News items

Fan outcry over the announcement of The Elder Scrolls Online was long and loud, not just for the presumed MMOification of a beloved single-player franchise, but for the toolset chosen by ZeniMax Online Studios to bring the world of Tamriel to its new audience.

Game Informer confirms that ZeniMax is using the HeroEngine -- which also powers Star Wars: The Old Republic, and which has come under fire from some in the MMO fan community. Game director Matt Firor says that the firm isn't using the engine like you may expect, though.

"Think of HeroEngine as a whiteboard for us –- a great tool to get some ideas in the game and start looking at them while the production engine was in development," he explains.

[Thanks to Austin for the tip!]

Sony Online Entertainment has begun carpet-bombing media outlets with publicity relating to its upcoming PlanetSide 2 MMOFPS. The game has been in development for quite a while now, but up until very recently the devs have kept a low profile. Now the title's Twitter feed is exploding on a daily basis, awe-inspiring alpha gameplay videos are finding their way into the public eye, and interviews abound.

I managed to get creative director Matt Higby's attention for a few moments, and he's got some interesting things to say about PS2's upside. Would you believe that MMOFPS is about to become a new industry buzzword? Read on after the break.

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So what's all this hullabaloo about The Secret World? Let's start with the basics.

The Secret World is a new MMORPG by Funcom, the studio that brought you Age of Conan, and way back when, Anarchy Online. It's also the brainchild of one Ragnar Tornquist, familiar to adventure gamers the world over thanks to Dreamfall and The Longest Journey. Like those seminal titles, The Secret World seeks to conjure an immersive, fantastical realm of myth, magic, and in some cases, horror. Unlike the adventures of April Ryan, though, The Secret World is your story, and it takes place in the video game equivalent of the real world (not to mention Hell, portions of a hollow Earth, and many other mythological settings).

There's an undeniable Lovecraftian influence, there are zombies and assault rifles, and there's a three-faction setup that asks players to join forces with noted secret societies like the Templars and the Illuminati (as well as the less-familiar Dragons). Did we mention battleground PvP, a Minecraft-inspired crafting system, and skill-based progression mechanics that depart from traditional MMORPG classes and levels in favor of player-made builds (drawn from a pool of nearly 600 distinct abilities)?

As you can see, Funcom is throwing everything at the wall, and luckily for you, Massively has been keeping tabs on the game's development for a number of years now. We've also managed to spend quite a bit of time in the beta of late. Click past the cut for a roundup of our best coverage, including guides, impressions, interviews, and basically everything you want to know about The Secret World.

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So PlanetSide is nine years old this week (nine!), and Sony Online Entertainment is journeying down memory lane to look back at its ground-breaking MMOFPS. The firm is of course hard at work on the sequel, but some of the devs have taken a time-out to share their favorite memories with us.

Though the word "epic" is overused in MMO discourse, it's a recurring theme here. Due to the size, scope, and sheer ambition on display in the original PlanetSide, it's actually appropriate too. While you're reminiscing with the devs, take a stroll through our side-by-side gallery that compares vehicles and equipment from the original PlanetSide with their counterparts in PlanetSide 2.

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Looking for another lore fix when it comes to TERA? En Masse has just released the game's fourth e-book tie-in named Death at Forgeheart. It's written by Kristine Kathryn Rusch and it tells the story of two detectives who manage to trust one another despite their racial differences as they team up to solve a murder with federation-altering implications.

The official TERA website has an excerpt from the book, but the full text is available for purchase via Amazon, as are TERA's first three e-books: Fire and Ice, Killer, and The Amaranthine Heart.

Runes of Magic's Chapter V is on the way, and along with several new features, it's bringing a whole lot of dwarven flavor to the game's sprawling fantasy world.

The Shadowforge Dwarves are the game's latest race, and players who choose to roll one will begin their adventures in the new Yrvandis Hollows starting area. In addition to the usual newbie zone accoutrements, the area features an instance called the Outskirts of Taffrock that Frogster describes as "particularly challenging." Players will face off against a final boss known as Dark Gargoylem, along with his horde of aggressive spirits that have hunkered down in the lower levels of the ancient dwarven hall.

Runes of Magic is a free-to-play fantasy title developed by Runewaker and published by Frogster. The Fires of Shadowforge update releases June 12th.

[Source: Frogster press release]

During the first 10 minutes of my time with Heroes & Generals, I killed once, died twice, and drove a tank, a jeep, a half-track, and a bicycle (not necessarily in that order). I also rode shotgun on said tank and said jeep, manning a nifty vehicle-mounted machine gun in the process.

I marveled at the visuals, took way too many screenshots of my squadmates looking at the blow-away badass in-game map (it's the little things, amirite?), and generally had a helluva good time. Did I mention that all of this happened in a browser?

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ArcheAge's CBT4 ended a couple months ago and XLGAMES has been busy putting the information gathered to use. To showcase changes and improvements made during the break between CBT4 and CBT5, a series of videos is planned. The first video in this series highlights the transformation of one starting area, Rainbow Fields; once described as empty and flat, this region is now populated with more buildings, has a more diverse landscape, and sports improved weather effects.

Although there is still no official word on ArcheAge being released to the western market, sandbox hopefuls can check out the latest improvements after the break.

[Thanks to Sandboxer for the tip!]

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The Secret World's Secret War social experience has run its course and come to a close after an exciting five weeks. More than 250,000 people participated in the war, rallying to the cause of their chosen secret society, filling forums with discussion and theories and welcoming each new War Challenge as it was rolled out. Along the way, players have been unlocking items for use in TSW, with a special few winning the opportunity to have their name in-game and an even more special few winning a trip to visit the dev team.

But that's the past, and now the glorious present awaits you. Three new videos have made their way onto The Secret War's page and each one holds a clue. The clues lead to different puzzles (one for each secret society) for players to solve. That's about all there is to know about these puzzles so far, but we're promised that they are "the start of a very exciting adventure" for participants -- so pull out your tinfoil hats and get crackin'!

[Source: Funcom press release]