Micro Volts

Have you seen the movie 9? Its about little puppets that have come to life. Imagine if you could play as one of those little puppets. MicroVolts is about little puppets going to war with each other. In fact, when you start the game, you are treated to a cutscene that explains just this.

MicroVolts is a third person shooter that's a whole lot of fun. Maps include a chess table and some rooms in a house. Your character is just a few inches tall, and the rooms, being human sized, are huge. Its a lot of fun being so tiny. There are jump points where you will be springed up, so even being so small you can still get high up.

Players can choose from one of 4 characters, one male, two female, and a robot. As you play, you will earn MP points, which can be spent on accessories for your character. These accessories don't just give your character some uniqueness, but also give slight stat increases. You can also switch between the character types if you get bored with your current one. Various accessories and weapons are available to higher levels. Although the accessories are only temporary (7 days), they are free and purchased with MP points, earned during play. You generally get more points for more kills in a round.

All players can use all the weapon types at any time. Players can purchase upgraded weapons with MP points which will give them an advantage. Since players carry all weapon types at all times, using them skillfully is important, since different guns are appropriate for different situations. The weapon types are melee, pistol, shotgun, sniper, heavy machine gun, bazooka, and grenade launcher. As this is a cartooney game, the weapons do not act realistically, but it doesn't really matter since the game is so much fun. Players can get headshots and will get various congratulatory statements with multiple kills.

The game can sometimes seem like a twitch-fest, but really its just a matter of knowing where your vulnerable spots are, and paying attention to your surroundings. One cool aspect of the game if that when you make a kill the downed player drops either ammo or health, helping you to keep going. 

For some reason, not all the maps are built to the scale of a little puppet in a human's world. Some of the maps seem normal scaled, and they don't seem to in any way suggest your character is a doll. However the map types are quite varied, from a factory to a castle to a war torn village.

Game types are the standard fare for a shooter game. There is Team Death Match mode, a Team Elimination Mode, a Capture the Battery (capture the flag) mode, and a free for all mode. There is also a match up mode, where players killed dropped a question mark, and if you collect enough question marks you will get a temporary special ability.

As MicroVolts is in open beta, the community is small, but not that small, and will probably grow as the game becomes more well known. The game is free to play, has a 500MB download, and because of the cartooney graphics will run on less powerful machines. The beginner servers are often full, and there are 10,000 Facebook fans of the game. MicroVolts does not currently support microphone chat, but there are a few command menus that you can use to communicate with your team. There is also a chat box that can be used. There does seem to be a clan system but I haven't figured out how to get involved in it yet. If you like Battlefield Heroes or any other third person shooter, you have to check this game out. Score 9/10

Regnum Online

http://regnumonline.com.ar/

Regnum Online is a free to play fantasy themed Realm vs. Realm MMO, designed by NGD studios out of Argentina.. The world of Regnum is divided into three realms, with a middle area accessible by all three realms. Each realm has an inner realm that only they can access, and two gems that are hidden in this inner realm In the middle area each team has two forts and a castle. These forts and castles can be overtaken by the enemy realms. If the castle and a fort are controlled by an enemy realm, the players from that realm will have access to their inner realm, where they will try to steal the two gems. If any realm controls all six gems, the players from that realm will gain access to a special area where they will be able to take on special monsters and get special loot. Once a realm has captured all six gems and had their time in the special area, the map resets with each realm controlling their own two gems.

Players can kill players from either of the other two realms but not their own. Players can duel with players from their own realm though to test their skills.

The questing part of Regnum Online is very active until about level 30, when quests are few and far between. Generally players start to play in the middle zone at around level 30, although they are granted access to it at level 10. Although there's only a few quests per level, leveling up to level 30 is very quick if players focus on just doing the quests. The quests themselves are pretty standard, kill x amount of y creature. After that there is a major grind up to the max level 50.

Players start off the game by choosing which realm they want to be a part of. This option cannot be changed later. Each realm has its own races, but the classes are the same for each realm. The classes are warrior, archer, and mage, which players will then specialize later in the game, for a total of six possible classes. Players can choose a gender and have a limited number of character appearance options. Each realm has a newbie area where new players level up to level 10 before entering into the main inner realm where they will spend most of their time. Weapons and armor are somewhat limited, so, especially early on, you can expect to see a lot of similar looking characters. Armor is available in complete sets but sometimes it can be hard to find the right merchant, since some armor is only sold by one merchant in the whole realm.

Players will get skill points when they level up and can choose from the standard set of skills for an RPG. Players can reset these skills at any time, but cannot change back from their specialized class.

Although there is a crafting system, its rarely used. The game does lack the extras that other games in this genre have, but the PvP combat serves a purpose in this game.

Player versus player combat in Regnum is a lot of fun, especially during big sieges, which can happen at any time. The sieging players will also have to defeat several high level guards that are controlled by AI, giving adequate defense to the forts if no players happen to be around.

Regnum recently made changes in the free content, making horses, which can save a lot of time for players, a premium only item. But they have also introduced many other mount types, possibly encouraging more players to pay for a mount. Score 8/10

Try it out for free here: http://regnumonline.com.ar/

Savage 2

www.savage2.com

Savage 2 is a team based fantasy themed real time strategy game where two teams try to destroy each other's main base. The two teams are humans versus fantasy beast type creatures. The game has a twist where one player on each team is known as the Commander, and has a completely different gameplay experience.

The Commander will have an isometric view point similar to Age of Empires, where he can see all of his teammates and provide them with buffers, dispels, and also attack opposing players. The commander is responsible for placing buildings and managing the gold of the team. Commanders can give orders to teammates, but the individual members are free to follow or ignore orders as they choose. Commanders can also assign team members as squad leaders who can drop spawn portals. This gives an interesting element to the game, as a good leader will be able to control his team, but a poor leader may not. Team members can put up a vote to the team to impeach their commander if they feel the Commander is not doing a good job. Each team member has one opportunity to impeach the commander per round.

The buildings the Commander can build are technology and defense buildings. The technology buildings give the players upgraded abilities and extra character classes to play with.

At the start of the round, players will be able to choose from three class types. A builder, a ranged class, and a strong melee class. The builder class is used to erect buildings placed by the Commander. They are weak fighters, but are strong in attack against the enemy's buildings. The ranged class is also somewhat weak but is fast and can be used in attacks against buildings. The melee class is the strongest fighting class. Other classes that come later in the round are a healing class, a siege class, and a super-strong melee class. Some of these new classes will cost the player gold that they have earned in the round in order to spawn. While most classes have a form of ranged attack, the focus in on melee combat. Players can zoom out to a behind the back third person view or zoom in for a first person view.

One additional class players can choose is the Malphas. This is a demon class that has exceptional health and attack ratings. The Malphas is spawned from a hellshrine that the commander must build, and players must have accumulated twenty souls from killing opposing players to spawn a Malphas.

Each map gives each team there own home area, called their stronghold. This is where the Commander will build their technology buildings. Spread across the map are a limited number of mines. These mines provide the gold that teams will use in order to build their buildings. In order to utilize a mine, a team must build a smaller base close to the mine. The other teams will try to destroy these bases so they can build their own. The commander will be able to build defense towers to protect the bases and the stronghold. Players will be able to spawn from these bases as well.

There are about 5 or 6 maps total in Savage 2. Each is very different from the others. Some are very large while others are not. Most of the maps are symmetrical, with one area being a control point for both teams.

Savage 2 has a pretty small community, with no more than 150 players logged in at any one time. Usually only one or two servers are being utilized. Servers hold about 42 players each, and a joining player has to join whichever team needs an extra player. Most of the players are regulars and trade banter with each other over the voice chat. The voice chat is very handy for the Commander to issue orders or for teammates to communicate. The game is free to play with a one time upgrade fee of $10 for those who want to take it seriously. Upgraded members can also purchase runes which will give them increased stats. Its definitely a fun game, but is frustrating at times when a bad commander makes poor choices. Score 8/10 

Download it at www.savage2.com

Mission Against Terror

http://mat.subagames.com/Download.aspx
Mission Against Terror is not, as you might suspect, a game inspired by the events occurring in the Middle East. The plot of the game is that freedom fighters are fighting against a New World Order government, though this plot line never materializes in the game since players just join a red or blue team, and there is no significance of either side winning.

Mission Against Terror is a first person shooter that has a variety of maps and game types. The game has Death Match, Team Death Match, Bomb, Capture, AI, Ghost, Mummy, and even a Chat Room mode. There is no single player campaign as MAT is an MMO.

In Death Match, the object is to get as many kills as possible and win the round. Every player is out for themselves. The game has a couple Death Match only maps and also shares a map with Team Death Match. The object of Team Death Match is to get the required number of kills as a team before the opposing team does. The options available are 100, 200, and 300, with time limits set at 20 and 30 minutes. Both Team Death Match and Death Match are unlimited spawn games.

In Bomb mode, one team has a bomb and are the attackers, while another team are the defenders and are required to either kill all opposing team members or diffuse the bomb if it is planted. The bomb needs to be planted in one of two designated spots. Maps are the same as in Team Death Match mode. Bomb Mode is a single life game, with the winning team winning 9 or 13 rounds..

In Capture mode, there are three locations on the map that are designated capture points. The teams have twenty minutes to have all three locations controlled by them at the same time, otherwise it ends in a draw. Capture mode is an unlimited spawn game. It was only recently introduced and is having a hard time competing with the other modes, as Capture Mode games are hard to find in the lobby. This might be because the game can go very quickly if there are only a few players on each team, since it is much harder to defend all three capture spots. Capture Mode uses some of the Team Death Match maps for its games.

AI mode is humans against computer controlled robots, and sometimes the game is a team death match, and other times the objective is to kill the robot captain. There are various degrees of difficulty to choose from on this mode, but even on the easy mode, the robots are very good. They have great aim and use the same variety of weapons t hat are available to the players. They can be beat though with enough skill. AI Mode is an unlimited spawn game.

Ghost Mode is a pretty cool, unique mode. It is a variation of Bomb Mode in that one team has to plant a bomb, but that team is a team of ghosts. The ghost team are practically invisible, except for when they are very close, then an opposing player can see a translucent version of them. The ghost players are only allowed to use melee weapons, such as hammers and knives. Ghost mode has its own maps. It is a single life game with the winning team needing 5 victories.

In Mummy mode, the two teams alternate between being Terminator-style robots and various types of mummies. The robots have super high health and ammo, as well as reappearing health and ammo power-ups, whereas the mummies have various powers such as immobilize and drain, depending on what variation the player spawns as, which is random. The robots only get a single life, but it lasts a very long time with the huge HP and the power-ups that appear. The mummies get unlimited spawns.

Mission Against Terror has a lot of different guns and other weapons. Some guns can be purchased, and others are earned by leveling up. During a match, when a player is killed they will drop the gun they are currently carrying. Any other player can pick it up if it has any ammo left in it. There is a definite difference between the guns, either in strength or other features, such as zoom or ammo capacity. Few of the guns are permanent items in your inventory though, as the better guns earned either through leveling up or purchasing expire. In fact, nothing purchased is permanent, and this seems to be MAT's biggest flaw. While guns can be purchased for around $2, they expire after only a week. There are other items available for purchase, like XP boost and defense bonus, but these expire too. Still, the free guns that you get when you start do the job pretty well.

Players get four weapon slots. One slot is for a main weapon, then another is for a pistol, one for a melee weapon, and finally a slot for a grenade.

Mission Against Terror has a few features that are fun and unique. If you make 100 kills in a day, you get awarded with a colored egg. This egg can be exchanged for a spin on the prize wheel, which has about thirty prizes. A few of them are weapons but most are accessories or boosts. All the prizes except for one gun are also temporary. MAT also has a somewhat confusing marriage system, where players can 'marry' each other, and then get a special blue or pink gun. The guns are decent so it might be worth the effort to find a virtual mate in the game. MAT also offers a nightclub room where players can chat, but these are usually empty.

The maps on MAT are varied from port to a street scene, with some maps being symmetrical and others being asymmetrical. Some maps are very small and others are a decent size, but the action is never more than a few seconds away.

One complaint about MAT is the insufficient lack of character creation. There's only a few options, and this can become a problem when enemies look exactly the same as a player's team. Only the red crosshair and lack of a name above them indicates they are the enemy.

The MAT community is small but active. Players will start to recognize regulars who play every day. Hackers are present, but they are the exception and not the rule. Because it usually takes a few shots to kill a player, a lot of players have more of a chance on this game than on others. Intelligent play will beat out gung-ho kamikazis most times. This could appeal to those who usually do poorly in twitch-fest games. There are also clans, but no clan wars as yet. There is even a way to heal, and that is by dancing. Players can buy different dances for when they are healing, and one even lets the player fall down and appear dead.

MAT also supports voice, although few players seem to use it.

All in all, Mission Against Terror is worth the download. Its a free game with decent maps and a nice variety of game types. If you want to be a dominant pro on this game, it could end up costing you quite a bit, with constantly renewing your guns.  Check out the game here: http://mat.subagames.com/Download.aspx .
Score 8/10