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Forget That Foolish Commando, Guild Wars 2 Thief Profession Is FTW!!

Dave Oshry — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 01:15:50 +0000

Yesterday, for April Fool’s, NCSoft detailed this amazingly bad ass and obviously fake Commando profession for Guild Wars 2. However, the profession that is amazingly bad ass and thankfully very real - is the Thief. Want to know more? Of course you do, but first – check out this video:

That’s right, dual wielding pistols and shadowstepping for the win, baby.

I got a chance to see the Thief class in action in a recent meeting with NCSoft. Now, as someone who plays nothing but Rogue/Ranger/Thief type classes in almost every RPG, I must say I was impressed and totally wanted to see more.

Said meeting wasn’t just about the Thief class, but the rest of it went more or less like “Blah blah dynamic gameplay, blah blah innovative content, blah blah blah.” But when they got to the Thief demonstration – I was full on!!

However, before I get all gooey over this, check out what NCSoft has to say about their latest (and imo greatest) profession:

A master of stealth and surprise, the thief is deadly in single combat—particularly when catching enemies off guard. Thieves compensate for their relatively low armor and health by being quick and evasive. They can move through the shadows, vanish into thin air, or steal items from their opponents and use them as weapons. Enemies should watch their backs, or the thief will watch it for them.

While other professions rely on recharge rate for their weapon skills in combat, thieves rely on Initiative. Thieves have ten points of Initiative to use, and they gain back one point every second. Weapon skills cost Initiative points, but they have no recharge time, so thieves can use them back-to-back. This allows the thief to keep their options open at all times or unleash a rapid flurry of powerful attacks.

Thieves make use of a special skill called Steal, which generates a useful environmental weapon in the thieves’ hands based on the monster or player that they stole from. For example, when stealing from a moa bird, a thief might get a handful of feathers that they can throw to blind enemies around them.

When using a main hand and off-hand weapon combination, the thief differs from other professions. Their first two skills come from the main hand weapon, while the last two skills come from the off-hand weapon. The final skill, called their Dual Skill, is determined by both weapons. For example, a thief with two daggers will have Leaping Death Blossom as their Dual Skill, but a thief with a dagger and a pistol will have Shadow Shot as their Dual Skill.

I’ve also been told that thieves will even have a skill that is actually called Roll For Initiative. That’s right, an amazing DnD pun if there ever was one – this skill will literally let you roll/evade to gain initiative points back. Word.

Anyway, Thieves have a number of special skill types:

Stealth—Thieves can disappear into the shadows. This allows them to become invisible to enemy players and to ignore aggro. When in Stealth mode, the thief can still be damaged, which temporarily reveals them. When a thief is hidden, attacking will break the deception.

Shadow Stepping—Thieves can get in and out of battle quickly by using a technique called Shadow Stepping. This skill allows them to disappear from one location and then instantly appear at a different location by traveling through the shadows.

Traps—Thieves use traps to ambush unsuspecting enemies and control areas. For example, Shadow Trap is a trap that puts the thief into Stealth and Shadow Steps them back to the trap’s location.

However, what impressed me the most about this profession was not just their sweet skill set, but how fluid and downright sexy the movement and animation was. Rogues in other MMOs tend to have all the right skills, but the stiff animations always just make them seem like warriors with daggers. There’s no fluidity, no flair. Not so in Guild Wars 2.

I can’t even begin to describe how gorgeous it looks when you shadowstep and spin over an enemy’s head, then slice him to bits from behind, only then you roll backward, pull out your pistols and fire away to finish him off. Oh yeah, somewhere in between all that, you robbed him blind.

This is an MMO thief class the way it was meant to look and play and it’s also what has put Guild Wars 2 on my radar. I mean look at all these awesome skills:

Yes, she just dragged him over here like Scorpion. Yes, he just teleported to where he shot his arrow. Yes, her dagger just hit three enemies at once, and YES he just went invis, stole a branch off a treant and then used it to beat down an ogre. Show me another MMO with a class that looks and plays like this, and I’ll give you a cookie. Not some healthy little Snackwells cookie either, one of those big soft mushy ones like you get in a combo meal at Subway.

If Guild Wars 2 wasn’t on your MMO radar before (I’m not sure why it wouldn’t be) it had better be now. And for all you WoW Rogues out there who are tired of herp derping around throwing fans of knives, I think you’ve found your true calling.

See more at the Guild Wars 2 website.

XBLA Rejected Cave Shooters

Geoff Haugan — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 04:22:51 +0000

At the beginning of the month I was puzzled why 5pb, in bringing Cave shooters Ketsui and DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label to the Xbox 360 in Japan, would choose retail as their distribution medium when digital download seems so much more fitting. As it turns out, they were given no choice… by Microsoft.

Famitsu magazine included some words from Masaki Sakari of 5pb recently. 5pb are responsible for the ports of the two Cave shooters. He revealed that they had a plan to port many popular arcade titles to Xbox Live Arcade and even convinced many of the original developers to grant them licenses to do so, only to be shot down by Microsoft.

Sakari had this to say of their transaction with the company:

We secured these licenses, and finally talked with Microsoft. There they rejected all of our proposals saying, ‘We are going to cut down faithful arcade ports.’ We felt so frustrated. We wanted to show them that their decision was wrong. So we switched our two most promising projects into retail.

If that’s how Microsoft feels it’s certainly unlikely we’ll ever see these games available in North America, as a retail release here of such niche titles would probably be completely overlooked and require too high a price point.

It’s too bad Microsoft would turn down more choice for its online users on the download front, but perhaps they feel they have their bases covered and these titles wouldn’t garner enough interest, in either region, to be worth the bother.

Seeing complete re-imaginings like Super Street Fighter II HD and Bionic Commando Rearmed, as well as a number of original high-quality downloads on PS3, may have Microsoft wanting to up the ante on what makes it on to their online service.

Hopefully, as many quality, hard-to-find, niche and independent games as possible can find greater audience and preservation on XBLA and PSN. Perhaps the quality of these titles just wasn’t there in Microsoft’s opinion. After all ,Ikaruga is still set to appear on XBLA sometime very soon.

Source: Neogaf via Xblah

New Bionic Commando Screens and Artwork

Patrick Steen — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:12:24 +0000

Originally released back in 1988, Bionic Commando is back. Here at Ripten we can present you with a selection of new screenshots and artwork of the game that will grapple the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2008.

Bionic Commando has been dormant, apart from two Gameboy sequels in 1992 and 1999, but Capcom reintroduce the series for the next-generation. In this outing, players will be able to use the main character’s bionic grappling arm to traverse and kill enemies.

Enjoy the new screenshots and artwork.

Source.

Top Ten Developers – #3 Capcom

James Fleming — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 23:00:35 +0000

Little known facts about Capcom: Their name is pronounced Kapukon in Katakana, the writing system designated for foreign words in the Japanese language. Megaman is actually referred to as “Rockman” in his native Japan. And the name Capcom is actually a partial acronym taken from the company’s original name, Japan Capsule Computers.

Ok, enough Wiki-trivia. What is widely known is that Capcom is a developer that has made some of the greatest games to ever grace a cabinet or console. Whether you were a resident arcade junky or an agoraphobic console jockey, chances are you’ve played one or two of Capcom’s many gems. Based on their successes over the last 28 years, you weren’t the only one.

Capcom made one game that successfully hypnotized any and all who gazed upon it. Whether it was kids at an arcade in Shinjuku, Tokyo or teens killing time at a local Pizzeria during lunch period on Main St., USA, the game had the power of seduction. It showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, and already had a Roman numeral tacked onto its name in reference to a prequel that was unknown to most gamers.

Yes, Street Fighter II is a sacred name for most arcade enthusiasts. It paved the way for the Mortal Kombat, Tekken and Virtua Fighter games that would soon follow. It wrote the book on 2D fighting games and, for many, has never been bettered.

Street Fighter II could separate a 13-year old from his allowance money faster than an angry parent who just discovered the newly shaved family dog. But Capcom was around long before SF II, and has remained long after. This company is no one trick pony.

Arcade games were, and still are, a major source of income for Capcom. While many companies gave up on arcades in favor of home console game development, many of the big guns kept a toe in the quarter-pumping waters, Capcom being one of them. Games like 1942, Commando, and Gunsmoke gave Capcom their initial success, and the much-imitated Final Fight and Street Fighter series carried the torch in later years.

Capcom would go on to dominate home gaming machines. Mega Man would etch the famous blue and gold Capcom logo into the cache of many a pliable mind. Delivering solid side-scrolling action with RPG elements and powerups was a stroke of genius that would spawn five sequels on the NES alone. Dozens of other Mega Man games soon followed on subsequent machines. Bionic Commando and Trojan would also become early Capcom console favorites.

In 1996, Capcom made a little game called Resident Evil (Biohazard in Japan). Resident Evil scared the pants off of gamers the world over. It practically invented the “survival horror” genre and its creative puzzles and control scheme would serve as inspiration for 14 sequels on almost every console imaginable (along with three pretty bad movies).

Resident Evil made Capcom a big player in the late 90s, with help from Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe (made by sister company Clover), and the Onimusha series.

So whether its beat ‘em ups, shoot ‘em ups, hack ‘em ups or blow ‘em ups, Capcom delivers the goods time and time again. Versatility is not something that comes easily for most developers, but this Osaka powerhouse hits the bulls-eye time and time again. So whether it’s a classic side-scroller or light-gun operated shooter, you can put your faith in the old blue and gold.

Must Haves:
The Mega Man Collection (Multi),
Resident Evil 4 (Multi)

Have Nots:
Dino Crisis (PS1)

Top Ten Developer List: 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1