New Dota challenger Rise of Immortals goes into open beta

by Mike Schramm on Jul 5th 2011 10:05PM

Petroglyph Games' Rise of Immortals has entered into an open beta, meaning that you can now try out this new entry into the growing Defense of the Ancients-based (sometimes called Moba) genre for yourself. Register an account on the official site, download the game client and you're good to play. Winning, on the other hand, will probably take longer than that, as these games aren't known for their smooth learning curves, especially if you're not familiar with the premise.

We got to see this one back at GDC, and played it during the closed beta period. The game does bring some innovations to the genre, including a player-level progression system and a map that's designed specifically for a three-person PvE experience. Unfortunately, the polish just isn't there yet, especially when compared to more established titles in the genre like the very popular League of Legends.

But then again, that's what a beta's for, right? No word on how long the beta will last, but given that it was supposed to start even earlier this spring, you can guess it'll probably be around as long as it needs to be.

Show full PR text

PETROGLYPH® ANNOUNCES "RISE OF IMMORTALS"™ OPEN BETA TEST NOW LIVE

Developer Opens the Doors to its Eagerly Anticipated MOBA; Everyone Participating in the Open Beta to Receive 1,000 Petroglyph Coins (worth over $10) and Exclusive Immortal Skin.

LAS VEGAS, NV – July 5, 2011 – Petroglyph® today opened the doors to its eagerly anticipated free-to-play Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, Rise of Immortals™, for an open beta test, commencing the final phase of testing and development before the game's release in the coming weeks.

Rise of Immortals, an online, free-to-play PC game that expands on the hit MOBA genre with new, innovative features, is now open to anyone who is interested in getting a sneak peek at the game as it moves toward commercial launch this summer. Anyone interested in participating in the open beta test can register at http://www.riseofimmortals.com, and will be immediately invited to download the game and start playing.

In addition, Petroglyph also announced today that anyone who participates in the open beta test will receive 1,000 Petroglyph Coins at commercial launch (worth over $10), and an exclusive Immortal skin. The Immortal skin, a dazzling gold version of the robot-suited Psychozen, named "The King of Bling," will be available exclusively for open beta testers to enjoy both during the open beta, and as a complementary add-on to their account at launch.

"Petroglyph, with the help of thousands of our fans, has been testing the game in a closed beta for several months now. We're finally ready to show the game to the world as we polish it for launch," said Steve Wetherill, executive producer of Rise of Immortals for Petroglyph. "Beta players will see ground-breaking features that we've added to the game and which are new to the MOBA genre. From player versus environment maps to character persistence, we're confident that both MOBA newcomers and MOBA fans will find Rise of Immortals to be a fantastic new game."

Rise of Immortals is a free-to-play, micro-transaction-based online game that will be available via direct download. The game features the popular action-strategy gameplay of traditional MOBA games, but adds enhanced socialization features, along with persistent character progression – a first for the MOBA genre. In addition, Rise of Immortals features a social hub where players can show off their enhanced Immortals, chat, emote, browse leaderboards, shop, manage friend and guild lists and more. Players also have the option of taking their Immortals through cooperative Player versus Environment (PvE) scenarios to learn the game, try out new abilities, and earn persistent experience before jumping into Player versus Player (PvP) matches online.

Features of Rise of Immortals:
· Free-to-play
· 12 unique Immortals at launch with additional Immortals released on a regular basis
· Persistent per-Immortal level progression and skill trees
· Persistent artifacts for stat enhancements
· Player versus Environment instances with collectable items
· Player versus Player instances with up to 5v5 multiplayer
· Persistent experience and leveling in both PvP and PvE instances
· Account and Immortal statistics tracking
· Player hub instances for socialization
· Collectible pets for combat and vanity (post-launch feature)

Links:
· Rise of Immortals Website: http://www.riseofimmortals.com
· RoI on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/riseofimmortals
· RoI on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/riseofimmortals
· RoI on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/riseofimmortals
· RoI on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/riseofimmortals

###

Press Info: http://www.riseofimmortals.com/press

About Petroglyph Games, Inc.
Founded in 2003, Petroglyph Games, Inc. is an award-winning, independent game development studio located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Petroglyph team specializes in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), Online Real-Time Strategy (RTS) and Action/RPG games, leveraging the experience gained from developing original hit franchises for PC and consoles. Petroglyph uses their proprietary GLYPHXSM Online game engine, tools and technology to power their next-generation titles.

For more information about Petroglyph, please visit www.petroglyphgames.com.

Tags: beta, dota, open-beta, pc, petroglyph-games, rise-of-immortals, roi, strategy

Reader Comments (31)

Lulz. I got friends at Petroglyph that are working on that game :D

Downloading client now although a pro PvE vote is basically a thumbs down in this arena.

@Fire Walk With Me

No kidding. I loved the BotPlay in LoL, and I was happily playing and LOVING that game... until I hit level 10, and suddenly they were capping me out at 6 rounds per day to get EXP and money from them. I went onto the forums before the "co-op" mode was added (and also had the frelling limitations in it when it DID release) and complained. I was told by the community to leave, this was not the game for me. I took them up on that, and quit, before I spent the $20 to upgrade my account and get more heroes to play with while I was going to grind the bots.

Basically, LoL is lorded over my sweaty neckbeards that like to crush newbloods so they can feel that tiny little wriggle in their nethers. If others are having fun that counteracts them crushing newbloods violently, then they will SCREAM like little children and froth like wild beasts. I hate PvPcentric games, as it only seems to breed those petty, super competitive people that hate everyone that plays the game differently than them. Like those "OMG USE A RIFLE OMG" types that play military shooters.

Personally, I say screw them all. If I can't level up in co-op and have fun, then I'm not going to play. I ended up buying Dawn of war: Last Standalone. Been having a blast. That's $10 that could have been LoL's. Whoops!

@ShivanSwordsman

lolumad, causeubad

@ShivanSwordsman

Call of Duty and any other MP Shooters are PvP centric, it's just that Moba (DotA) games are not only PvP centric but requires more teamplay than any other genre out there, and if a new player joins and don't know how to use their skills to help the team, almost everyone gets pissed.

In CoD you don't have skills to help the team, you don't need to act as a team, you can go and just kill everyone and a CoD match doesn't last for 40 minutes to 2 hours (I've played DotA games that lasted that long because it was really competitive and everyone had same skill level).

The community can be unforgiving, but if you stay strong and learn the Craft, DotA can be the most rewarding Team Based experiences out there ;)

@ShivanSwordsman to each their very own but I frankly dont see the point in continuing down a PvE path after you've tried a bunch of the characters.

I doubt you would have continued much longer fighting the same bots over and over again. Riot has been pretty frank stating they consider their game PvP and the object is to not have a bunch of lvl 30s all of sudden entering pvp with little to no experience.

@ShivanSwordsman
i remember being yelled this "OMG USE A RIFLE OMG" back in the CoD4 days, when i would use a shotgun or P90, funny how little these games have changed. just thought i'd through in my two cents.

@HedonisticKai

I never said I was good at the PvP portion of the game. I enjoy Co-Op. Not listening to whiny neckbeards scream with their fingers how I'm bringing the team down and how I suck and need to quit the game when it's my FIRST FRELLING GAME. To be fair, I quit the game until I found out about Bot Play, played that for several days, then when I hit 10 and it started slapping me in the face telling me I couldn't get money or EXP, I quit again.

Also, you're the exact same person that I mentioned above. You're a child. "lolumad, causeubad". Tell me sir, what did you contribute to this discussion, other than trying to feel your weenie wiggle itself out of it's foreskin cocoon? Nothing? Shove off then. I'm mad because I had fun with bots, and the community AND devs slapped me in the face and told me if I wasn't PvPing I was playing the game wrong.

I was having fun, I wasn't cheating or using hacks, I wasn't abusing or screaming at anyone. I thought the object of games was fun? How then was I playing the game wrong? Hell, I was about to dump $20 into the game so I could grab a bunch of heroes to play with while I was grinding EXP and other heroes I wanted, but they screwed that pooch.

@Fire Walk With Me

I've currently got 103 hours of gameplay logged into Killing Floor, and bought every piece of DLC released over the years. I just recently grabbed War 40K: Dawn of War Retribution The Last Standalone (say that 10 times fast...). 17 Hours. Does any of this scream "I PREFER CO-OP" to you?

I really don't care what the devs say. They're just a bunch of pouty little children, just like Treyarch, just like Infinity Ward, just like every other game creator/mod hater that says "you either play our game the way we designed it or screw off". There's so much frelling drama and high emotions in PvP. I do not like the competitive nature of that side.

Besides, BotPlay IS EXPERIENCE. I was learning strategies, talking with players, watching videos, and trying things out on bots by, GASP, LEARNING IN BOTPLAY! There is no reason to punish a player for having fun with your product! Instead, I no longer get EXP and money from botplay/co-op, and I have since quit the game and taken my money elsewhere.

Please note that I had literally begun playing the game a few weeks before actual co-op with smarter AI had been put in, back when it was just "Custom Games". They had the Riot Girl/Gunner Cannon Girl Facebook thing going on. I do however know that limits are on EXPing and Gold you get from those rounds as well after a few matches, so my arguments still stand.

If RiotGames wants to treat me like crap for having fun with their game... well, let them feed the fires of their flaming fanboys. Well then, screw 'em. I will not be a part of their community, and they will get no money from me. They can keep their whiny, screaming, childish armchair generals that just like to beat up on lesser players.

@Roxas560

No frelling kidding.

god damn all of these games look exactly the same

haha.

>polished
>league of legends

pick one.

Downloading right now, really liked the Star Wars game they did hope they do DoTa right.

Tried the beta a month or 2 ago... Its DOTA, thats for sure. But the classes needed some pretty big balancing for this game to be a real contender in this genre.

Other than that, yea... Its pretty cool i guess.

nah sorry, this game is not my gusto.
but now i know again why i cant stop playing LoL (actually i stopped because server is down)
and what they call PVE is nothing else but Coop vs. AI.

let's hope this game has denying in it. but oh well, I still have HoN. and dota 2 in the future

I hope there's denying in it. but i still have HoN, and dota 2 will be coming soonish

So is this game Windows only, or what? I can't find so much as a "system requirements" anywhere on their site, and I'm not going to register to find out I can't run it!

Will this be the LoL european players have to play since it never bloody works?

I'll stick with LoL, thanks.

There's already League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth and now DOTA 2 coming. This is not needed.

...why does everyone play LoL? Heroes of Newerth is a technically superior game, both from a gameplay and an engine standpoint. Granted it probably has a higher learning curve because of denying and loss of gold when dying. But that's what I can't stand about LoL there is no penalty for dying. I don't like their hero design either I don't see many specific role characters it seems they do too much. And I'm sure I'll get down voted for having an opinion but idc I've played both games and the $20 I spent on HoN was probably one of the best values I've gotten on a game. Also HoN is up to 83 heroes and LoL is about to release their 81st. You get all those 83 heroes plus can buy alt avatars for them in the shop for ingame currency in HoN. But whatever tbh I'm more excited for DotA 2... I think it was HoN that made the dumb comment of "We shouldn't be afraid of them they should be afraid of us! We set the bar pretty high for them."

@Grimbear13

You're Wrong.. HoN < LoL

no penalty for dying?

Yeah, dying doesnt give the enemy team gold doesnt it? Plus... staying dead for about a minute while your team runs around doing 4v5's isnt a penalty either right?.... hmmm, false logic is??? false.

@Grimbear13
Umm? Have you played LoL before? There is too a penalty for dying. Unfortunately, it's the same penalty that you get for living: you're playing LoL.

...why does everyone play LoL? Virtua Chess is a technically superior game, both from a gameplay and an engine standpoint. Granted it probably has a higher learning curve because of Tactics and algorythms. But that's what I can't stand about LoL there is no penalty for dying. I don't like their hero design either I don't see many specific role characters it seems they do too much. And I'm sure I'll get down voted for having an opinion but idc I've played both games and the $20 I spent on Virtua Chess was probably one of the best values I've gotten on a game. Also Virtua Chess is up to 6 untis and LoL is about to release their 81st. You get all those 6 units plus can buy alt avatars for them in the shop for ingame currency in Virtua Chess. But whatever tbh I'm more excited for Ultimate Chess 2: Forever 3... I think it was Virtua Chess that made the dumb comment of "We shouldn't be afraid of them they should be afraid of us! We set the bar pretty high for them."

Destined to fail with Dota 2 on the horizon

wait! is that Morgana, Akali and a green Cho'Gath?? ):

I don't want the MOBA genre to get stacked with more of the same, I'm having a great time playing LoL, and I'll try this but srsly I hope there's some innovation, if not, then there's no reason to move from LoL

@DarkSonata
wtf? someones been playing too much LoL

@Masker13 =D sure I had!

I tried it during the closed beta, and it just wasn't fun. It severely lacked polish as well. I'm all for them fixing mistakes and making the game enjoyable. Competition in this genre is bound to make all games improve. Hell, it might even make Riot to finish Magma Chamber sometime before the end of the year.

@ironneko you do have a point there, but we actually need better and unique competitors to force the established to try harder

but yeah, LoL NEEDS Magma Chamber ASAP

Still not as good as HoN. I'll stick with what I already have.

Rise of Immortals

New Dota challenger Rise of Immortals goes into open beta

Reader Comments (31)

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 10:28PM Grey Devil said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:08PM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 4:43AM ShivanSwordsman said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 9:30AM HedonisticKai said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 9:37AM Ashkental said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 10:57AM Fire Walk With Me said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 1:04PM Roxas560 said

Posted: Jul 8th 2011 8:06AM ShivanSwordsman said

Posted: Jul 8th 2011 8:19AM ShivanSwordsman said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:31PM ORTHROK said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:31PM risk said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:33PM Masker13 said

Posted: Jul 5th 2011 11:41PM liquidsoap89 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 12:53AM takahami said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 1:01AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 1:02AM aray48 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 1:20AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 3:09AM den69 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 8:00AM Yuglyoshi said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 8:33AM Prince David said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 8:37AM Grimbear13 said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 9:33AM HedonisticKai said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 6:56PM Counterattack said

Posted: Jul 7th 2011 8:34PM AntiVillian said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 10:43AM deop said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 10:47AM DarkSonata said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 5:41PM Masker13 said

Posted: Jul 7th 2011 10:29AM DarkSonata said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 1:52PM ironneko said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 4:50PM DarkSonata said

Posted: Jul 6th 2011 4:41PM Ashitaka said

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