Browser Based RPG with Heroes of Gaia Preview

Knights, elves and hotties in metal bikinis wielding swords obviously too heavy for their build. Staples of the RPG world to be sure and the obvious choice for a new title. Heroes of Gaia might be a little different though. A recent and surprisingly successful trend in gaming has developers choosing the humble web browser as a platform. Heroes of Gaia aims to do for MMORPGs what Battlefield Heroes and Quake Live did for first person shooters.

The first thing you might notice when visiting http://www.heroesofgaia.com is the artwork. Quite a bit of care was taken in creating the visuals and it shows throughout the game. We were treated to a pre-beta preview and it was obvious that the artwork wasn’t restricted to just the menus, but throughout the resource allocation, build and battle screens. Obviously, pretty pictures alone do not make for a fun game, but it doesn’t hurt. I might be getting a little ahead here though.

Heroes of Gaia is a browser based, free-to-play online fantasy role playing game that offers a robust community, live chat and in-game guild creation. That gives players a title they can literally play anywhere without installing gigs upon gigs of data. So far, only a small Flash resource download is all that is required to jump in. New players choose a race from 4: Humans, Elves, Undead or Orcs. They are then taken to their base of operations, a stately castle where all your resource allocation and building stems from. Build up structures to train warriors, recruit heroes to defend your kingdom, upgrade your weapons and abilities and accept tasks around the kingdom to earn gold an other assets.

Building and resource generation is a timed effort, so you’ll need to expect to have the game running while doing other things. Upgrading the Town Hall to level 2 for example, takes upwards of 20 minutes. This can be accelerated with special cards that are earned, and we suspect, eventually purchasable (as in real money). Battles similarly are largely automated, which may ultimately be the draw to the more casual RPG players. The game is good about warning you if you might be outnumbered or outclassed in battle and gives you a chance to change your mind, another plus for those that aren’t keeping tabs on their stats in a notebook on their desk.

Heroes of Gaia has a way to go yet before it can play with the big boys. Things like spelling errors, image overlay issues and sound are still being worked out, but that’s why you have a beta. If you’d like to be a part of select few to participate in shaping Gaia, become a fan at http://www.facebook.com/mediageeks and look for our Beta Code Giveaway announcement, coming soon.