MPG-Net, GameStorm, Simutronics: Three from the online wars
Multiplayer meets multipayer in the online marketplace
by Robert Mayer 04/10/1998
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The Games MPG-Net is best known for its Kingdoms of Drakkar RPG, but the most numerous games are its board-game conversions. Based on games that were in their prime in the 1980s, these offerings have held up fairly well, partially because they remain simple, but not simplistic, and entertaining despite their age. Drakkar is one of the oldest and arguably most successful online RPGs ever created. The centerpiece for MPG-Net since its inception, Drakkar remains a popular online attraction, even if it is showing its age. "We view [Drakkar] as our flagship, and that's what we will continue to focus on," says Hettinger. Straight-forward in its approach, it's an overhead-perspective, statistics-based game that emphasizes decision making over fast reaction times. Graphically, the current version is dated; the game screens have a vaguely cartoon-y look to them and the game world is composed largely of right angles. On the other hand, there's lots to do, many places to go, and a fair number of folks to help you out along the way. Player killing is strictly forbidden, and the game supports forming parties and distributing experience and skill increases to each member based on their contribution to the group. Dated graphics aside, everything is crisply and cleanly presented, and though the interface can get a bit quirky, there's little to hamper having fun. There are several "scenarios" or expansions to the basic world of Drakkar, adding such things as high-level dungeons and mysterious islands to explore. Getting started can be a chore, as in most games of this sort, but there is the School of Nork, a mini-tutorial that all newly created characters pass through, which teaches the basics of adventuring. The game world is fairly large, and MPG-Net certainly pays attention to it. Scenario Designer Nikolai Soderstrom acknowledges that MPG-Net is lagging a bit behind in the graphics department, but holds out high hopes for the future. The centerpiece of those hopes will be Drakkar II, a partial revamping of the original Drakkar with a focus on updated graphics. "A lot of the improvements right now I think in the online industry," says Soderstrom, "have been in graphics, and that's something that we're working on with Drakkar II." Though a full-scale sequel isn't scheduled until 1999, when Drakkar III should make its debut, MPG-Net hopes the high-color, more refined graphics of Drakkar II will keep gamers happy in the meantime. Whether all this will appeal to hardened RPG fans is another story. It doesn't have the pizzazz of Ultima Online, much less the glamour of the 3D RPGs now in development. Its interface is something of a cross between a PC game and an old MUD, with icons and mouse-clicks standing in for most typed commands but with enough command-line inputs to irritate the keyboard challenged. On its own, it's hard to see how Drakkar could justify a $10 monthly fee, but as part of the network it makes a fine centerpiece. Multiplayer RPGs are perennially popular, and there are usually plenty of adventurers in Drakkar as well. You can try out Drakkar via Web-Drakkar, a web-based free demo of a few levels of the game, at www.mpgn.com. After Drakkar, though, MPG-Net's offerings are much less robust, though often interesting. Leaving aside the now-obligatory Quake and Quake II facilitation, what's left is conventional boardgame conversions. The network hosts several conversions of well established (read: old) boardgames, which are generally quite well done, but which also exhibit a degree of quirkiness. Each mimics closely its table-top ancestor, though MPG-Net's Tantalus programmers have generally managed to make these games look better than their progenitors. Make no mistake, though; these are board games played on the computer, complete with rigid sequences of play, virtual cardboard counters, and tried and true turn-based game systems. They also share a requirement for at least two players; solitary gamers can actually play some of the games solo, but it's a losing proposition. These are multiplayer games in the traditional sense, rather than being games multiple players can join at will; MPG-Net is built on community, and that means getting a group together to play. Market-Garden is Tantalus and MPG-Net's adaptation of a Games Designer Workshop boardgame covering the Allied airborne assault into Holland in 1944. A strictly two-player game, Market-Garden looks very attractive, more so than the rather drab original game, and makes good use of the electronic medium to present information. On the down side, the game runs only in a 640 by 480 view, though various informational windows can occupy the unused real estate on larger monitors. It's also very mechanistic, in keeping with the boardgame paradigm, and the interface isn't entirely intuitive even for veteran wargamers. Still, it's about the only place online where one can play a traditional wargame, and unlike the old 360 Pacific/Atomic V for Victory Market-Garden game, this one actually lets you drop your own paratroops where you want to. It isn't going to push Microsoft's Close Combat off the map, but Market-Garden is something that should appeal to mainstream wargamers. In a similar vein, MPG-Net offers a conversion of another GDW game, Imperium. A space-opera science-fiction strategy game, Imperium pits the Terrans against the Imperium in a battle for galactic supremacy. Or at least it's supposed to; in several tries, we were unable to get the game to load. For that matter, Market-Garden crashed repeatedly as well; while we assume this isn't normal (after all, these games have been around for a very long time), it was disconcerting to say the least. Also on the table are Minion Hunter, a game based on the Dark Conspiracy fictional setting; it sends players on X-File-like missions to battle the forces of darkness in modern America. The game is a combination of board and card play, and while a bit hokey looking can be good fun. Empire Builder is a conversion of the Mayfair train game classic, while Junta brings a great card game (with an irreverent sense of humor and marginal political correctness) to the party. And of course, there're the usual suspects: chess, checkers, backgammon, Wari, tic tac toe. As far as new games go, MPG has several in planning. Hettinger is quite pleased with the prospects for three of them, in particular. "We're coming out with Drakkar II this Spring," he says, "and that's going to be 24-bit, 3D rendered, the whole deal. It's going to be overhead like Ultima, but it's going to have a lot more game depth." Also on the agenda are Search and Destroy, a round-based X-COM style squad-level combat game, and Dragon Gard, a high-tech 3D fantasy RPG. All of these are supposed to sport hi-color or true-color graphics, and make a lot more use of 3D and Windows-standard interfaces. Closer to reality, perhaps, is FiefQuest, a strategic medieval empire-building game. Still in beta, it's a legacy of work done by the now-defunct Dreamers Guild (of Faery Tale Adventure I & II fame); players take the roles of knights attempting to expand their fiefs and forge a kingdom. Available for play now, parts of the game (such as tactical combat) are running but not finished; still, it's a great chance to have input into the game and maybe have some fun in the process. Conclusion MPG-Net isn't the flashiest service out there. Far from it. Its focus is very down-to-earth, value-oriented, and conventional. And it's business approach seems to be to let the sharks fight the barracudas, while it feeds off the scraps. Not terribly elegant, perhaps, but just possibly viable. Playing on MPG-Net is very different from playing anywhere else. That's not a bad thing, necessarily; the service is small, more closely knit, and staffed by conscientious and dedicated people from all appearances. Friends made online here will be easier to find, and more likely to remember you, perhaps, than on a mega-service like GameStorm. Then again, MPG-Net can't offer the breadth of games that its competitor does, nor can it match (yet) the technical sophistication and presentation of GameStorm's look and feel. Whether the money necessary to float the larger service will pan out, though, is an open question. MPG-Net might actually have a better chance in the long run of making a profit than Kesmai's big gamble, though only time will tell. Next Previous

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©1998 Strategy Plus, Inc.