This week on The MMO Report ("where everyone is legally obligated to be filled with Yuletide"), Casey and the crew interview two of the minds behind the inbound Doctor Who-flavored MMO. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time'sRobert Nashak and Max Engel sat down to discuss the game, which is a platform-independent, Flash-based browser MMO with a unique 2-D graphic-novel style that aims to appeal to fans of both the franchise and sci-fi games in general. Nashak and Engel promise iconic locations and enemies along with a Matt Smith-inspired Doctor and a customizable gadget (sonic screwdriver, anyone?) to reflect each character's abilities.
The game will be F2P; ideally, players can wade through the game "without spending a penny," although naturally you can purchase faster mission completion and customization of your "home-space on the Tardis." Yes, it's bigger on the inside.
The game launches in March of 2012, but for now, you can check out the entirety of The MMO Report's interview just past the break.
Is this episode a joke? Casey, why would you waste your time covering this garbage? I've watched Dr Who since I was a kid (late 1970's), and I this this game is an insult to the IP. This looks like some junk game that the cartoon network would make.
While I appreciate the effort to make a Doctor Who MMO, I was hoping for...something more. To those who will enjoy/are enjoying/have enjoyed this game, best of luck. But this will be one Who fan left dreaming of what could have been.
@HiroProtagonist7 ... and on the stupidity of the business angle - no HTML5? Flash? Seriously? Who's brainchild was it to ignore the Apple Market? Love it or hate it, it's huge and they love their teeny tiny little games.
1) Some of the most spin-marketing I've heard in some time!
Concerts? Only in England! World-Wide? Pfeh, before the series was initially cancelled, it was acknowledged as the longest running TV show for it's time, especially sci-fi based and this was pre-internet. Of course, getting your Dr. Who fix is easier nowadays, but half the things they mentioned are only region-specific.
2) Dr. Who Community
Maybe, but there are forums and websites already for that. Again, more "spin", this is for game players, not necessarily those that just want a Dr. Who experience, I say this because...
3) Mini-games!
I like mini-games but...sheesh, I don't see blasting lazers. I don't see fights. I don't see much "action" (unless there is a maze-type game of running away from a Dalek...). I see versions of Tetris and other similar things. In fact, all I see is Tetris clones and not much mini-game variety.
4) Social game or Facebook game
Yep. this would fit in the category of "Facebook game" quite nicely and while I do not know if it will ultimately appeal to me, it's looking like it is a version of "Puzzle Pirates" of "Habbo" or some multi-chat game like IMVU. I mean, that's not too terrible, but I am not seeing anything new or exciting, and this coming from a Dr. Whoo fan that loves to play games. In fact, I would say this game is rather "niche" and will only do "so much" to broaden the Dr. Who community.
And really, nothing against the current Doctor, but wouldn't it be easy to choose who is your "Mentor" or "your Doctor"? I don't think there is voice acting, just text. You could overlay those text bubbles/boxes on any pixel object, even a chair, and still consider it "the Doctor".
Many of these games are ripped straigh out of puzzle pirates with very little changes. I can't say I expected much but ugh this is rather lame. It just doesn't feel like docter who well I don't really think docter who is the type of show that can be made into a good game. Even though I still find myself thinking three rings can do better.
When I first saw the headline on this one my thought was, "I love Doctor Who, but is an absolutely awful francise on which to base an MMO. An adventure game maybe, but that subgenre of gaming is practically extinct."
Then I watched the 'interview.'
My friends, I have seen the enemy. And it is those two chuckleheads. You could make a drinking game based solely on how often they use the word 'rich' to describe what looks like the unholy offspring of Superhero Squad, Tetris, and ET for the Atari 2600.
That right, ET for the 2600. That is exactly the impression I get of this game. A hugely successful franchise is licensed for an MMO, cause "Hey, that's what everybody else is doing with their IPs." These two smegheads probably sold the idea to some execs who hadn't ever actually seen a computer game.
Maybe there really are enough Who fans out there that will dump some dough on any piece of garbage that has a semi-likeness of Matt Smith on it to make this thing profitable, but I certainly hope not.
