Plan 8 is a scrapheap shooter MMO from the co-creator of Counter-Strike
Hey kid... d'ya like MMOs?
Stare at the abyss, they say, and the abyss stares back. Stare at Korean publishers Pearl Abyss, and they'll announce a handful of new MMORPGs. The company behind Black Desert Online unveiled no less than four new online games at Korean convention G-Star this morning. While two high-fantasy adventures keep well within their wheelhouse, Pearl Abyss also announced two radically contrasting games: a high energy kid-friendly monster catcher named DokeV and Plan 8, a grim n' bloody shooter from one of the minds behind Counter-Strike.
We've known what's coming since last week, but now we've got some trailers to put to those names. Heading up the day's announcements, Plan 8 is a needlessly capitalised MMO shooter from Counter-Strike co-creator Minh "Gooseman" Le.
Donning rusty metal exosuits, we see our cast of dirty mercs go from skulking about and gunning down robots to full-on flight, wall-running, and bashing robots real hard with a giant metal fist. There's even an octopus lass stabbing the life out of some human foes.
It is, truly, the most profoundly "videogame" thing I've seen in months.
Pearl Abyss claim they're using their experience in MMO design - combined with Le's shooter credentials - to create a "whole new type of shooter". If you remember Tactical Intervention, Le's last attempt to revolutionise the FPS space, you'll understand my hesitation.
Way off on the opposite end of the tonal spectrum we've got DokeV, an online Pokémon 'em up with some seriously cute style. Once again, we've got nothing more than a flashy CG trailer, and I reckon I'm a good decade past the target demographic. It does look well cute, though. If the final thing looks half this sharp, it'll be one to look out for.
Crimson Desert, meanwhile, is exactly the sort of thing I'd expect from the Black Desert Online folks. Makes sense, too, given that Pearl Abyss note it started life as a spin-off for their flagship MMORPG before turning it into its own thing.
The devs have obviously been binging Game Of Thrones on this one, mind. On top of being grim and bloody, everyone's going on about how proud they are to be North'ners. I get it, lads - we've got it good up here - but dinnae go braggin' so much. You'll rile up the Londoners.
Finally, we've got the debut trailer for Black Desert battle royale spin-off Shadow Arena. We've known about this one for a while now and, I'll be honest, at this point in the trailer binge I started getting serious fantasy fatigue. If you're hankering for sword-and-sorcery battlegrounds, though, you can register to sign-up for a closed beta running from November 21st-24th.
Really, it's hard to tell how any of these games will play out. For now, us lot back home are stuck with these flashy trailers. We've got Jay Castello out at G-Star in Korea to take a closer look at the lineup and chat to the developers. Stay tuned for that.