Gunbound

GunBound World Champion
Developer(s)	softnyx
Publisher(s)	OnGame GOA Template:Country data World softnyx HANGAME (Latin America) softnyx AsiaSoft & ijji Mobius
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	Template:Country data World June 2005 February 2006 July 2006 January 2007 (Beta) January 2007 (Beta)
Genre(s)	Artillery
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

GunBound (Korean: 건바운드) is a free-to-play, turn-based, room-to-room, multiplayer online game with many similar features to the popular Worms game series.

GunBound was developed and is maintained by South Korean developer Softnyx. It is currently in its second major release, subtitled World Champion internationally and called GunBound Revolution in North America with ijji as its host. The first major beta release was Thor's Hammer.

Gameplay

GunBound has a turn-based artillery gameplay, bearing properties of two-dimensional games and ballistics-simulation games. In GunBound, players are assigned to two opposing teams which take turns firing at each other with vehicles called "Mobiles" in GunBound parlance. Each "Mobile" has three unique weapons, labeled "1", "2", and "SS" (Super Special).

Factors like terrain condition, wind currents and elemental phenomena force players to continuously change their aim and trajectory power setting while rethinking their strategy at the same time. GunBound also implements a 'delay' turn system which is influenced by the Mobile, the weapon and/or item a player uses - using items or taking time with actions results in a longer wait before the player's next turn.

Avatars

A user's character can be equipped with clothing and other items, termed Avatar Items, which provide additional statistical bonuses that will assist players in the game, except on specific servers where avatar bonuses are disabled. This adds an element of customization for players. Gold (the game's currency) earned from battles can be spent on these Avatar items. Avatars can also be bought using cash which can be bought using money from a credit card or cash using PayPal or mail. While most items can be purchased with either type of currency, certain rare items may only be purchased with one type.

Mobiles

The game has eighteen Mobiles in total with two of them, dragon and knight, only available by chance if the Mobiles are chosen at random. The other sixteen are available from a selection screen. Every Mobile falls under one of three different categories: Mechanical, Shielded and Bionic. Each has its own distinct features in a Rock Paper Scissors format. Different mobiles have different defenses and health levels, they also have different angle ranges to shoot with, and different damage ranges due to any additional abilities that may be present in their shots.

Game modes

Solo

Each player has only one life during game play. Once dead, the deceased players access a three-in-a-row, rolling slots game in which they can gain gold, alter wind conditions (affecting the shots of still-living players), or drop randomly-chosen items or bombs from the sky.

Tag

Tag mode is similar to Solo mode with only one difference: Players are allowed two Mobiles at the beginning of a match. In this mode, each player is permitted to switch once per turn between his or her chosen primary and secondary Mobiles, each with its own health value (Initially, secondary Mobiles only have half of its total health. This, however, can be mended using Healing items). Players cannot switch Mobiles once dead.

Score

In Score mode, the objective is to kill or bunge opponents until the enemy life counter reaches zero. Bunging is when you can destroy the land around the opponent's area and cause him/her to fall. The lives allotted in Score mode relies on the amount of team players participating in a match. For a team composed of n players, there are (n + 1) lives. Lives are pooled between players in a team. A team wins if the opposition's life counter reaches zero, or if there are no more opponents left on the field. Dead players, upon dying, have a choice of their drop location and drop at that point in the field in a set amount of 4 turns after the point is chosen. Should a player not hit land, he or she will continue to fall and the team life counter will not go down, but instead cause the player to reselect the drop location and wait another 4 turns. The player's drop location is slightly affected by wind conditions.

Jewel

Participants are required to eliminate targets called Jewel (seen in the form of Raons). Each Jewel is assigned a point value for being destroyed. Point values include -5, 5, 10 and 25. Shots fired at the enemy will not cause damage, but can destroy land. Teams win the game by rounding up at least 100 points, or bunging (hitting the land underneath them until they drop down) their opponents until none are left.

Powerball

Same as Score mode, except that only the 'teleport' item is available. Instead, Powerballs representing the various items drop from the sky. Collecting the Powerball grants the corresponding item's ability. Different effects can be stacked. There are five Powerballs: Thunder Ball, Dual Ball, Gold Ball, Force Ball and Bomb Ball. The Thunder Ball will cause thunder to strike where the bullet lands when it is shot as if it went through a thunder storm in other circumstances. The Dual Ball acts as if the player had used a Dual item but does not affect delay. The Gold Ball increases the gold earned from completing certain feats. The Force Ball increases the damage done when hitting another player. The Bomb Ball is the only non-beneficial Power Ball and deals 200 damage to whoever it hits. The damage can stack when multiple Bomb Balls hit a player.

This option is not available in the ijji version of Gunbound. This is in the old Gunbound and in the other versions of Gunbound.

Weather

In Gunbound, there are 9 weather icons which could affect the projectile path or damage of a shot. These weather icons are lightning, tornado, force (a sun symbol), thor, wind (a comet symbol), land (an ice pellet symbol), protection (a crescent moon symbol), and ignorance (a dark moon symbol). These icons cycle throughout the match and the number of times they appear depends on the map.

Lightning, force, and thor add damage to your shot(s). Protection allows every player to gain some health. Tornado changes the projectile's path. Wind changes the strength and direction of the wind. Land increases the destruction of land. Ignorance disables the use of items and shield recovery while that icon remains active.

The number of players equals the number of rounds before the next icon cycles through (including opposing players rounds); 1 vs 1: Every two rounds; 2 vs 2: Every four rounds; 3 vs 3: Every six rounds; 4 vs 4: Every eight rounds.

Critical reception

The UK edition of PC Gamer magazine gave Gunbound a rating of 83 out of 100. Netjak gave Gunbound a rating of 8.3 out of 10.

See also

• List of free Massively Multiplayer Online Games
  
• ijji

External links

• GunBound - Official list of servers
• Softnyx - Developer's main site
• GunBound ijji - Official gunbound website (new)

Official GunBound Server Websites

• GunBound International - GunBound International Website (Softnyx)
• GunBound Brazil - GunBound Brazil Website (Ongame)
• GunBound Japan - GunBound Japan Website
• GunBound Korea - GunBound Korea Website (Softnyx)
• GunBound Latino Service - GunBound Latino Service Website (Softnyx)
• GunBound North America - GunBound North America Website (IJJI, NHN)
• GunBound Vietnam - GunBound Vietnam Website (Asiasoft)
• GunBound Europe - GunBound Europe Website (GOA, France Telecom)
• Gunbound Indonesia - Gunbound Indonesian website (hosted by PT Boleh.com)
• GunBound Philippines - GunBound Philippine Website

Wikis

• Template:StrategyWiki