Thursday, February 14, 2013

RoNews: R.I.P Erik Cassel, RoGalaxy added to Roblox Wiki

   A few days earlier, after 3 years of battling cancer, Erik Cassel died. The co-founder of Roblox, many posts have been made to acknowledge him. Both by the players, and the Roblox staff. Without this great man, none of this would exist. Not Roblox, not this blog, nothing. I first found out he died on the forums, where I also saw a post from Keith, a moderator, confirming this. Soon after, the admins released this blog post: http://blog.roblox.com/2013/02/in-memory-of-erik-cassel/. Erik will live on forever in Roblox, and hopefully the newer players will know his name for years to come. I applaud you, Mr. Cassel. I truely do.



Friday, February 8, 2013

Game Review: Call of Robloxia 5 - Roblox At War

   Call of Robloxia is a first person shooter created by  litozinnamon back in 2009. Although it's as old as Base Wars, it has adapted to the Roblox throughout the years and in my opinion is one of Roblox's sleekest FPS games out there. Let's get straight to the review.


   Combat & Weapons: Naturally, this game has a huge focus on combat and weapons. I love the combat in this game, because the weapons are varied and their's a lot more you can do, including using ammo drops, tomahawks, etc. But what really sets this apart from other games is that all of the weapons are free. This feature really appeals to me because it cuts down on the amount of people going. "Unfair, you had an overpowered weapon noob!" You can immediately be a contender in the battle, and it's about playing your cards right and using skill, not grinding for xp. There are many different types of weapons, ranging from shotguns to snipers to dual pistols. There are even grenades to flush out the enemies. I could go on forever about how many weapons there are, but I'm going to cut it short, and summarize with. Lots of weapons, lots of ways to get rid of the enemy and a lot of fun. I legitimately can't find anything to complain about, (Although I might when I lose) so I'm going to give the combat a slightly generous 10/10.

   The Terrain: This game features multiple maps, each with their ups and downs. At the start of each round, players get to vote on one out of four maps, although four is only a portion of the amount of maps. Each map gives you a chance to adapt, change your weapons, and master it. Some you may need a sniper, some a machine gun. Each is c-framed and well made. The terrain gets a 8/10.

   Updates: This game is frequently updated, and although the updates are usually little ones the game has progressed a lot. Like Gusmanak, lito incorporates a change log into the description which can be viewed here: http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=88384044. Although there are a lot of subtle updates, there are some big ones that keep the game engaging like the prestige system. (The prestige system would be better, but all it's good for is slight satisfaction.) The creator definitely puts a lot of effort into maintaining the game, and the community has responded well with him having 16 million views at the moment. For all these reasons, I give the updates a 8/10.

   Game Mechanics: In a game like this, game mechanics can mean a lot of things. Rather than narrow that down to this and that I'm going to be broad about it. To begin with the controls are good, you have all your basic controls for crouching, scoping, etc. and then some. The game runs smoothly most of the time, with the biggest annoyances I have with the game itself being the menu screen staying up to long, or not saving my classes. Even so, the menus are easy to access and customize, the controls are smooth (but the kid who loses multiple times will say otherwise) and there's a lot you can do with the game. I give the game mechanics a 7/10.

   Overall Fun: This game can provide a lot of fun for a medium period of time. It is better with friends and players who can chat, because although breezing through the newer players like there's no tomorrow is fun, it does get kind of boring. There are no different modes so storming through maps can get repetitive and it's not the kind of game you spend hours on. Still, if you're faced with a good challenge, into that type of game, and have some skill at it it will provide fluid gameplay (for a Roblox game) and a lot of good time. I enjoy it, although not for too long so I give the overall fun a 7/10.

   Final Score: This game has few faults, it's biggest drawback being the repetitive gameplay that could easily be countered by adding a few modes. Still, there are a bunch of different maps, a good arsenal, and it's an enjoyable game. The final score for this game is an 8/10.