When it comes to MMORPGs most of them seem to cover the click-to-attack paradigm of world interaction. We watch our characters from behind, guide them with the keys, and interact with the world through a series of possible variant talents or acts on an action bar. These include World of Warcrat, City of Heroes, Dungeons & Dragons Online, Everquest, to name a few of a very long list. But not all single-player games operate under these rules, MMOs just work well with them; what about first-person-shooters?
Can’t they MMO? Well, it looks like a game like CrimeCraft seems to have done just that.
A review by Kit Dotson over at GameOrgre the game sets it to be the rising star MMOFPS+RPG of the era,
CrimeCraft is a free-to-play FPS MMO published by Vogster that thrusts players in the bleak world of the post-apocalyptic Big Bleedout caused by the failure of oil and fossil fuels in the future. This Bleedout happens to be a 10-week episodic event that started in December 2010 that tells the story of the fall of civilization and the rise of gang warfare and the gritty, concrete gun-noir atmosphere that the game runs on.
Overall, I found the game extremely playable and enjoyable. Over my stay in the game, I enjoyed both the atmosphere and the story. It comes with a deep narrative played out both across in-game missions and narrated comic-book style cut scenes that build the suspense as well as the lifeblood of Sunrise City and its turbulent gang warfare.
[ad#Helvetica Left-align]Most, if not all, of our experience with MMOFPS style games have been in the fashion of playing Unreal Tournament online or watching multiplayer modes of things like Borderlands—but none of these have ever struck us as having much of a social or RPG element. Although games like Borderlands could certainly gather a number of players in a city to stand around in chat; they’re not really MMO, just multiplayer.
Responses to this have been lackluster, the best example we’ve seen has been like Project Blackout. Which, instead of providing a MMORPG structure with a narrative or a world to explore, gives us a UI lobby with a bunch of spreadsheet like lines about games that could be joined.
Not very compelling.
CrimeCraft and subsequently the Bleedout storyline delivers MMO capability, teamwork, a city to explore, a narrative to listen to, and even a playable episodic series that includes comic book pages and narration by famous writers.
Be sure to read the full review.
Link, via GameOgre.
I have to agree the game has its ups and downs, I think the Bleedout has been one of the more well liked to this game adding a appeal especially the comic book style art for trailers, which is cool cause even I plan on buying comic book when it comes out.
We too would wholeheartedly welcome a comic book based on the Bleedout story line. The storytelling itself has been a major factor in making this game more interesting. Especially how the missions themselves build into the comicbook-style trailers and the mission arcs describe history, give a reason to break into the plot, and guide the player through the world. It reminds us a lot of how City of Heroes built its approach to narrative; but it’s a lot smaller, more gritty and tightly knit (partially because they cannot support a lot of servers) and with a lot more depth when it comes to individual characterization.