E3 2009: Heroes of Telara Impressions
posted:
6/13/2009 7:54:00 AM
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E3 2009
If you've watched the interview I did with Russ Brown you know that we've already covered the Trion MMO server technology. The company is currently working on three titles with the technology including a RTS MMO with Petroglyph, a sci-fi MMO with the Sci-Fi channel (tied to an upcoming show if the rumor mill is correct), and Heroes of Telara a new fantasy MMO.
I saved Heroes of Telara for last as most gamers start to glaze over when the see the words "Fantasy MMO". Does the world really need another MMO with elves, dragons, and orcs? While that's debatable the folks behind Heroes of Telara are actually bringing a few new things to the table.
The first is that the game is really built around heroic moments. These events are random and give you the opportunity to do something that has a lasting impact on the game world. If you complete one of these events (like saving a burning town, defeating a dragon) the NPC's in the game will remember them and bring them up as you play through the game.
The game also has an interesting class/sub-class system that will allow you to instantly switch between classes. So lets say you want to play a warrior as your main class but you're in a party that needs a healer, the game will allow you to instantly switch to that class without having to log out and back into the server. The other class has it's own level and skills but it's a nice time saver and allows you to have alts built right into the game.
The game does look good with a "stylized photo realistic" (their words) look to them. The game does feature some impressive draw distance as you were able to see from one zone into another. It will be interesting to see how Heroes of Telara does when it's eventually released as they've got some impressive tech and a few good ideas behind them but they are another Fantasy MMO in a world crowded with them.
I saved Heroes of Telara for last as most gamers start to glaze over when the see the words "Fantasy MMO". Does the world really need another MMO with elves, dragons, and orcs? While that's debatable the folks behind Heroes of Telara are actually bringing a few new things to the table.
The first is that the game is really built around heroic moments. These events are random and give you the opportunity to do something that has a lasting impact on the game world. If you complete one of these events (like saving a burning town, defeating a dragon) the NPC's in the game will remember them and bring them up as you play through the game.
The game also has an interesting class/sub-class system that will allow you to instantly switch between classes. So lets say you want to play a warrior as your main class but you're in a party that needs a healer, the game will allow you to instantly switch to that class without having to log out and back into the server. The other class has it's own level and skills but it's a nice time saver and allows you to have alts built right into the game.
The game does look good with a "stylized photo realistic" (their words) look to them. The game does feature some impressive draw distance as you were able to see from one zone into another. It will be interesting to see how Heroes of Telara does when it's eventually released as they've got some impressive tech and a few good ideas behind them but they are another Fantasy MMO in a world crowded with them.
