Dino Storm - Holy Sh!T! This is Awesome!
There wasn’t a lot to see on Dino Storm as they had just recently prototyped it on a weekend. The idea came from an image from the Dino Riders cartoon show from the 80’s as mentioned (image below).
Dino Storm will be similar to the other Splitscreen Studios’ games in that it will be playable in a browser or as a small stand alone download.
Dino Storm will see you taking on the role of a dinosaur-riding cowboy in a mix of wild west and prehistoric sci-fi. The whole game came from their seeing that image and then, over some beer and pizza we’re told, they started fleshing out the main game concept.
While the main focus of the game is dinosaurs, laser and cowboys you will mostly work cooperatively with other players. Dino Storm will open with all PvE in squads up to four players who will be assigned various missions. There will also be periodic events that see everyone working to achieve a specific goal before the big boss shows up and then everyone who completed at least one mission during the event is able to go into the boss battle.
The game will also feature dinosaur customization and evolution to go from a small, young dinosaur to a large, old dinosaur. Of course it’s logical that other things will increase as well including armor, hit points, speed and power. You can also paint your dinosaurs, because they just wouldn’t be all that much fun if they were all green and gray.
There will be a wild west city that will have multiple other things to do like hang out and play cards and gamble in the casino, head to the saloon and socialize, etc. It’s really taking the place of a menu. At first they say when you enter a building it will pull up a menu but over time they want to allow players to explore the buildings and interact more with them and with other players.
I can see all sorts of things happening like...dinosaur rodeo anyone? I tried to drop the hint that four-person dino-herding would be a cool activity a la City Slickers, but we’ll see how that suggestion goes.
Again Dino Storm will be more action-based, similar to Steel Legions, where you ride your dinosaur around knocking out bad guys and getting rewards, attacking other structures owned by villains and such.
You’ll be able to also have multiple dinosaurs with multiple loadouts. So, like many other party-based MMO games you can have a tank, healer, ranged attack specialist, etc. Not only will the game be action but also strategy.
There wasn’t much to see but what I did see was quite cool and I think that over time this might be the game I go to for some regular entertainment.
Another thing that is present in all of the Splitscreen Studios games is a shop. However, unlike other MMO cash shops, their shop will only have time-saving items. Anything that affects power, performance, speed, etc on a more permanent basis needs to be achieved by playing the game. Even now in Steel Legions, still in closed beta, in order to level up you need to win missions. You can’t just, as Mark said, run around killing Marauders and suddenly be the most powerful player in the game.
Stay tuned to Gamers Daily News as we continue our coverage of Splitscreen Studios’ progress on Steel Legions and Dino Storm. They both look extremely promising. I should have a hands on preview of Steel Legions coming next week as I have immersed myself into the closed beta already.
Be sure to check out all of Splitscreen Studios’ games here at GDN: Pirate Galaxy, Steel Legion and Dino Storm for screen shots, videos and more as they become available. Plus, play Pirate Galaxy now.
Also, don’t forget to drop a comment for a chance at a Steel Legions closed beta key.
166 days ago
