Indie Game Hopeless 2 Beta Nearing Full Release

March 15th, 2011 by

hopeless2

This is a guest post from one of Game Usagi’s supporters.

Necromanthus, an independent gaming design company out of Romania, took the idea of a browser-based first-person shooter to new heights in 2008 with their release of Stryke Mercenary Camp. Stryke wasn?t the only free-to-join browser-based FPS on the market, not by a long shot, but it was the only shooter on the entire market to be highly optimized for basic computers and basic Internet connections.

Many popular shooters, like Country Strike, Orange and others, not only require gamers to have a hefty gaming rig capable of high FPS (Frames Per Second) rates, but they also require gamers to have low ping values (around 80ms on the high end) and superb connection quality. Stryke didn?t. Anyone could play and school noobs, whether they had a top-of-the-line PC or a low-powered laptop.

Hopeless 2: Mercenary Camp is the new release by Necromanthus and Infodata, incorporating the best of Stryke and adding new and exciting elements. The idea of a shooter is expanded well beyond a simple free-for-all gaming style.

Players have the option to choose from eight separate camps, to choose teams (free teams or registered teams), and to play games like Capture the Flag, Deathmatch and Domination, all without having to pay a single penny in gaming fees or to their ISP for more bandwidth.

As it stands, the game is easy to integrate into. Simply create a unique username and password, log in to the game, pick your character from multiple options, including zombies and monsters, and enter into a camp. After that, it?s kill or be killed, no cut-scenes or storylines to keep up with ? just good, old-fashioned frag-fests.

Another factor working in Hopeless 2?s favor is that you do not need an external controller to operate the game efficiently. By using the W, A, S, D commands, as well as the numbers, space bar and mouse, gamers can control the action much like a Facebook Flash game or an online casino game.

The plus side is that it?s all live action, rivaling even the best shooters on the home console market. You get an up-close and personal seat as players from all around the world battle it out with over a dozen weapons, including favorites like the RPG, AW-50 sniper rifle, XM-29 and M-249 machine guns, and even a killer Colt .45 powerhouse handgun.

Still technically in the beta phase, Hopeless 2 is still adjusting its gameplay to suit everyone. The maps are constantly evolving and the characters and their subsequent weapons are improving by the week, awaiting the full release in the coming months.

Whether you?re into the RPG genre, classic arcade games, or even enjoy gambling games like internet roulette, Hopeless 2 is sure to appeal to everyone with its fast-paced action and everyone-welcome setup.

There are other games on the market with better graphics and more options, but none that are free and there are certainly none that allow anyone with a computer to sign up 100% free and play ?til their heart?s content.