According the designers behind the online multiplayer cooperative game FireFall, Earth in the future is a vibrant world effected by the near destruction of humanity, then a cataclysmic event transforming the landscape. This is the world of FireFall, from Red 5 Studios, one of the many new games previewed at PAX East.
I got a chance to play the game without having to queue in line, because I'm special like that, and to talk with the lead designer. Before I get into that, just seeing games like this make such a huge appearance at a forum such as PAX East is groundbreaking and enthusiastic for the future of online gaming. Why, what do I mean when I say "games like this?" I mean free. FireFall, when it drops later this year online, will be completely free to play and enjoy. It's an interesting business model, and one that has been gaining steam among many game developers.
The business model is simple: Give the game away for free, then soak in the higher distribution and number of players because of it. This pads the hell out of the page view numbers, which entices advertisers. While there will be no in-game advertisements (I asked about that jokingly, asking if the characters will be drinking Mountain Dew) there will be sure to be key ones on the website. In addition, the free game business model also takes in income from selling in-game upgrades that are not needed to advance in the game, just make you cooler. Basically, as stated by lead designer Scott Youngblood, "You can't buy your way to the top of the leader-boards." But you can buy a cooler suit, which plenty of gamers will do. It's the little things.
The game itself is very stylized. At this point in time, there is only one open world game map - a rendition of a ship wrecked coastal portion of Brazil called "New Eden." There are plans for more maps in the future, to encompass larger team game play. While the environment is lush and detailed, the characters themselves take on almost a Manga feel. "We wanted the characters to really pop," says Scott, "we chose the Manga style to give the characters a lot of flexibility with a world audience and to meld with the environments."
On display in the game at this point were three character classes: assault, medic and recon. Each class has its own special skills and weapons. Here's where the cooperative play comes in -- it's not just a team deathmatch free-for-all. If you choose the medic class, your job isn't ruthless killer of the other team, but rather to bring your fellow teammates back to life. There is no instant kill in this game -- when you go down, a counter appears as you bleed out. In this time you can call for help and medic can revive you. It behooves the medic to do this to help notch the win because the opposing team does not get the point for the kill unless you fully bleed out. If the opposing player is close enough though, they can quickly finish you off before a medic can get to you.
The other two classes displayed have their special skills as well, from the speed of movement, to the assortment of abilities on their "battleframes." These battleframes are the armored suits of each character class, each one displaying different skills. For instance, the assault class has a booster that enables a higher jump, then a movement called "crater" in which the landing from said jump can be devastating to an opponent. In addition, you can combine your skills with another player on your team to create even more interesting combos. There are many combination's of team interaction, such as if you are a medic you can follow an assault class character, transferring energy to him to power him up for a short time, giving him unlimited ammo. There are also random power-ups throughout the map, and every interaction gives you experience to level up and class up the battleframe classes.
Team play is very important within the game, as the team only succeeds when it works together utilizing all the classes. For now, there are the three classes displayed, but Scott told me that there will be more on display when they visit PAX Prime in Seattle later this year, in preparation for the official release this winter. Personally, I'm looking forward to the massive army battles that Scott mentioned they are working on setting up. You can find out more about FireFall at Firefallthegame.com
