Bursting Onto the Scene: Philadelphia’s Burst Online

Recently I had the pleasure of sitting down with Damon Alberts, president of Burst Online Entertainment. Burst is a premiere game company located in downtown Philadelphia, filled with high hopes. Until recent years, Philadelphia has been a dead-zone in game entertainment. If Burst has their way, that will all change.

After nine months in development, Burst has partnered with eCity Interactive to bring Philadelphia, and the world, the turn based strategy of Warlord Battlegrounds. The game is now going into beta, and Burst is looking for beta testers, Alberts said.

At first glance, Warlord Battlegrounds may look like just another social networking adventure. That, however, is where the similarities end. Reminiscent of the Ogre Battle series, Battlegrounds raises the bar by offering endless amounts of customization and possibility.

In a world wide web filled with cookie-cutter browser experiences, Burst offers the depth of core gaming, in both an easy and casual manner. Taking root in eastern and western mythology, the world of Battlegrounds appeals as the fantasy of a fantasy world. Alberts projects having hundreds of race/class combinations to accumulate and out-wit your opponents in 1v1 or 2v2 battles.

Here’s how it works:

• After a quick and painless sign-up process, you will then be allowed to create your own warlord. The warlord is able to be one of the many (and increasing) races that live in Battlegrounds, i.e: Human, Dragon, Dwarf, Elf and Orc.
• The warlord is automatically given five units of his own race, though the player may later recruit and personalize their own army with units of any race.
• From there, you may simply quick battle an opponent whose skill level matches your own, or challenge anyone through a global chat channel.
• Each player is given an even amount of Battle Points to spend on deploying their units. The less BP a unit costs, the more of the unit type you are able to deploy. The strongest units require much more BP than weaker ones. Strategists will have to work hard on finding a balance of key ingredients to employ the right team.
• In battle, your warlords have access to an arsenal of spells that require mana, which accumulates over time or can be perpetually increased by having units stand on special squares. The warlord’s units use basic attacks that boost morale, or special attacks which deplete morale to use.
• Each unit race and type come with their own series of strengths and weaknesses. This allows no single unit type to dominate all of the others.
• The battles typically last up to 20 minutes, and the player is well rewarded for their effort. Prestige Points allow you to unlock new content which can be bought with gold from your campaigns, or Burst coins purchased from the Burst store.

If you’re interested in playing Warlord Battlegrounds in beta, check out their website and sign up to be invited into the beta testing. Interested in what Burst is setting out to accomplish? Then check out their overview at www.playonburst.com.