ChronoBlade Preview

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but game developers are spending a lot of time trying to get more “serious” or “hardcore” games onto Facebook even though the people who normally play these games don’t seem too interested. Eventually, though, one of these games is going to turn a lot of heads, and it might be ChronoBlade, an arcade-style beat-em up coming soon to a browser near you.

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Welcome to the Multiverse. You may want to invest in a roadmap.

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but game developers are spending a lot of time trying to get more “serious” or “hardcore” games onto Facebook even though the people who normally play these games don’t seem too interested. Eventually, though, one of these games is going to turn a lot of heads, and it might be ChronoBlade, an arcade-style beat-em up coming soon to a browser near you.

Technically, ChronoBlade is an action RPG. At least that’s what it’s called by the people who made it at nWay, and we should probably take their word for it. We’re talking the creator of Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto and the lead designer for the first two Diablo games, plus folks who worked on the Dead Space series and Dante’s Inferno. Yep, the game definitely has the right pedigree.

It’s also got gorgeous 3D graphics and character design that flaunts both style and a sense of humor. How else would you describe a magic-using female whose “Something Heavy” ability literally drops something heavy on the bad guys? The setting and story focus on champions from various parallel dimensions joining forces to defend the Multiverse against something called the Chronarch Imperium, creating plenty of potential for stages set in just about any time or place.

Just about everything about the game oozes with promise, with the possible exception of the controls.  Using a keyboard for such an action-heavy title seems like it could be unwieldy, though the game’s foundation in Flash 11 means controllers can’t be ruled out down the road. That would be a good thing. Support for co-op and PvP multiplayer modes is definitely planned, as are iOS and Android ports.

ChronoBlade

Still, there’s always going to be a bit of stigma attached to this type of game when it’s on Facebook. Studio co-founder David Jones told Kotaku it’s because the social network is “great for testing.” The nWay team is also hoping that since everyone (read: everyone not named Apple) has Flash, it will make the game easy to get into. The fact that it will be free-to-play also shouldn’t hurt.

There’s no way of knowing if ChronoBlade will turn out to be the elusive One Game that draws in players that normally avoid Facebook games like the plague, but it probably doesn’t matter. I t just looks cool , and you can keep track of its progress from closed beta to wide release by clicking on the ‘Follow” button at the top of the page.

Nick Tylwalk enjoys writing about video games, comic books, pro wrestling and other things where people are often punching each other, regaardless of what that says about him. He prefers MMOs, RPGs, strategy and sports games but can be talked into playing just about anything.