14 DAY TRIAL // I’ve already offered a hands-on article about District 187, the first title that South Korea-based CJ Games plans to bring to Western markets, but the company also has long-term plans and is currently working on two other titles sharing an MMO core, called Monarch and Hounds.
Monarch is a straight-up free-to-play fantasy-based online role-playing game that comes with all the features gamers have come to expect from the genre, starting with classes and complex skill tress and ending with high-level bosses and Player versus Player zones.
What can make Monarch stand out from the crowd is a new Troops system, which allows any player to recruit and order around computer-controlled soldiers, which can also level up and acquire their own set of skills.
They will be needed for the castle assault events of Monarch, which will allow up to 200 players and their troops to battle for control of castles, which then grant them the ability to tax the surrounding area and other benefits.
Where Monarch is all about fantasy, Hounds is a more mature title which takes place in a future where a virus has turned much of humanity into monsters.
The player becomes part of a special forces team, called Hounds, that needs to fight the creatures and save any survivors. The basic gameplay will mix elements of the third-person shooter, with skill and speed required to kill enemies, with the MMO genre, where equipment and team make-up are crucial to success.
Hounds will offer core story missions, each based in a city and with 20 of them set to open up during the campaign, and team of 4 players can also enter separate dungeons in order to get experience and better equipment.
Bigger teams of 16 will also be able to complete larger raids and there are also plans for Player versus Player matches.
Monarch is set to arrive in late 2013 while Hounds is penciled in for 2014.