05.09.12
Gamespy: Preview: Hands On with Sins of a Dark Age
Imagine looking down from above on a game of League of Legends, Dota 2, or Heroes of Newerth as two teams of five fantasy heroes clash amidst waves of AI-controlled soldiers. It's not looking good for the Centaur -- he's being ganged up on by a Spider Queen with her spiderling minions and a four-armed Abomination. Without help, he'll never escape alive -- so, like a benevolent god, you cast a spell giving the Centaur a burst of super speed that allows him to trot out of his pursuers' reach. ...Read More
05.09.12
IGN: Sins of a Dark Age: A Constantly Evolving MOBA
The primary way Sins of a Dark Age separates itself from the competition is its player Commander. Five players on each team play heroes in a traditional MOBA fashion, while one person per team plays Sins as an RTS. Last time we saw Sins the Commander had to do typical RTS actions like build bases, harvest resources, and construct units, but all that’s been completely reworked. Now Commanders don’t build bases at all, and instead start off with a pre-made town. Resources aren’t harvested from the earth, but are earned by killing enemies and capturing resource nodes scattered throughout the map. ...Read More
03.13.12
NeoSeeker: Sins of a Dark Age GDC 2012 Interview: New Frontiers WATCH VIDEO Ironclad Games is celebrated among strategy enthusiasts as one of the genre's better developers based on their reputation from the Sins of a Solar Empire series. The studio is currently stirring the pot with Sins of a Dark Age, their upcoming title which mixes together a variety of elements from action RTS and MOBA. It's also free to play. ...Read More
03.13.12
GamesSpy: At Last! Sins of a Dark Age Screenshots
It was shy at first, but today the RTS/MOBA hybrid from the creators of Sins of a Solar Empire has decided to strut its stuff for all to see. ...Read More
03.13.12
IGN: Sins of a Dark Age: Inspired Innovatios Sins of a Dark Age sets itself apart because of many features, but the biggest is the commander role. While the rest of the team plays Sins like a standard MOBA, the player-controlled commander gets to observe and experience the match as a RTS. These players worry about resource harvesting, base building and creating an army to assist the other heroes. And unlike, say, League of Legends, there are no AI-controlled minions. ...Read More
03.09.12
GamesRadar: PREVIEW VIDEO: Sins of a Dark Age -When we first heard about Sins of a Dark Age, Ironclad Games' free-to-play follow-up to Sins of a Solar Empire, we really didn't understand how it was going to work. Was it a League of Legends-style MOBA, or a StarCraft II-style RTS? Turns out it's both... and neither. It's a strange mixture that looks like it has the capability of creating an entirely new sub-genre altogether, which is something we're totally excited for. ...Read More
03.09.12 TechTrend: Ironclad reveals Sins of a Dark Age, new MOBA from Solar Empire developer - It seems like every few weeks a new developer reveals that it’s throwing its hat into the multiplayer online battle theatre (MOBA) genre, attempting to take attached League of Legends and Dota 2. The tactic, in whatever degree, isn’t usually all that revolutionary. That’s the kind of makes Ironclad’s Sins of a Dark Age stand out – time it’s obviously following in the track of the games that came judgment it in the genre, its take is individual that looks wholly unique. ...Read More
03.09.12 Destructoid: GDC: Curing caustic communities in Sins of a Dark Age - When I first started trying out League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth, I was very quickly pushed away by their atrocious treatment of new players. Ironclad has stepped up to the plate in their new "commander and hero strategy game," Sins of a Dark Age. Instead of trying to punish antisocial behavior, they want to reward the good samaritins of the community. ...Read More
03.09.12 Digital Trends: Preview: Sins of a Dark Age - PC gamers should need no introduction when it comes to Ironclad Games. In its still-supported first game, Sins of a Solar Empire, the developer managed to successfully mash together some of the coolest concepts from the Civilization series and other 4X games with the excitement and moment-to-moment decision-making of the real-time strategy genre. Now the studio is turning to a new mash-up concept for it’s next offering, a fusion of RTS play and the hero-based team play of games like League of Legends and DotA....Read More
03.09.12 G4TV: Preview: Sins of a Dark Age -Sins of a Dark Age takes on the worlds of both RTS and MOBA by combining the two in a Free-to-Play gaming adventure off to conquer the kingdom and save the industry from itself.
From the very beginning, the developers seem to be out on a mission to put the fun back in competitive gaming while making it safer easier for beginners to get a handle on the game. No one is dead weight. Fun, fast, and all for free; tell the dragons to beware because we’ve just found our shining white knights. ...Read More
03.08.12 The Joystiq Show: PODCAST - GDC 2012 soldiers on. Xav, Alexander, and Ben convene to talk about the third day of the show after sitting in on a few panels, starting with Ben's impressions of a talk from Capcom's Keiji Inafune. Alexander saw Civilization V: Gods & Kings and Sins of a Dark Age, and Xav provides some insight into Quantic Dreams and David Cage's Kara tech demo. ...Listen Here
03.08.12 GAME SPY: Preview: Sins of a Dark Age - Zooming in for a closer look at the "Hero-and-Commander Strategy" game.
A couple weeks ago the guys behind Sins of a Solar Empire announced their next game: Sins of a Dark Age. It's a unique hybrid they're calling "Hero-and-Commander Strategy," and it puts one player playing traditional RTS base-building and army-management gameplay on the same team as four players controlling single heroes with action-RPG abilities, as seen in the MOBA genre. Before now we just had a few scraps of concept art and a description to go on, but now I've seen it in action -- and it's looking like a hell of a lot of fun. ...Read More
Ironclad's new Sins of a Dark Age has me on the horns of a dilemma. On the one hand, I'm not a fan of its Defense of the Ancients style gameplay and the unfriendly audience it's sure to attract. On the other hand, Ironclad's previous effort, Sins of a Solar Empire, blended real-time strategy with 4X elements to create a game that was not only very innovative, but pretty damn fun as well. So when Ironclad wanted to show me its latest hybrid, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Happily, the developers have a solid gameplay design and a number of ways to encourage the normally hostile DOTA audience to welcome new and inexperienced players. ...Read More
03.08.12 Gameplay VIDEO GDC - [GDC 2012] Sins of a Dark Age - GameSpot's first look
GameSpot's video preview for Sins of a Dark Age, an upcoming MMO mixing the RTS and MOBA genres.
Fraser said that during the course of free-to-play research, he didn't like everything he saw. One of those negative trends, he said, is the ability for players to pay to win in some free-to-play strategy games.
"The number one thing that we didn't want was to be selling in-game power, especially in strategy games," said Fraser. "Strategy games should be your skill, your brain, your tactical and strategic thought against someone else's, or against the enemy AI's strategies. ...Read More
02.22.12
Top news sites report on Sins of a Dark Age
IronClad Games’, developer of the smash hit Sins of a Solar Empire, have announced their next PC exclusive title: Sins of a Dark Age. The new game, which is the dawn of a completely new series, is being shown at the upcoming Game Developer’s Conference behind closed doors ....Read More
02.21.12 Top news sites report on Sins of a Dark Age
PREVIEW @ GameSpy- Sins of a Dark Age Announced - An RTS/MOBA Hybrid from the Creators of Sins of a Solar Empire
Defense of the Ancients (DotA) and its Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) offspring rose up from the real-time strategy genre, discarding the vestigial resource-gathering, base-building, and army management mechanics in favor of controlling just one hero unit per player. With Sins of a Dark Age, Ironclad is bringing those elements back in a unique, asymmetrical mashup, in which one player steps into the role of Commander to play a traditional Warcraft-style RTS while his teammates play as MOBA-style heroes -- all on the same battlefield. ...Read More
HIGHLIGHT @ IGN- Sins of a Dark Age: A MOBA/RTS Hybrid. Everything we know so far about Ironclad's new property.
"'Sins of a' is our 'Craft'," explains Blair Fraser, co-founder of Ironclad. He's speaking specifically about the naming convention for Sins of a Dark Age, his studio's new intellectual property. Just as Blizzard Entertainment inserts 'Craft' into most of their games names, Ironclad is apparently following suit. ...Read More
ronclad announced Sins of a Dark Age today, the developer's follow-up to the epic space armada strategy title Sins of a Solar Empire. The new game will be a free-to-play title, blending classic real-time strategy with the MOBA genre ...Read More
Looming grey clouds crowd the endless sky. Bitter winds and the smell of damp earth do little to mask the pungent stench rising from the blanket of blood stretched across the lifeless valley. Armies of men and beast lay piled high, a twisted mass of spikes and flesh; steam from their bodies still climbing the sheer rocky cliffs. All that remains standing is a monstrous machine of war and four heroic silhouettes honoring their victorious commander. Today’s battle is over, but the war has just begun. ...Read More
Ironclad Games is proud to present a team-based real-time strategy experience like no other. If you’re familiar with our Game-of-the-year space strategy, Sins of a Solar Empire prepare yourself for another genre-blending gem in a faster paced fantasy setting. If you haven’t heard of us, we welcome you to the start of a great community. Our company is known for stable high quality games, top-notch support, anti-DRM practices and listening honestly to our community!
What is so unique about this Game?
Sins of a Dark Age is a ‘Hero and Commander Strategy’ Game. In short, you will join an online team consisting of one Commander and a small group of Heroes who work together to accomplish a specific scenario goal. Your team will go head-to-head against an enemy team in a short, fast-paced multiplayer match or you’ll work cooperatively against the AI in custom scenarios. You can earn rewards for yourself and your clan, climbs the ranks, and watch and share your most glorious replays online. You’ll be able to choose from an ever-growing pool of heroes, commanders and factions each of which supports unique capabilities.
Choose the Hero role and you’ll face the enemy on the front lines as the most inspiring and powerful member of a mighty army. Your success in battle will be well rewarded with experience, unique abilities, and game changing items that will make you an ever greater symbol of power on the battlefield and a critical rallying point for your commander’s army.
Choose the Commander role to devise the master plan for your empire: you’ll oversee your grand army in an epic battle against your most voracious enemies. As Commander, you’re responsible for building your base, directing your peons and carefully positioning your defenses. It’s up to you to properly train your units and use them to support your team’s Heroes in calculated assaults on enemy positions and to capture key resources. The Commander role allows you to call upon larger-than-life ‘Realm Powers’ to turn the tide of battle.
" The first time you participate in an all out siege is just awesome. Imagine your commander sends his first wave of chaff infantry against the enemy defenses. As they start to take losses he signals to you and your fellow heroes to charge while his siege weaponry and volleys of arrows fly overhead shortly after. All the while, waves of exotic magic flow back and forth across the battlefield annihilating entire hosts of troops on both sides. Suddenly the enemy commander's cavalry charges out from a hidden position attempting to catch your casters off guard. What happens next could decide the fate of the entire war."
- Blair Fraser, co-owner and producer at Ironclad Games.
Is Sins of a Dark Age player friendly?
Sins of a Dark Age is really easy to learn but hard to master.
As a new player, you’ll love the cooperative play and your first competitive games with equally matched new players. You’ll likely start out with a straight forward hero with a low skill cap for the first few games. We’ll provide plenty of tips to get you started and your commander for the game will help mentor and support you.
As a veteran, you’ll likely gravitate towards the more complex Heroes with a higher skill cap and the Commander role. You’ll be matched with other advanced players in a competitive setting. As new heroes, commander, factions and maps are released you’ll always have a fresh challenge.
We made a very conscious effort to minimize griefing and other common causes of hostility in the community. Our innovative match design will prevent players from missing out on a match or a session being ruined by players dropping out. You’ll be able to instantly rejoin games or jump into shorthanded battles to save the day and earn bonus rewards for yourself and your clan!
"The ‘Sins of a Dark Age’ near-death experience is one you’ll never forget. Picture yourself exploring a great plateau for precious resources, and then coming to the realization that you’ve strayed just a bit too far from the comfort of your party. A high-level enemy assassin ambushes you’re only hope is the faster boots you are wearing. You run along the edge of the cliff forcing him to run the gauntlet of your commander’s catapults in range from below. With a nick of health you rejoin your party’s healer and he puts a protective shield around you. You turn back to face your enemy and deliver the final blow with your ultimate ability.
- Craig Fraser, co-owner and creative director at Ironclad Games.
The Best for last!
We’ll be providing all the post-game goodies: leaderboards, stats tracking, online replays, and spectator mode are a few examples. Best of all, you’ll always play for free! If you’d like to support development you can buy a new Hero, Commander, a cool new skin, or other goodies, but we are never going to give players the ability to buy power in the game – your skill is the only thing that grants you more power!
As a new player, you’ll love the cooperative play and your first competitive games with equally matched new players. You’ll likely start out with a straight forward hero with a low skill cap for the first few games. We’ll provide plenty of tips to get you started and your commander for the game will help mentor and support you.
Be sure to register now to reserve your name and for a chance to win a beta slot!
02.09.12
Particle Effects Artist- Do you get excited by explosions, heavenly rays of light, fire, smoke, swooshes, spells, lightning, environmental effects, impact bursts and all things that go boom? Are you a self-motivated generalist who enjoys working with a small and highly skilled team?
Ironclad is in the middle of a revolutionary new game and now is your opportunity to make your mark with stunning particle effects, environmental awesomeness, and 2D mastery.
...Readmore
11.16.11
Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity Available on Steam
Access Sins of a Solar Empire Trinity instantly on Steam. The Sins of a Solar Empire series has swept many of the top gaming media awards, including IGN’s overall PC Game of the Year award. Opening sale of 25% off for a limited time. Catch the sale Here.
03.03.11
Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion Pre-Orders Begin
The time of Diplomacy is over. The length of the war and differing opinions on what should be done to bring the war to an end has led to a splintering of the groups involved. The controlling powers-that-be have depleted arsenals and seemed to have exhausted all efforts of diplomacy. Trapped in a stalemate, sub-factions have rebelled and broken off the main alignments. Rebellion is upon us.
Eager RTS gamers can now pre-order the upcoming Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion! All pre-order customers will gain access to the Rebellion beta scheduled for later this year.
