See this piece of ham? It's about to be lodged down the throat of a dirty Kobold that's squirming around on the ground in front of me. I could just use my sword or a spear but the sight of a giant thighbone smacking a Kobold is just so much more satisfying than pinning it up against a wall or slashing it apart. This is just one reason why I'm having fun playing in the beta of the free-to-play MMO, Vindictus .
Giveaway : Tell us in the comments what food, decorations, or random debris in a dungeon that you want to kill kobolds with and why. 50 winners will receive open beta keys for Vindictus. Winners will be selected tomorrow (September 30). Only residents in North America (see 'Contest rules' below) are eligible for this contest.
Contest rules
- Activate your keys at: http://vindictus.nexon.net/Key/AccessInfo.aspx
- Keys are only valid for the open beta period and will expire Ocotober 6th, 2010.
- The servers are located in the United States, one on the West coast, and one on the East coast and only IPs from North America will be able to connect. Sorry, Europe, you'll have to wait until the European beta is ready in a few months.
I've been playing Vindictus for the past week and been having a blast. The game feels more like an single-player role playing game that has co-op instead of a large MMO. You won't find large monumental cities or hundreds of people gathering around in an auction house. All quests are instanced with the party leader hosting for up to three other members as they quest through a dungeon.
Instead of the chat box filled with people looking for groups or people declaring their classes and levels, players just go to the dock and look at a sign post showing which groups are available to join, the difficulty, and the quests or any bonus missions attached to it.
What grabbed my interest in the game is the absurd and crazy interactions that adds a little bit of humor to the atmosphere. There are pigs who run the auction board, dogs running and barking everywhere, and the shopkeepers are cats and owls!
In one mission, my party and I were tasked with defeating a kobold in an ice cave. It sounds like a boring mission at first, but what makes this mission memorable is that he must be killed using an object found in the cave in order to get bonus points at the end of the dungeon. What object did I choose to use? A thighbone from a rotting carcass in the cave. It wasn't my only option, but I think you'll agree after looking at the screenshot below that it was the best option.
The kobold's tough, though, and I can't go it alone, so it's a good thing I have three other party members to help me gang up on him. One member hooks the kobold's legs with chains which causes it to flop onto the ground, flailing its arms around in an attempt to escape, as we move in to cobble him to death.
Every time your party kills a boss in the dungeons, the game goes into a slow motion mode. The hud is removed and you get to watch as the now dead boss flops around from different angles--which can lead to some unintentionally hilarious moments when the body soars across the room.
There's even a little preparation area before you start the dungeons aboard a ship. You can practice your combo moves here, practice tossing fruits, barrels, and large dice around. There's even a little wood target practice duck that quacks every time you hit it.
Give Vindictus a try. If you get a beta key, once you sign up, you'll also receive two more beta keys that you can give to your friends. Your friends will also receive two keys of their own when the keys are activated. It's a giant pyramid of keys being given away!
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