By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.NET

PASAY, Philippines — Under absolute secrecy, online game publisher Level Up! snuck into the first person shooter genre and finally introduced its first FPS title, K.O.S.: Secret Operations during its annual Level Up! Live competition.

K.O.S. (Kill On Sight) is developed by Korean firm YNK Interactive, the same company that created Rohan Online, which LU is also publishing in the Philippines.

The game is still in its worldwide beta testing stages, with the Philippines’ beta test period starting in December.

With most online FPS games using their own game engine, K.O.S. uses Valve’s Source Engine, which is most prominently used in the widely popular shooter Counterstrike Source.

K.O.S. is a straight forward shooter with players choosing a one of two teams. The main mission is to beat the competing team in different modes.

There are different character types who are actually of different nationalities (North and South Korean, Russian, Japanese, Taiwanese and American). Each character possess different attributes that allow them to carry specific types of weapons such as sniper rifles, assault rifles, heavy artillery, and pistols.

The characters also have certain skills that improve their performance in the game.

LU CEO Jane Walker said in an interview that the company chose K.O.S. due to its lower computer requirements as well as its proximity to the gameplay and style of Counterstrike, which was once the most popular FPS played in Internet cafes.

Walker said that despite being late in the FPS genre, she is confident that the FPS market in the Philippines is still large enough for a new title.

K.O.S. will compete with existing online FPS titles such as WarRock from Amped, Special Forces from MyGame, and most recently Operation 7 by E-Games.

AFTER successfully launching the country’s first online racing casual game, online game publisher Level Up! is adding a new Filipino-themed map in Crazy Kart.

The “‘Pinas Map” features famous landmarks spread along the track. It includes digitized 3D images of the Fort Santiago Tunnel, the Rizal Monument and the Manila Cathedral.

In one part of the map, a hazy image of an island that looks like the rocky Corregidor Island can be seen. Another part of the track includes a stretch that looks like the road going up Baguio City, which actually leads to the Banawe Rice Terraces.

In a humorous twist, Level Up! developers added some potholes reminiscent of the damaged parts of EDSA. They even added look-alikes of steel sidewalk barricades placed by the Metro Manila Development Authority.

The company had previously incorporated Filipino vehicles as playable units in the game. Among these are the FX taxi, an owner-type jeep and the ubiquitous jeepney. They later added the CK Drift Kart, which is based on a real-life Nissan Cefiro drift car that the company modified as part of their marketing strategy for Crazy Kart.

Another element in the game is the addition of an original Filipino song entitled “Crazy Karter Sweet Lover” performed by Ang Bandang Shirley.

Level Up! Crazy Kart Brand Manager Jeff Paulino said the idea behind the Pinas Map is to create more excitement for Filipino players of Crazy Kart and to package the game as the “pambansang [national] casual racing game.”

He said that since they incorporated “Taglish” as part of the localization of the game, the number of players have increased to over 1 million registered users.

In a month, Crazy Kart has more than 700,000 unique users (or more than 100,000 unique users daily) playing the game, Paulino added.

“The drawing point of the game is both its incorporation of the Filipino language – a first among our games – and the ease of playing it. We’ve had players as young as four and parents enjoy watching their kids play as much as they play themselves.”

Paulino said they are looking to create and release more Filipino-themed maps soon.

Watch this video report:

GAMING publisher Level Up! is launching a new set of online shows as part of their LIVE! The Show online feature.

The Merry LU! Christmas! will air on December 15 to 19. It will highlight Level Up! game masters, prominent members of its gaming community, returning guests from the previously held Level Up!: The Live 2008 Experience.

Level Up! Multimedia Head Joey Alarilla said that the company is also scheduled to hold some online promotions during the Level Up! Christmas! online show, including an early bird promo where the first to post a morning greeting would win 1,000 Level Up! credits. The next five would also win another 500 Level Up! credits.

“We’ll also be announcing new content for the games we publish. This is our way of thanking our community of gamers who have continuously supported us,” Alarilla said.

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — It may sound like the fabled land of the Rohirrim in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Rohan Online, however, is not related to it but it does have the same elements of medieval fantasy.

Rohan Online is the latest massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that game publisher Level Up! Online is introducing in the Philippines.

The game is similar to most hack-and-slash online games and features six character classes, the Humans, Elves, Half Elves, Dhans, Dekans, Dark Elf.

There are also male and female models for each class. Each of the classes have unique roles and attributes, some are close quarter combatants, some are long range fighters, while others are more balanced types.

These character classes also own unique weapons and items. Some can wield two-handed weapons like the Human Knight. The Elf Archer for example can use bows more efficiently than the rest of the characters, while the Dhan Assasins can use stealth weapons to kill enemies quietly.

[Read the rest of this entry »]

Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.NET

MANILA, Philippines — Game publisher Level Up! is pushing its online multimedia experience, starting
with a five-day online video show.

The video channel is part of the Level Up! Liveblog service which begun during the recently held Level Up! Live gaming convention.

This time, the company will provide both reruns of videos taken during the convention and fresh shows, most of which will be shot live and streamed on the Internet.

There will also be scheduled live video streaming featuring prominent personalities among the communities of Level Up! games.

Viewers can also interact with the guests through the liveblogging system.

The project will be called Reliving Live: The Live 2008 Experience and will start on November 10 to 14.

Level Up! Multimedia Head Joey Alarilla told hackenslash that the success of their livestreaming during Level Up! Live prompted the company to start a continuing activity that will entice their players to visit their site.

During the Level Up! Live over 50,000 people from 27 countries viewed their video streaming. They also received over 22,000 comments for their liveblog.

“We want our players to know that there are other stuff we could do and not just playing. We want them to enjoy their gaming experience beyond the games they play,” Alarilla said.