By Jim Rossignol on March 31st, 2009 at 7:21 am.
The voiceover guy for the new Black Prophecy trailer sounds like he’s going to burst out my speakers and recruit me directly into his interstellar crusade. Calm down, mate! The trailer apparently shows combat between the two main factions in the game, as well as the obligatory spooky alien faction at the end: The Restorers. Woo. We’ll hopefully have an interview with the team behind this absurdly pretty space MMO some time next week. In the meantime, go sign up for the beta.
31/03/2009 at 07:26 Tarn says:
That voiceover will surely become a thing of legend. I love how angry he sounded, like he was about to burst into genuine apoplectic rage. Reminded me slightly of Steve Ballmer, now I think about it.
Extremely pretty game…does it follow the WoW template, the Eve template, or is it doing something new and interesting?
31/03/2009 at 07:39 teo says:
My problem with all space games that aren’t EVE is that their ship designs tend to suck. EVE put the bar so damn high that most other spacecraft look like something a kid made
31/03/2009 at 07:50 PacifismFailed says:
BEST VOICE OVER EVER!!!! it had the full awesome movie trailer voice combined with just a hint of local radio, i want this guy to do al my trailers from now on
31/03/2009 at 07:51 schurem says:
Holy Voiceover Batman!
I saw plenty little fighters. Maybe something like jumpgate? Why do these things have to be MMO these days. Whats wrong with making a truly awesome successor to Freespace2?
31/03/2009 at 07:54 Yak Jazz says:
“Destined” now sounds like the weirdest word I know.
Dess tinned. Dez tinny. De stinned.
Ruined.
31/03/2009 at 08:03 Mad Doc MacRae says:
@teo – really? EVE stuff all looks weird…
+1 freespace 2
31/03/2009 at 08:14 Devin says:
EVE stuff looks weird, yes, but it’s also distinctive and unique. Every ship looks different, but is also clearly identifiable by faction and class. (Some of the ships are ugly, but to my eye the only ones that bug me are the ones that have engines that don’t align with the axis of thrust – not off-center engines, those are fine, but ones where all of the engines are on the top half of the ship so it looks like it should be doing a topspin). Good ship design isn’t the same thing as making every ship look generically sexy.
This had three different colors of nubbly delta-space-fighter things, accompanied by similarly colored and only slightly more distinctive big nubbly capital ships. If you like over-gubbined generic space fighters, I guess this is good for you, but I can’t call it good design.
Sadly that trailer tells me nothing about the game. If they promise to have that guy on my vent server as our FC, I’m in. Otherwise, please make trailer that tells me something about, you know, the game rather than just “it has ships, lasers, and DESTINY!”
31/03/2009 at 08:16 Garg says:
WE ARE DESTINED TO SPARTA!!!
Well that’s what I heard.
31/03/2009 at 08:18 Heliocentric says:
I’m one for the mechanically functional homeworld ships. They were built to do a job. Rather than being built to have generic modules plomped in. The ion cannon frigate was a frigging ion cannon with ship wrapped around it. So rarely in sci fi do vehicles look like a designer considered the core function of the vessel.
31/03/2009 at 08:26 Ian says:
He’s an exciteable chap, isn’t he.
31/03/2009 at 08:27 Fire_Storm says:
Such a shame space flight has to be all MMO now-a-days. It’s not like it was when I were a lad…
31/03/2009 at 08:32 DMJ says:
In the future everyone will apparently be angry.
31/03/2009 at 08:38 clive dunn says:
The future is obviously just a bunch of ion-driven toasters zapping larger toasters in a massive WAR OF TOASTERS. Why do these games have all the style of kitchen appliances. True, Eve has some nice stylings and X3 has some nice touches but still not much nicer than a really nice toaster, or sandwich maker for that matter.
I hope the human race never conquers space because it looks like we’ll just fill it with grey crap (shooting sparkly stuff)
btw, sorry, having a cynical morning.
31/03/2009 at 08:40 Simon says:
Who’s this ‘we’ he keeps going on about?
What happened to the ‘you’, the player, in these sort of ads?
If the game had the same tone of the voicework, a Team Fortress 2 take on space combat, I’d be very interested.
31/03/2009 at 08:56 Nick says:
He sounds like Horatio from CSI, I can just imagine him putting on his sunglasses just before the final line of his rant…
31/03/2009 at 08:56 Lack_26 says:
The universe stands, at the threshold of a new error(?)
Well, if you know it’s going to go wrong, at least try to stop it.
31/03/2009 at 09:06 Ian says:
@ Lack_26: A quality control/quality assurance MMO?
31/03/2009 at 09:50 Azhrarn says:
While the voice-overs emotion is quite good, I must say I dislike his accent.
Nice trailer though, but from the looks of it, are the player ships only the smaller fighters? Those were the focus of the trailer, not the massive capital ships. (Which atleast in EVE are player-pilotable.)
Also, did those cap-ships seem a little light in terms of armament to anyone else. Where are the huge energy bolts/beams the shells the size of small buildings. (yes I miss homeworlds/Freespace 2′s beam cannons)
Like the look of those alien ships though, nice design. Bit generic organic technology perhaps, but nice looking none-the-less.
31/03/2009 at 10:07 creiij says:
Man I want him to do all my talking by, and to, me… That would own….
31/03/2009 at 10:18 Aldo says:
I think the voiceover dude must have needed a wee sit down after that one.
31/03/2009 at 11:28 rob says:
I prefer this guy to Mac.
31/03/2009 at 11:34 DK says:
“Nice trailer though, but from the looks of it, are the player ships only the smaller fighters? Those were the focus of the trailer, not the massive capital ships. (Which atleast in EVE are player-pilotable.)”
“Pilotable” in the loosest sense. You don’t really fly ships in EVE – they fly themselves and you just tell them where. That the combat mechanics are dice-roll based, with FX acting as a flashy overlay instead of an actual hit box just makes it worse.
In that regard, EVE is decidedly first-generation MMO. From what I’ve read, this is actually a freespace style dogfighting MMO.
On the ship style, I really don’t know where you get “generic” from. Sleek Planes-in-space is generic sci-fi fighters. Blocky boxes is more of a hard sci fi convention.
31/03/2009 at 11:41 yhancik says:
Oh, “destined”… I thought he was talking about being “distant”.
31/03/2009 at 12:19 El_MUERkO says:
It’s from the makers of Neocron and it looks more like Jumpgate than anything else. I, for one, hope it’s a success, cause it’s bound to mad as a brush if the NC people have anything to do with it :D
31/03/2009 at 12:37 Bobsy says:
“We are destined to fight.”
“No no no. Angrier! Do it again.”
“We are DESTINED to fight!”
“Angrier! Grrr! Fighting! Grrr! Yeah! Again.”
“WE are DESTINED to fight!”
“Unleash your fury, my young voiceover! Only your hatred ca-”
“WE are DESTINED to FIGHT!”
“Excellent! Okay, on to the next l-”
“RAAAAAAAGH!”
“Oh god, Steve’s gone nuts! He’s broken the booth glass! OH MY GOD MY NECK! HE’S GOT MY NECK! STEVE! STOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRGHGLGLGLglrbleflrble…”
*recording ends*
31/03/2009 at 12:56 Azhrarn says:
@DK: “On the ship style, I really don’t know where you get “generic” from. Sleek Planes-in-space is generic sci-fi fighters. Blocky boxes is more of a hard sci fi convention.”
I was referring to the alien vessels you see in the last few seconds of the trailer, not those in the rest of the trailer.
Those, atleast to me, looked fairly generic organic alien to me. Sleek, rounded with odd curves all over the place. Not very distictive. Nice, but nothing special.
As for the EVE ships, yes they more or less fly themselves, but a player is in control of their actions. That’s what I meant. EVE is indeed 1st-gen, it’s 6 years old now, but it’s still the best sci-fi MMO around.
31/03/2009 at 12:57 anduz says:
He kind of sound like the guy from the total war intros.
31/03/2009 at 12:58 schizoslayer says:
I got a distinct William Shatner vibe as he emphasised every other word followed by a huge pause.
31/03/2009 at 13:08 The_B says:
I was a little disappointed, I was expecting the last line to be “WE ARE DESTINED… TO RAWK” followed by a bitchin’ guitar solo.
:(
31/03/2009 at 13:23 Meat Circus says:
SHOUTY MAN IS SHOUTY.
In space.
So this is Planetside in space is it? Could be good.
31/03/2009 at 13:28 Surgeon says:
Evidently he’s from the James T. Kirk school of acting.
31/03/2009 at 13:30 Rolf Soldaat says:
Wow that was terrible.
It sounded as if he was doing a parody or something.
31/03/2009 at 15:12 Rudolfo says:
Captain Picard written all over him
31/03/2009 at 15:41 Sajmn says:
We… are destined… to ROCK!!
For a moment I was absolutely positive he was gonna say that.
31/03/2009 at 15:52 simbo says:
31/03/2009 at 15:54 simbo says:
Damn, can’t edit… meant to say…
“Evidently he’s from the James T. Kirk school of acting.”
Don’t tell me how to act – it sickens me.
Oh bugger, the moment’s gone.
31/03/2009 at 16:37 Kadayi says:
Reakktor is a German company, so I expect the VO is German, that’s probably why it sounds a little hard.
Love to give this a looksee..but sadly no time…
31/03/2009 at 16:43 Klumhru says:
I had to mute the video, I was cringing so hard at the voice-over…
Nice looking, shame it’s an MMO.
31/03/2009 at 16:53 dazed says:
they want my phone #? for the beta? pfft.
worth a spin anyhoo.
31/03/2009 at 17:07 PleasingFungus says:
That was the best voiceover of all time.
But yeah, pity it’s an MMO. I’d like a new Homeworld/Wing Commander/whatever. Single-player-like.
One of these days.
31/03/2009 at 17:12 Duoae says:
Is it just me or does it seem like there are too many games in this particular genre all coming out at around the same time…. i feel like i’ve seen about 5 of these space MMO game trailers in recent months.
31/03/2009 at 17:43 Booyakasha says:
Great, ANOTHER space sim game where you CANT land on planets.
So friggin lame for real. Make a goddamn game where we can actually land and explore planets not just look at them.
31/03/2009 at 18:11 Dante says:
Is it me, or does this look a lot like Homeworld? Well, angry Homeworld anyway.
31/03/2009 at 18:21 army of none says:
Freelancer 2 now please.
31/03/2009 at 18:24 Marty Dodge says:
Big hint of Bab 5 influence there.
31/03/2009 at 18:59 Arca says:
A NEW ERROR is what it sounds like.
Did anyone order a LARGE HAM?
31/03/2009 at 22:14 IanAetch says:
I actually think the ship design was quite – especially those scary ships towards the end. Quite frightful.
31/03/2009 at 22:22 Alex says:
This voiceover is plainly stupido.
01/04/2009 at 00:04 N says:
The voice actor guy was priceless, why the hell are they making it an mmo… damn shame.
If you think Eve has weird ship designs play Xenocracy, it rocked. Even had planetary missions, bitchin’ craft design anyway, uneven, unbalanced, really cool.
01/04/2009 at 02:54 Adventurous Putty says:
He used the words lay waste lol
01/04/2009 at 03:17 JKjoker says:
looks nice, too bad its an mmo
01/04/2009 at 05:24 Elliott says:
Did anyone catch the Wayland Enterprises reference?
“Building better worlds” indeed.
01/04/2009 at 10:41 Kommissar Nicko says:
I swear to you when he said:
“And…in the end…”
I thought he was going to say:
“And…in the game…”
01/04/2009 at 11:02 Biglines says:
@Booyakasha maybe because in order to survive landing on planets a totally different space ship is required than would be optimal for space fighting?
01/04/2009 at 12:40 DK says:
“Great, ANOTHER space sim game where you CANT land on planets.
So friggin lame for real. Make a goddamn game where we can actually land and explore planets not just look at them.”
Infinity and the Star Wraith engine games have smooth space-to-surface transitions.
01/04/2009 at 12:44 Heliocentric says:
Great, ANOTHER space sim game where you CANT orbitally bombard planets. So friggin lame for real. Make a goddamn game where we can actually immolate and destroy planets not just look at them.
whut?
01/04/2009 at 12:58 Hypocee says:
‘Immolation’-worthy ordnance is massy, you know, and a planet’s worth would take up lots of space.
(If this game has magic inertialess spaceship drives and fighters with hundreds of guided missiles, disregard.)
Actually, that could be funny – a space big-shooter/MMO where teams are wrestling to delta-V asteroids into orbits that’ll hit the other folks’ planet. With authentically modeled slide-rules for the Mission Control player class!
01/04/2009 at 13:12 Heliocentric says:
FINE, I’ll settle for BURN. But really, your assumption that immolation worthy warheads will be big is a pretty massive assumption. Any kind of atom cracking event could produce enough energy to continue cracking the matter causing a burst of energy that burns until it runs out of fuel.
Dont impose arbitary limits on someone elses sci fi. ^_^
01/04/2009 at 13:38 Hypocee says:
Well, not really, at least on any vaguely human-habitable planet. Everything below iron has a negative net fission energy or however you want to express it. However, I did fail to think of antimatter – that’ll do the trick – and I was indeed wrong to rule out phlogiston bombs.
01/04/2009 at 14:49 Hmm-hmm. says:
Rockin’. Also, Bobsy, that was hilarious.
Still plenty busy with WAR myself, but if it really does have sim-like flight I may just be interested. EVE was such a disappointment in that aspect.
01/04/2009 at 15:10 Nallen says:
DESTINED TO LEAP OUT OF THE SCREEN AND PUNCH THE SH*T OUT OF YOU RAAAAWR
01/04/2009 at 15:26 Malagate says:
@Nallen, how did you know the tagline of my new interwebs social website, twatter.com?
01/04/2009 at 22:51 Inanimotion says:
Is it bad that I registered for beta before I even knew the premise of the game?
Also scary voice man is scary.
02/04/2009 at 05:53 moeity says:
Does anybody else here long for Independence War 3… IW 1 and 2 were probably the best space sims of all time.
02/04/2009 at 15:00 Hypocee says:
Yup. I love ‘em to death. Awfully dependent on clever scripting, though.
03/04/2009 at 05:32 Booyakasha says:
“Infinity and the Star Wraith engine games have smooth space-to-surface transitions.” I haven’t had the chance to try star wraith but ill give the demo a try if there is one.
As for Infinity… is not out and doesn’t look like it will be out EVER. Ive been following it since 2006 and it they keep saying beta testing “next year”.
Its gonna vaporize itself into vaporware oblivion.
03/04/2009 at 18:40 DK says:
Actually, you should give Evochron Legends a try before Star Wraith – same engine, same developer, newer iteration. And there’s a demo for it.
As for Infinity – they did have a multiplayer combat test client out which was a whole lot of fun.
04/04/2009 at 21:31 gryffinp says:
This man should apply for a voice acting part in the inevitable Dawn of War II expansion.
05/04/2009 at 10:20 mkire says:
if i ever become a politician i want that guy to be my voice-over. i felt like he was going to reach through my headphones and force me to sign up.
21/10/2010 at 13:03 Tom says:
Oh my god, Teo, 98% of Eve’s ships look like piles of junk, and I’m talking caldari, amarr, minmatar and ESPECIALLY gallente which have NOTHING good-looking. Even titans look disgustingly awful except the Amarr one which is practically a mushroom as well.
the only good looking ones are the Rokh, Drake, the Minmatar carriers, Chimera and the rest is total crap. Even that minmatar frigate everyone seems to love looks gross. Besides the HORRID design of the ships, the gameplay is absolutely horrendous. And I’ve been a subscribed member for at least 6 months until i decided it’s gone long enough.
Black prophecy’s ship design, graphics and gameplay are orders of magnitude better than EVE’s.
ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE.
You’ll see that when we can play.