New Shooter from Former Tribes, WoW Devs Is The Most Amazing-Looking Game You Don't Know About
New Shooter from Former Tribes, WoW Devs Is The Most Amazing-Looking Game You Don't Know About
Posted 09/07/2010 at 8:27pm
| by Nathan Grayson
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These days, it’s rare for a game to drop out of nowhere and turn us into sweaty, drooling masses capable only of slobbering out the words “Woah,” “Dude,” and “[Speechless],” but to say Firefall pulled it off would be a serious understatement. See, the game heralds from Red 5 Studios, a startup founded by World of Warcraft’s former team lead and Tribes’ lead designer, and it basically woah, dude, woah, [speechless], woah, dude. Sorry about that. See what we mean, though?
The game’s described as a "a team-based action shooter that thrusts hundreds of players together into a lush, dynamic open world combining intense competitive multiplayer and large-scale cooperative gameplay," but that really doesn’t do it justice. The first in-game trailer – which you can see on Firefall’s official site – makes up for that in spades, however, and we highly, highly recommend you take a break from our halfway-incoherent ramblings to give it a look-see.
However, for those unable to view the trailer for whatever incredibly unfortunate reason, here’s the gist: it’s like they’ve taken the best bits of WoW, Tribes, and Borderlands, baked them all into a casserole, and then served them up on a tray garnished with all our hopes and dreams. In other words: Jetpacks! Loot! Bug monsters! Jetpacks again!
If you hadn’t guessed already, this is one to watch. It’s currently slated to launch at the end of next year, but you can sign up for the beta test right now. So go! Make haste! If it helps, take this paddle and canoe down our giant river of drool! You (probably) won’t be sorry!
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oihorse
September 08, 2010 at 11:59am
Never has there been as good an MMOFPS as Planetside - hell even all the current FPS games can't come close to the battles you could get on Araxis.
All these games like Global Agenda and this seem to take swings at the genre but ultimately miss. Sony got the formula right in 2003 - now we just need a company who can responsibly RUN such an MMOFPS.
Vernak
September 08, 2010 at 11:06am
Like most Nathan Grayson articles, I disagree almost entirely. The game trailer, as another poster mentioned, is a resource war eerily similar to Avatar. The gameplay video is basically Terran Marines/Reavers on yet another incredibly obnoxiuous "Defend this for entirely way too long" (I'm looking at you Crackdown 2) mission to defend a resource gatherer from Zerglings/Half-Life 2 Antlions in the middle of Stranglethorn Vale. Then they escape on their generic transport vessel and go have punch and pie.
What the hell is it lately with fans and reviewers that nerdgasm at the sheer sight of even more game and genre mashups? They are probably the same people muttering incoherent drivel about how Borderlands "was like Fallout and Diablo."
There is nothing inherently wrong with drawing from previous experiences or being influenced by past games played, but I see no original content here at all. At least a game like Brink, for instance, developed a rather interesting physics engine that truly differentiates.
Vahn16
September 08, 2010 at 1:02pm
Interesting points! Obviously, you're entitled to your own opinion, but let me see if I can clarify mine a bit.
First off, I definitely don't disagree with you on the dearth of truly new experiences in videogames at the moment. By and large, the industry's a big echo chamber, and everyone's rushing to be The Next Big Thing by simply imitating The Last Big Thing. It's sad to live in a world where something like, say, Heavy Rain is the only attempt at a truly new type of Triple-A game I can think of that's surfaced this year. It's also infuriating, and I start looking for Wii-Motes to chuck through televisions every time I, for example, hear about the Motion Control War and watch as developers squander Kinect's obvious potential in favor of Wii-hashes like Kinect Sports.
However, the reality of the matter is, triple-A development is -- by and large -- an iterative process. Sometimes, the best games emerge from tweaks and small additions made to tried-and-true favorites. Can, say, Borderlands be distilled down to "Diablo + Fallout"? Hell no! There's more to it than that, certainly, but what Borderlands did was combine ideas from a number of established games and genres to form a unique experience.
That's why Firefall's got me so excited. I'm hoping, at least, that it can do something similar, and ultimately bring what looks to be a very action-packed experience to an MMO-like space -- something that, in my opinion, has yet to be successfully executed by game developers. Again, it's the little things that stand to make Firefall unique, the way it puts all the pieces together. Its pedigree -- former WoW and Tribes leads -- is also very promising.
Granted, it could also turn out to be total shit. If all the missions are like the one we saw in the video -- which I imagine the developer intended to be less of a showcase of inventive mission types and more of space to demonstrate combat -- then it could definitely get really boring really fast.
As for Brink, it looks (and feels) absolutely fantastic, but it's also, for the most part, a mish-mash of previously established tropes that differentiates itself in smaller ways. The SMART movement system is an example of that. Meanwhile, its mission structures and class archetypes are both new spins on established systems from other games.
Oh, and I agree with you that Crackdown 2 was absolutely awful. That may be my biggest gaming-related disappointment of the year.
So see? We agree on some things! Kind of! Can we be BFFs now?
--Nathan Grayson
Vernak
September 10, 2010 at 7:57pm
Thanks for the response, Nathan. I really do appreciate it. The overall negative tone in my first post largely stems from, what I feel, is an overly hyped introduction. That said, that is your opinion and I would actually hope with you that the game does what games like Global Agenda have largely failed to do. I just really dont have the same level of faith in the project. To each his own.
Borderlands is still a bit of a sore subject for me because it was highly recommended to me and I really didnt enjoy it much. There were some amusing moments playing it with a full squad, sure, but overall I dont think it was worth what I spent at the time.
Your comments on making smart tweaks to established molds are valid and I dont wish to refute them. I am just generally disappoined in the development community as a whole currently. I almost blew a gasket when I saw review sites giving Starcraft II perfect 10/10 scores. It still makes me twitch even thinking about it. Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty would have been more accurately subtitled Rednecks in Space.
There are only a few games for any platform at all that I am currently looking forward to. They would be, in no particular order:
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood - Ubisoft did an amazing job with the second game based on the simple fact that they truly listened and reacted to player feedback. I expect a similar forward motion with Brotherhood. This is one of those franchises that impressed me initially and isnt taking that for granted.
Star Wars: The Old Republic - I really dont have to explain this choice by saying anything more than Bioware.
Dragon Age 2 - Speaking of Bioware, I am thrilled to be getting another Dragon Age. Fantastic RPG development and storytelling. Also, the trailer for Dragon Age 2 is one of the most flawlessly created I have seen in quite some time.
As for your BFF request, I will consider it on a purely quid pro quo basis.
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Cy-Kill
September 08, 2010 at 3:03am
I already knew about FireFall, however, I didn't know the application for the Beta Test was now up.
bingojubes
September 07, 2010 at 10:31pm
after reading the article and signing up for the beta chance, firefall will be a great game, made by great ppl
I Jedi
September 07, 2010 at 8:50pm
If you ask me, it seems like a remake of Avatar. Marines come in, get tons of materials, blow local aliens to bits, and open a cold later that night. Don't get me wrong, the game itself looks interesting, and I'm going to give it a try; however, I don't think this is a WoW killer.
**EDIT**
What's interesting to note is that the makers of this game do not plan to either make the game available for purchase, nor include a monthly/annual subscription fee to use the game. Apparently, their hope is to be able to get people to buy "upgrades" for their character, as I understand it. If this game does catch on by any considerable length, it will be interesting to see how the financial part of it works out for them.
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