| GunZ: The Duel | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | MAIET Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | MAIET Entertainment
|
| Engine | Realspace v2.0 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release date(s) | June 2005 (Beta Edition)
|
| Genre(s) | Third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Online multiplayer |
| Media/distribution | Internet download |
| System requirements
Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, 7 |
|
GunZ: The Duel (Korean: 건즈 온라인), also known simply as GunZ, is an online third-person shooting game,[1] created by South Korean-based MAIET Entertainment. It is free to play, with a microtransaction business model for purchasing premium in-game items. The game allows players to perform exaggerated, gravity-defying action moves, including wall running, stunning, tumbling, and blocking bullets with swords, in the style of action movies and anime.
Contents |
In Quest mode, players, in a group of up to 4 members, go through parts of a map for a certain number of stages, which are determined by the quest level. In each stage, players are required to kill masses of creatures, and the game ends when every member of the player team dies or completes all of the stages. Quests can take place in the Prison, Mansion, or Dungeon map.
Players can make the quests tougher and more profitable by using special quest items to increase the quest level that can be bought from the in-game store or obtained during a quest. Quest items in-game are stored in glowing chests randomly placed around the map; certain items may be dropped depending on the monster killed. Players run through these to obtain an item randomly selected from the possibilities of that monster. The items obtained depend on the level of the character and whatever quest items are in use. By sacrificing certain items in combination, players can enter a boss quest. These items are normally obtained through defeated monsters or through the in-game shop. The quest system was designed to reduce the amount of time needed to prepare for boss raids that are typical in many other online games.[1]
A significant and unique part of the gameplay is the movement system. Players can run on walls, perform flips off of them, and do quick mid-air dodges in any direction. Advanced movement and combat techniques are commonly referred to as "K-Style" or Korean style; a variety of techniques fall under this category. These usually exploit the game's animation and weapon switch systems to allow the player to perform another action rapidly after the first. One example is the wall cancel, unlike the normal slow method of running on walls, the player can simply jump, dodge mid-air in the direction of the wall, and upon hitting it slash with their melee sword. This will cause the player to gain height with each successive timed dodge-slash, and it is possible to stay in the air near walls and travel along them indefinitely using this method. One of the most useful of these advanced techniques is called the Slash-shot. By triggering the sword's slash animation and interrupting it by guarding and then instantly switching to a slow-firing weapon such as a shotgun, the player is able to perform both a quick melee attack and a devastating close-range shot with a ranged weapon in rapid succession, and often much faster then the ranged weapon could fire on its own. By equipping 2 shotguns, the player can do this even faster and for longer by alternating the shotgun they switch to. This allows the player to fire the normally slow shotgun at a much faster rate of fire, doing fast and powerful damage on close opponents. A variation of this technique (and possible combination) is the Butterfly, which utilizes a similar animation-cancelling technique to allow the player to quickly dodge left and right in the air and rapidly attack with the sword at close range, while simultaneously guarding against attacks.[2] This is one of the most difficult techniques to master as it requires extremely fast and precise keypresses on the keyboard. Many less experienced players of the game regard some of these techniques as a form of cheating. These techniques have greatly added to the learning curve of the game as new players have great difficulty competing without mastering them. This, in addition to the fact that these techniques are possible as a result of exploiting flaws in the animation system, has resulted in them being controversial but they have become largely accepted as part of the game. The forthcoming sequel to GunZ will reportedly retain some of these K-Style features, though they may be implemented differently.[3]
GunZ's networking system in most parts of the game is peer to peer. Players connect to other players through their client, instead of through a central server.
The closed beta for ijji GunZ ended on November 17, 2006. ijji GunZ subsequently went live on November 29, 2006. The live service included clan wars and quest mode. The premium item shop was opened on January 8, 2007. Quest mode was updated on February 14, 2007. New sounds and voice narrations were added to the game on May 9, 2007.[4]
PC Gamer UK awarded Gunz a 55% review score.[5]
In July 2008, MAIET signed a contract to release the sequel for GunZ, titled GunZ: The Duel 2.[6] In March 2009, MAIET pushed back the date of release from 2009 to 2011, citing "new materials".[7]