Tag: Com2uS »

Com2uS is the developer behind many titles, but they are perhaps best known for Inotia and Inotia 2: A Wanderer of Luone. It was with excitement, therefore, that I opened a recent email containing a beta testing invite for their newest project...a "fully-featured MMORPG on the iPhone."

Yes, that's right: a real MMO, not that Epic Pet Wars or Zombies Live nonsense. The game is titled IMO: World of Magic, and the feature list includes guilds, a party system, a friends list, and chatting as well as the inclusion of three character classes, 50+ skills, and a trading shop. I grabbed the beta build early this week and have spent some time wandering through IMO's thirty zones. The game is indeed much like a "real" MMORPG. You've got guilds, skills, and monsters to kill. The game world has a cute Maple Story-like vibe and lag wasn't bad at all, though only the real launch will reveal Com2uS's server's capabilities. (Also note that I was on WiFi.)

The game so far has been a mixed bag. There are translation errors, the "pick up items" button seems superfluous, and chatting is hampered by both an absurdly short text limit and a clunky in-game keyboard. On the other hand, combat works quite well; you can play as a warrior, ranged fighter, or mage, and each class comes with its own unique talents. Teaming up with other random player to hunt piggies and moving bushes is fun, and the world itself is very cheerful. Even with its flaws, it's an impressive title simply because we haven't seen a "real" MMORPG on the App Store. I can see this being a great pick-up-and-play title: killing a few monsters in those five-minute breaks that populate our lives is both easy and fun.

Strangely, there isn't much of a story. Fetch quests from the villagers sort of give you an objective, but they're hardly exciting and there's no quest log to keep track of things. For now, IMO is mostly a grind: kill monsters, level up, gain skills and items, and kill some more monsters. Grind-fests are typical of Korean RPGs, but they certainly aren't my favorite feature, and there's little else to do right now.

IMO has a ton of potential, and this beta build is very impressive, especially from a technical standpoint. I'm still worried about the lack of a narrative, though. Once the revised version hits the App Store, rest assured that we'll be giving it a full review!

Com2uS is set to release a sequel to its popular title Chronicles of Inotia: Legend of Feanor. The initial Chronicles of Inotia game arrived in late 2008, and was dubbed by Com2Us as "the first touch action RPG" available on the app store. Although reviews varied, Legend of Feanor enjoyed success for being one of the first in its genre to grace the iPhone.

Chronicles of Inotia: A Wanderer of Luone looks to up the ante in many regards, and to address the perceived rough spots from the first game. The following trailer was unveiled, which highlights much of the new gameplay:

Chronicles of Inotia: A Wanderer of Luone is being described as "a heroic journey through a land of magic, companionship, and a never ending battle against evil." It shouldn't be long before we can see for ourselves just how magical things get, as the sequel is currently being reviewed by Apple and is on schedule for a December release.

A highly anticipated title, Com2us' Sniper Vs Sniper Online brings the massive multiplayer online concept to life. Based on a two player scenario, the game sees players trying to hunt down and eventually kill each other, with the help of snipers. Although the game has been hyped, you shouldn't be two quick to purchase. While the game is enjoyable for a short period of time, the way Sniper Vs Sniper Online is marketed it seems to imply I was in store for in-depth and lengthy gameplay, although in my personal experience playing the game, this wasn't the case.

The game centers around two or more players fighting to find, and eliminate each other. Opening Sniper Vs Sniper Online for the first time, the game will ask you to setup a handle (username), and a password - which will also be used in the event of you switching your device for another. It's sorta like an 'authorisation' system they've built into the game. This is a one time setup, and afterward you'll join the company's online servers. From there the game plays out in two modes: Single Mission and Online Play.

Choose Single Mission and you'll have a choice of six different 'areas' in which you can play. These include: Training Field, Building, Village, Forest, Temple and City. By default, Building, Village, Forest, Temple and City are locked until you complete the 'Training Field' stage. Selecting any one of the areas gives you a few further playing options. These include: Campaign, 1 vs 1 and Special Missions. In campaign mode you will be given a series of task to complete per area. For example, in the first area, your task is to shoot down five sets of five targets, with each future set of targets becoming smaller, and moving further and further away from you.

1 vs 1 is a little different. In this mode you'll be set a challenge which is timed. Basically, your against the clock. For example, In the first mission on the 'Training Field' area, you'll have to shoot down 10 targets, avoiding shooting anything other than the 10 targets in question, and all the while completing it within 5 minutes. Choosing the 'Special Mission' mode brings up 5 further missions to which you can complete, each offering a different task with a time limit attached.

Entering 'Online Play' mode sees you pitt yourself against players across the globe. Here, you can join a networked game, or if you like, an alliance attack. This involves you teaming up with someone already in the online lobby, to build a 'team'. Or maybe you just want to play with a family member who's already in the same room as you? A 1 vs 1 match which allows you to do just this.

Online matches consist of looking at a block of windows, and trying to spot and shoot your opponent. Controlled by accelerometer, online matches see you tilting your device to scour the playing field. While fun, I found doing this is somewhat limited, with your 'sniper sight' not being able to fully pan to the edge of the screen. It's like there's some kind of invisible limit - which is very noticeable.

In-game you have two objects which are there to assist you in making a successful kill. The first is your two-scope binoculars, which in turn allow you to pan a larger area of the screen. The second is of course, your sniper. These are toggled by hitting the appropriate symbolized buttons. As well as switching inventory items, you can also send 1 of 7 'audio' segments, which will convey how you feel about your opponents progress. Live chat is also available, allowing you to chat with opponents or members of your alliance.

After you've completed a match you'll have the option to share your score with the world, either via Facebook, or Twitter. One aspect I have to admit caught my eye with this is the game will actually put the gamer tag (handle) of whoever you were playing, in the tweet or status update. A little addition, but a nice one!

Overall, Sniper Vs Sniper: Online combines the use of tilt controlled gameplay, with satisfactory graphics. With realistic sound effects, and fluent animation in-game, the game holds up. While I enjoyed playing the game for a few minutes, it got boring - fast. The factor I put this down to is the game is centered around the 'visuals' rather than actual gameplay. There's no doubting the visuals of this game have been well thought out, but in my opinion, there isn't anything of real substance to actually involve the user, other than tilt and shoot, which for what should be an in-depth immersive title, doesn't cut it.

Fun for a few rounds with the mates - sure, but unfortunately didn't turn out as good as I was anticipating it was going to be.

Com2Us, of Baseball Sluggers... er... Homerun Battle 3D fame, has a new game on the way. The game, Sniper vs. Sniper Online, is a significant departure from the friendly confines of their masterful homerun derby. After watching the preview video and checking out some screenshots, this may turn out to be the first non-sports game to really thrive online. I'll never forget when Baseball Sluggers arrived in the app store. It was the very first online game that just worked... every single time, and amazingly still has a user base that plays online all day. If Sniper vs. Sniper works even close to as well, this one will be a surefire hit.

Much like Homerun Battle 3D, Sniper vs. Sniper allows you to seemingly instantly play against anyone online in the world. Also included is a co-op terrorist killing mode... allowing you to show some mercy on your poor friend that just can't beat you. Another feature brought over from Homerun is the ability to earn special items within the 30 "special missions"... you know, to make your friend hunting sniper skills better.

The game should be live in October, and we should have a review up the following morning. In the meantime, enjoy some more screenshots and an extra video after the break!

Back at E3 I met up with Don Lim from Com2uS, who showed me a few of his upcoming games, one of which being Baseball Sluggers. At first glance, the game looked pretty fun, but certainly nothing groundbreaking. It looked like MLB Slugfest for the iPhone, except without an MLB license and limited only to the home run derby. Being the skeptical gamer that I am, I picked up the game with low expectations, thinking that the game would probably be average at best. But boy, was I wrong.

Instead of showing me all the different menu options and gameplay modes, Don had me just straight into the matchup mode, which is unlike anything else I had ever played on the iPhone. Within a minute of booting up the game, I was engaged in a matchup with one of the beta testers of the game in Korea. The game was easy enough to pick up instantly, but with a variety of pitches and speeds, had enough depth to satisfy my inner gamer. Surprisingly I ended up beating the beta tester, shocking Don... and myself. What can I say guys, I'm just good at sports games.