Let’s face it, as much as we like to put on a good face and say that all these little upstart MMOs have as much of a chance as the big AAA-titles with multi-million dollar funding at their back, they’re the very definition of “risky” in an incredibly risky profession. That said, I’m always rooting for the little guy that comes out of nowhere to wow us all with a game that’s great fun and highly addicting.
So amid DDO’s relaunch, Champions’ launch and Aion’s launch, will Fallen Earth be the “little MMO that could”? Honestly, I’m not holding my breath here. As I said previously, the concept of a post-apocalyptic MMO is ripe for picking, especially with the huge reception that Fallout 3 received last year. But FE isn’t riding off of an established franchise and is trying to poke its head up right in the middle of MMO stampede season — not the ideal time for this sort of thing. And let’s not forget Auto Assault, the post-apocalyptic car MMO that got taken out in back of NCSoft’s shed and put down.
- Werit has a trio of narrated videos taking us through the game
- Scarybooster even sings its praises as “a great game and I can’t wait to get my copy. Not much info is out there about FE, but when people start playing it I am sure it will be a surprise hit.”
- Ancient Gaming Noob pronounces it “reasonably polished” but needs more time with the game for a final verdict.
- Massively has 5 tips on starting out in the game.
- Vicarious Existence breaks down the different sections of the game, and deems it an “indie MMO through and through that is unlikely to get more than a niche audience.”
“Surprise hit” may be a stretch from my perspective, but I’m willing to entertain the possibility. It really would have to have spectacular word of mouth at this point to make a dent into the Blizzard/Cryptic/NCSoft/Turbine media blitz that is going on right now, and give gamers a good reason why they should take a shot on a much less proven entity.
But hey — no matter what, it’s become the new king of dance.
P.S. – Darren has a few good things to say about it, as well.
I playedFallen Earthfor about half an hour before I went to bed. During the night my hard drive died.
But that hour was really, really cool. I will most likely be playing. It’s that breath of fresh air everyone claims they want, but don’t actually seem to want.
My biggest issue, being that I’m a cheapskate, is the $50 entry fee. Intellectually, I get that the devs need money just as much as the AAA title devs do, but considering the BBB-level audio/visual assets, emotionally I feel like the game should be cheaper.
I have no problem with a $15 monthly fee, it’s that upfront $50 that needs to be trimmed. And so what I’ll probably do is wait until they drop that price to try to pull in new customers, by which time it may be too late.
Tested it since alpha, thoroughly unimpressed. ’nuff said.
Some people’ll like it though and that’s fine too.
People have been paying 50 bucks for video games for 20 years.
Seriously, Super Mario Bros 3 retailed at 50 bucks.
50 bucks is cheap as hell. If games had kept up with inflation, the average new title would cost 100 bucks. Loosen up that wallet and try something new.
Toxic — Which is why I specified “emotionally” in my comment.
Paying the same price for a AAA title as for Fallen Earth feels ‘wrong’ even though intellectually I know it isn’t.
I think they’d get a lot more takers giving away the client (or selling it for $25) and counting on a larger subscription base to make up the difference.
That’s how smaller games like Wizard101 find their niche.
Even though I think Fallen Earth (in my mind) will be successful, I think people might not give it a fair chance. Fallen Earth is a game you can’t just dive into and start blazing stuff up. You have to acually learn how to play it. I have Bern in alpha till now and the game is wonderful. At first I thought it was boring and sucked, but I sat down one day and mapped out a plan to test the game. It reminded me of how hard EQ and old school SWG was to learn how to play. The depth in FE is what MMORPG’s need. FE fills what the market wants but everybody will turn their posh noses up at it because it is not AAA. I beta tested a lot of games and even WAR does not touch the feel of this game. By the sounds of Champions Online beta testers, if I was Cryptic I would hang my head in shame
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I really like the combat, but it took me abit to figure it out.