Punch, Kick, Kick, Punch – Iron Phoenix Takes Online Fighting Games to the Next Level

by Louis Bedigian

 

“We're really excited about getting it out to people and we'll find as many outlets as possible.”

 

 

At GameZone Online, we pride ourselves on being highly perceptive, pointing out the tiniest of details.

 

“Louis, you look terrible!”

 

Our reviewers check and re-check the facts.  Then state them as clearly as possible.

 

“What the heck happened to you?  You look like you got ran over by a garbage truck!”

 

“I was going to say a bus, but I guess it could’ve been a garbage truck.”

 

When I came back from the Kung-fu Clinic in Japan, I was ready for anything.  My colleagues, sharp-eyed as ever, were quick to note my aesthetic flaws and structure inconsistencies.

 

“Your fingers aren’t properly aligned.  I give them a 5 out of 10.”

 

Finally I had had enough.  I know we’re critics.  It’s our job to praise excellence and criticize excrement, but I was in pain.  The Japanese Warrior trained me for seven days straight, allowing for only three hours of sleep each night.

 

“Louis, where have you been this past week?” my publisher asked, happy to see that I had returned.  “I got a memo about some Kung-fu Clinic Sammy invited you to.  They said it’s a conference call or something.”

 

“Conference call?” I responded, completely baffled.  Then it hits me.

 

Sammy, a major worldwide developer of video games, had invited me to an important conference call regarding Iron Phoenix, their Xbox Live 3.0-enabled fighting game.

 

 

This game just keeps looking better and better. 

 

 

Sanny Washishushu, a master warrior and world dominator aspirer, runs a Kung-fu Clinic in Japan for wannabe warriors.  Somehow or other I thought that’s what Sammy was inviting me to, and the next thing I knew I was breaking bones.  Not the bones of other people, but my own.

 

Thankfully I made it back in time to attend the real Kung-fu Clinic.  I may feel like I’m paralyzed from the neck down, but at least Iron Phoenix gives me hope for the future.

 

Big Projections

 

Iron Phoenix is getting lots of big updates these days.  Since the last Kung-fu Clinic Sammy has added three new projectile darts, each offering a different damage effect.

 

• Poison Dart: Deplete your opponent’s health by firing these at your enemy.  Fighters hit by poison darts will slowly lose their energy.

• Stun Dart: Reduce your opponent’s mobility by hitting him or her with a Stun Dart.

• Damage Dart: Deals basic damage.

• Up to 20 darts can be stored in your inventory at one time.

 

Additional darts might be added.  Sammy is currently experimenting with other ideas, so you might hear about more projectile attacks in the next Kung-fu Clinic.

 

Chi Theta Kappa

 

Iron Phoenix brings you together with your inner energy: Chi.  Chi is a masterful ball of energy that surrounds your character.  It allows you to perform special attacks like Team Kills.  It also increases the power of your projectiles.

 

Chi is measured by your meter and can be replenished by attacking other opponents or by getting attacked.  Theoretically you could just sit on your butt and let the Chi build as your enemies beat you into the ground.  But then you’d be eliminated from the game.

 

Sammy says that this is intended to be an offensive kind of fighting game.  Remember that when you attempt to block poison darts instead of going for the kill.  You’d be better off doing the latter.

 

Historical Remains

 

Feeling weak?  Wanna increase your fighter’s statistics so that you can compete (or overpower) your opponents?

 

Relics are the solution to your problem.  With them you can increase…

 

• Speed

• Defense

• Offense

• Attack Power

 

You can also equip a special Relic to become invisible for a limited amount of time.  How cool is that?

 

Only one Relic can be equipped at a time.  The amount of time that each Relic lasts is still being determined.

 

 

Particle effects aplenty.

 

 

Three Point O

 

Iron Phoenix is one of the first games to take advantage of Xbox Live 3.0’s new features.

 

• Video and Voice Messaging: Leave messages for friends, colleagues, strangers – even enemies!

• Teams: Start a clan for you and your friends.

• Tournaments: Set up game tournaments with the option changes you desire.  Don’t like the power-up items?  Remove ‘em!

 

The Clock Is Ticking

 

Sammy was happy to announce a feature for Iron Phoenix that not too many people know about: Blood Clock.  With it you can challenge a player to a one-on-one duel.  During the duel only you and your opponent can damage each other.  The rest of your opponents will have no effect on your health and vice versa.

 

Sammy suggests that players use the Block Clock to take out key opponents.  For example, if you’re on a team of eight people and only five are left, you can challenge an opponent to a one-on-one duel and remove him or her from the game.  You can do this over and over again until you’ve one.  They have to accept your challenge in order for it to take effect, but anyone who doesn’t accept will be perceived as being weak. 

 

 

Beyond the information provided, GameZone Online got the chance to ask some questions about the game.  Answers were provided by Tim Hess (Producer), and Richard Iggo (Product Manager).

 

Are there any cure items for the stun and poison darts?

 

Sammy: I wouldn’t call it an antidote item, but it’s a status item that will clear your current status.  The gameplay is so fast that getting something like that is not really an option.  If you get stunned, stamina’s getting drained and you’re getting attacked, you can’t really run to go get this item.  So you really have to determine if you want to have this time in your possession instead of a Relic or something else that you might want to use.

 

What happens when a player becomes invisible?  Are there any thin lines to indicate another player is there, or is this complete invisibility?

 

Sammy: It looks like the Predator.  They’re transparent.  You can still see their 3D shape.  There’s like a slight distortion effect with light refraction.  You see them when they’re moving, [but] if they’re idol on the wall it’ll be near impossible to see them.  With the effect that we have it blends really well with textures. 

 

The invisibility is on a timer, so it’s not going to last forever.  You really need to determine if you want to use your invisibility at a certain time or you’d rather save that Relic slot for an attack or defense Relic.

 

 

My, what big axe you have.

 

 

How long does it last for?

 

Sammy: We don’t really know yet.  Right now it lasts for 25 seconds, but there’s another option that is based on how much Chi you currently have.  We’re looking into adding multiple ways that these things can work based on how the server administrator decides to set it up.

 

Let me just clarify: right now you said that depending on how much Chi you have that will determine how long you can be invisible?

 

Sammy: Yes.

 

The game looks like it’s getting a little more graphic.  What is the content level for blood and gore?  Can flesh or body parts be removed?

 

Sammy: No.  We’re concentrating on just making it look real pretty and play real well than be particularly gory.

 

There’s been big fountains of blood and things like that and we have since removed the fountains of blood.  We’ve replaced it with a particle effect that enhances the visual of being attacked over the blood.

 

That might be just because we had bad particles for blood [laughs].

 

Is the video messaging separate from the game?  Can you play the game and talk to your friends at the same time?

 

Sammy: No, you can’t play the game and have a visual of your friends.

 

What about voice chat?

 

Sammy: As far as your standard Xbox Live, yes.  The voice messaging version [in Xbox Live 3.0] where you can actually leave a voice message for someone is out of game only.

 

For tournament games it says that up to eight players can be on a team.  How is this broken down?

 

Sammy: Certain game modes will allow to have different team counts.  Right now we’ve got Team Deathmatch [and] VIP, broken into team of eight.  Or you can have four teams of four.

 

 

The floating head says, “Stay out of my way… or die!”

 

 

But not eight teams of two?

 

Sammy: No.  That gets a little crazy when you start doing statistics and having enough room to display all the information.  It gets a little out of hand.  You’d end up having to use pink as a team color [laughs].  Nobody wants that.

 

Has Sammy thought about doing a public beta test for Iron Phoenix?

 

Sammy: Thought about it.  It’s just not something we feel we need to do.

 

Are you going to release a demo disc?  Will there be any kind of way that fans can check it out before it’s released next year?

 

Sammy: Yes we are.  The way people will be able to check it out is by the Official Xbox Magazine coming out.  We’re not sure which issue that will appear in right now.  We’re probably also build some extra demos as well and distribute them maybe to places like the iGames centers and stuff like that.  We’re thinking about working with the iGames centers to run some kind of championship.  That’s all in the pipeline right now.

 

We had a really good experience with it recently when we demonstrated it at the iGames Expo in New York a couple weeks ago.  People just really, really…I can’t emphasize enough, they were actually surprised by, don’t take that the wrong way, but they were surprised by how much fun they had.  We actually had guys coming up asking if they could take the discs out of the units we had there.  We’re really excited about getting it out to people and we’ll find as many outlets as possible.

 

Note: the demo is Live-enabled.

 

 

Let’s act like birds and tweak.

 

 

Bandwidth is a key factor in hosting online games.  What ISP would you recommend gamers get so they can host 16-player games have the best experience possible?

 

Sammy: Every service provider has a different account set up for the amount of bandwidth.  Road Runner has high-speed high upload cable service, but not every provider has the same upload and download speed matched.  My home connection is 3 megs down, but it’s only 384[kb] up.  So someone else might have 512 up at 3 megs down.  There really is no ideal service provider.  The fastest connection you can get is always going to provide you with the best gameplay.

 

Thanks to everyone at Sammy and Kohnke Communications for having a wonderful conference call.