Playing requires you sign up for an account at InstantAction.com, GarageGames' web-based gaming portal, which is completely free of charge and gives you access to the rest of their game stable as well, including Marble Blast Online and Rokkitball. Hop on over and give it a try!

INSTANTACTION OPEN TO GAMERS

The Next Big Thing in Web Gaming is Here;

Sign Up and Play at www.instantaction.com

EUGENE, OREGON - MARCH 10, 2008 - InstantAction today invited gamers across the globe to enter its public beta. Offering fully 3D, console-like games in a web browser, InstantAction is launching with four games available to the public today.

"Initial feedback on InstantAction from gamers has been very positive and we are ready to pull the covers off and let everyone take a look," said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. "Even though it's early, and there is a lot more to add and improve, InstantAction is already impressive. Now with the community's help, we're going to work on making it truly mind blowing."

With the public beta, four games - MarbleBlast Online, Screw Jumper, Think Tanks and Wideload Shorts' Cyclomite - are already playable. More games will be added in the coming weeks, including the much anticipated FPS, Fallen Empire: Legions.

Early comments from beta testers have filled the InstantAction feedback boards. Regarding MarbleBlast Online, one tester said of his first experience with the title, "This game is surprisingly a lot of fun to play." While another tester praised Wideload Shorts' Cyclomite proclaiming "Cyclomite is my new favorite addiction on InstantAction.com. It's good, crazy fun."

Social gaming is a core part of the InstantAction experience. Gamers can host parties and invite their friends to jump into a game via a URL link which can be sent via email or IM. Gamers can also seamlessly switch games and move their party with them.

"This is only the beginning. New games and features will be added each month," added Williams.

This brief snippet of GarageGames' Fallen Empires: Legions really looks like Tribes to me, but of course I just have a passing interest in the game. I'm not obsessed like lots of fans are. Tim Aste, the game's project manager, told us that they definitely were taking the best of Tribes and trying to turn it into their own game:

"The approach we took when deciding what we would focus on when making this game was to attempt to find the core element that we all enjoyed about Tribes... after a bunch of discussion in which we attempted to break down 'what made Tribes so much fun'... we hit upon the core element of 'Freedom of Movement'.

Freedom of movement is what it is all about. Instead of trying to recapture the same game play, we wanted something that captured the same feel."

The video shows some of the experiments that the team has been doing to try and fine tune the player's experience. Aste said the game will allow players to move on the ground and in the air and that both need to feel intuitive for it to work.

"We think we have succeeded. When you move around in Legions, it provides you with a feeling of power.. you can go anywhere, and you can do it rather quickly.. once you 'get' how to move, you can eye a point on the map that is far off in the distance, and you can just 'get there'.. quickly. You need to learn how to do it, but learning how to do it is pretty intuitive. It is really empowering, as you quickly learn what you need to do to move fast, and then you start the long road of mastering it.. the uphill climb to mastering the movement model does not seem to peak, and we are still getting better at it."

They also looked at how to tweak the difficulty of taking down a small, moving target like the other players, something that was "way too hard" initially. Their answer was to add contrails which did several things:

It increased the size of the visual 'area' a target took up on screen, so you can see the opposition better.

It indicated, in an intuitive fashion, the speed at which an opponent is moving.. allowing for a player to make predictive assessments of what is going to happen next and quickly sort out threats.

It made it easier to lead and get a bead on opponents.

Of course, Aste adds, it also just looks neat.

"It is gratifying just to see all these little trails all over the place.. "

The video is really just about polishing up the core mechanic of movement and tracking, not a glimpse at the final product, but Aste promises that they're not really planning on burying the core mechanic under a ton of unnecessary dressing.

"We are taking that core and really pushing it to what we feel is the utmost expression of the play.

"When our studio manager gave us the project, he pretty much gave us the directive to not worry about bulking it up, but to explore deeply the core.. what makes this type of game.. high speed with large terrains.. fun.. and we took this loose directive to an almost insane level. We deeply explored the core mechanic of moving and shooting, and we think we came up with something that is very cool."

Instant Action's site should have more details on the upcoming game in the near future and they'll be showing stuff off at their GDC booth next month.

Instant Action

GARAGEGAMES ANNOUNCES Fallen Empire: Legions FOR INSTANTACTION.COM

3D MULTIPLAYER FIRST PERSON SHOOTER COMING TO THE WEB IN EARLY 2008

EUGENE, OREGON - January 17, 2008 - After months of rumors and a recent video leak on the web, GarageGames today announced initial details for Fallen Empire: Legions, a first person shooter for the recently announced 3D online game platform, InstantAction.com.

"This is a first person shooter built by hardcore gamers who are wildly passionate about the genre," said Tim Aste, project director for Fallen Empire: Legions. "The game design allows for us to create a unique experience that brings FPS gaming back to its roots. Legions won't be just any ordinary jewel matching web game; in terms of graphics and gameplay it will set a new benchmark of what the future of gaming will be on the web."

"We created InstantAction to give ourselves and the rest of the development community an outlet to make the games they want to play. Rather than churning out sequels or licensed games, we're working with developers focused on creating cool gameplay," said Josh Williams, CEO of GarageGames. "Fallen Empire: Legions will be InstantAction's most advanced example of this so far. Marrying core games with the accessibility and social power of the web is a huge step forward in the industry, and I personally can't wait for this game to be released so I can hop on and start playing everyone."

Developed internally by GarageGames, Fallen Empire: Legions combines distinctive freedom of movement with fast paced first-person combat to create strategic, team-oriented gameplay. The InstantAction platform has allowed Fallen Empire: Legions to leverage the best of what the web has to offer, creating an evolving experience for players that can constantly be improved upon. This is first-person warfare at its fastest and finest!

To sign up for the beta test, receive exclusive sneak peeks of Fallen Empire: Legions, and earn free Action Tokens (InstantAction's virtual currency), please visit www.instantaction.com.