Riot Games’ Marc Merrill talks about League of Legends, a new MMO

League of Legends is a new massively multiplayer online game that hopes to distinguish itself from by offering a persistent world in which players build powerful summoners and then take them into battle arenas to test their mettle.

According to the Web site, some of the game features include:

• Play as dozens of unique Champions with diverse skills and abilities while engaging in fast-paced team-oriented combat.

• Compete in a variety of highly stylized and unique handcrafted battle scenarios.

• Create your own persistent Summoner avatar and customize your appearance through achievements that you earn in game.

• Advance your Summoner in rank and power to gain skills and abilities that give you an edge in battle.

• Join clans and teams to compete with other players in tournaments and organized leagues.

• Assemble Legendary items for your Champion by forging together basic items you obtain on the battlefield. Choose from over 200 uniquely crafted items to augment your Champion's power.

• Robust matchmaking and detailed stat tracking help to ensure balanced games for new players and veterans alike.

• Unlock new content through persistent gameplay and mastering the game.

• Integrated Leaverbuster technology helps ensure people stay for the whole game!

• Participate in the creation of League of Legends through our Suggestion Engine the community will have an unprecedented voice in what new content is created and implemented into the game.

Well, GameZone wanted to know a little more about the game, so we contacted the folks at Riot Games and its president, Marc Merrill, was good enough to spend some time to answer our questions.

Question: Tell us how the players’ suggestions will be implemented into the game and how much of a voice will they have in the direction the game does take?

Marc: We want our players to take an active role in the development of League of Legends and we’re committed to building an infrastructure that supports this. We will be providing players a direct line to our developers when submitting new ideas or feedback on existing elements in our games in the form of our Suggestion Engine. We look forward to releasing additional information about this system in the near future.

We’re committed to building deep relationships with our players and are working to provide channels of communication to support this. We can’t wait to have an active feedback loop with our players, and have already begun hearing and sharing ideas on our forums. Players should definitely come check out what we’re doing at www.leagueoflegends.com.

Tell us about the combat system. Is this turn-based or real time. How do players level up skills?

Marc: The combat system for League of Legends is fast-paced, real-time PvP combat. The player takes the role of a Summoner who calls forth one of many unique Champions to control for a given gameplay session. Champions begin the game at low level with only one skill, but as the player battles during a game session, the Champion will grow in power and gain many additional abilities and items until they are very powerful by the end of the game session. The gameplay combines the best elements of both MMORPG PvP combat and level advancement into short game sessions, which creates a fast-paced gameplay experience where the player is constantly faced with tactical and strategic decisions every moment.

What, exactly, is at stake in this persistent world and what sort of time commitment will players have to invest?

Marc: The persistent elements of League of Legends primarily revolve around the player’s Summoner, which is tied to the player’s account and represents the players’ accomplishments and status in the game. As Summoners play the game and progress in power and influence they gain levels and the ability to unlock a variety of new abilities and other elements that we look forward to discussing when we reveal details about the Summoner system.

As far as time commitment, League of Legends offers the most fun elements of MMORPG games without the need to dedicate hundreds of hours for leveling and gearing. League of Legends is fundamentally a skill-based game and thus players who play most effectively with their teams will be the ones winning the games, not the ones who have grinded through levels and gear to earn tremendous numeric advantages that are impossible to overcome. However, the persistent elements of League of Legends will provide players with growth opportunities, unlocks and customization options that will always give players goals to strive for, without turning the gameplay into a painful level grind.

Tell us about the RPG elements of the game. Do you follow some of the tried-and-true implementation of levels and skills, and how much customization is available?

Marc: League of Legends offers a large number of RPG-like elements, from a rich and compelling fantasy universe to character customization options, numerous items and spell-like abilities on both Champions and Summoners.

The level system for both Champions and Summoners is fairly traditional in that players gain levels which grant them new powers and customization options for how they want to “build” their characters, but we diverge from the “tried-and-true” model in that unlike most RPG games, our players aren’t stuck as one race/class combination for the whole time that they play the game.

At the beginning of every session, players select from an array of highly stylized and differentiated Champions, each with a unique lore, theme and ability. As the champion progresses and grows within that session, players select skill order and items to match the strategic needs of the team. At the end of every session, champions reset and players are awarded experience for their Summoner. As Summoners continue to engage in combat on the Fields of Justice, they gain options to unlock and customize ability, appearance, Champions, and much more.

What was the inspiration for this game?

Marc: A large inspiration for League of Legends came from DotA-Allstars. We wanted to expand on the innovative and fun gameplay mechanics pioneered by Guinsoo in DotA-Allstars, who is now one of the key Game Designers at Riot Games on League of Legends, and bring them to a broader online gaming audience through better matchmaking capabilities, a persistent element, leaverbuster technology, and robust community features. Imagine playing battlegrounds in or arena in WoW and having the option to choose any class and gear before entering the session. We want players to experience the huge diversity of play styles provided by our champions without grinding for months to play them.

What role will guilds play in the game and how will leagues different from the regular play?

Marc: Community is a very important part of League of Legends, and we are focused on developing features that help build community. Since guilds and leagues play an integral part in community development it’s on our radar, but we are not announcing details at this time. We will be announcing more details on guilds and leagues as we approach launch, but suffice it to say that we competitive play is extremely important to us and we want to facilitate it as much as possible.

What do you think sets this title apart from other online games?

Marc: League of Legends possesses a unique moment to moment gameplay experience that isn’t found in any other commercial products and merges it with a highly unique and interesting Summoner system. Additionally, the League of Legends team is committed to forming an incredibly close relationship with the community around the game and is dedicated to continuing to improve the product over time to evolve it in the direction that our players want to see it grow.

The Witcher comes to next-gen console systems and CD Projekt’s Jakub Stylinski explains what that means

“The first thing they’ll see, almost literally, will be a completely redone and visually enhanced user interface”

The Witcher was one of those role-playing PC titles that was a pleasant surprise when it released. Oh, there was little doubt – having seen previews of it – that it would be fun, but the surprise was the depth of the gameplay and the expansiveness of the world.

But that was back in October of 2007. In 2009 the game will be heading for the next-gen consoles, specifically the 360 and PS3. While the storylines are intact, the game engines and combat systems have been rebuilt.

What does that mean for console gamers who have yet to play the game?

GameZone turned to Jakub Stylinski, senior designer at CD Projekt RED, to answers as to what will make the console version unique.

Question: Rise of the White Wolf uses the same storyline from the PC release, but it has been built from the ground up for the next-gen console systems. What is the first thing that players, who may have played the PC version will notice when booting up the console version?

Jakub: The first thing they’ll see, almost literally, will be a completely redone and visually enhanced user interface. The first in-game features we think they’ll notice will be the highly enhanced camera work on the cut scenes, which makes everything look more cinematic. They’ll also see a new tutorial that will feature movies and audio commentary

In addition, we’re revamping the combat system with more mo-capped animations for a wide range of combat actions (parry-riposte, enhanced evasion, contextual actions/attacks, etc.). We’re also enhancing enemy AI – Geralt’s foes will be more aggressive, perform a wide range of offensive and defensive actions, and generally seem smarter and more alive.

Obviously the combat had to be configured to the console controllers, but how has it changed in terms of game mechanics?

Jakub: Combat will be real time and more immersive, as most of the controller buttons will be assigned several context-triggered actions.

The player will have more control over combat and a whole range of options at his or her fingertips. We believe the system will be easily mastered by casual players, but hardcore players will find plenty of challenges when playing at higher difficulty levels.

Speaking of controllers, does the SIXAXIS controller have any motion functionability in the game?

Jakub: Yes, the game will feature SIXAXIS functionality, but that’s about as much as we can say right now.

Has anything been added, content-wise, to the expansive mission system Geralt undertakes?

Jakub: If you mean additional quests, the core game will not contain any beyond what was in the award-winning PC release. We wanted to retain the same deep story that made The Witcher a success, and we’re focusing our efforts on ensuring the rest of the game plays really well on consoles.

This is a mission-driven game that still has such an open-world feel as to make the overall gaming experience quite deep and rewarding. Is this a single-player experience on the consoles, or are there multiplayer elements?

Jakub: Rise of the White Wolf will be strictly a single-player experience.

How does the story of Geralt, in your opinion, differentiate itself from other RPG-style fantasy games?

Jakub: Most RPG-style fantasy games simply stay clear of adult themes and mature social issues like racism, political intrigue and genocide. The Witcher is also much less fairy-tale-like than typical fantasy. It is set in a grim world where nothing is clearly right or wrong, forcing players to explore moral gray areas and often choose between the lesser of two evils to advance. Most missions can be completed in several ways and the game has three different endings depending on the player's actions and choices throughout the adventure. We’re not planning to add any multiplayer functionality, as we’re committed to making the best single-player game possible.

Why do you think Geralt makes for such a compelling lead character in a book?

Jakub: Geralt of Rivia is the most famous and skilled of all witchers, a guild or caste of professional monster slayers. They’re mutated and have murderous tendencies, so they’ve become social outcasts. Most people think they’re no better than the monsters they kill. Geralt’s just a bit different – he’s known to be a bit more… hmmm… human. He lets his emotions cloud his judgment, though not a lush he loves to have a drink from time to time, and when he does, he’ll rarely pass up a pub brawl. He’s also known to be a bit of a womanizer, and it seems that the girls just can’t get enough of that tough demeanor, chiseled physique and long flowing hair.

The original story, from which this was drawn, was more a series of vignettes involving the Witcher, rather than a cohesive tale. How hard was it to cull a consistent storyline from the writing of Andrzej Sapkowski?

Jakub: A complex issue, but here’s a simple answer. Sapkowski essentially provided us with a hero and a rich, singular world. Though difficult, weaving a non-linear tale using that hero in that world proved possible, as the PC release demonstrates. In addition to the short story collection, The Last Wish, that’s been published in English, other parts of the world have already seen a number of additional novels based on Geralt’s adventures … we really have a rich world to work with.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Publisher: RockStar Games

Developer: RockStar North

Category: Action

Release Dates

N Amer - 12/02/2008

Intl - 12/03/2008

Official Game Websit

Also available on:
• Xbox 360
  
• PS3

As far as the PC goes, Grand Theft Auto has always been a franchise to show up fashionably late to the party. Often arriving several months to a year after the console launch, PC releases of the series have been a given from the first entries to the franchise, offering some graphical improvements and new features each time. Now, the most recent entry to the series is making its appearance on the PC.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, chances are you’ve heard something about Grand Theft Auto IV. The first entry to franchise to be featured on current-gen consoles, the game released on 360 and PS3 with deafening fanfare back in April and is now arriving on the PC.

Grand Theft Auto IV on the PC offers the same great single-player campaign as the wildly successful console versions, while offering graphical enhancements and higher resolutions and a host of new features and upgrades to the multiplayer and community elements in the game. You’ll now have the ability to import your own music tracks to a custom radio station, as well as record your own videos and edit clips together through the game’s new video editor and share them with other players via Rockstar’s Social Club community element. While the game has some problems here and there with stability, the core game is a fantastic addition to the series and one that no GTA fan will want to miss.

The storyline in Grand Theft Auto IV follows Nico Bellic, a Russian immigrant who comes to Liberty City at the behest of his cousin Roman. He quickly becomes enveloped in the world of organized crime, working his way up the ranks within Liberty City, making friends and a whole lot of enemies along the way.

The game’s single-player gameplay has been largely unchanged from the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game (check out our reviews for those here). The multiplayer element is also pretty solid, offering up the same great multiplayer mode while upping the player count from 16 to 32 while still performing quite admirably with little lag.

The PC version’s video editor is definitely one of its bigger additions. After creating an account and logging onto Rockstar’s Social Club, you’ll be able to capture videos of your gameplay in order to export them into the game’s video editor utility. Capturing videos of your gameplay is a snap, simply press the F2 after you do something awesome and the last thirty seconds or so of gameplay are recorded and stored into the video editor. After you’ve gotten some cool footage, you can open your cell phone and enter the video editor.

From the video editor, you can edit your clips however you see fit, adding in filters, splicing different videos together, adding in music and so on. Once you’ve edited the clip to your liking, you can then post it onto the Social Club for other members of the community to check out and rate, Youtube-style. This is a great touch for the game, as the open world has always allowed for some crazy stuff to go down, and you’ll definitely be able to catch some great videos on the Social Club.

There are some intrinsic benefits to playing the game on the PC when it comes to controls, namely with aiming and shooting. Using a gun is a lot more intuitive on the PC since you have the keyboard-mouse configuration to work with. For driving, a gamepad usually feels the most comfortable. Fortunately, GTA IV lets you use each control option on the fly, switching between the two without requiring you go through the options menu at all.

While the game offers some pretty impressive new features that PC gamers and fans of GTA will undoubtedly want to check out, there are some pretty serious technical issues with the game that have been making their rounds in the public and on various tech forums. The game has some pretty severe stability issues, performing poorly on machines that meet or exceed the system requirements and even locking up and shutting down when some features, like the Social Club, are turned on. While Rockstar has stated that they are currently working on a patch for the game that will hopefully address these issues, gamers should be aware that the game does have some pretty serious stability problems as it currently stands.

Graphically, the game is a noticeable improvement over the console versions, benefiting from super-high resolutions and improved character models. The whole city looks fantastic and filled with details, and that’s only with a few of the graphical settings set higher; on future machines, this game will drop jaws. Still, the technical issues are tough to overlook and many gamers, regardless of how top of the line their PCs are, will need to scale down the settings a lot in order to get it to run properly.

The sound department is largely unchanged from the console versions, which is a good thing, as it sports some excellent voice acting, great sound effects, and a huge and robust soundtrack. One thing that the PC version has over the consoles is “Independent FM”, a special radio station that allows you to import your own MP3s to a special folder and listen to them within the game. Like an actual radio station, you can opt for DJ banter or simply listen to your music.

Grand Theft Auto IV is a solid port of the beloved title, albeit one with some technical issues that will be rectified with a patch soon. Still, if you’re a PC-only gamer waiting for the chance to take this plunge into Liberty City, the new features will definitely impress.

Review Scoring Details for Grand Theft Auto IV

Gameplay: 9.5
The single-player campaign and storyline has been unchanged from the console versions, which is a good thing. The mouse and keyboard controls are also very intuitive when it comes to handling guns, and the new video editor feature is a blast.

Graphics: 9.0
Graphically, the game looks great, with some nice improvements over the console games. The character models sport some nice detail improvements and the environments come alive in great ways. However, the game requires a lot of tweaking and downscaling in order to run properly, even on high-end systems.

Sound: 9.0
The new Independent FM feature is a great touch, allowing you to put your own spin on the game’s already impressive soundtrack.

Difficulty: Medium

Concept: 8.5
The new features are nice additions, but the PC version’s stability issues are too major to overlook.

Multiplayer: 9.0
Same modes as the console versions, but the PC game increases the player count from 16 to 32, which is a nice touch.

Overall: 9.0
Grand Theft Auto IV is a solid port, adding in some compelling features to reward PC gamers for their patience. However, they’re going to want to sit tight and wait for Rockstar to issue a patch to fix the game’s stability problems.

Spider Man

Publisher: Activision Inc.

Developer: Apsire

Category: Action

Release Dates

N Amer - 10/21/2008

Intl - 10/24/2008

Official Game Website

I don’t know what it is about Spiderman games, but they must be selling because companies keep making them. Is that a bad thing? Well…

This most recent reiteration of Spiderman is entitled “Web of Shadows.” It is (I believe) the first Spiderman game that has no attachments to any comic/movie. It was granted complete narrative freedom. I’m here to say though, that with so much potential under their belts, WoS just really doesn’t hit the mark. It is repetitive, a little frustrating, and in some cases embarrassing in terms of voice acting. That being said, lets dive into the positives first.

Web swinging is awesome. Period. The Spiderman games have always given a fair amount of freedom for city-slinging. You can spend a couple hours easy just goofing off and running along the side of buildings if you wanted, and in some respects, this is the biggest “fun factor” that game was going for it. The animations are well done, the draw distance is decent, and the stringed combos work flawlessly in mid-air gliding.

This brings us the combat system, which earns major advancements from the combo system as well. Parker can pretty much chain together an unlimited amount of strikes as long as it’s not interrupted by a building or enemy attack. This works excellent to a certain degree. The studio has made leaps and bounds as far as mechanics and animation goes from the previous games, but hasn’t mastered the balance of it. There are very few times where it specifically matters which combo you pull off in order to kill an enemy. Almost all attacks work, which really removes the skill of strategy to play a part in the fighting mechanics.

Which brings us to the story. WoS really does a horrible job of making itself really compelling and enthralling to play. Basically the city is contaminated with Venom’s black “ooze from space” and starts to rip itself apart. Spiderman is not immune, and contracts the ooze himself, which gives him even stronger abilities (albeit evil) ones. You will have to make a few moral choices along the way, which - to its credit - affects the gameplay. But it’s too bad they are never super interesting, or even remotely make you care about what your choices were. On top of that, WoS kills what it had going for its replayability with choices by forcing the player to learn specific moves by repeating them over and over. I can’t tell you how many times I aimlessly kicked an enemy to death (a thousand?).

The graphics are decent but not amazing. The NPC’s are super clunky, and the voice acting is horrific. In the end, this game is like having 2 colored pages in a comic book that is totally black and white. There are far too many negatives pulling this game down than the positives keeping it afloat.

Gameplay: 6.5
Starts out with promising depth and game mechanics, but is overwhelmed by monotony and frustration.

Graphics: 7.0
The depth of field and textures are well done, but the characters other than Spiderman are super clunky and awkward. Also has a few weird clipping issues…

Sound: 5.8
Music and sound effects are lacking and I wish there was a worse word to use but abysmal will have to do.

Difficulty: Easy
If you can push buttons repeatedly then you will beat the game. Be aware that “repeatedly” is not to be taken lightly.

Concept: 8.0
As a concept, the game idea is great. It's a Spider-man game with no strings attached to the movies or comics with deeper fighting mechanics than the previous Spider-man games. It's just that the game mechanics and story never live up to it's conceptual potential.

Overall: 6.5
Only go buy this game if you are a die-hard Spiderman fan, or have an unhealthy obsession with bad voice acting…