KwonHo
Encyclopedia
KwonHo: The Fist of Heroes is a Korean
online fighting game developed by Radio Games (which was merged with Vertigo Games). KwonHo has now been removed from Hangame
. It was in the process of being translated and serviced for North America by their American counterpart ijji
(Both of them owned by NHN) before being canceled on November 14 2007. In Kwonho, the player has the role of creating his own character, choosing a fighting style and buying (or acquiring) clothing and/or items (such as tattoo
s, guitars, teddy bear
s and other miscellaneous items). A player's goal is to gain experience by fighting other players in a variety of game modes, or by fighting computer-controlled opponents in the Mission Mode. By winning these fights, a player acquires credits, which he can use to buy new techniques or items, and train to become higher ranking than other players.
As fighters level up, they gain points that they can use to enhance their attack power, defense power, counter-hit power or counter-defense power. They also gain skill points, which they can spend on a skill in their list to upgrade its damage capabilities. Finally, they can purchase new moves with the credits they receive from winning fights.
The list of fighting styles are as follows:
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand, and is also known as Thai Boxing, Predal Serey or Science of the Eight Limbs. This is a well-rounded offensive fighting style in Kwonho that excels in powerful, average reach attacks and combos. This style can easily back an opponent into a corner because all of the attacks and throws tend to aggressively do so. Muay Thai is exceptionally good at using smart rush-down tactics to quickly overwhelm the opponent's defense.
Ba Ji Quan
Loosely translated as "eight extreme fists", Ba Ji Quan is the most powerful style in Kwonho. While successful attacks do large amounts of damage, it leaves them wide open if it misses. This is one of the more difficult styles to master in Kwonho, due to its slow speed and lack of horizontal attacks (effective against sidestepping opponents). This means that careless players will be unable to hit their opponent and often receive counterattacks. The slowest but strongest style, Ba Ji Quan can deliver the biggest payoffs in the hands of a shrewd player.
Judo
Judo is a powerful grappling
style in Kwonho. Judo users can grab while running, on the ground, in the air, while the opponent is crouching, and even after a successful throw. While Judo has the least amount of attacks, they are actually powerful and can be used effectively to shift the opponent's attention away from their impressive throwing power. As such, Judo completely dominates the close-range, and often struggles to close the distance. In Kwonho, it is possible to escape a throw, so Judo users must utilize smart mix-ups to confuse the opponent into guarding attacks and throws incorrectly.
Jeet Kune Do
This style has only been available in a separate Korean server. Though not much is known about it, Jeet Kune Do is a rather balanced style in Kwonho. Specializing not only in quick jabs but powerful flying kicks, this style has much potential. Many of its quick moves are backsteps, which helps dodge incoming attacks. This style is still in a beta phase. Many videos have been posted on the Ijji forums, and it seems as if this will be well received, as many players have asked for a new fighting style. http://forums.ijji.com/showthread.php?t=85549
On 8 May 2007, Ijji announced the Second Closed Beta open on 9 May at 5:00 PM (EST), and is to end on 23 May.
On 30 May 2007, Ijji announced that live service would begin on the next day: May 31. http://forums.ijji.com/showpost.php?p=234664&postcount=1 The public beta has since opened and is playable to all.
On 6 November 2007, Ijji decides to close its Kwonho game after much difficult discussion. It is not the first game that they decide to drop in such way.
On 14 November 2007, Ijji removed KwonHo from their servers.
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
online fighting game developed by Radio Games (which was merged with Vertigo Games). KwonHo has now been removed from Hangame
Hangame
Hangame is a popular South Korean online game portal operated by NHN Corporation. Launched in December 1999, Hangame offers casual, first-person shooter, MMORPGs, sports, and other genres. With over 24 million members and a peak concurrent user base of 240,000 in South Korea, it is the country's...
. It was in the process of being translated and serviced for North America by their American counterpart ijji
Ijji
ijji , is a free multiplayer game portal website operated by the Irvine-based internet company NHN USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of South Korean NHN Corporation. NHN also has game portals in Korea , Japan, and China...
(Both of them owned by NHN) before being canceled on November 14 2007. In Kwonho, the player has the role of creating his own character, choosing a fighting style and buying (or acquiring) clothing and/or items (such as tattoo
Tattoo
A tattoo is made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, and tattoos on other animals are most commonly used for identification purposes...
s, guitars, teddy bear
Teddy bear
The teddy bear is a stuffed toy bear. They are usually stuffed with soft, white cotton and have smooth and soft fur. It is an enduring form of a stuffed animal in many countries, often serving the purpose of entertaining children. In recent times, some teddy bears have become collector's items...
s and other miscellaneous items). A player's goal is to gain experience by fighting other players in a variety of game modes, or by fighting computer-controlled opponents in the Mission Mode. By winning these fights, a player acquires credits, which he can use to buy new techniques or items, and train to become higher ranking than other players.
Fighting styles
When creating a character, the player may choose among five fighting styles in KwonHo: The Fist of Heroes. Once determined, the style stays fixed to the character.As fighters level up, they gain points that they can use to enhance their attack power, defense power, counter-hit power or counter-defense power. They also gain skill points, which they can spend on a skill in their list to upgrade its damage capabilities. Finally, they can purchase new moves with the credits they receive from winning fights.
The list of fighting styles are as follows:
Tae Kwon Do
The fastest style in the game, Tae Kwon Do excels in long-range attacks and well-rounded defense. Tae Kwon Do has long strings of combos that can easily devastate opponents, as well as quick keep-away moves that can cover a retreat. Tae Kwon Do also has the Flamingo stance, which allows users to stand in a defensive posture to deal out tricky attacks. This style has a large arsenal of pokes and relies on punishing mistakes or mix-ups to get past the opponent's guard.Muay ThaiMuay ThaiMuay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand, and is also known as Thai Boxing, Predal Serey or Science of the Eight Limbs. This is a well-rounded offensive fighting style in Kwonho that excels in powerful, average reach attacks and combos. This style can easily back an opponent into a corner because all of the attacks and throws tend to aggressively do so. Muay Thai is exceptionally good at using smart rush-down tactics to quickly overwhelm the opponent's defense.T'ai chi ch'uan (Taijiquan)
Taijiquan is the most defensive style in KwonHo. It specializes in confusing movements, stance changes, and counters. Taijiquan can take incoming attacks and reverse them for massive damage or positional advantage (ringing out a Taijiquan is always risky because they can actually reverse it to do the same). This style excels in confusing the opponent and punishing their mistakes.Ba Ji QuanBajíquánBājíquán is a Chinese martial art that features explosive, short-range power and is famous for its elbow strikes. It originated in Hebei Province in Northern China, but is also well-known in other places today, especially Taiwan...
Loosely translated as "eight extreme fists", Ba Ji Quan is the most powerful style in Kwonho. While successful attacks do large amounts of damage, it leaves them wide open if it misses. This is one of the more difficult styles to master in Kwonho, due to its slow speed and lack of horizontal attacks (effective against sidestepping opponents). This means that careless players will be unable to hit their opponent and often receive counterattacks. The slowest but strongest style, Ba Ji Quan can deliver the biggest payoffs in the hands of a shrewd player.JudoJudois a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
Judo is a powerful grapplingGrappling
Grappling refers to techniques, maneuvers, and counters applied to an opponent in order to gain a physical advantage, such as improving relative position, escaping, submitting, or injury to the opponent. Grappling is a general term that covers techniques used in many disciplines, styles and martial...
style in Kwonho. Judo users can grab while running, on the ground, in the air, while the opponent is crouching, and even after a successful throw. While Judo has the least amount of attacks, they are actually powerful and can be used effectively to shift the opponent's attention away from their impressive throwing power. As such, Judo completely dominates the close-range, and often struggles to close the distance. In Kwonho, it is possible to escape a throw, so Judo users must utilize smart mix-ups to confuse the opponent into guarding attacks and throws incorrectly.
Jeet Kune DoJeet Kune DoJeet Kune Do is a hybrid martial arts system and life philosophy founded by martial artist Bruce Lee with direct, non classical and straightforward movements. Due to the way his style works they believe in minimal movement with maximum effect and extreme speed. The system works on the use of...
This style has only been available in a separate Korean server. Though not much is known about it, Jeet Kune Do is a rather balanced style in Kwonho. Specializing not only in quick jabs but powerful flying kicks, this style has much potential. Many of its quick moves are backsteps, which helps dodge incoming attacks. This style is still in a beta phase. Many videos have been posted on the Ijji forums, and it seems as if this will be well received, as many players have asked for a new fighting style. http://forums.ijji.com/showthread.php?t=85549Release dates
The Closed Beta stage of the English edition ended on 10 December 2006.On 8 May 2007, Ijji announced the Second Closed Beta open on 9 May at 5:00 PM (EST), and is to end on 23 May.
On 30 May 2007, Ijji announced that live service would begin on the next day: May 31. http://forums.ijji.com/showpost.php?p=234664&postcount=1 The public beta has since opened and is playable to all.
On 6 November 2007, Ijji decides to close its Kwonho game after much difficult discussion. It is not the first game that they decide to drop in such way.
On 14 November 2007, Ijji removed KwonHo from their servers.