Fuelling patriotic passions
Empire of Sports begins with the creation of an Avatar, choosing your name, gender, hair style and facial features. Customisation will be far more in-depth within the game and will include the purchase of clothing and equipment which should make your Avatar stand out from the crowd. They're also not ruling out the option of gamers being able to create their own custom clothing and equipment, which could mean that your clan could walk around the city wearing clan colours or with their clan names written across their shirts. F4 believe that this could open up the possibility of sponsors in the real world stepping forward to sign-up the best teams or players to represent their brand (they're currently talking to some of Europe's top clans to see whether they'd like to be involved from the outset). What better way to advertise then to walk around a virtual city with your 'Intel' or 'Slazenger'(for example) branded shirts’?Empire of Sports will launch in Europe and (if all goes well) will eventually see a release in the US. The game will launch with three cities, which will be based on three European locations: the UK, France and Germany. I had the chance to take a look around the UK city, which loosely resembles London, with familiar landmarks such as Big Ben looming in the distance and illuminated advertising hoardings (similar to what you'll see in Piccadilly Circus) placed above a building. But, to make sure you definitely know that you're in Britain, there are British flags proudly being flown from outside buildings, giving the city a true identity and, dare I say it, fuelling patriotic passions and rivalries between the cities. Many of the buildings were not yet accessible, but I did see the frontages of numerous shops that will sell sport's gear and other items, such as food, and I also stumbled across an airport, where you can catch a plane to one of the other European destinations where you'll be able to challenge, compete or just meet up with players from other countries.
In addition, I visited my own house in the city and the Club House, which will be the main social hub in the game and a place where you'll be able to view details of upcoming tournaments, recruit players to your team, trade, chat or merely check out the latest trophies that have been won. Dotted around the city are numerous NPCs, who were currently inactive, but will be issuing us with tips on how to be a successful sport's star and missions similar to what we're accustomed to in other MMORPG's (but obviously they'll be sport themed) .There's still so much to be added to the game before launch, so many of the areas were inaccessible in the city, but I did get the opportunity to take a look and play some of the mini-games in the gym, a place where gamers will be spending a fair bit of time grooming their Avatar for his/hers successful sporting career.
Click for larger image
Click for larger imageAs you walk into the gym, there are numerous training machines, which in some way improve a number of your physical attributes, such as strengthening your calf muscles or they may improve attributes such as endurance or speed. You click on an exercise machine, such as the treadmill or punch bag, and then you enter into the mini-game mode. The mini-games are extremely basic, but if you ramp up the difficulty they become more challenging. The mini-games range from simply tapping two buttons simultaneously in order to punch the punch bag to touch typing against the clock (copying the text which appears on the screen) to balancing games where you need to move your mouse in order to keep a ball in the middle of a bar which tilts left to right. The games aren't designed merely to develop your character, but are apparently designed to improve your co-ordination and give you all the skills you need in order to be successful in your sport.
