Have you ever played a video game and thought, "Man, this would make a
great MMOG?" The releases of several first rate RPGs recently got me to
thinking about the prospects, so I decided to sit down and pick out
five single-player IPs (intellectual properties) that would make kick
ass MMOGs.
5.
Resident
Evil
I know what you're thinking: "Umm, how the hell would you make
style="font-style: italic;">Resident Evil
into an MMOG?" The answer is quite easily. Just give us a world overrun
by zombies and other nasty ghouls whilst the players simply try to
survive. The world needs a survival horror MMOG.
The IP is already well fleshed out, with enough mainstream crossover
via the movies, that most gamers at least know what
style="font-style: italic;">Resident Evil
is about. With
style="font-style: italic;">Resident Evil,
you already have evil corporations, their goons, zombies, survivors
fighting over resources, more zombies, and horribly mutated zombies.
What more do you need? Give us a game that truly scares us. Make us
scream and not want to turn out the lights when we go to bed.
style="font-style: italic;">Resident Evil,
along with many other notable single player games, has done this. Let
us share the joy or adrenaline pumping fear with a few thousand of our
closest friends. Give us a game that not only lets us kill zombies, but
puts that childhood fear of the dark back into us.
4.
Mass
Effect
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/80183" target="_blank">
style="font-style: italic;">Mass Effect
is one hot IP right now. BioWare has shown that they can give us
something totally new in science fiction that is as deep and robust as
any established IP in existence. There are far too few science fiction
MMOGs on the market today, and this IP is ready to port!
With two games already under their belt, BioWare has already fleshed
out many worlds and races for us to play and explore, and they contain
a wealth of background
and lore that could easily serve as the basis
for an online game. The game already has a common enemy for all the
different factions and plenty of reasons to fight each other. I have
played many single player games and MMOGs and rarely has it been so
obvious that
a game could be ported over to a new genre.
style="font-style: italic;">Mass Effect
is a no-brainer, and it would be a cash cow for BioWare.
3.
MechWarrior
Talk about your no-brainers! Giant Mechs wielding plasma cannons, heavy
lasers, and jump jets are the stuff of any geek’s fantasies.
How could this fail? How in the world have we gone 15 years and not
realized this IP has to be made into an MMOG? Not only do you have the
video game to go on, but the 30 years of material made for the table
top game. Imagine becoming a member of the Gray Death Legion or being a
part of Clan Ghost Bear. Every mech-loving gamer in the world would be
playing this nonstop.
The MechWarrior
IP is already set up perfectly for PvP, as well. You have various
Houses and clans battling each other all over the universe in 50 foot
tall giant robots. Can anyone who has ever played
style="font-style: italic;"> MechWarrior
tell me that they never wished to be able to play against thousands of
other players?
Guilds fit in perfectly into this IP in that every different guild
would act as a mercenary company or their own clan. I’m
getting goose bumps just thinking about it. This game would have no
competition. Talk about a great niche to own; you won’t have
any worries about losing subscribers when there is no one else offers
what you have...50 foot tall Mechs!
2.
Dragon
Age
I can't believe I find myself saying it, but yes,
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76529" target="_blank">
style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Age.
I would have sworn that we’ve had enough fantasy-based MMOGs
to last ten life times. In general, I believe that we need to push for
diversity and to encourage companies to break from the norm and give us
something different. Well,
style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Age
is different.
For a new IP, this one is already well developed and full of life. You
already have multiple races and classes that are fleshed out extremely
well. It’s also nice to see a world where elves
don’t rule everything,
and where there are actually bad
people (not monsters) who are tremendous foes. When I played the single
player game, I found myself constantly wanting to be able to play it
with my friends.
style="font-style: italic;">Dragon Age
is a fun, gritty, and mature RPG that takes the same old tired fantasy
settings and puts a new shine on them. I defy anyone to play this game
and not want to log in with their friends to take down the Brood Mother.
1.
StarCraft
Love them or hate them, Blizzard has created the king of MMOGs in
style="font-style: italic;">World of Warcraft.
You simply can't argue with their success. It seems anything they touch
turns to gold, and they have one hell of an IP in
style="font-style: italic;">StarCraft.
Why they haven’t converted this IP into an MMOG, I
don’t know. Just imagine how many Koreans alone would play
this game? They already have multiple TV channels dedicated to
style="font-style: italic;">StarCraft,
so how much impact would a fully fledged MMOG have? One word, seismic!
With StarCraft,
you already have three factions, so PvP is very easy to implement.
Three solid and totally different play styles means that players will
likely want to play several different characters in different factions.
PvP could work in a manner like
style="font-style: italic;">Dark Age of Camelot,
a MMOG with three factions that made it arguably the best PvP MMOG on
the market. Can you imagine if Blizzard gave us the beauty that is
style="font-style: italic;">StarCraft
in an MMOG? I mean, the game that invented the term "zerg" could allow
you to actually play a Zerg. Who could say no to that?
Conclusion
These are but five of the many great single-player IPs that would make
great MMOGs. In a genre that has been recently lacking innovation, we
need to encourage game companies with proven track records to step up
and give us the next great MMOG. I believe any of these IPs could
accomplish just that. They have already proven they can make great
games, now let’s have them show us they can make great games
we can play with 2000 of our closest friends.
Do you think I'm missing a game, or would you change the order of my
list? If so, let us know what single player game IP you think would
make a great MMOG in our forums.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Dragon Age: Origins Game Page.
