by Cody
“Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor
Popular media is full of violence, gore, and brutality. If you happen
to be flipping through the channels on your television, you might
happen upon a random murder, suicide attempt or decapitation in the
first five minutes or your surfing. Video games are really no
different, with titles like
Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt
taking the spotlight for their heaping helpings of gratuitous violence.
Yet the massively multiplayer gaming space has yet to really experience
a fully realized title that embraces the violence and inherent darkness
that lives within many of us. While there are titles that are flying
towards their release dates (Age
of Conan) the marketplace is still relatively empty.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/27168"
title="Requiem GDC - 01">
src="/image/view/27168/preview"
width="200">
style="font-style: italic;">The Beast
Possession system in Requiem allows you to change into an enemy
crushing entity.
The barren market has attracted quite a bit of attention, from both
Western and Eastern developers alike, and one of the first MMOGs to
come from the Asian shores has finally begun to emerge in the North
American frontier. Although the title of the game, Requiem: Bloodymare,
may be a bit difficult to roll of the tongue, rest assured that the
developers at Gravity Interactive have really attempted to break new
ground on this post-apocalyptic massively multiplayer game.
Set in a world that has been devastated by scientific and magical
misuse, Requiem
finds the players taking on the roles of a super-human set of champions
known as Temperions. According to Mario Fernandez Jr., Requiem's community manager,
the Temperions are split into three different sub-races and are the
“heroes” of the current age that wage a constant
war against the nightmarish forces that patrol the landscape.
“Each of the three races has two class options to choose
from,” Fernandez said. “And once each of
those races reaches a certain point in their progression, they will be
allowed to specialize into one of two other classes, giving the players
twelve total classes to choose from between the three races. Of course,
the developers didn’t want to give players the simple
‘cookie-cutter’ choices, so there will be different
skill sets available along with the overarching DNA system.”
According to Joon Yoon (marketing and public relations coordinator for
L5/Gravity), the DNA system is one of three major features that make
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem stand out
from other games. “The DNA, Beast Possession, and Nightmare
systems will keep players pulled into the game,” Yoon said.
To begin, he chose to discuss the DNA system and how that was going to
work. “Since the Temperions are genetically engineered, you
can actually play with your DNA,” he continued. “In
the game you have a five slot system where you can insert different
pieces of DNA that you find in different combinations. It’ll
modify your abilities, but it won’t modify your
look.” From what Yoon described, the DNA system looks to be
another way to specialize or modify your character to enhance the way
it operates. While there is the base five slot system, a sixth DNA slot
does appear when the right DNA combination is achieved, and players
will probably spend a great deal of time looking up the best
combinations for their character.
Moving on from there, Fernandez went on to describe the Nightmare system.
Unlike the DNA or Beast Possession systems, the Nightmare mode in
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem simply
refers to the 15-minute window that occurs every two hours when the
world shifts and the Nightmare begins. “The world gets
distorted, and it looks darker,” Fernandez explained.
“But the biggest change is the new monsters that emerge to
fight with you. An area that you may have been safe in earlier will
become extremely perilous, and this concept will keep players aware of
their surroundings and on their toes.” Despite the harder
monsters and dangerous atmosphere, this time of day isn’t
without rewards. With the bigger monsters comes more experience and
higher loot values, so intrepid players can certainly grab some tasty
bits if they’re interested in hunting in the Nightmare.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/27166"
title="Requiem GDC - 03">
src="/image/view/27166/preview"
width="200">
style="font-style: italic;">The Kruxena are one
of three races to choose from in Requiem.
Finally, the Beast Possession system rounds out the last of the three
major features in Requiem.
To explain a bit, Fernandez explained that Beast Possession isn’t
about charming or “possessing” beasts around you,
it’s more of a transformation into a creature that
you’ve encountered in the past. “Through your
adventures you’ll be able to pick up various monster
templates that you can choose to transform into,” Fernandez
mentioned. “You’ll have three different slots for
three different monsters that are totally independent of your character
class and level.” With this system, players can briefly
switch into different modes of play on the fly as long as their
“hardcore bar” is filled. This “hardcore
bar” refers to a slowly filling timer that eventually enables
you to transform into Beast mode and lay waste to your surrounding
enemies.
Once Fernandez and Yoon were finished giving us the background of the game
and its major systems, we actually sat down with the client and were
given a brief demonstration of the many nuances and intricacies behind
the game. From the outset of our demo, it was apparent that there were
some very fascinating design choices that were made early on in
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem’s
development.
For starters, Requiem
certainly looks like it will be filling out that
“Mature” placeholder that it wants to step into.
Unlike other MMORPGs that feature one or two NPC death animations,
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem looks to
have several for each of their NPCs walking around the world. Each
death animation is a view into the brutal world of
style="font-style: italic;">Requiem; limbs fly
off, bodies explode, and heads roll down hills as they are hacked from
their bodies.
Indeed, you read that final descriptor right – heads will
actually roll down hills. Rather than use their own means to come up
with a physics system, Gravity Interactive licensed the Havok engine
(of Half-Life 2
fame) to power all the rag doll type effects in the world. This means
that your destructive rampages won’t just kill monsters;
it’ll make them flop on the ground like a dying fish.
Concerning gameplay, the action in Requiem
seems to be driven in a very similar method to what we’ve
seen in other modern MMORPGs: by using hotkeys to attack and defend,
the character on the screen will react accordingly. However, it seems
that with the DNA and skill set systems already in place for the game,
you may have more options at your disposal than in any mere clone of
style="font-style: italic;">World of Warcraft
or Lineage II.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/27162"
title="Requiem GDC - 07">
src="/image/view/27162/preview"
width="200">
style="font-style: italic;">The Havok engine
allows the developers to create flying body parts and ragdoll physics.
The Beast Possession system, when seen in a live-action mode, is
actually fairly impressive. As we watched Eric Sexton, VP of Game
Design for Gravity’s US studio, drive his character through
the monsters, he got into a tough spot and activated his beast
possession. His character threw his head back, roaring, and he
transformed into this hulking beast immediately. It was fairly
fascinating to watch, especially when he started mowing down his
enemies.
To me, the most exciting part of the whole demonstration was how
localized the game already seemed to be. Over the past few years, many
MMORPG fans have been treated to poorly translated or localized
gameplay from a variety of imported Korean titles. However, it seems
like that particular trend has finally begun to shift, and U.S. studios
are finally beginning to clean up the games that they import to the
states. The fact that Gravity is taking it upon themselves to import
the game is a fantastic step in the right direction for localizing a
game, and perhaps Requiem will be the first truly localized imported
title.
The future of Requiem:
Bloodymare seems to be the polar opposite of the
game’s setting. Rather than a dark, bloody existence for the
upcoming MMORPG, I believe that Requiem
will draw a large number of fans looking for an adult game. While much
has yet to be determined for this title – the extent of the
localization, the actual enjoyment of playing the game, and more
– the current steps look to be the right ones, and I believe
Gravity Interactive and L5 Games are dedicated to finally bringing a
solid imported title to the MMORPG marketplace.
the future of Requiem:
Bloodymare? Do you believe it will grab a particularly
large audience? Let us know on the forums!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Requiem: Memento Mori Game Page.
