I’m getting in the habit of posting more trailers here on MMO Fallout, so here’s the latest from Crimecraft, showcasing the game’s dismemberment system.
[insert ESRB warning about blood and gore]
Tag: Crimecraft
Crafting Crime With Crime Craft: A 1 Year Look
Crimecraft launched in August 2009 to not-so-huge fanfaire over the persistent-lobby-based-shooter-on-the-Unreal-3-Engine. A modest title by any means, Vogster quickly moved the game from a subscription base to a free to play cash shop system, not unlike the Turbine model, and since then the game has been trucking along with a healthy population, healthy enough to ensure that the game will stay afloat for a good long time, at least.
Looking into my archives, I haven’t written a non-sales article on Crimecraft since September 2009, so I was quite surprised when I received an email in my inbox regarding Crimecraft. Apparently at least one of the guys over at Vogster Entertainment is a big fan of the MMO Fallout, and noted my prior interest in the title and a lack of news-stuffs since then. The email contained a promo-code with a leveling boost to incite me back into the game, and incite it did.
I’ve clocked in several hours on Crimecraft in the past week, and I am thoroughly enjoying the new changes. My biggest gripe from the launch was that the A.I in the PVE matches was a combination of too unpredictable, and too stupid. All too often it was easy to sneak up on an NPC and kill them without their AI even activating, but this time around I found NPCs moving around and actively seeking cover. If you start a shootout, other NPCs in the area may come to investgiate. The system isn’t perfect, but it is a far cry from the figures who just stood around and waited for you to shoot at them.
Another great addition I noticed is the ease in obtaining weaponry. Within a few PVP matches, I had looted a decent shotgun and an assault rifle that gave me a fighting chance over my 3-shot burst SMG. Vogster wasn’t lying about the gibbing/gore mode either, as my character regularly found himself decapitated by close shotgun shells to the face.
I quickly obtained a few boosts in the form of a heart monitor that displays enemy positions on the mini-map, and a few healing drugs that can be consumed in-game. The missions, which will comprise much of your experience, are still pretty basic, not that I’m asking for more depth. You’ll find a myriad of what you would expect, each containing several tiers:
- Kill _ with smg/rifle/pistol/etc.
- Do ___ damage with smg/rifle/pistol/etc.
- Kill ___ of ___ type NPC.
- Kill ___ players carrying smg/rifle/pistol/etc.
- Win __ matches of ___.
The more traditional missions involve going from person to person in the main lobbies, with a story centered around the protection of the city from the unruly gangs and scum that inhabit the surrounding areas, and generally involves heading into PVE instances to complete one of the above mission types.
Stockpile PVE is still all about collecting crates containing everything from weapons to drugs to crafting materials. I also had the chance to try out Safeguard, a PVE mode where players are tasked with protecting a weapons cache from wave after wave of bots, which I particularly enjoyed as the opportunities to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of bots added to the difficulty if you didn’t clear them out fast enough before the next wave spawned. Headhunter is a test of patience, although killing the prerequisite number of bots to incite the boss to appear isn’t a particularly difficult task.
Ammunition and health are much more prevalent now than at launch, with players and bots dropping both much more often. Aside from the AI, one of my biggest issues was running out of ammunition and forcing myself to die in a PVE match in order to obtain more. Now, with the expected amount of ammunition conservation, I find myself running out of ammo much less.
Oh, and in case I didn’t mention it before, the Crimecraftian in-game advertising is still present, as seen below, and still raising the penetrating question: People still use Napster?
Jokes aside, Crimecraft is still a great game worthy of a look, even if you don’t plan on forking up any cash. The game can be downloaded from the website for free, or if you really want you can pluck down ten bucks on a digital copy and get the extra perks that come with it.
Me? I think I’ll continue sporting my OG (original gangster) title, and Tommy Vercetti lookalike outfit. Crimecraft is a great game, and you might even catch me logged in now and then! My character’s name is Rastlowski, if you didn’t pick it up from the screenshots.
More on Crimecraft as it appears.
Direct2Drive and Impulse: Good Stuff Cheaper
And you thought Steam was the only digital download service that had Christmas specials. Once again, these prices are in USD.
Direct 2 Drive
- Crimecraft $39.99 $29.95
- Warhammer Online $29.99 $19.99
- Star Wars Galaxies $19.95 $9.95
- Final Fantasy XI $19.95 $9.95
- Alganon $39.95 $19.95
Impulse
- Eve Online: Dominion $19.95 $9.95
- Alganon $39.95 $19.95
- Fallen Earth $49.99 $24.99
Continue reading “Direct2Drive and Impulse: Good Stuff Cheaper”
Crimecraft Banned in Australia
I guess it had to happen eventually, what with Australia’s tight limits on drugs in video games, but after two months of the game’s release, it didn’t seem that that ban would be coming any time soon. According to Gamesindustry.biz, Australia has refused classification to Vogster Entertainment and their recently Free to Play MMO Crimecraft for the use of fictional drugs.
Although the drugs are fictional, the Classification Board decided that they were similar enough to real world drugs, citing in-game enhancements such as K-Dust, Birth, Chimera, and several anabolic steroids.
I’m not sure what this will do to Crimecraft’s sales that hasn’t been done already, but the prevalence of the title in online download shops makes it that much easier to obtain by locals in Australia. Crimecraft already features a free to play model, thanks to already poor sales.
Either way, Crimecraft just got that much harder to obtain by Australians.
Crimecraft Going Freemium
When I said that Crimecraft would stay online as long as it remained profitable, I was not specifically referring to the subscription based format. I try not to inject too much speculation into my articles, but I could not see Crimecraft running very long on a forced subscription based platform, even if it costs less than most other MMOs. There are just too many other shooters on the market that cost the initial $50, and then cost absolutely nothing to play per month.
Vogster: Already Laying Off?
Crimecraft launched on August 25th, and today being September 17th, that would make it not even a month after the title’s release. So it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that Vogster Entertainment, the creative minds behind the lobby based, third person shooter title, has made some cutbacks to the development team. After some cooking today, the story originally appearing as a rumor that Vogster had shut down completely, the story was clarified to reveal that only the Chicago studio closed, with significant cuts elsewhere.
“We regret the necessary staffing changes and the talented employees that this impacts, but it is an unavoidable step in moving to the operational stage of CrimeCraft and optimizing for the development of yet to be announced titles.”
Now is a good time to point out that, although layoffs are never a good sign for a company, such a move for a small company isn’t exactly uncommon. If history is any sign of the future, the layoffs involve primarily a group who were hired temporarily, for the purpose of being the development team, rather than part of the launch team who will go on to maintain the game post-launch.
That being said, players of Crimecraft wouldn’t have much to worry about, even in a worst case scenario. MMOs succeed, and MMOs barely scrape by, but they rarely shut down until they are no longer profitable. Crimecraft, with its instance format, is on the lower end of the spectrum of upkeep, aside from content development, when compared to the upkeep that, for example, Eve Online’s one shard requires to keep running. As many cutbacks that Vogster might do in the future, it is likely that Crimecraft will be profitable for a long time to come.
Crimecraft: Perfectly Good Hills
Crimecraft launched today, and if there’s one thing to say about the developers, Vogster Entertainment, it is that they are very self aware. They recognize that Crimecraft is foremost a shooter, and secondly an MMO (the persistent lobby). They are stout in their belief that Crimecraft is not, as many naysayers seem to believe, a “Grand Theft Auto IV MMO” and is more focused on team play than soloing. More importantly, when asked about their upcoming competitor All Points Bulletin, Vogster has nothing to say other than bring it on.
Instanced Vs Persistent: The Guild Wars Debate
Ask someone if World of Warcraft is an MMO, and you’re bound to receive a raised eyebrow, and the kind of look you can generally only get when you ask how to download the internet on to your computer so you can go online. World of Warcraft is a persistent world, where players travel across miles of open terrain, fighting varied mobs, gaining levels, fighting other players, completing instances, etc. There is no doubt for many players that World of Warcraft is an MMO.
Continue reading “Instanced Vs Persistent: The Guild Wars Debate”
CrimeCraft Open Beta: First Look
Crimecraft isn’t an MMO in the sense that Tabula Rasa was an open world, but more along the lines of Guild Wars: Public lobbies, while the action takes place in instanced matches. Crimecraft is a third person shooter, one of the first MMO’s to be built off of the Unreal 3 engine, next to TERA Online, Huxley, Global Agenda, Mortal Online, and more. You have a choice of PvP and PvE.
Please remember: Crimecraft is in open beta. It is not a finished product.
MMO Fallout 