Strangely, this Huxley footage doesn’t remind me of Unreal Tournament 3 at all, unlike what I formerly perceived. I was also surprised to see that the “MMO element” in Huxley looks exactly like your typical MMO (i.e. walking around in third-person). Perhaps the FPS elements would kick in when you get into missions.

Anybody stoked about Huxley?

Post from: EveryJoe

New Huxley video is released

I always thought Huxley was going to be good because it’s going to be “next-gen,” and it’s an MMOFPS. Never mind that Korea-based Webzen is making it. The developer seems to be taking its time making Huxley, so I guess it’s good, right?

I couldn’t be more wrong.

Based on what I’ve seen, Huxley is an MMO version of Unreal Tournament. Gameplay is mind-numbingly fast, and in this case, boring. We still don’t know how the MMO stuff would work since all we saw are shooting, but if we are going to engage in that activity for a large portion of the game and pay a monthly fee, then it should be engaging at the very least. All I saw was a lot of spastic twitching that hurt my eyes.

Add to the fact that everything looked uninspired and generic, and you’ve got yourself an MMO with hardly anybody playing.

Note to Webzen: just because you licensed Unreal Engine 3, doesn’t mean you should make a game that plays like Unreal, which frankly, is getting rather old. If Epic shared that mindset, there won’t be such a thing as Gears of War.

Post from: EveryJoe

Huxley video shows how gameplay works

The Korean schedule for the second stage of Huxley closed beta testing has just been announced. It will take place from Dec. 13 to 17. Registration for new local testers will begin this month, though gamers who took part in the first closed beta test will be able to participate as well.

For the clueless, Huxley is that gorgeous MMOFPS for the Xbox 360 and PC being developed by Korea-based Webzen. Is it any good? Sadly, I have no idea since I wasn’t part of the closed beta test.

According to the press release, the second close beta test will evaluate Huxley’s FPS elements, as well as the complementary system stability elements.

“We’re highlighting the FPS elements in the first and second closed beta tests, and will roll out the much-anticipated MMO elements in later stages of testing,” said Nam-Ju Kim, Webzen CEO. “I’m confident that this blend of MMO and twitch-action FPS design will have a positive effect on the online gaming market.”

More information about Huxley’s Korean closed beta testing will be available shortly at www.huxley.co.kr. I tried browsing the site myself, but other than the minimum requirements, I was prevented from getting any other significant info because I don’t read Korean. Even Babelfish won’t work because much of the site is in Flash.

The system requirements are pretty much current, but you’ll be surprised by the size of the client.

Minimum System Requirements
CPU – Pentium 4 2.4GHz
RAM – 1GB
Graphics – GeForce 6600
Operating System – Windows XP
Hard Drive Space – 6GB
Direct X – DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Requirements
CPU – Pentium 4 3.0GHz
RAM – 2GB
Graphics – GeForce 7600
Operating System – Windows XP
Hard Drive Space – 6GB
Direct X – DirectX 9.0c

You can see the requirements in the English site anyway.

Post from: EveryJoe

Huxley’s second close beta test is coming this December

Is it just me, or are the shaders used in the game seem rather “current-gen”? The reflections actually look pretty good, but we’ve yet to see everything put together. Are there post-processing effects? What kind of physics does the game have? Is the level of detail used by Huxley possible in Kwari? Are the reflections the only thing that makes the game look updated? Would Kwari look and play great?

There are so many questions. Questions that hopefully get answered when the beta does take place; and when it does, expect me to be there.

Post from: EveryJoe

Kwari’s visuals may end up looking up-to-date

It’s been a while since we last heard about Huxley, that über-pretty MMOFPS from South Korea’s Webzen. The latest hype went as far as E3 2006, and perhaps a few sporadic previews here and there. After poking around, I discovered when it’s supposed to come out.

According to the game’s forums, the game is scheduled to begin its close beta sometime between the tail end of 3Q and 4Q 2007. Huxley’s open beta will fall between 4Q 2007 and 1Q 2008, and its commercial launch would be somewhere before the middle of 1Q 2008 to the beginning of 2Q 2008. Got that?

So what makes Huxley special? Other than its spectacular visuals, we don’t know yet. Perhaps a part of us is hoping that the MMOFPS subgenre gets its marquee equivalent of Mario. No, I don’t want to see an Italian plumber take the lead role of a new MMOFPS—I was hoping for a game that achieves critical and commercial success like Nintendo’s bouncy hero.

One particular thing going for Huxley is its use of the Unreal 3 Engine. That means it’s going to be as pretty as Unreal Tournament 3 or Gears of War in a sci-fi, gun-toting way. Let’s just hope that Webzen doesn’t turn this game into a generic Asian-developed MMO that depends on some form of grind that’s prevalent today. Then again, Huxley is an FPS so it would take a special kind of inanity to pull that off.

Post from: EveryJoe

Huxley’s launch info is revealed