amazon Triad Wars reviews
In fact, as announced by the NSX United Front Games itself, the Triad Wars is considered to be the online version of “Sleeping Dogs” – the role-playing game that simulates the launch in 2012.
Triad Wars owns a relatively nice and eye-catching graphics platform. Actually, when looking at the images in Triad Wars, we can mistakenly think of this game with GTA V. Of course, the gameplay in these two online games is almost the same, only the context GTA V is based in the US, while Triad Wars is based in Hong Kong, Asia.
In general, the combat mechanism in Triad Wars is moving in the direction of action with a third view, characters can perform martial arts attacks or use specialized weapons such as guns….
Like all GTA games, the Triad Wars build a vast world of freedom for players to explore. Especially that this world is built as a real world in which players can feel like they are living in the real world.
Players will enjoy driving motorcycles, cars in the streets, or control heavy combat vehicles such as aircraft … in the sky.
Of course, players will continue to be portrayed as an evil villain, a gangster who desires to dominate the underworld in the vast city of Hong Kong.
Characters are free to move, attack others, loot items, move vehicles … Of course, they will pay the price if the crime is too much, the level of crime of players will increase. In addition, players can also participate in recreational activities such as drinking, gamble, bar …
As an online game, Triad Wars introduces gamers to a rich set of quests to keep players logged in daily. In addition to bonuses and equipment, accomplishing quests also helps players to increase their performance, helping them to become the leader of an entire area of the city.
Tasks can be performed alone or co-op with other players. When moving in the city, players will randomly encounter additional quests from scattered NPCs.
In order to increase the competitiveness of the Triad Wars, the competition feature, looting is introduced when guilds in the game can freely attack each other to occupy the territory.
In addition, some quests require players to launch attacks or loot in some areas of the player, not just attacking normal NPCs.
Summary
Unlike the Sleeping Dogs or GTA V, the Triad Wars is a free online game, NPH plans to open more Cash Shop or sell some extra content in the game to profit but the vast world in Triad Wars is enough for players to explore.
In general, the Triad Wars, which only fit GTA V fans, or the GTA games in general, are highly interactive, with players interacting with other players instead of play.
The game has no level stats, as well as other power-ups that only provide more equipment, new guns can make gamers feel unfamiliar, when the character is not directly increase power, which reduces some of the competition in the game.
Of course, as mentioned above, another highlight of the Triad Wars comes from the beautiful and eye-catching graphics. This can be considered a worthwhile game to try.
where can you get a Triad Wars online
Triad Wars [DVD]: Buy it now
Triad Wars (English Subtitled): Buy it now
The gameplay system
A world open for exploration
“Triad Wars” was set in the same animated and well-crafted version of Hong Kong that a gamer would have come to know from “Sleeping Dogs”. Set in an open world, the area itself had all the charm that goes with life-filled streets, neon-lit alleyways, and iconic landmarks that gave a feel of immersion. Players were free to roam around the area, undertake various activities, and engage with NPCs.
Pros:
Great Detailed Environmental Design: The Hong Kong environment has been rendered very well and really atmospheric. The developers succeeded in crafting a world that truly felt alive with spirit and energy.
Freedom of Movement: Players have a lot of freedom when it comes to traversing the city. The parkour mechanics allow fluid movement across rooftops and through crowded streets, providing a captivating immersion.
Cons:
Repetitive Missions: Aesthetically, the city was a masterpiece, but the things players did there started getting “repetitive” quickly. Mission types/task objectives were too commonplace to accept during gameplay and therefore marred it.
Static Events: Unlike other action games, “Triad Wars” lacked dymamic market events to capture a player’s attention. Sometimes the main world just felt a little too static, making it feel less unpredictable and exhilarating.
Fighting and Game Mechanics
The hand-to-hand, melee, and gun combat fighting styles in “Triad Wars” were still somehow considered a sequel to “Sleeping Dogs.” The game allowed players to engage in some very brutal street fighting in which massive punches and kicks could be thrown and environmental objects utilized to finish off an enemy.
Pros:
Great Combat: The combat was fluid and responsive with that visceral feel giving it much vitality and satisfaction. The fighting system was also deep due to the effects of using the environment.
Weapon Diversity: Everything from typical guns to makeshift melee weaponry was available. The range gave space for varied styles and approaches of combat.
Cons:
Fighting got Repetitive fast: Like the open-world activities, combat often would feel somewhat repetitive. Irregular enemy and combat scenarios had worn out even the most classic battle systems.
Limited advances in fighting: While solid, the combat came nowhere near any groundbreaking modifications on “Sleeping Dogs.” This lack of neat new features depreciates the sense of fun.
Progression And Customization
In “Triad Wars”, you assume the role of a triad leader who must build and expand his or her criminal empire. Thus the game has a rich progression mechanic where players could be upgrading their characters, bringing in new abilities, and gaining more and more lands.
Pros:
– Character Progression: It felt great to grow alongside the progression system. Players could build their character’s skill set and ability profiles, making them tougher in combat and other activities.
– Empire Building: The ability to expand and shape one’s criminal empire added a strategic element to the game. Players would manage resources, recruit allies, and try to hold sway over many parts of the city.
Cons:
– Grind-oriented Progression: At times the grindy type of progression made players repeat activities simply to earn in-game resources and upgrades. The grind detracted from the enjoyment of the game.
– Less Customization: There was some degree of customization, but not as much as players might have liked. Personalizing characters and territories was a bit limited.
Story and Narrative
Premise and Setting
Triad Wars was set in the same space as Sleeping Dogs but focused on the criminal underbelly of Hong Kong. Players take on the role of an up-and-coming triad leader engaged in bringing the triad in control and wiping out rival factions. The narration of the game attempts to capture the story of organized crime- a very gritty and high-stake world.
Pros:
Rich Setting: Hong Kong provides a rich and colorful environment for the story of the game. Cultural and environmental descriptions provided depth within the story.
Engaging Premise: Building a criminal empire has been an interesting plot, thereby providing a different look into the world presented in Sleeping Dogs.
Cons:
Weak Story: Great premise, but in all honesty, the story in Triad Wars was nowhere near that of Sleeping Dogs in strength and engagement. The story felt shallow, with no characters to remember and no plot twist that could engage the players.
Fragmented Experience: The game’s online multiplayer nature led to a fragmented storytelling experience. Player-driven actions and interactions made it difficult to create a coherent and impactful narrative.
Character Development
Compared to that of Sleeping Dogs, Triad Wars’ character development was quite limited. While allowing customization and unlocking new abilities, the unavailability of a defined story arc for a main protagonist created the necessary emotional involvement with the characters within the game.
Pros:
Player Agency: Players had the ability to develop their own character’s abilities and the way forward; hence some form of personalization was given.
Cons:
Lack of Depth: The absence of a protagonist and actors with depth delivered no emotional investment. The characters became more like towel heads.
Sustaining the Game’s Visuals
“Triad Wars” provides great visuals in terms of environment, realistic lighting, and textures. The Hong Kong scenery transforms into a vivid and immersive environment, recreating the essence of the city with impressive accuracy.
Pros:
Awesome Environment: The environments are just stunning with extreme care in detailing and realism. The busy streets, neon signs, and atmospheric lighting come together to create a rich, immersive experience.
Character Models: Character models were well-designed, textured, and animated. The visual fidelity of the characters added to the general polish of the game.
Cons:
Performance Issues: Triad Wars had performance-related issues on some select systems, with aspects of the impressive visuals being marred by frame-rate drops and peculiar glitches. Performance issues consequently detracted from the overall experience.
Asset Repetition: While the environments had been highly detailed, there was a striking asset repetition in these areas. These could make certain parts of the city feel less unique and diverse.
Audio Design.
This area was perhaps a mixed blessing: The soundtrack was actually quite fitting, and sound effects were mostly realistic, but the voice acting and accompanying dialogues were rather weak.
Pros:
Atmospheric Soundtrack: The music tracks back the atmosphere tension and immersivity inside `Triad Wars`.
Sound Effects: The sound effects seemed realistic, from the metropolitan city life sounds to the combat sounds that further add to an immersion experience.
Cons:
Voice Acting: The most notable flaw in `Triad Wars` was voice acting, with many lines delivered badly and awkwardly. This directly impaired the emotional experience of the storyline and character interactions.
Repetitive Dialogue: The NPC dialogue often sounded repetitive, almost canned. These nasty cliche-type dialogues broke immersion and realism for the player in the world.
User Interface and Controls
The `Triad Wars’ user interface and controls were just adequate means of functioning, however, not as polished or intuitive as other works in its genre.
Pros:
Just Basic: The UI did work and provided players with adequate information to play the game, such as maps, mission objectives, and character statistics.
Control Customization: Players were able to assign controls to their own liking depending on personal preference; hence accommodating various play styles.
Clunky UI: The UI was often clunky and not as user-friendly as it could have been. Navigating between menus and managing inventory felt occasionally cumbersome and unintuitive.
Control Issues: Some players complained about responsiveness of controls during fighting or driving sequences. The issues here with controls somewhat disrupted the fluidity and enjoyment of the gameplay.
Closure and Impact
Shutting down
Despite its ambitious aims, considered to show a lot of promise by many fans, “Triad Wars” was eventually shut down in January 2016, a couple of months after the commencement of its open beta. The reasons behind the closure were a variety of factors, including low numbers of player engagement, persistent technical issues, and inability to compete with other games on the market.
Pros:
Issue Recognition: The devs recognized game issues and tried to fix them through various updates and discussions with the player community.
Learned Lessons: The good lessons learned from “Triad Wars” were invaluable not only to United Front Games but also to the video game industry at large on the issues of launching and maintaining an online multiplayer game.
Cons:
Unrealized Potential: With the closing of “Triad Wars”, much of its potential stayed forever unrealized. The game had a good concept and a good setting, but fell short in the execution of those ideas.
Sad For The Fans: The game’s shutdown caught the fans of Sleeping Dogs and the early adopters of Triad Wars by surprise and disappointment. It underlined all the concern associated with the risk of online-only games and forfeiting player investment.
Legacy and Lessons Learned
While “Triad Wars” did not achieve the success that “Sleeping Dogs” enjoyed, it has been impactful on the community of gamers and retrospectively offers several lessons to be assessed for studying by developers and publishers.
Pros:
New Ideas: Lots of new ideas were proposed by “Triad Wars”, such as the mixing of open world exploration with online multiplayer aspects. These definitely can be refined and incorporated in future projects.
Community engagement: It solidified the need for community engagement, with developers being agile in their response to developer input, a matter of life and death for any online multiplayer success and longevity.
Cons:
Missed Opportunities: The game’s cancellation then meant that many ideas and potential innovations were left unexplored. Future titles would have the opportunity to use some of these ideas and build better polished and engaging experiences.
Cautionary Example: The story of “Triad Wars”‘ development will act as a cautionary example not only on poor ideas that hinder successful online multiplayer game development and maintenance. It emphasizes the keys of technical stability, compelling content, and relevant community management.
Conclusion
“Triad Wars” was one such ambitious project which was aiming to expand the world of “Sleeping Dogs” through an online multiplayer experience revolving around the criminal underground of Hong Kong. Although the idea was set and richly detailed within the world, gameplay was repetitive and poorly coded; it suffered from disjointed storylines. All these eventually led to further closure and disappointment among fans as well as the untapped potential of the game.
However, with this came nuggets of learning for the gaming industry regarding player engagement, technical stability, and innovation. While it could wholly achieve the kind of success that “Sleeping Dogs” managed, its legacy provides a reminder of what online experiences could mean in both their greatness and failure.
Even as the gaming industry keeps advancing, lessons drawn from “Triad Wars” can be applied to future projects to ensure that they result in less corrupted, more engaging, and ultimately more successful player experience.