies against them, you can get a price match at competing stores like Best Buy. Yesterday, between price matches, and a coupon, I got $100 worth of MS Points for $40! Just wanted to let you guys know, if you ever want MS Points, now is the time!
Today a coworker of mine pointed me to a web based Zombie MMO. It’s called Urban Dead, and once you get past its utilitarian interface, it proves to have considerable depth. First of all, as with all MMOs, you choose a class at the beginning of the game. You can be a Scientist, Civilian, in the Military or a Zombie. Aside from the Zombie class each class has multiple subtypes as well.
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