14 DAY TRIAL // The leader of developer Vigil Games, best known for delivering the action adventure title Darksiders on gaming consoles and on the PC, has said that the Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millenium Online MMO that it is currently building will not look like the traditional examples of its genre.
Dave Adams, who is the founder of Vigil Games, says, “If you see an MMO 20 feet away you know it’s an MMO. There’s a million icons on the screen, the interface is the same. They’re so predictable. Our goal is when some guy’s walking past DMO they won’t instantly know it’s an MMO. That depends on a minimal interface: it’s not a full FPS but it looks more ‘actiony’.”
In the Warhammer 40,000 game, the action bar has no place on the screen and the interface will be minimal, with the game relying on the players’ skill and its intuitive design to make sure that controls are always easy to grasp.
Mike Maza, who is the creative director working on Dark Millenium Online, says that the initial stages of the game will also be important for preparing the player, stating, “There’s scenarios that introduce you to your character class.”
He added, “We’ll throw you into your very first instance, to get a feel for a very player directed experience. Then you’ll go to your trainers and merchants, then drop down onto the over-world from orbit.”
The developers at Vigil Games are saying that their ultimate goal is to fill the niche of the action MMO and not go up directly and challenge the leader of the market, World of Warcraft from Blizzard.
The game currently has no launch date, but it is widely expected to come out at some point in 2012, when the gaming world might also get access to the new expansion for World of Warcraft.