AOL's teen site, RED (http://www.beRED.com) announced today the debut of "FireChild: Tournament of the Ancients," a 3-D, sci-fi action, multiplayer, console-quality game available for download and online play for free exclusively at www.firechildonred.com. "Tournament of the Ancients" will take place where AOL RED's original FireChild series left off and will introduce gamers to a new battle arena and new characters. The new features will include two clans of young warriors – one led by Lona and the other by her older brother Waken – who must train together in the ruins of a dangerous and ancient arena to prepare for any possible enemy attack.
Developed by Sarbakan, this state-of-the-art multiplayer online game enables up to eight players from two different clans to take part simultaneously in real-time, shooter-type action. Each clan has access to four different character classes with distinctive skill sets and weapons, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. "Tournament of the Ancients" also features three game modes: ‘Death Match,' ‘Team Death Match,' and ‘Capture the Flag Cooperative Mode.' Each character can advance through five experience levels and has access to multiple weapons including the electrifying "Scorcher" and power-ups ranging from speed bursts to armor boosts. Top players can achieve one of five in-game rankings with the highest being War Chief.
"The animations, effects and 3-D environment of this game rival the quality of retail PC games," said Jacquie Moen, Vice President, AOL Kids and Teens. "We are thrilled to offer RED's audience this high quality game for free on the open web."
Free to download for both casual and hard-core gamers, the art direction and original design of the FireChild universe has been adapted to make this multiplayer experience visually appealing and different from any other first-person shooter game offered on the web. "FireChild: Tournament of the Ancients" can support up to 800 simultaneous players, with a maximum of 8 players per game. The game uses a 3-D engine developed by Sarbakan using VirTools, with no plug-ins needed to play the game. Only a Broadband connection, 30MB of hard drive space and a PC running Windows are required to play.