We’ve all experienced or heard tales of the Secret Cow Level. Some have even witnessed the awesome spectacle of the Classified Bovine Sector. Pitting players against these beefy beasts isn’t necessarily a new concept in gaming, but letting you actively play as a cow in an MMO is certainly not exactly what you’d call the norm. Then again, neither is in-development MMO Project Gorgon.
The latest update from Project Gorgon via Kickstarter discusses player cows, a concept rendering of which can be seen at the top of this page. If you’re wondering why the thing is decked out in armor and looks primed and ready for combat, that’s why.
As the update explains, the origins of player cows were the result of a boss curse. I’m a huge fan of the baseline concept behind this type of gameplay, and for a time back in the Scars of Velious days of EverQuest would spend days locked within the Tower of Frozen Shadow in search of cursed items. One of my favorites would give you a massive hit to charisma, and I loved the idea that cursed items couldn’t be unequipped without finding a way to break the curse.
The cow curse in Project Gorgon is somewhat similar, spawning you in cow form if you fall to the cow boss, Maronesa. You would be forced to live as a cow until you returned to lift the curse, but this is where the joys of emergent gameplay kick in. Apparently many players simply chose to remain as cows, prompting the developers to consider fleshing out the concept.
“We noticed, pretty quickly, that players were not returning to lift the curse and more and more players decided to play it as their full time character. We started to receive numerous requests to expand upon the cow’s abilities and features and that’s when we decided to make it into a full-fledged experience.”
According to the update, there are now several different animal experiences in Project Gorgon as a result, with more on the way. They also ask fans what animal they would like to play as, with a handful of responses so far ranging from more obvious things like dragons, to the awesome suggestion of playable chickens. We live in a world where Goat Simulator was one of the most talked about games of 2014, so chickens seem like a perfectly natural choice.
Read the full update and add your own suggestions for playable animals to the discussion on the official Kickstarter campaign page. There are also still 17 days to go in the current campaign for Project Gorgon, with funding just about to hit the threshold of the second stretch goal which will add dwarves as a playable race option.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Project Gorgon Game Page.