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GunZ: The Duel
File:Gunzforumlogo.jpg
Developer(s)	MAIET Entertainment
Publisher(s)	MAIET Entertainment & Netmarble & Level Up! Games & ijji
Designer(s)	Venister
Engine	GunZ Engine
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	June 2005 (Beta Edition) June? 2003 & November 2006
Genre(s)	Third-person shooter/RPG
Mode(s)	Online Multiplayer

GunZ the Duel (Korean: 건즈 더 듀얼), also known as GunZ, is a Third-Person Multiplayer Online Shooting Role Playing Game (MOSRPG), created by Korean-based MAIET Entertainment. International GunZ, in its beta, is currently free to play, and is planned to remain free after its official release. Though the International Edition is still in its beta stage, the Korean and Japanese versions are considered complete. The game allows players to perform exaggerated, gravity-defying action moves, including wall running, flipping, tumbling, and blocking bullets with swords, in the style of action movies and anime.

History

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A little known fact about the storyline and history of GunZ is that the background story is actually from GunZ's absolute first incarnation: a single player, turn-based combat RPG.

Korean edition

The Korean version of GunZ was released in February 2004.

Indian edition

The Indian version of GunZ was released in July 2006.

International edition

The game also exists in an international edition.

North American edition

On November 8, 2006, the Closed Beta for the North American version of GunZ was released at 11:00 PM GMT/UTC on the game portal site ijji. Ijji held a leveling contest, in which the exp and bounty gain rate was 1.5. Prizes were given out, where the top 3 ranked users would win an nVidia GeForce 7900 GT video card or the equivalent. Additionally, if a user's account had one character which cleared level 10, they would be eligible for a random drawing to win a Geforce 7800 GT (or equivalent). All players who were ranked 100 or higher received the privilege of reserving their Game ID for the full release . Rankings were based upon the level or experience points gained, kill/death ratio and time played.

Upon release, the game surpassed Gunbound, ijji's then most popular game, with more than 5,000 players on at any given time . The closed beta did not include Clan War, although a Bug Free Coat, a level 3 Fire Element, and a Grey Dust armor set were given out if the user's account was made before a predetermined date. Gunz: The Duel's closed beta ended November 15, 2006, at 11:00 PM GMT/UTC.

The ijji/North American GunZ live service was released on November 29, 2006. The live service included clan wars and quest mode, with the second update to Quest Mode planned for release in January 2007 . The premium item shop was opened on January 8, 2007 .

It has been reported by MAIET that a full quest version, along with several new features, will be released for the North American edition during February, 2007.

Kill system

Scoring kills in GunZ earns a player "bounty", which enables one to buy new clothes, weapons and accessories. Weapons include dual firearms, katanas, daggers, kodachi, grenades, and other weapons. Accessories which directly affect the player's attributes are also sold, i.e. rings (increasing HP, AP, and/or additional weight capacity) and health/armor packs. Currently, in the Korean, Japanese, Brazilian and North American versions, many items such as "eyes" and hats are sold.

Players acquire EXP, or Experience Points, by killing other players. These points contribute to the progression or advancement of a player's 'level'. Higher levels allow players to wield better weapons and wear better armour. The amount of EXP, as well as bounty, a player receives for a successful kill depends on the level of the enemy defeated. However, suiciding or accidental death results in EXP subtraction past level five. When a player's EXP drops to the point in which a character has negative EXP, it is possible to delevel, or move back one level. In addition, when a player kills a player level 21 or higher, the latter loses EXP (in the range of 7 level difference or more).

In GunZ, when a player achieves a kill, they may receive one or more of five animations:

• Excellent -- When a player deals excessive damage to multiple targets at the same time and kills several other players, a golden pair of wings is displayed above the player's head. It may also show when a player kills an opposing player and sustains little or no damage.
• Fantastic -- When a player deals the majority of the damage to a single target, a pair of purple arch-like auras is shown above the player's head. The player does not have to eliminate the target; another player can finish the target off, and both players will receive the aura. It will also be displayed to the last-hitting player if the target commits suicide, regardless if the target has taken substantial damage.
• Unbelievable -- When a player deals excessive damage to three or more targets in a very short period of time, a blue hammer is shown above the target's head. It is also displayed when the target has sustained excessive damage and commits suicide.
• Headshot -- When a player eliminates a target by shooting or striking them in the head, a red circle with an eagle is shown above the player's head. Headshots can be achieved by all weapons, including grenades.
• All Kill -- Occurs only in team-based game modes. When a player eliminates everyone on the opposing team, a spiked green circle appears above the person's head. If the player eliminates the entire opposing team besides one person, and the last person is heavily damaged by that player, but another teammate inflicts the killing blow, the first player may still receive an All Kill.

Weapons

In the game, there are 7 types of ranged weapons, 3 types of melee weapons (2 additional versions yet to be released), 3 types of grenades, and 5 types of accessories.

Many types of weapons are available in the game. Guns available include pistols and revolvers, shotguns, rifles, submachine guns, and rocket launchers. Melee weapons are also available, and include swords of many varieties and daggers. These weapons have the ability to perform a stunning attack if charged for a short time. Fragmentation and smoke grenades are also available, as are accessories which can boost the character's abilities.

Basic and core techniques

One of the key features of GunZ is the ability to execute many different acrobatic stunts featured within the game. Some of them, however, are completely impossible, such as dashing in mid-air.

Guard

While holding either a sword or kodachi, press the guard key to deflect enemy bullets or melee attacks. This does not protect the lower half of the body.

Vertical Wallrun

While running straight against a wall, press jump; the player must have sufficient forward momentum, although they do not have to be holding forward in order to execute this technique.

Horizontal Wallrun

While running at about a 15 to 45 degree angle to a wall, press jump; the player must have sufficient forward momentum, although they do not have to be holding forward in order to execute this technique.

Wall Jump

While in the air next to a wall press jump.

Wall Hang

While in the air next to a wall and equipped with a melee weapon press and hold right click to cling to the wall. Hold forward and jump again while holding right click to scale the wall.

Safe Fall

While being uppercutted into the air, tap jump to recover and land upright.

Tumble

With a ranged weapon equipped double tap forward, sideways, or back to perform a tumble in that direction.

Dash

With a melee weapon equipped double tap forward, sideways, or back to dash in that direction.

Korean-style techniques

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "GunZ: The Duel" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2007) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Template:StrategyWiki Expanding on the original techniques, what is commonly known as the Korean Style (K-Style) of play is a style of play mostly based on a programming oversight within GunZ: the ability to cancel certain moves, and is a form of emergent gameplay. Much like in fighting games such as Street Fighter, this allows a player to cancel a move into another, or even allows a player to repeat actions when they shouldn't be able to, thus creating complex combo moves. Because it's based on a programming oversight, people using K-Style were often considered to be cheating, but this opinion has since changed, as the GunZ 2005 trailer features Korean players actively using K-Style . K-Stylers must use swords or kodachis; a K-Styler using a dagger is called a Dagger-Styler, or a D-Styler.

However, there are also other types of styles and gameplay methods that are not listed here, such as European-Style (E-Style). K-Style, however, is the most popular fighting style in GunZ in the later levels; nearly every game room has a player who uses K-Style, either in full or in the use of certain moves. Most new players by default are E-Stylers, relying more on the core techniques to avoid damage. Even though a highly experienced E-Styler can compete with a K-Styler, using this style often results in being called a "sprayer", since most E-Stylers use automatic weapons, most of which are inaccurate due to their large spread. This usage however, is deemed incorrect by many veterans , as the rifle, an automatic weapon, is one of the most accurate weapons in the game. (A "sprayer" may also refer to a player who consistently misses with their weapon, or it may also refer to other players using automatics, regardless of their gameplay style.)

Gear Taps are common variations of the entire bunch of slashshot steps. The difference in Gear Taps (name is derived from the Korean GunZ website ) is that the dash and the jump are switched. Rather than jump, then dash, then perform the rest of the step, in Gear Taps the dash is performed before the jump. There are all Gear Taps as there are regular steps, IE Half Gear Tap, Half Half Gear Tap, Full Gear Tap, etc.

Gameplay

Official gameplay modes

Released in International GunZ

• Deathmatch - The standard game type found in many shooters. All players fend for themselves. The first person to reach a specified number of kills wins. The game ends when a player reaches the number of kills equal to the number of rounds. The symbol of Deathmatch is a skull.
• Deathmatch + Berserker - The first person who gets a kill at the start of the game is selected as the Berserker. The Berserker can be easily identified by him or her glowing blue. The Berserker's weapons will do 150% damage during this mode, but their armor will slowly drain during the match; when the player has no armor points left, their health is drained, although the player cannot die from the health loss. The Berserker must defeat other players to regain health and armor. Any player that defeats the Berserker will in turn become the Berserker and regain full health and armor. The previous Berserker will become a normal player upon respawning. The symbol of Berserker is a skull with flames in the eye sockets.
• Team Deathmatch - Players are divided into two teams in which they work together to defeat the opposing team. Each round, both teams fight each other - if a player dies, they cannot respawn until the round is over, where their team or the opposing team is defeated. There is no specified kill limit. The symbol of Team Deathmatch is two skulls.
• Gladiator - Same as Deathmatch, except players are only allowed to use melee weapons. The symbol of Gladiator is a vertical sword and diagonal sword clashing together.
• Team Gladiator - Team Deathmatch with Gladiator rules. Bow rules are not uncommon. The symbol of Team Gladiator is a vertical sword and two diagonal swords clashing together.
• Assassination - Similar to Team Deathmatch, however, one person on each team is randomly selected as a target, named the VIP. The opposing team must defeat the targeted player on the other team to win. The symbol of Assassination is a purple circle with two orange borders, resemblant of an aiming reticle.
• Training - Similar to Deathmatch, but no experience or bounty is gained from kills, and experience is not lost through suicides or from level difference. The symbol of Training is a flexed arm.

Released in North America GunZ

Note: North America GunZ includes all the game modes of International GunZ as well.

• Team Deathmatch + Extreme - Players are divided into two teams in which they work together to defeat the opposing team. Victory is obtained by the team who reaches the objective number of kills (which can be set at the beginning of the game) first. Unlike Team Deathmatch, players do not have to wait until the round is over to respawn. The symbol of Team Deathmatch Extreme is a single skull, followed by a pile of skulls behind it.
• "The Duel" Mode - Players are involved in a tournament setting, where players actively fight 1 vs 1 (one-on-one) battles, and move up the ranks until the objective amount of kills is obtained. Gems are shown under the player's health/armor meters: a yellow gem shows one consecutive win, a blue gem shows five consecutive wins, and a red gem shows ten consecutive wins. Multiple gems are shown for each multiple sets of wins; for example, at 26 wins, a player will display two red gems, one blue gem, and one yellow gem. If a player reaches a multiple of ten as their consecutive number of wins, their victory will be announced over the server, unless the player is in a Free Channel; however, after ten consecutive wins, if another player beats them, their loss will also be announced over the server. Observers cannot talk to the current duelists, as all the duelists will see are a series of 5 dots in place of their messages. The symbol for Duel Mode is two pistols; one pistol pointed to the right and one pistol pointed to the left.
• Quest - A gameplay mode available only on Quest Mode servers. It is not fully available in any GunZ version yet. It pits players in a team of up to four against NPC monsters which get harder as players level up. Currently there are around 23 monster types. The progression of standard scenarios is very straight-forward; destroy every NPC in a room to advance to the next room. After all rooms have been cleared, items gained throughout the mission are distributed to each participant remaining. In addition to standard scenarios, there are more difficult special scenarios, gained through the sacrifice of quest items in different combinations in the waiting room. Special scenarios involve fighting bosses and much harder enemies. NPC attacks in any scenario can be physical or magical depending on the monster, with magic abilities having various effects, from healing NPCs, to slowing down players. Currently, from stage 4 and onward (regardless of quest level), the team can acquire pieces of meat (raw meat, seasoned meat, and steak) in Quest Mode. Items that may drop later range from quest items, to Monster Bible information, to event items, to equipment. Automatic weapons are usually preferred in this game mode because monsters move relatively slowly and can be hit repeatedly easily.
• Clan War - A gameplay type available only to specific Clan War servers. This pits clans against equally numbered and similarly leveled clans for ranking. There are seven rounds of three minute games in a Clan War. When playing a Clan War game, players do not lose experience from being beaten by those that are much lower level than them; they also get 1.5 times the experience as normal. When starting a Clan War, the map is selected at random from a set list of maps, which are, as listed, Town, Mansion, Port, Dungeon, Garden and Castle.

Planned for release in North America GunZ

• Classic - A gameplay mode being developed. It is the exact reverse of Gladiator; guns only. There are no item-packs like in Gladiator, as well.
• Team Classic - The team version of Classic.
• Survival - A gameplay mode being developed. It pits a team of players against wave after wave of Quest Mode monsters. Rewards of EXP and bounty are given after each survived wave. The symbol for this is a Goblin's face.
• Ladder - A gameplay mode being developed. This mode's details are entirely unknown, except that it contributes to personal ranking rather than clan.

Player-made game modes

Player-made game modes are simply that: game modes organized and made by players themselves. In any player-made game mode, players that ignore these rules usually are kicked or forced to leave the game.

• Attack and Defend - Played in a Team Deathmatch or Assassination game. Teams take turns "attacking and defending". The attacking team leaves their spawn point and travels to the other team's spawn point and begins attacking them. The defending team must stay at their spawn point and defend themselves from the attackers. The attacking and defending teams switch every round. This type of game is commonly played in the map Mansion. If the attacking team fails to attack the opposing team's base after a certain amount of time, the defending team may issue a countdown; after that, the defending team may leave their spawn and attack the attacking team head on. This tactic is often used if the attacking team are trying to win using the game's time limit if they have more players than the defending team.
• Attack and Defend Extreme - Played in a Team Deathmatch Extreme game. Rather than taking turns "attacking and defending" team spawn points, one team stays the attacking team and the other the defending team the entire game. The defending team must stay at their spawn point and defend from their attackers. This type of game is commonly played in the map Mansion.
• Rejoin at ## Kills - Played in a Deathmatch or Berserker game. The ##s are replaced with a number lower than the amount that ends a game (ex. 95 in a 100 kill limit game). The point of these games is for players to gain large amounts of EXP without being interrupted by the game ending and/or waiting for other players to start the game.
• Naked - Played in a Deathmatch or Berserker game (often combined with a "Rejoin at ## game"). Players are expected to join the game without any armor, equipment or rings with Armor Point bonuses. This allows for easier kills and faster rates of gaining EXP.
• Bow Rules - Common in Team Gladiator matches where the player must use the "/salute" or "/bow" emote before a 1v1 match with another player, and in Team Deathmatches where there is one player fighting against two or more enemies. Upon completion of a bow rule match in a Team Deathmatch where the single player wins, the remaining players on the other team may give medkits to the opposing player and/or allow that player to use medkits, and the match resumes.
• Swap - Sometimes called "kill swapping" (or "mamutear" throughout the Hispanic/Latin community of GunZ), this is commonly a Team Deathmatch, Assassination, or "The Duel" game where one player usually gets ## kills and the other player gets ## kills, and they continue to take turns in this way. In fact, this is not generally thought of as a game mode by players, rather as a way for lazy and most commonly unskilled players to gain experience points and bounty without having to use effort in an actual game. It is frowned upon by most, if not all, of those who do not do it, and ijji has made many announcements that they intend to punish those who "play" this way in the North American version. The current punishment if caught swapping is suspension for three days; a second offense is another three days and a third offense will result in the player being IP banned.
• Line Swap - A form of swapping that also commonly takes place in Deathmatch or Berserker game where a group of players (usually four) take turns killing each other for experience. The swapping is done in a line where the one in front will get killed, followed by the second, third, and so on. In a Berserker game, the berserker is at the front of the line with someone behind waiting to kill him/her. This allows for the next person to be "marked" as the last-killing person because they have the Berserker aura. This, like swapping, is also frowned upon by those who do not swap.
• Unofficial Clan War - Two clans fight each other in a normal Team Deathmatch, normally played in the map Town. The game is usually passworded, lasts 15 rounds, and takes place in one of the clans' clan channel.
• Hide and Seek - Normally played in Deathmatch game in which one person is the "demon" who chases the "runners". The "demon" is supposed to eliminate another player in order to pass on the "demon" status. A variant of this game can also be played in Berserker mode, where the "runner" is the single person with the blue aura and the "demons" are the other players.
• CS TDM - A mode based around the popular online first-person shooter, Counter-Strike. In this mode, players imitate the rules, physics and gameplay tactics of Counter-Strike. Only daggers, any type of grenade, and any ranged weapons besides rocket launchers are permitted; however, players may not use the secondary attack with the dagger, nor perform a Massive Strike. Players may only walk to move; they may not dash, tumble, or jump excessively.

Private Servers

Although there have been many private servers since the public release of the server files in November 2005, they are against the Terms of Service stated by MAIET . Private servers are considered illegal, and may result in banning from all GunZ versions, or in more severe cases, MAIET has been known to threaten to file lawsuits . Although there have been no actual reported cases of MAIET filing lawsuits, there have been a few Cease and Desist letters sent to the operators of private servers.

The most well known private server, which was going to be publicly released before MAIET intervened, was run by "ZFB8" under the alias "RepublicOfAstra" (which is incorrect, since "Astra", according to GunZ's storyline, is an empire). Announced on GunzFactor, within one and a half days, GunZ Administrator Guntrix contacted ZFB8, commended him on his work on the server after playing on it, but warned him against releasing the server to the public, without taking legal action. Recently, several new private servers have been publically released, due to many server files being released.

Localized versions

Full Release is a published, full version of the game, and has a premium item shop, every map, and quest mode. An Open Beta version doesn't have some quests and no premium items, and is in testing. There are currently localized 5 versions of GunZ available (excluding International Edition), available in the following countries (listed in chronological order by publish date):

• Korea - (Full Release) Sponsored by NetMarble.
• Japan - (Full Release) Sponsored by NetMarble.
• India - (Open Beta) Sponsored by Level Up!.
• Brazil - (Full Release) Sponsored by Level Up!; (was pay-to-play until recently )
• North America - (Full Release) Sponsored by NHN via their game portal ijji.
• Philippines - (Unreleased) Sponsored by Level Up!.

See also

• ijji
• Level Up!
• NetMarble
• MAIET Entertainment
• Venister

External links

• GunZ The Duel Official site
• Template:StrategyWiki

• Articles lacking sources from January 2007
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2007
• Online games
• Windows games
• Computer and video games developed in Korea
• Freeware games