Hows My Timing?

Posted by Stropp on July 7, 2007

Last weekend while I was trawling around the internet, I came across a free fourteen day trial for Auto Assault. Never one to pass up something free, I decided to give it a go. Mmmmm. Free.

After downloading it and getting the game all set up, I had a bit of a bash for a couple of hours. It’s an interesting game, very fast paced, and running over enemy pedestrians… well that never gets old.

The world wasn’t empty while I was playing, as is normal due to the Oceanic timezone I’m in. There were quite a few players that I came across that first evening, far more than I ever encountered in Vanguard. I was even invited to a group within a few minutes of entering the world. I was able to mow down pedestrians at a frenetic pace while grouping, even if I didn’t know what I was doing. Fantastic.

Two days later, I see an announcement that NCSoft and Netdevil are closing Auto Assault down at the end of August this year after only sixteen months of life.

I’m definitely a little surprised at the announcement considering how short of a time AA has been in operation. The general comment from the developers seemed to indicate that they believed that nothing could be done to revive the game and that it was costing more to keep it going than it was bringing in.

Auto Assault is a different type of game. While I haven’t really experienced all it has to offer, (and won’t now) it does seem to fill a niche. The fact that I saw more players in the newbie area in AA in my crappy timezone than I encountered in several sessions with Vanguard indicates that people like playing it.

The closure of Auto Assault is obviously a business decision for NCSoft. After all they are a business and need to make a profit. But I think it’s a pity that a niche game like Auto Attack is being closed after so short a time.

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