FA+
Shop
Nanovor: a game for preteens that's...good?
16 years ago
So I come across this game a few months ago called Nanovor. I figure, UGH, another Pogeyman ripoff, so I ignore it. Recently, I find there's a dealie called a Nanoscope that can connect to the computer and download your Nanomons into it, upload jolts from playing minigames to buff your nanosaurs, and play mini-campaigns with seperate "Solo Battle Cartridges." So I figure, "FINE, I'll get it; not like Chaotic will release a real Scanner anytime soon, the pricks and their damn lazy-ass "Scanner" deck cases."
When I went into my first online battle... my monster made my opponent's monster's head explode. Into jiggling blobs of orange flesh.
Now I'm thinking, "...this is a game for kids ages 7 and up?"
I keep on playing, and there are more animations for character deaths, including:
-Psychic head explosions (already said this one)
-fatal head concussion with innards flopping out
-melting into an innards-colored puddle
-immolation
-being frozen solid and being shattered
-impalement
-decapitation
-burned alive via acid vapor
Now, I'm not complaining about it being graphic, far from it: it's actually kind of awesome. I'm just worried some concerned mother will freak out about it. "OMG MAH CHILD IS MURDERING FICTIONAL MONSTERS IN A GRAPHICAL WAY SUE SMITH AND TINKER I HATE GTA4 BLAH BLAH BLAHHH!" Sure, these monsters are nanoscopic, so the fact that they have such gooey innards at all is hilariously far-fetched, but story-wise, I can write that off as it being because they're silicon based. You can pretty much write off everything based on how they wrote these things up in the story. They look like mish-mashes of other animals because they pre-date them in the days of a nitrogen-based atmosphere; they can glow from a radioactive evolution because silicon-based lifeforms wouldn't be damaged as much in radiation; you can transfer them to your nanoscope because it's a physical connection to your computer, and since they live in your microchips, they can be transferred through wires on an electrical current.
I better explain the story for a sec: A High School freshman makes an electron microscope to look for dustmites, and discovered the nanovor. Doing the actually smart thing, he shows it to an adult: a science teacher and ex-hacker, Dr. Sapphire. This leads to them finding out how to control the monsters in battle, how to evolve them with Energy Modulators (EMs = nanovor evolution stones), and the creation of the Nanoscopes.
Only one thing I dislike about the story premise: Doc Sapphire uses "scanning algorithms" to transfer "digital copies" of the kids into the Nanosphere, the place in the microchips and such that the Lab Rats (the group that helps research the Nanovor) explore and battle within. I know little about science, and even I know that is sci-fi bullcrap. If Dr Saph built nanoscopic silicon-based androids that look like the kids and the scanning algorithms allowed the kids to control the 'bots mentally through a HUD interface, I could buy it, but not JUST scanning algorithms. Let's cut through the story and get to the killin~
The gameplay is simple: you get 2 energy (EN) a turn, you can either attack, or skip a turn and save up EN for stronger attacks. Then, you can choose to swap Nanovor at the end of the turn. Of course, if all of your nanovor (your 'swarm' o.O;) die, game over. There's other things to deal with, but if you really want to learn about it, google it.
Apparently, because they're silicon-based lifeforms, they can self-resurrect. That does explain away why they seem fine after the battle, but seriously: a monster burned into a pile of silicon-based ash can somehow resurrect itself after a period of time?
Then there's the evolving. Think if Pokemon evolution required you to play a game of Mastermind, and that's about it. But how do you get what is needed to evolve them, let alone more nanovor? Welcome to the world of micro-transactions.
Overall, it's awesome for the target demographic. With the nanoscope, you can force kids to meet offline for battles, too; the nanoscopes have to physically connect. Up to four even. And they fight over all four screens like a giant battle field. Now if only I had three friends that lives nearby with 60 bucks to burn for each of them...
(PS: Nanovor SN = Keetsune)
When I went into my first online battle... my monster made my opponent's monster's head explode. Into jiggling blobs of orange flesh.
Now I'm thinking, "...this is a game for kids ages 7 and up?"
I keep on playing, and there are more animations for character deaths, including:
-Psychic head explosions (already said this one)
-fatal head concussion with innards flopping out
-melting into an innards-colored puddle
-immolation
-being frozen solid and being shattered
-impalement
-decapitation
-burned alive via acid vapor
Now, I'm not complaining about it being graphic, far from it: it's actually kind of awesome. I'm just worried some concerned mother will freak out about it. "OMG MAH CHILD IS MURDERING FICTIONAL MONSTERS IN A GRAPHICAL WAY SUE SMITH AND TINKER I HATE GTA4 BLAH BLAH BLAHHH!" Sure, these monsters are nanoscopic, so the fact that they have such gooey innards at all is hilariously far-fetched, but story-wise, I can write that off as it being because they're silicon based. You can pretty much write off everything based on how they wrote these things up in the story. They look like mish-mashes of other animals because they pre-date them in the days of a nitrogen-based atmosphere; they can glow from a radioactive evolution because silicon-based lifeforms wouldn't be damaged as much in radiation; you can transfer them to your nanoscope because it's a physical connection to your computer, and since they live in your microchips, they can be transferred through wires on an electrical current.
I better explain the story for a sec: A High School freshman makes an electron microscope to look for dustmites, and discovered the nanovor. Doing the actually smart thing, he shows it to an adult: a science teacher and ex-hacker, Dr. Sapphire. This leads to them finding out how to control the monsters in battle, how to evolve them with Energy Modulators (EMs = nanovor evolution stones), and the creation of the Nanoscopes.
Only one thing I dislike about the story premise: Doc Sapphire uses "scanning algorithms" to transfer "digital copies" of the kids into the Nanosphere, the place in the microchips and such that the Lab Rats (the group that helps research the Nanovor) explore and battle within. I know little about science, and even I know that is sci-fi bullcrap. If Dr Saph built nanoscopic silicon-based androids that look like the kids and the scanning algorithms allowed the kids to control the 'bots mentally through a HUD interface, I could buy it, but not JUST scanning algorithms. Let's cut through the story and get to the killin~
The gameplay is simple: you get 2 energy (EN) a turn, you can either attack, or skip a turn and save up EN for stronger attacks. Then, you can choose to swap Nanovor at the end of the turn. Of course, if all of your nanovor (your 'swarm' o.O;) die, game over. There's other things to deal with, but if you really want to learn about it, google it.
Apparently, because they're silicon-based lifeforms, they can self-resurrect. That does explain away why they seem fine after the battle, but seriously: a monster burned into a pile of silicon-based ash can somehow resurrect itself after a period of time?
Then there's the evolving. Think if Pokemon evolution required you to play a game of Mastermind, and that's about it. But how do you get what is needed to evolve them, let alone more nanovor? Welcome to the world of micro-transactions.
Overall, it's awesome for the target demographic. With the nanoscope, you can force kids to meet offline for battles, too; the nanoscopes have to physically connect. Up to four even. And they fight over all four screens like a giant battle field. Now if only I had three friends that lives nearby with 60 bucks to burn for each of them...
(PS: Nanovor SN = Keetsune)
