Spacetime Studios is set to bring permanent updates and seasonal content to each title in the Legends and Battle franchises. This includes Star Legends, Dark Legends, Pocket Legends, Arcane Legends, Battle Command, and Battle Dragons.
Players can now experience Tarlok's Wrath, which is the winter event for Arcane Legends that goes until January 6. The rest of the holiday content will be available on December 17; including new winter campaign levels, seasonal battles and quests, and special holiday loot.
When we previewed Dark Legends at the Games Developer Conference last February, we noted the new social-game mechanics, like Energy needing to be recharged to continue the progress in-game, as something that fans might not appreciate.
"With every new Legends title we try to push the bar as far as we can for mobile multiplayer gaming. Sometimes innovations are hits, and sometimes they are misses," said Spacetime Studios founder and CEO, Gary Gattis. "We have a very close relationship with a very passionate audience and they told us the way we integrated Energy into the 3d gameplay was definitely a miss."
It turns out that we were right, as the vocal fan base of Spacetime Studios' third game in their Legends franchise has spoken up. Kudos to the developer, however, as they've decided to respond to fans and remove the mechanics that fans didn't like.
"Luckily we have a very powerful engine that allows us to rapidly iterate major systems," continued Gattis. "In response to the player feedback; Energy will no longer be a gate, instead we'll introduce a host of new systems that will hopefully work much better and be more rewarding."
Those new systems include Allies and Minions, as detailed below. Kudos to Spacetime Studios for being responsive to their fanbase, something many companies might not even consider, nor be able to accomplish in such a quick timeline. The update is planned to go live this coming Tuesday, so make sure you keep an eye peeled. And don't try to go get it today, just sayin.
From the devs:
Changes to Energy Mechanics:
• 3D missions no longer require energy to initiate.
• Campaigns will now display a recommended minimum level to convey the difficulty level to players.
Allies (New!):
• Players will now use energy to send Allies on jobs.
• Allies are NPCs that the player unlocks when playing through a campaign. These Allies will assist the
player by performing jobs for them.
• Players must decide what type of job they want their ally to perform. Each ally has 3 different
jobs they can undertake.
• Each of the jobs has a different amount of time associated with it, but the same energy cost.
• The more time a job takes the better the reward.
• If players do not pick up a job within a certain period of time after it is ready they will lose part
of their reward.
• When Allies perform jobs with the longest timers, players will receive an item plus a chance to get new
legendary weapons.
Minions (New!):
• Players will receive their first minion. Minions are tied to players and live in their lair. This minion
will offer players a daily reward of cash and xp. If a player successfully collects their daily reward for 5 consecutive days they will earn a new, random, wearable item.
Other Changes:
• Minor changes to storyline of 3D missions
So those folks over at Spacetime Studios, they’re alright. After releasing two more than a little successful iOS MMOs (Pocket Legends, Star Legends), they’ve gone and put out a third. But what’s left after anthropomorphic woodland creatures and space-faring explorers? Vampires, natch.
Taking a page or two from the modern day vampire handbook, Dark Legends puts players in control of a young (as in recently turned) vampire simply trying to survive in a world that knows they exist and wants them gone. It takes a slightly different approach to the player’s interactions with the world this time around. Some missions put the player in direct control of their character as they cut a bloody swath through their enemies while others simply take real time to complete automatically at the cost of a little energy. Both provide experience and the like, of course. As expected, avatars can be customized with a number of special weapons and clothing items, as well as proudly displayed to others when playing together in a group or with guild mates.
Dark Legends is lurking on the App Store right now. Joining the ranks of the Undead is completely free, too. Typical micro-transactions and in-app-purchases are available those who want to show their support with money or pick up a few vanity items, though.
This week at 148Apps.com, we checked out stunning cool new multiplayer features in two fan-favorite games: Infinity Blade 2 and SpellTower. Carter Dotson had this to say about IB2's new features: "Infinity Blade 2‘s first major content update has finally dropped on the App Store, bringing its new ClashMob feature to the game. The ClashMob challenges are asynchronous multiplayer events where everyone who participates contributes toward some collective goal."
And Jennifer Allen writes that, "SpellTower has just got even better with a major new update coming to the app. The big update is the addition of Debate Mode, multiplayer support via bluetooth providing a Rush-style battle of word skills amongst players."
Read more about Infinity Blade 2here and about SpellTowerhere.
The fun continued at GiggleApps.com with Amy Solomon's review of the odd Dynastid Beetle. She writes, "Dynastid Beetle is a fun and educational interactive app for children. To those living in the United States, an application dedicated to learning about a beetle may seem like an odd choice, so it is worth noting that dynastid Beetles are commonly kept as pets within Asian households. Versions of this app are available for both iPad as well as iPhone. This interactive app contains five sections – each dedicated to teaching a specific aspect about the lives of dynastic beetles."
Finally, on AndroidRundown.com, Carter Dotson introduced MMO Dark Legends for Chrome and Android, and had this to say about the game for iOS: "The game is available now on Google Play for Android, and from the Chrome Web Store. The iOS version is expected to release after a two-week exclusivity period with Google, but player accounts will transfer between platforms by logging into the same account; it currently works between the Chrome and Android versions, just as it worked with Pocket Legends and Star Legends."
And we're out...Keep up to date with everything related to news, reviews and contests by following us on Twitter and Liking us on Facebook. See you next weekend.
Spacetime Studios' long-awaited new MMO, Dark Legends, has finally released on Android and Google Chrome. Spacetime claims that this is the first simultaneous cross-platform launch of an MMORPG; while their previous games were all playable cross-platform via iOS, Android, and Chrome, this is the first title to launch with support for multiple platforms.
I spoke recently with Cinco Barnes at Spacetime Studios, and he remarked on how this entry in the series is designed to have a different appeal than other games in the series. This is designed to be more like classical vampire legends versus 'modern' vampires like the Twilight series. Vampires are designed to be powerful, and their attacks are meant to have a brutality to them. The game overall is designed to appeal to an older audience, with buckets of blood, darker environments, and vampires that aren't afraid to show some skin.
The game uses a new structure, with story events that can be viewed to advance the story and collect rewards. The combat missions are still there, and it's of course possible to play both online and solo in these missions. New outfits can be bought, other players can be interacted with in the game's overworld, and there's also player-vs-player combat available through this overworld.
Combat has been modified to add charge attacks, which deal extra damage; it's possible to even charge up special attacks for extra effects. Note that special attacks draw from the same blood meter as health does. However, it's also possible to feed on enemies' blood, refilling that meter.
The game is available now on Google Play for Android, and from the Chrome Web Store. The iOS version is expected to release after a two-week exclusivity period with Google, but player accounts will transfer between platforms by logging into the same account; it currently works between the Chrome and Android versions, just as it worked with Pocket Legends and Star Legends.
As a bonus to our loyal readers, stay tuned to @148Apps, @AndroidRundown, and our 148Apps and Android Rundown Facebook pages for info on a contest to get an exclusive in-game weapon.
It's a little bit dark, it's a little bit sexy, it's the first teaser trailer for the upcoming MMORPG, Dark Legends. This MMMORPG (mobile massively multiplayer online role playing game - you heard it here first, folks --Ed.) centers on secret factions of vampires, werewolves, demons, and the humans trying to exterminate these undead threats. The player plays a recently awakened vampire under the direction of the vampire that turned them in a fight for survival against the human mobs that have recently been alerted to the existence of the undead.
The trailer doesn't reveal much in the way of gameplay, but it does set a certain tone for the upcoming game. Dark Legends is being developed by Spacetime Studios, who also developed the critically acclaimed MMOs Star Legends and Pocket Legends. Dark Legends is set for release sometime in the first quarter of this year for iOS, Android, and Chrome. Take a look at the teaser trailer below to get an idea of what's in store.
Remember how Spacetime StudiosannouncedDark Legends, and how we had zero information to go on except the title and some imagination? Well things are different now. Or rather, we know a bit more about it.
Dark Legends is set in a world ripe with conflict. The existence of vampires has only recently been acknowledged and the vast majority of humanity is rather... displeased upon hearing the news. This isn't one of those "trying to find a peaceful coexistence" kind of scenarios; the non-vampire population is aiming to wipe out the blood-sucking "menace." It's kind of like True Blood, only if the majority of the human population was as quick to judge as that weirdo church/cult.
Players take control of a newly raised child of the night as they attempt to survive in this hostile new world and unravel its mysteries. And when I say "unravel its mysteries," I mean exactly that. Dark Legends will be much more story-focused than Spacetime's previous offerings, allowing players a more personal look into the narrative along with some Quick-Time Events during some cutscenes. That's not to say that the combat hasn't been tweaked as well. Fighting is definitely action-oriented, giving players some new abilities such as draining enemies (a given) and charge attacks.
Dark Legends is still missing a concrete release date, but it's penned for the "first quarter of 2012." So soon. Soon-ish, anyway. It's also going to be available for Android, Google Chrome and (of course) iOS users right from the get-go.
With not one but two popular MMORPGs under their belt already, one would think that Spacetime Studios might be interested in taking a little break. Nope. DroidGamers have discovered that, rather than simply being content with resounding success they've decided it's time to make yet another one. It's planned for mobile devices, it's going to be "... a bit of a departure from the formula that Pocket Legends established," and its called Dark Legends.
I wish I had more info to share about it, but after checking the initial forum announcement, their official Facebook page and the completely unhelpful teaser site (I know, what else could I expect from a teaser site?) I've come up with zip. Well okay, that's not entirely true. It's fair to assume that it'll probably have a somewhat darker theme than either of the developer's previous titles. It's also looking like Spacetime will be refining their Massively Multiplayer craft even further, and given the leap in quality from Pocket Legends to Star Legends it's certainly something to be excited about.
148apps will no doubt be keeping an eye out for further developments. In the meantime, I'd advise being patient. Or possibly keeping busy with one (or both) of those other mobile MMOs while waiting. Patiently.
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