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If you've got the Dota crazies and are stuck by an irresistible urge to play every last one of the games inspired by the classic mod, here's another for you. Tribes: Ascend developer Hi-Rez's Dote 'em up Smite entered open beta yesterday, with the twists of controlling more like a regular third-person action game and boasting a lineup of real, actual, live, living gods and mythological creatures.
If you're looking for a new way to shoot faces this weekend, consider giving free-to-play shooter MMO Firefall a bash in its first proper public beta weekend. It's been running in a closed beta for a while, selling access and 'Founder' membership in tiers starting at $20, but all and sundry are allowed in over the weekend.
We haven't heard much from Blizzard's own entry into the Dota clone arena, Blizzard All-Stars, since the developer settled/lost its trademark dispute with Valve, but fear not, "it's still actively being worked on." That's the word from StarCraft II production director Chris Sigaty, who says it's held up while Blizzard works on bits for its business model. While Blizzard still won't formally confirm it'll be free-to-play, it's looking awfully likely.
Defiance has detailed its special editions and pre-order bonuses, ranging from standard $59.99 editions to a $149.99 "Ultimate" edition.
Stomping a round in a huge mech can be immensely gratifying. But to be honest, if could be even more exhilarating if that mech had a huge mace in one hand and a sword in the other. Right? Well, it appears the Hawken devs at Adhesive Games are thinking along the same lines.
Path of Exile has undergone a long journey towards its final release. On January 23, the action RPG is about to take a big step forward when Grinding Gear Games sends their debut game into open beta.
You're stomping around merrily in MechWarrior Online's new Spider mech, jumpjetting away and running circles around slower mechs, what could be better? Well, double XP wouldn't be bad. As luck would have it, the free-to-play mech 'em up is doubling all XP earned this weekend, jolting players further along their tech trees.
"Gotta win 'em all, poker man!" That's how I'd market a poker game, anyway. But Microsoft, for whatever reason, has instead chosen to buddy up with the World Series of Poker to slap its name on an official poke 'em up for Xbox Live Arcade and Windows 8. Coming this Spring, World Series of Poker: Full House Pro will be free-to-play.
While most MOBAs (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena in full, or DotA Clone for short) have been content with copying the classic Dota design, Ironclad Games has tried to shake things up with Sins of a Dark Age. The Sins of a Solar Empire creator has added then later removed several RTS features, like base-building, and is now toying with dynamic 'Realm Quest' side-objectives.
As will happen with almost any subscription-based MMO that's not World of Warcraft or EVE Online, Bluehole Studio's Tera is switching to a free-to-play model, barely ten months after launch. Come February, anyone who fancies will be able to download and play the fantasy MMORPG for free, though subscriptions of sort will live on in a $15 monthly 'Elite' membership with various perks.
