Happy Wars Happy to Entertain the Poor

[The Wooster]

Happy Wars Happy to Entertain the Poor

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Cutesy multiplayer brawler, Happy Wars will be XBLA's first free-to-play game.

No, Crimson Alliance doesn't count. Toylogic's Happy Wars will be the first free-to-play game on XBLA. Well, technically it'll be free. You'll need an Xbox Live Gold account to download it, and those hardly grow on trees.

As the title might imply, Happy Wars is a cutesy territorial action game which pits teams of 15 bobble-headed munchkins against one another in online slugfests. Players choose between three classes - warrior, mage or cleric - and attempt to take various castles scattered around the game's maps. The microtransaction hook comes in the form of "lavishly rendered items" you can buy for your characters, though it isn't clear if they're limited to cosmetic changes, or if the game will be veering into pay-to-win territory. Toylogic promises regular updates which will include more items and customization options. It'll be interesting to see how that gels with Microsoft's alleged habit of charging exorbitant fees for title updates. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/118578-Update-Fez-Studio-Rereleases-Save-Corrupting-Patch]

Toylogic is no stranger to games about punching adorable creatures in the face while things explode in the background. The Japanese developer has worked on both Super Smash Bros Brawl and radioactive-reptile-themed knockoff of the same, Turtles Smash Up. This is both the first non-Nintendo exclusive and free-to-play game the company has worked on.

Happy Wars is set to launch on XBLA this autumn.

Source: PlayXBLA [http://playxbla.com/breaking-news-happy-wars-will-offer-free-online-battles-for-all-xbox-live-gold-members/]


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[The Hungry Samurai]

Gee a free to play title that's only 3 years late. Remember when Joyride was supposed to be f2p according to e3 2009?

 

[Judgement101]

Looks...interesting. I'll pick it up only because it's free, doubt I'll play it much.

 

[viranimus]

Hrm... puts me in mind of fat princess, without the fixed isometric camera and some expanded gameplay elements like turrets.

Something still seems off to me though. Cant put my finger on it.

 

[Souplex]

I'm pretty sure Aegis Wing was the first free to play XBLA game, it just didn't have any micro-transactions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Wing

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Well, technically it'll be free. You'll need an Xbox Live Gold account to download it, and those hardly grow on trees.

So it isn't really free to play as such. Something tells me I couldn't get a month of Gold, download the game and then play it offline either so I guess this is another one I'll be missing out on. It looks pretty neat too which is a shame.

 

[HellsingerAngel]

I'm pretty sure Aegis Wing was the first free to play XBLA game, it just didn't have any micro-transactions.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegis_Wing

First thing I thought of when I read the article. Also note that I don't think you need Gold Membership for Aegis Wing because it can play four on the same console, thus being a truly F2P game.

 

[Evil Smurf]

if only I had an xbox

 

[Brad Shepard]

You know, its not really free to play if you have to play 10 bucks for gold.

 

[Nouw]

I'm assuming the customization comes with a price. Not that I'd spend money on making a character look cool >.>.

You know, its not really free to play if you have to play 10 bucks for gold.

That's a good point.

 

[loa]

You'd think that, with the retarded xbla "gold" fees, there would be more "free" to play titles.
I hope the dev gets a share of those fees.

As for the game, it looks like dungeon defenders which, to me, equals shit.
Floaty, repetetive third person combat with no real impact.