Bots!!

Last updated

Bots!!
AcclaimBots.jpg
Developer(s) N-Log Soft
Publisher(s) Acclaim Games
Platform(s) PC Windows
Release
  • WW: November 2006
Genre(s) MMO, Fighting
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Bots!! was a massively multiplayer online game (MMO) created by Acclaim Games as the company's launch title and most popular game, [1] with the theme of robots fighting against computer viruses. Players choose from one of three basic BOTS and level up their character through gameplay and buying items with virtual credits called gigas. Three game modes exist for the game: Sector Battle, Player versus Player, and Base Battle. A Korean version of the game, called BOUT!! (Bots Of Unlimited Transformation), also existed and was nearly identical, but received new updates earlier than the American version. BOUT!! was intended to be originally released on Xbox, but ended up being solely released on PC. [2]

Contents

Beta testing for BOTS!! began in March 2006. [3] [4] It received its full release in November 2006, eventually reaching 1 million players in May 2007. [5] [6] The online servers were shut down on August 27, 2010 [7] following the purchase of Acclaim Games by Playdom [8] and Disney's purchasing of Playdom for $763 million. [9]

Game modes

Sector Battle (PVE)

In Sector Battle mode, a team of up to eight players must face viruses in different levels. The level played is chosen by the party host from a list of levels numbered irregularly from 1 to 95, with the stipulation that the party host has completed the level before, or the level immediately before it. Each level gives different enemy viruses and obstacles, and every few levels fit a similar environment theme. Every level is segmented in to sections that must be cleared of enemies before proceeding. At the end of each level, a boss virus must be fought. Boss viruses are typically named after real-world malware such as Melissa (computer virus) or Code Red (computer worm), and have large special attacks. When a boss is successfully destroyed item crates may drop containing random armor pieces to use or sell to other players. Barrels scattered around the level can be destroyed and may contain an item crate or an enemy. The likelihood of an item appearing is based on the number of players in group or whether any of them have a "lucky" item attached. The reward is obtained by whichever player first reaches it, meaning that players who contributed little to the fight are able to receive the item, while a player who dealt the most damage or final blow to the boss might receive nothing. The player who kills the most viruses is titled the "MVP" and receives a small experience bonus equal to the number of people in the group. The player who deals the most damage to the boss and is hit the least is titled "Boss Killer No. 1" and also receives a small experience bonus. Bonus exp can also be received by wearing "coin" items bought with real money, at an increased rate of 2 experience points per coin item.

Elite Levels

Elite levels occur in sector mode on level numbers ending in eight. These levels reward approximately twice the normal amount of experience and Gigas, but are also far more difficult than usual to complete. The bosses on these levels also have an increased chance of dropping a box.

Player Battle (PVP)

In Player versus Player (PVP) mode, up to eight players face off in a free-for-all fight in arena-style levels with a ten-minute time limit. The last player left alive is declared the winner. If the game ends because the time limit is reached, the game is declared a tie. If a player is killed, various colored fuel-canister shaped items called "Botstract" will fall from their body, which can be collected, but serve no purpose in the game.

Base Battle (BVB)

In Base Battle, or Base versus Base (BVB), two teams of up to four players fight each other with the goal of destroying the opposing team's base. Bases can be destroyed by damaging them with regular attacks. A base is guarded with automatic turrets that shoot at opposing players, as well as non-playable mercenaries that a player can purchase before the match. Players can be killed by other players or opposing non-playable mercenaries, and will respawn after a short time. Upon death, a player will lose a life and respawn with less health than the previous life. After five consecutive deaths, a player cannot respawn. Once all members of a team have been eliminated, the match will continue until the time limit is reached, a base is destroyed either by the opposing team or the eliminated team's mercenaries, or the other team is eliminated by quitting or falling off the edge of the level. When a base is destroyed, the game is ended and an additional gold bar may be dropped, which can be sold for gigas; and the game ends and experience and gigas are given out to the winning team.

Events

Events occur on every weekend, and around holidays. Events include special modifiers applied to everybody, such as double experience, double gigas, extra coins per purchase, or the ability to receive reward items for logging for a specified number of days consecutively and obtaining an item crate drop. During events, a special boss can randomly appear in Sector mode, which has a higher rate of dropping item crates.

Transformations

Upon the start of a match, a player's transformation bar starts filling up. After thirty seconds, the bar reaches full capacity, and the player has the option to transform into a larger and stronger robot. The type of robot that the player transforms into is dependent on the body armor piece the player is wearing. However, if a player had purchased a "transformation pack" from the store using gigas or coins, they are able to transform into more powerful robots with special attacks. Upon transforming, there is a small chance of getting a special transformation in which the player will transform into a boss virus from Sector battles.

Skills

Skills are part of the Gear page on the shop menu, they are broken up into passive and active abilities, and can give the players an advantage in battle. For example, the active ability "Ion Wave" allows the player to punch the ground and send a shockwave of lethal projectiles to take out surrounding enemies. A passive ability is usually applied at all times, such as quick recharging of the player's transformation bar, but some passive skills such as "Counter Guard" could be used to counter player attacks. Skills must be equipped prior to starting a match, and have a limited number of matches where they can be used, before they are destroyed.

Coins

A virtual currency called "coins" could be purchased using real-world money. Coins could be used to purchase premium in-game items, abilities, and transformations. These premium items were vastly superior and gave players a clear advantage, leading to controversy in Player versus Player and Base battle modes, as a player with an equal skill level would be dominated by player with premium items. All players who had opted to buy coins within the last 30 days of the game's lifespan were refunded in full.

Anti-Cheat

BOTS uses nProtect GameGuard but because of its method of actuation, similar to a rootkit, it is criticized for being extremely invasive. The software installs a device driver which is difficult to uninstall; even uninstalling the game will still leave residual files on the system and remains active without the game installed. In later versions of the game, starting with revision 1007, GameGuard fails to halt when BOTS ends and continues to use computer resources and inject code into processes until the system is restarted. This is often unknown to the end-user, as GameGuard masks its CPU usage by hooking Windows system querying APIs. Anti-virus programs often conflict with nProtect GameGuard, as the program itself is detected by many programs as malware due to its aggressive protection methods.

Despite the aggressive protection of GameGuard, cheating was rampant in the latter half of the game's lifespan, allowing players to use rule-breaking programs to generate items, gain invincibility, teleport, and in extreme cases, mess with other player's game sessions to trip their own GameGuard program. The common use of game modding was a contributing factor to players leaving the game, and hurt the success of the game overall.

Reception

Related Research Articles

Deathmatch, also known as free-for-all, is a gameplay mode integrated into many shooter games, including first-person shooter (FPS), and real-time strategy (RTS) video games, where the goal is to kill the other players' characters as many times as possible. The deathmatch may end on a frag limit or a time limit, and the winner is the player that accumulated the greatest number of frags.

<i>Gunbound</i> 2002 video game

Gunbound is a free-to-play, multiplayer, turn-based artillery game developed by South Korean developer Softnyx. It has been compared to the Worms series as it shares many common gameplay features.

<i>Coded Arms</i> 2005 video game

Coded Arms is a first-person shooter video game that was developed and published by Konami for the PlayStation Portable handheld in 2005.

<i>War Rock</i> 2006 video game

War Rock is a multiplayer first-person shooter made by the South Korean company, Dream Execution. The game is distributed as a free-to-play, a common form of freeware EULA and available through online downloading. Outside of the Far East, the game is hosted by PapayaPlay, who services the game for both Europe and North America.

Acclaim Games Incorporated was an American video game company that offered free massively multiplayer online role-playing games on its website upon registration. The company was founded in 2006 and was the successor to Acclaim Entertainment in terms of brand name. After Acclaim Entertainment filed for bankruptcy, former Activision CEO Howard Marks purchased the "Acclaim" name in September 2004 for a reported $100,000. He, along with Neil Malhotra, set up a new company, Acclaim Games, that was to take a different approach to the market than Acclaim Entertainment.

Hammer Heads is an action arcade game similar to Whac-A-Mole. It is developed by Nuclide Games and distributed by PopCap Games.

<i>CrimeCraft</i> 2009 video game

CrimeCraft was a free-to-play online Persistent World Next-generation Shooter dubbed "PWNS" by Ukrainian developer Vogster Entertainment and published at retail by THQ. The game is set in the near future where the world lies in anarchy and gangs have replaced governments.

<i>Interstellar Marines</i> 2013 video game

Interstellar Marines is a science fiction first-person shooter video game being developed by indie studio Zero Point Software. It was added to Steam Greenlight on September 3, 2012 and later released on Steam Early Access on July 2, 2013.

Hawken is a free-to-play multiplayer mech first-person shooter video game. The game features five game modes: Team Deathmatch, Deathmatch, Co-op Bot Team Deathmatch, Siege, and Missile Assault. It follows the freemium model of game monetization—with in-game purchases as the main source of revenue.

<i>Serious Sam: The Random Encounter</i> 2011 video game

Serious Sam: The Random Encounter is a 2011 role-playing and bullet hell game developed by Vlambeer and published by Devolver Digital. It follows Sam "Serious" Stone travelling to the future in search of his nemesis, Mental, teaming up with mercenaries on the way. The player controls Sam and his accomplices through confined levels, engaging in battles through random encounters. These pit the player characters against large waves of enemies, and the player controls the weapons and items each character uses against them in five-second turns.

<i>Marvel Avengers Alliance</i> 2012 video game

Marvel Avengers Alliance was a 2012 turn-based social-network game developed by American studio Offbeat Creations and published by Playdom. It is based on characters and storylines published by Marvel Comics. The game was available as an Adobe Flash application via the social-networking website Facebook. It launched in Facebook on March 1, 2012. It was initially released as promotion for the 2012 Marvel Studios film The Avengers.

<i>Ben 10: Omniverse</i> (video game) 2012 video game

Ben 10: Omniverse is an action video game based on the American animated series of the same name. The game was published by D3 Publisher in North America and Namco Bandai Games in Europe and Australia. It was released in November 2012 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, and Wii U.

Ultimate Knight Windom XP or UKWXP, is a Japanese Indie game originally developed by Y. Kamada for the PC as a sequel to his previous work, the Bootfighter Windom XP SP-2. It features an assortment of 3D mechas which the player can control and use to fight battles, either online or versus bot opponents. The game is inspired by Japanese Mecha based on anime and video games with game-play resembling mech versus games on older consoles but with enhanced options such as the 60 FPS screen refresh rate, including online game-play capabilities.

<i>Guns and Robots</i> 2014 video game

Guns and Robots is a cartoon-style online shooter developed by Masthead Studios for Microsoft Windows. The focus on the game is construction of gunfighters and team-based gameplay.

This is a non-comprehensive list that includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players.

Robocraft is an online vehicular combat game developed and published by Freejam Games. The game is set on different planets, with players constructing robots to fight with and against others in battle. The game features contained garage bays in which players can build various functional vehicles with basic block-based parts, such as cubes and wheels, along with weapons that can be used for combat. The initial alpha build was released in March 2013, and gained over 300,000 players by the following year. It officially released out of beta on August 24, 2017.

<i>Angry Birds Transformers</i> 2014 video game

Angry Birds Transformers is a run and gun video game. The tenth installment in the Angry Birds series, the game is a crossover between Angry Birds and the Transformers franchise, featuring battles between the Autobirds and Deceptihogs, Angry Birds' versions of the Autobots and Decepticons. It is published by Rovio Entertainment with collaboration from Hasbro. The game was released on October 15, 2014, for iOS, and was released for Android on October 30, 2014. The release includes related licensed merchandise and a toy line from Hasbro. The game's catchphrase is "Birds Disguised as Robots in Disguise".

<i>Titanfall 2</i> 2016 first-person shooter video game

Titanfall 2 is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. A sequel to 2014's Titanfall, the game was released worldwide on October 28, 2016, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. In Titanfall 2, players control Titans, mecha-style exoskeletons and their pilots, who are agile and equipped with a variety of skills ranging from wall-running to cloaking. Set in a science fiction universe, the single-player campaign follows the story of Jack Cooper, a rifleman from the Frontier Militia, who bonds with his mentor's Titan BT-7274 after his mentor, Tai Lastimosa, is killed in action. Together, they embark on a quest to stop the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation (IMC) from using a superweapon to destroy the Militia base on the planet Harmony.

<i>Brawl Stars</i> 2018 mobile game

Brawl Stars is a multiplayer online battle arena and third-person hero shooter video game developed and published by the Finnish video game company Supercell. The game was released worldwide on December 12, 2018, on iOS and Android platforms. The game features a variety of game modes, each with a distinctive objective. Players are able to choose from a selection of 'Brawlers', i.e., characters able to be controlled with on-screen joysticks inside of an in-game match.

<i>ZombsRoyale.io</i> Battle royale game

ZombsRoyale.io is a 2D battle royale video game developed by an American studio, End Game. It was released on 2018 for iOS, Android and on web browsers. Similar to other titles in the battle royale genre, players fight against other players on a large map from a top-down perspective, scavenging for supplies and weapons.

References

  1. ↑ "Interview: Acclaim CEO Howard Marks and Free-to-Play MMOs | Interviews". WarCry. December 27, 2007. Archived from the original on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  2. ↑ "The New Leader of Game" (PDF). archive.org. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
  3. ↑ Bots Archived 2006-03-01 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Acclaim announces a new game titled Bots qj.net [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ "BOTS officially released - MMOsite News Center". News.mmosite.com. Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  6. ↑ "'BOTS!!' Reaches 1 Million Users".
  7. ↑ "Acclaim Shuts Down Games After Playdom Transition". Gamasutra. August 27, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Playdom Continues Acquisitions Spree With Acclaim Buy". Gamasutra. May 19, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  9. ↑ "Disney To Buy Social Dev Playdom For $763 Million". Gamasutra. July 27, 2010. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  10. ↑ "BOTS Reviews - GameSpot". Archived from the original on March 3, 2017. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  11. ↑ "Bots - Pc". IGN. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.