Shooter Fans: These MMOs Want You
The makers of five massively multiplayer online shooters -- "APB," "The Agency" (above), "Combat Arms," "CrimeCraft" and "Earthrise" -- told us why "Gears of War" and "Call of Duty" gamers should give their MMO a try.
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Fantasy-themed MMOs are a dime a dozen; perhaps that's why we're seeing a crop of shooting MMOs on the rise. We got the makers of five massively multiplayer online shooters -- "APB," "The Agency," "Combat Arms," "CrimeCraft" and "Earthrise" -- to tell us briefly why they think the average shooter player (read: non-MMO gamer) would want to pick up their first- or third-person shooting game.
"The Agency" (Sony Online Entertainment / PC, PS3 / 2010)
Hal Milton, Lead Designer:
"Anyone that enjoys action shooters should feel right at home in 'The Agency.' As they play, they’ll discover all the compelling elements of a persistent online world they haven’t yet experienced in standard solo or limited co-op shooters. This means a rich public world with hundreds of people, private encounters you can jump into with friends or strangers in real time, player actions that have ramifications for their faction over time, and a fun, ongoing competition between UNITE and ParaGON played out through PvP matches, contested zones, and regular events. You can play as large or as small a role as you desire with the community and still get your fight on with carefully crafted career missions, side missions, and PvP maps that support a wide variety of game types.
"'The Agency' is a modern, team-based action shooter to which we are adding the best traits of MMOs. Some of those things are growing your Agent through their career, social networking, crafting, collectibles and a big story told over time that will keep you coming back for more."
"APB" (Realtime Worlds / PC / TBA)
Chris Collins, Community Officer:
“Once players have spent some time with the game, maybe used the cutting-edge editing tools to create a character image, they’ll find there’s a lot going on other than just shooting each other. Skill and tactics play a huge part in 'APB.' Combine the player’s skill and tactics and place them against 100 other unique players -- some of whom are friendly, others not -- and you’ve got yourself a persistent shooter that combines creativity, conflict and community unlike any other.”
"Combat Arms" (Nexon / PC / out now)
Herb Yang, Producer:
"'Combat Arms' hooks players with its even more fast-paced, core FPS gameplay, but it’s the customization and community features which really make it standout for veterans of the shooter genre, and allows you to play as more than a just generic, faceless soldier. 'Combat Arms' has built-in clan features, which makes joining and maintaining a clan easier than ever before. Plus, with the great community features, clans can really vet players through the online profiles, looking at their game stats and which weapons players are using to score kills. Additionally, I’d challenge players to find another online FPS game that updates as frequently as we do – every month, there are new weapons and gear, new maps, and new game modes to play with, keeping the game very fresh and dynamic."
"CrimeCraft" (Vogster Entertainment / PC / Summer 2009)
Matt McEnerney, Executive Producer:
"'CrimeCraft' is first and foremost a great shooter experience. It’s all about guns and gangs. Our gang system elegantly connects players to the experience of trouncing the competition in a way that matters long after the match ends, much longer than found in even heavily clan-based shooters. The gang community and the persistence of the game world combine to give the player identity, common objectives and promote long-term teamwork, taking the shooter genre to a whole new level."
"Earthrise" (Masthead Studios / PC / 2009)
Atanas Atanasov, CEO:
"Shooter players will find combat in 'Earthrise' to be fast, straightforward and based on player skill and coordination as an average shooting game. While 'Earthrise' is an MMORPG, combat has been designed to be immediately accessible and free of complications at its core, while the array of abilities expand on top of it with tactical opportunities that encourage team-play and cooperation."
[Note: We reached out to the makers of "Huxley" for comment but didn't hear back before press time.]
Shooter players, are you interested in any of these shooting-based MMOs? Or is "MMO" still a dirty word?
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