Mobile MMOers rejoice! Blackstar is almost here!
We got a chance play a near-beta build of the highly-anticipated new game from Spacetime Studios – the folks behind the Pocket Legends Mobile MMORPG game. I should make a note that the official new title of the game is NOT “Blackstar”, as was previously known, but rather “Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles” as shown in the title of this post. It fits in well with the “Legends” theme of Spacetime games.
What we got to play was fairly brief, but showed that while the basic gameplay mechanics in Star Legends will remain close to Pocket Legends, there are several new features that will be introduced with SL. One of these is the ability to gain loot from boxes (chests) around the levels, rather than just receiving them from boss drops. Another new aspect of Star Legends will be puzzles that involve multiple players to solve. There are also areas that may be inaccessable without certain levels or classes; such as a console that can’t be hacked by a soldier unless they reach a high level, but that an engineer can easily bypass.
On a more technical note, we were told that Pocket Legends account info will be merged with Star Legends, meaning you won’t have to re-register for that game. Also, the paid currency in Pocket Legends, known as “platinum”, will carry over between both games. This means that any platinum you’ve saved up in Pocket Legends will be able to be spent in Star Legends, and vis versa. At the moment, SpaceTime Studios is running a promotion in Pocket Legends that lets you reserve your avatar’s name in Star Legends for 50 platinum, while earning a futuristic SL gun for your character in PL.
Since I already posted a fairly in-depth preview of the game for GDC, I’ll keep things short here, and let the video below speak for itself. There honestly isn’t a ton going on, and some of the actions are hindered by the inevitable lag of playing off of E3 wifi, but hopefully this gives you a taste of some of the sci-fi action that is coming to the series. We’re told that the game should be going into closed beta in about a month (which we will be involved in), and then will hit the App Store towards the end of August. Enjoy!
