Runes MMORPG - Beta II

Forced into exile, the Corynthian Mages land on a forsaken island, Kaliend, where they are welcomed as saviors by the natives believing that they'll bring back an age of wealth and glory. Soon internal disputes between Mages will however kindle a war without mercy. To prevent the whole situation from turning into total chaos, an ancient custom is brought back to life, forcing the Mages to stop using magic outside of specially designed arenas until one of them is designed as a leader. The struggle has begun, the factions raise their champions to emerge victorious and change the fate of Kaliend.

Sounds pretty cool huh? Well that's the short version of the background story behind a new MMORPG coming to Android called Runes by developer Faeria Studio. Most of the MMORPG's for Android have been text/2D based games but fear not, Runes plans to change all that. No more clicking a button 200 times just to level, instead leveling is done via PvP and it's visually appealing, using 3D graphics.

"To become the greatest, players will have to confront to each other during heated up battles that will test their dexterity and rapidity, but also their wit if they hope to be victorious and ascend to legend."

Currently the game is in v0.11 with v0.12 scheduled for Feb 22, 2010 release. Best of all, they are still looking for Beta testers so if you want to be apart of the beta, go sign up here! It's limited to the first 1000 people who sign up.

Some changes coming in version 0.12:

"Firstly, this version will be an opportunity to correct many bugs that you have reported! One of the main developments of this update will be the apparition of the new 3D engine with the appearance of skeletal animations and new 3D characters! Spells will be fully updated and will be much more powerful, making duels more intense and strategic. About the battle system, the level of artificial intelligence will also be completely changed, so you will have new challenges to overcome, alone or in teams ...

Dungeons! Key point of this update, and preparation steps for quests, the dungeons will allow you to distinguish yourself in instance thus challenging your mastery of the Rūnes!"

Another cool aspect about this game is that fighting is done via gestures on the screen so you'll really have to know your spells in order to fight well.

Overall, it looks pretty cool so if you can get into the Beta, awesome, if not well there is always the possibility of more slots opening up or at least a public beta at some point for stress testing.

Video of gameplay in Runes (alpha version)