It has been quite some time since anyone heard about X.A.O.C, and it is a pleasant surprise seeing game back in the headlines again. Developed in Taiwan by Winking Entertainment, I was told the name is actually a Russian word meaning “Chaos”.
First revealed way back at E3 2010 (link), the game is now confirmed to be shipping to all the major online gaming regions, including North America, Europe, China and Korea, although the developer stopped short of naming the companies involved.
The latest game X.A.O.C below shows a generous duration of combat and one of the instance dungeons. The combat is a non-target one, but personally, that hovering mouse icon is really an eyesore. Noticed the character carrying 3 different weapons in the 2nd part of the video?
While some games have weapon swapping, the weapons are mysteriously kept in an alternate dimension until being used. This extra touch of showing all the weapons is really welcoming for me.
Talk about a clash of cultures. Despite having a core team of Taiwanese staff, X.A.O.C’s assistant producer actually hails from the Korean gaming industry and the game is also a joint effort between both the Taiwan and Korean studios.
X.A.O.C is not actually not totally Eastern influenced, but there are various elements from the Western cultures as well in outfit and architecture designs. While some folks might see this as a misplaced or confusing sense of game design, it is actually deliberate on the developer’s part to have this fantasy “fusion”.
One of the more interesting features I read about X.A.O.C requires players to be dead. Well, in-game dead, not dead-dead. If you played World of Warcraft, you would have known that players enter a “ghost mode” and will need to run back to their corpse to revive.
The same goes for X.A.O.C, but there will be more special ghostly and demonic NPCs to interact with. You might be given crafting materials only available from this realm (for use in the living realm), but I am looking forward to see if there are special “dead” quests as well.
Unfortunately, there is a limited time for players to stay in this mode. Overshot it, and the ghost guards will be after you. These are boss-class monsters, and it will be near impossible to escape their claws.
But if you do and manage to revive before being “captured”, the equipment in your living realm will be severely damaged. Think of it as a lesser punishment than “spirited away”.
I ain’t sure if the Western players will like this, but the tea drinking function is actually one of the game’s touted features. Pretty much like a crafting/ life skill, players are able to boil tea in a manner close to reality, sitting down, fanning the cooking teapot etc.
Players must control these movements and even observe the weather to boil a good pot of tea. There is a chance for players to consume “bad tea”, which will lead inflict negative status.
Another… hmn, both unique and strange feature is the hot spring spots. A favorite of Asians, especially the Japanese, characters in X.A.O.C are able to locate several hot spring rest areas across the world in towns or out in the wilds. All these hot springs will have different themes and designs.
Players will be able to use these spots to get additional buffs and even socialize with others~ And yes, the hot springs in the wilds act as safe havens as well, with the wild mobs not able to get near them.
Jumping back into the game’s combat system, there are 3 different modes within it. For “Attack”, it is the normal mode for continuous fighting. Choosing the right time after normal attacks, “Break” mode will deal more damage. “Speed” mode is used when breaking up enemy’s skill or spell cast. This system sounds a little similar to Age of Wulin’s, but in a non-target environment.
That is all for now, feels like ages since I typed so much stuff =.=”’ The game is in its final stage of development, and will go for the beta phase at the end of this year. Just a note, the development team did mention that some features such as the ghost realm might be localized for different regions due to… well, religious issues.
