This year at PAX East, the showfloor was bursting with MMOs, Free-to-Play (F2P) games, and F2P MMOs. We went hands-on with some and were shown the demo for others. If you missed our impressions of these games before, sit back and relax while I round them up for you and break them down.

We picked up on some more updates about Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition from PAX East, so sit back and get excited!

Last weekend at PAX East, I had the opportunity to check out TERA, an upcoming action MMO. Buzz has been in the air about TERA for quite some time, but it was only last weekend that I had a chance to go hands-on with it.

At PAX East, I had the chance to be walked and talked through the upcoming D&D Online expansion, Menace of the Underdark (MotU). As would be expected of a DDO expansion, MotU is story-driven. A fissure has opened up right in the middle of the capital city in Eberron which leads to other D&D realms, including the worlds of the Underdark and the Forgotten Realms. The Spinner of Shadows, Lolth’s agent in the DDO universe, is behind all this madness. Players will travel through four huge areas (the Demonweb, the Underdark, Evening Star, and King’s Forest) as a hero from another world, trying to unravel why the drow are invading the town of Evening Star and the nature of “the thread of the weave.”

After what seems like a half dozen video game conferences, I finally got to get my hands on Firefall's PvE experience - instead of the versus gameplay that was always on display at previous events.  The good news is, despite the game being in closed beta for months and months, it appears the free to play game should hit a more open beta in the coming weeks.  

I was a huge fan of the original Orcs Must Die!, a tower defense like game from developer Robot Entertainment. It combined the unique strategy that tower defense games offer along with the action of a 3rd person shooter and splashed on a really attractive style. Sadly one thing felt missing and that was co-op play. But Robot Entertainment has heard the cries of its fans and will be including cooperative play through the game’s sequel in Orcs Must Die! 2. At PAX East Tally and I went hands on with PC version of the game, and even though the first game hit XBLA, we were told not to expect the sequel to.

Part two of my appointment with Perfect World Entertainment was for the other F2P MMO they have in the works: Neverwinter. This is a title I’ve been excited about every since it was announced, but it’s gone through some big changes since that announcement. The developer from the start has always been Cryptic Studios (the guys behind City of Heroes/Villians, Champions Online, and Star Trek Online), but they’ve changed publishers. Also, I was originally under the impression that it was intended as a multiplayer game, and now it’s a F2P MMO. I won’t lie - I was a little nervous about some of these changes; it turns out though that my fears were unfounded because the game looks absolutely great.

PAX East 2012 has come and gone.  This year was an interesting year for me as I not only tried to cover the numerous co-op games during the show, but show off a co-op game of my own.  Thankfully as Tally had said in her Raiderz preview, it was the year of the Free to Play.  Free to play MMOs, RTS, MOBA, FPS, and any other achronym you can think of were on display.  Huge booths from Firefall, World of Tanks, Terra, and League of Legends dominated a show floor.  Their only competition were Ubisoft and 2K Games, which sat side by side competing with Farcry 3, Ghost Recon and Borderlands 2.  

After surveying the show floor at PAX East, Nick and I came to the same conclusion: 2012 looks like it's going to be a strong year for free-to-play (F2P) games, MMOs, and yes, F2P MMOs. Case in point was my first PAX East appointment: publisher Perfect World Entertainment. PWE's specialization is quality F2P MMOs and they were showcasing two such titles for the convention: Raiderz and Neverwinter. This post will be covering Raiderz.

Indie developer Carbon Games were showing off the latest version of their RTS/MOBA hybrid called AirMech at PAX East 2012 and I chatted with a member of the developer about the game.  The idea of it is a hybrid of the genres, players won't be building any bases like traditional RTS games, but they will have a variety of structures to manage units from.  And unlike most MOBA games (think League of Legends) - players have more direct control over the other units on the battlefield.

The Behemoth's Castle Crashers is by all accounts the perfect arcade style co-op game this generation.  It offers catchy visuals, accessibility, and addictive gameplay elements that keep you coming back for more.  When I first saw BattleBlock Theater, the next game from the developer, I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.   It just didn't have that look that sucked you in that Castle Crashers had.  This is definitely a different game and my time with it at PAX East has given be a better understanding of just what BattleBlock Theater is...and isn't.

PAX East is coming, 6-8th April in Boston to be exact. Whilst some of the Co-Optimus crew will be going this year and even showing off their game, others will be forced to endure the snow that has just arrived in Britain. As well as better weather, another perk that visitors to PAX East  will get is some free Penny Arcade DLC for the Steam version of Dungeon Defenders, the rest of us will have to pay $1.99 for the privilege.