5 Games That Should Be MMO-ised

Let me start off by admitting that I’m a complete MMOG-holic, to the extent that the mere mention of a new MMOG gets my pulse running. The persistent worlds these MMOGs have to offer are a major draw for such games, especially for the well made ones, since they allow you to experience and become part of a whole living, breathing universe. The feeling of being part of something that epic, albeit fake (rather imaginary) is indescribable - it’s somewhat like being part of a never-ending movie or TV series you like, where you’re not the protagonist but just a small guy trying to leave his mark in the world, while he sees the great events that’ll shape his world unfold around him. There are so many games I’ve come across that had the base set for a great MMOG, but their developers preferred to keep them restricted to either single-player or multiplayer gameplay on a small scale. I’ve taken such games and dumped them here, along with my thoughts...

The Zone (where the game takes place) is the area where the Chernobyl nuclear incident took place, leaving back residual (and other) radiation that’s left most of its inhabitants – animals and otherwise, mutated. The general populace of the Zone consists of scavengers, guilds that dedicate themselves to securing the Zone, bounty hunters and those eager to find out more about ground zero and its effect on the life around it (read: scientists/researches) – you have the base for an MMOG right there! Imagine playing as a Stalker or a researcher, where you could venture deep into the Zone along with your guild, searching for rare artifacts and valuable goods you could trade for and territories you could proclaim as your own.

The factions included in the game itself had potential for some pretty interesting quests and deep backstories – the Duty for instance is a faction that consists of ex-military who’ve ventured into the zone and made it their mission to eradicate all the mutated miscreants infesting it. The Freedom on the other hand were a more liberal minded and forgiving lot – imagine playing as a member of either faction, taking on missions, venturing deeper into the Zone as you level up, exploring uncharted territories to set up base for your guild/faction... the possibilities are limitless. On the other hand, imagine playing as part of the mutated factions; makes for quite an action-packed MMOG, don’t you think?