GDC 2009: CrimeCraft Impressions
SAN FRANCISCO--Vogster's CrimeCraft is one of many online games onhand at GDC 2009. The game takes place in a virtual gangland in which you and your posse of fellow gangsters (who can be outfitted in the same outfits to simulate actual gang colors) compete to control contested turf in brief...
SAN FRANCISCO--Vogster's CrimeCraft is one of many online games onhand at GDC 2009. The game takes place in a virtual gangland in which you and your posse of fellow gangsters (who can be outfitted in the same outfits to simulate actual gang colors) compete to control contested turf in brief team-based first-person shooter battles. Since the setting is contemporary, you'll primarily be using conventional firearms like assault rifles, shotguns, and pistols, though you'll also be able to equip your character with handful of miscellaneous "abilities" (about 40 abilities are planned for launch) that may include things like tossing Molotov cocktails and using first aid kits.
You and your gang buddies will shoot up other gangs and take performance-enhancing drugs in CrimeCraft.
CrimeCraft runs on the Unreal engine. Matches are fast and brutal, and dying happens often, but since you can respawn a few seconds later, it's more of an inconvenience than anything else. The game's play modes include free-for-all deathmatch, team deathmatch, and a control-point mode that requires you to capture and hold various key points on the map. Competitive players will want to play in the game's regular tournaments, which will list rankings for various gangs on Web site leaderboards. Successful player-versus-player champions may even be rewarded with exclusive in-game items.
For those who want to take a break from the action, you'll be able to use a crafting system that lets you create various types of clothing, weapons and weapon modifications (such as gunsights, gunbarrels, and triggers), and even performance-enhancing drugs, so that you can become a virtual drug dealer if you care to. You'll also be able to use player housing, or "cribs," which higher-level gangs can outfit with amenities like crafting stations and a pawnbroker shop--also known as the game's auction house system. However, all these features, along with the beta version's newly implemented matchmaking system (which will let you send and accept invites to instantly join matches), will feed into the game's first-person shooter gameplay and empower players to jump into the action immediately without having to traverse the world.
It should be noted that CrimeCraft is not going to be a free-to-play game, but will instead carry a subscription fee. It's scheduled to launch later this year.
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