So here's a question: What would you think of an MMO that combines the features of modern-day MMO's with components from titles like: Wing Commander, Freelancer and Tie-fighter? Sound good? We sure as hell think so! And it just so happens Gamigo's newest flag-spaceship title (pun intended) "Black Prophecy" seems to deliver all of the above.
During the GDC in San Francisco, we met with Gamigo's PR-manager Dennis Hartmann. Dennis gave us an exclusive first-look at the English version of this new title and from what we've seen in the 30 minute rundown, we can already say this game is VERY promising.With game mechanics similar to classics like Wing Commander (and more recently the Freelancer titles), Black Prophecy Gold promises to deliver a vast explorative environment against a story driven backdrop.
You start out by playing through a an extensive, 6 hour prologue that also acts as a tutorial. By the time you finish that, you'll be fully familiar with most of the games core mechanics and are ready to set off on your own adventures.
MMOs in an outerspace setting are nothing new. EVE online has been around for quite some time and has proven very successful. But where Eve’s space battle can be somewhat static at times, Black Prophecy Gold focuses more on all out dogfights and therefor plays more like an intense shooter. Keep in mind that shooting is the core component of Black Prophecy, so if you are looking to do some heavy trading during your space travels, you'll be disappointed, because there is no trading system in place at the time of writing
Black Prophecy’s control scheme is very similar to those from Wing Commander and Freelancer You basically use your mouse to steer your spacecraft and control its to aim at targets. Gamigo already announced that there will be compatibility for gamepads in the near future.
Players are offered three different camera angles: a 3rd person view and both an in-cockpit and fully 1st person view. Our preference went to this last one, but seeing your space ship, while tied-up in a battle is still very thrilling (mainly due to some excellent graphics, but more on this later)
