When is Altis Gates going to Release?

When is Altis Gates going to come out? IGG originally promised the game’s release nearly a year ago now. The game was supposed to be a 2D turn based MMORPG which was supposed to play a lot like Myth War 2 Online and Wonderland Online. Too bad the game never made it to release. I’m not ready to completely write the game off yet, as IGG never officially announced that the game would shut down and join the MMO Graveyard. They did announce the game would be delayed indefinitely though, so we could see Altis Gates join the huge list of delayed MMORPGs which may never get released. Come to think of it, IGG has been dropping the ball lately.

The only new game IGG launched lately has been Tales of Fantasy, which is a pretty bleh 3D MMORPG and Tales of Pirates 2, which is basically the same exact game as Tales of Pirates, with minor graphical tweaks. I didn’t really like Tales of Fantasy, because even though it has good graphics, the gameplay just looks and feels bland. It’s a fairly generic Chinese developed MMORPG, which brings nothing new to the table. While IGG has been releasing these substandard games, Perfect World Entertainment has been growing like crazy. They launched the mega successful Battle of the Immortals, a killer fun Diablo 2-esque action MMORPG, and Forsaken World. They also launched a major content update to their enormously popular Jade Dynasty game while announcing the “Genesis” update for Perfect World. They also announced a brand new game – Legend of Martial Arts, which will be entering closed beta testing in late November. So why is IGG dropping the ball so much lately? How come they didn’t have any major new game releases?

Well, I really don’t know. I do think IGG has several really well known and popular MMORPGs though. Games like Godswar Online, Angels Online and Voyage Century for example, are all quite popular. How long Voyage Century will remain popular though is something I can’t quite answer – as Uncharted Waters Online – the new ship based MMORPG from Netmarble is now competing with Voyage Century. Uncharted Waters Online is an incredibly popular Japanese MMORPG. And we all know how crazy some Westeners are for all things Japan. Dynasty Warriors Online from Koei has been midly successful in the West already. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Uncharted Waters Online took away some players from Voyage Century. Many of IGGs games have remained pretty stagnant too. Games like Zu Online and Aurora Blade haven’t really received any major updates in quite some time. Even their browser MMO Lords Online hasn’t gone anyway in some time. While on the topic of IGG dropping the ball, they also never released Dreamland Online, which is another game that seems to be indefinitely delayed.

Ever since I played Atlantica Online from Ndoors and Pet Forest from PlayOMG, I’ve been pretty fascinated with turn based MMORPGs. I’m looking forward to trying Altis Gates if it ever does come out.

2D MMORPGs Are Here to Stay

With the launch of Fists of Fu from Outspark and ever growing playerbase in established 2D MMORPGs like MapleStory and WonderKing I think it’s safe to say that 2D is here to stay. Most newer games nowdays have pretty 3D graphics, but 2D games are still growing incredibly fast – especially the browser based ones. Even though there aren’t too many new client based games, there are new 2D browser based MMORPGs being released regularly. ZOMG from Gaia Interactive for example, is a fast growing 2D MMORPG from the same guys behind Gaia Online. The beauty of zOMG, aside from its name, is that it’s actually a fully fledged game. Not some cheap turn based nonsense. It’s set in a large persistent world, which is pretty rare for browser based MMOs.

Another really awesome new 2D MMORPG is Neverland Online from HiThere. HiThere is a Chinese company most well known for their strategy MMORPG Empire Craft. They also make Age of Ocean though. Neverland Online is a neat turn based MMORPG with 2D graphics that closely resemble that of Zodiac Online and Destiny Online. Two other turn based MMORPGs with anime inspired graphics. I still find it mind boggling that web browsers can support full 2D graphics without any lag. With such awesome technology, I see no reason to download my games, when you can play them on the browser.

I’m sort of looking forward to Altis Gates from IGG, but it was recently delayed “indefinitely”. Luckily, IGG has clarified that “indefinitely” does not mean forever. They still intend on releasing the game, just at a later date. If you’re into turn based games, there’s really no reason not to try it, as graphically, it looks a lot better than Myth War 2 Online and Wonderland Online, two other 2D turn based MMORPGs.

On the fighting MMO front, Netmarble has had some success with Mini Fighter Online – the chibi street fighter style game. I actually really like Mini Fighter Online, as it’s a fun distraction from regular MMORPGs. It’s the only street fighter style MMO. It’s actually pretty competitive, but what’s really neat about it is that it also has an MMORPG component to it. There’s a lobby based PvP area and an actual persistent world. I feel that with everything that’s going on, it’s fair to say that 2D is here to stay.