With the European Union's new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into effect today, hopefully spelling an end to e-mails from companies begging me to stay subscribed to their newsletters, another game has chosen this moment to throw in the towel. Torn Banner Studios have removed first-person brawler Mirage: Arcane Warfare from sale and will soon shut down their official servers. The magical follow-up to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare will still be playable on player-hosted servers and with its AI botbuds, so people who already own it can play - but new people can't join in.
]]>Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.
I’m genuinely sad that ‘Chivalry with magic’ didn’t excite enough people for Mirage: Arcane Warfare to have an active player base. Despite giving the game away for free for a brief period, the servers for this multiplayer stab n spell ‘em up are still empty. It’s a shame, because the game is great for all the same reasons that Chivalry is - with magic attacks that add to that experience rather than detracting from it.
]]>Whether you love wizards or loathe the jumped-up magicians, you might fancy a crack at Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site]. For the next 24 hours, the magical follow-up to historical first-person murderfest Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is yours to keep forever if you click a button on Steam. It will let you: 1) pretend to be a wizard; 2) murder a great many wizards. Mirage sales have been less than developers Torn Banner Studios had hoped for, see, but they want to spread the word so hey, here, it's free - grab it while you can. Once the free period ends, it'll get a huge price cut.
]]>First person hack-and-slash-and-magic 'em up Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] this week received its first major update since launching in May, with new weapons, maps, and abilities added to the game. Most importantly, the Gladiator Update added bot-assisted servers in which AI combatants will make up the numbers if players don't fill all the slots.
The reason that's important is that barely anybody is playing Mirage. There are 13 players online as I wrote this, according to SteamCharts, and the peak number of players in the last 30 days is just 49. Which is a great shame, because it's genuinely a lot of fun. It's from the makers of the excellent Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, and if you think what that game would be like with magic then you're not too far off.
]]>I've sunk a fair chunk of time into Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site], the first-person melee brawler in which you can both fling magic spells and lop a man's head off with a giant axe, and I've enjoyed nearly all of it. But it does have one flaw: there just aren't enough players. You'll often run into empty servers, and those that are full contain a mix of every skill level. That can make it difficult for new players to settle in.
Well, the game is currently free to try on Steam, and will be until 9pm on Sunday (1pm Pacific). Player numbers are already picking up, which is promising.
]]>Aspelliarus! That's a magic spell from the popular series of children's books, Harry Potts. Another thing that features deadly magical nonsense is Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site], the multiplayer first-person shooter from the makers of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. You swan around with swords, spears and maces while partaking in some feisty wizardry as one of six distinct classes of murderous mage. I'm telling you all this because it's out now, innit.
]]>Fancy stabbing some wizards this weekend? Check out the open beta test of Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site], the upcoming magical follow-up to fab first-person stabber Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. Mirage shares many of the fundamentals but with some different tricks in its fantasy classes and the meaty magic spells that its developers say they want "to feel like you're throwing bricks at people's heads". Mirage has been in closed beta for a while, and we flung thousands of beta keys into you adoring crowds ourselves, but this weekend everyone is invited to play for free.
]]>Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] is the sorcerer successor to Chivalry: Medieval Warfare's swordy multiplayer, in which two teams fight one another in tense fights requiring more skill than simply pulling a trigger. The beta has been running since March but just got a major update adding nine new maps and a character customisation system. To mark the occasion, we've got 3,000 new beta keys to giveaway below.
]]>Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] is the new game from the developers of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, trading that game's team-based sword-fighting in favour of team-based sorcery-fighting. The game launched into beta earlier this week ahead of a planned May 23rd release and we're giving away 10,000 keys to the beta below.
]]>Take the first-person multiplayer melee murders of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare, sprinkle on some wizards, and shamwow! you've got Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site]. The magical follow-up will launch on May 23rd, developers Torn Banner announced today.
"I know what wizards are but what's this Chivalry you're on about?" you ask. "Swabbing puddles with cloaks and holding doors open for horses and...? Is this a game?"
Well, chummo, you can see for yourself as Chivalry will briefly be given away free for keepsies, starting later today.
]]>What happens when wizards get their nigredo-stained fingers on the first-person stabbing of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare? The magical melee multiplayer foolishness of Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] is what, as you can see in a new 11-minute gameplay vid. Torn Banner Studios' enchanted follow-up will launch later this year but for now, hey, look at these wizards. They're a rowdy bunch.
]]>The swords and spells of Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] will be swingable and castable in a closed beta starting March 27, available to all pre-order peons. In case you didn’t know (you fool) it’s pitched as Chivalry with magicians. The same developers of the medieval stab-em-up have added splurts of colour and silliness to their sword-fighting mechanics to make a multiplayer combat game where not only do you need to guard incoming mace blows, you also need to watch out for spells.
]]>"A girl must grab life by the collar, and make it submit" is a sentiment I can really get behind on a Monday morning. The other one is "give me coffee or give me death" but none of the Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] characters seem inclined towards the latter at the moment. The Vigilist - the guardian-esque class in the game - is all about making life submit while clutching it by the collar, though.
There's a trailer looking at her after the jump but, to be honest, I'd be far more interested in hanging out with her at a cocktail bar and shouting about things that make us both angry and then stomping off to conquer things while being rad.
]]>A quote which stuck with me from GDC was Torn Banner's studio president saying he wanted the magic spells in Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] to feel like "throwing bricks at people’s heads" and not like using pixie dust. A significant part of creating that difference will lie in how the Chivalry spiritual successor uses art and animation so I've asked members of the art team to explain how that works as well getting bonus insights into how the aesthetic of the game works more generally.
Weighing in on the discussion are Darin Walsh (UI and effects artist), Brandon Phoenix (technical artist), Jason Lavoie (environmental artist) and Dylan Brady (character artist). Nearly all of the images have larger versions so just click on them for a closer look.
]]>What do you get when you combine the first-person swordclanging of Chivalry: Medieval Warfare with the magical zipzapping of wizards? Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site], natch. But that was announced ages ago, you know that. Ah, but what does it look like? See for yourself in a new 12-minute lump of gameplay snippets:
]]>Don't mind me. I'm just going to sit here making gifs of my favourite bits of the E3 Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] gameplay trailer. It's the magic-infused spiritual successor to Chivalry so there's lots of fleshy combat, but it adds in a bunch of magical attacks and counter-attack possibilities.
]]>While over at GDC a preview opportunity for Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site] gave me a chance to check out Chivalry's spiritual successor while ALSO enjoying respite from the Californian warmth (I'm ginger and pale and British – we wilt). The game offers up a very different colour palette and setting than Chivalry's keep-n-countryside but once Torn Banner's president, Steven Piggott, and senior brand manager, Alex Hayter, start showing me what's happening in a pre-recorded match, Mirage's Chivalric roots are obvious.
I didn't get a hands-on with the game so I can't tell you how it *feels* and whether the thunk and the heft of Chiv are maintained BUT I can tell you how it looks, how the modes work and where the team are aiming with the project:
]]>When Chivalry developers Torn Banner Studios announced their next game, Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site], I said the teaser trailer made it look like Chivalry with wizards - Wizalry. And it still does. A new trailer shows off first-person melee combat like Chivalry and magic spells like wot wizards do but... how well do these two come together? See what you make of it yourself:
]]>If you want to run around a virtual battlefield lopping off knights' arms with swords and axes, you can't go too far wrong with Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. (Have You Played the first-person multiplayer melee murderfest?) But what if you want to do that and also be a wizard? Trying to perform coin tricks at your desk while playing will only get you killed. Friend, put your pennies away.
Chivalry devs Torn Banner Studios today announced Mirage: Arcane Warfare [official site], which seems to be Chivalry with wizards. Wizalry.
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