GamesCampus MMO Publisher is Growing Fast!

GamesCampus – the free to play MMO publisher which launched back in 2006 with one MMO (Shot Online) has been growing rapidly over the years. They now publish at least half a dozen games with plans to launch numerous new games in the future. I’ve written about other MMORPG publishers in the past, but I wanted to talk about GamesCampus today because they recently announced that they would be publishing Drift City in North America. Yep – you heard me correctly. GamesCampus will be publishing Drift City soon. After October 28 to be precise. So what’s going to have to the ijji version of the game? It’s going to shut down. Don’t worry though – players can transfer their characters to the GamesCampus version after the game closes its doors. Unfortunately cash shop items bought on the ijji version and Gcoins acquired will not be transferable. Players can spend their Gcoins on some other MMORPGs that ijji publishes though like HolyBeast Online, Rohan Online, Genesis A.D, Lunia, Luminary: Rise of the Goonzu, and numerous other titles.

Besides Drift City, GamesCampus launched a new anime MMORPG into closed beta this week – Legend of Edda. The game actually entered into closed beta on September 30, 2010 and is a cute MMORPG with chibi style graphics. After playing the game for a while I was surprised to learn that Legend of Edda is actually a PvP intensive game. The game features large scale faction battles like Aika Online from gPotato and Fantasy Earth Zero from GamePot USA. On a side note I think gPotato has been doing really swell lately too. They continue to update their older games like Rappelz and Fly For Fun. Even Tales Runner remains updated too. Too bad FreeJack launched recently, it’ll be competing with Tales Runner, as it’s the only other parkour style foot racing MMO. GamesCampus is also working on launching a tank themed MMO called Tank Ace, which will compete with World of Tanks. Too bad there’s no definitive release on Tank Ace, as the game looks neat. I thought World of Tanks was neat, but the game was super annoying, as higher level players and tanks 1 shotted lower level tanks. It’s realistic and all, but bleh. It played too much like NavyField.

Over the last few months GamesCampus also launched two games into full release. Soul Master being the more interesting one and Heroes in the Sky being the other. I like Soul Master because it’s a unique with strategy elements. It plays like Dragonica Online from Gravity Interactive, except with some unique strategy aspects. Heroes in the Sky is cool too because it’s one of the only dog fighting MMOs – except for perhaps Ace Online from Suba Games. The game is also set during World War 2 and has plenty of real life airplanes in it. So World War 2 buffs or airplane aficionados will find something to love in the game.

Soul Master is an Interesting MMORPG

Yeah, I’m dedicating this entire post to an MMORPG called Soul Master from GamesCampus. Why you ask? Simple. It’s one of the most creative / original free to play MMORPGs I’ve ever played. It’s in closed beta as I write this, but I’m very impressed by it. It’s a unique mix between an Action MMORPG, a strategy MMORPG and Pikmin. It may sound a bit weird, but it all works together really nicely. Progression is a bit linear, much like Lunia from ijji and Fists of Fu from Outspark, The progression is actually EXACTLY like Fists of Fu / Dragonica Online, as players need to complete a stage before being able to advance to another one. Come to think of it, it’s just like Dungeon Fighter Online as well. Each level can be played in numerous different difficulty settings. The toughest a level, the more rewarding it is.

I also like the graphics in Soul Master too. They’re anime inspired and bright. I don’t know why, but I have a thing for brightly themed games. I guess it’s why I enjoyed Bright Shadow from GamePot USA and Cloud Nine from Netgame. I also tend to like anime MMORPGs for some reason. It’s weird, because I don’t even watch anime in real life. The fast paced gameplay in Soul Master is actually a lot of fun too. They actually a lot like GhostX from GameKiss, as players can rack up combos with each attack. Come to think of it, I’ve grown very fond of action games lately. I guess the slow paced combat systems in other MMORPGs bores me after playing so many action MMORPGs lately.

Even though Soul Master is in closed beta, I recommend MMORPG Players give the game a try. Even though it’s yet another 3D MMORPG set in a fantasy setting, it’s quite original. You actually have to micro-manage your individual units as well as your character to do well. It’s the only game that mixes action MMORPG elements with strategy. The PvP is really neat too, because it takes an enormous amount of skill. PvP MMORPGs like Aika Online are fun too, but they don’t take a lot of skill. It usually comes down to whoever has the best gear wins, but in Soul Master that isn’t always the case. Sure, better gear helps, but whoever micro-manages better ends up winning. If you already have an Asda Story account, you can use that to log in to Soul Master, as it’s by the same publisher. Anyway, props to the developers behind the game for making something unique.