During my time at PAX on Sunday, which was the last day of the conference and the day I was to head home, I was to meet with developers Toylogic, who were showing their free to play game Happy Wars. Now, I have to be honest, I had no clue what I was heading into. I was tired, the crowds were finally getting to me, and I really didn’t want to go to this meeting. But alas, I had made the arrangement and I wanted to honour the fact that time was set-aside for me. Well, after my 40 minutes or so of playing and talking, I left with a smile on my face and the realization that Happy Wars is a game that I am fully looking forward to this fall.
To be honest, you have to have an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership to download the game free. They did not indicate what they would do for those who have Silver Memberships, so I guess we will have to wait and see. The game is a 15 vs. 15 online multiplayer game. The premise is simple, navigate the map towards your enemy’s large tower and bring it down. Once you take down your enemy’s large tower, or they take down yours, the losing team is tied onto stakes and “slaughtered” in a comical fashion.
I first had the chance to talk to Yoshiya Nishii, who worked for Toylogic. He was very excited to show me what the game was about. While talking to him I also sat with another fellow, but for the life of me I can’t remember his name and he had forgotten his business cards, so he will be known as “The Nameless Man”. As I sat down to play, I was informed that I would be playing a live online match with the dev-team who was in Japan. It was 5:30 in the AM over there, so a small bit of me felt guilty. That being said, knowing I was going into a live online game was pretty cool.
There are three classes of characters, The Warrior, The Mage, and The Cleric. The Warrior is the brute class and relies on melee attacks. The Mage is more of a ranged specialist who uses magic to attack their foes. Finally, The Cleric is the support class of the group who can heal other players and summon resources for other players to use. The key is to have a nice balance of everything. Of course with my gameplay style I chose the The Warrior.
Heading into the start of the game, each team starts at opposite ends of the map. As you make your way across you will find build points where you and your teammates will construct smaller towers. These towers will allow you to spawn near the action should you meet an untimely demise. As you get closer to your enemy’s base you will start to battle your foes while trying to take down their smaller towers. Once you get to their base you have to knock down the gate to get in and then try to take down their large tower. This task if further hampered by having to fight against those defending their tower.
It took a brief minute of two for me to get my bearings, as having so many people online at once was somewhat confusing at first, but this was brief and the game was quite easy to pick up. I was really amazed with the “pick up and play” feel of Happy Wars. Although the game is simple to play, you’ll find that teamwork is key. I didn’t get a chance to speak with my teammates over a headset, but communication will be key. From planning an all out assault to having your support players heal you or create some resourses for you to make such things as a wall to hide behind or a battering ram to get through an enemy gate.
Something that amazed me as we played, there was NO LAG. Yep, even though we were playing with and against people in Japan, I noticed no lag at all and the game played silky smooth. I sure wish I could have communicated with my team though, as it would have made things that much better.
Visually I thought the game was great. It had a very cartoony look to it, but when you get into battle the environment, enemies, and other scenery are pleasing to the eye. As I was battling I actually told Mr. Nishii and “The Nameless Man” that the game had a very “Castle Crashers” feeling to it, which is a game that I loved and why I felt drawn to Happy Wars as I played. Mr. Nishii told me; through some interpretation of Japanese to English by “The Nameless Man”, that the team behind Happy Wars were big Castle Crashers fans and that they got to meet the team behind Behemoth’s XBLA title. The team from Toylogic was honoured to meet them and he stated that the Castle Crashers team complimented them on Happy Wars, something that made them very happy.
One of my main questions was that if the game was free to download, what was the catch. I mentioned that there had to be a business model of some sort. I was told that microtransactions are going to be the key here, but they are adamant that they don’t believe in a “Pay to Win” formula.
The game works in such a way that those who want to earn their game-cred the old fashioned way will be able to earn Happy Stars, which are in-game currency. These are attained by playing various matches. Once you get enough Happy Stars you can buy different items. These can range from weapons, armour, and even items that are just cosmetic but add some personality to your character. Where the microtransactions come into play is that you buy Happy Tickets, which in turn can buy Happy Card Packs. Here you will get a couple of regular items and one “special” item that is more powerful or has a rare status to it. “The Nameless Man” did state that most, if not all, of the “special” items in the card packs could eventually be earned in game.
Part of the key to managing your player is that weapons, armour, and other items all have weight, and you can only carry so much weight. With that in mind, you cannot wear or carry all the ‘uber’ items that will be in the game as they are too heavy so don’t try to just buy them. It comes down to managing what you are carrying, what you want your character to do, and how much weight your character is able to handle.
There is also a lot of character customization in Happy Wars, something that I was definitely not expecting. You can customize your characters look from their hair, face, eyes, mouth, and even their voice. I got to see the character customization menu and it is pretty simple to use, but you can get a very distinct character from what is available. Add to that the aforementioned weapons, armour, and cosmetic upgrades, and you have the ability to make your character your own.
For those looking for a single player experience, there will be something offered, but they did not get into any detail regarding what to expect. The did tell me though that if you want to get some friends together and practice, or play a cooperative like mode, you can play against that AI and have a specific number of AI fight against you. This is a great idea for those that want to get a group of friends to just play together for fun, and have no need to compete against other human players.
Happy Wars will come with six maps when released but the will offer a regular DLC schedule which will add more maps, and more items, in the future.
Overall I have to say that I am somewhat excited by this game. Sure, it is not a triple “A” title, but it is fun. This is something that I can see groups of people playing for a break in their regular gaming schedule of Role Playing Games, FPS titles, Racing and Sports games this holiday season. It is something that can be played in short bursts while hanging out online with some friends. I also think that those who loved Castle Crashers will find themselves strangely drawn to this title. Overall the visuals and gameplay, plus the deeper then expected character customization, will draw a lot of people to this game. I can honestly say that this is an XBLA title that should be on your radar this holiday season. We here at COG hope to have more coverage as the game’s release become a reality.
