It's difficult to figure out where to start when talking about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR). There are so many interlocking layers that it's hard to talk about one feature without mentioning another. The bottom line is WAR is one of the best fantasy themed MMO's we've ever played. Its seamless blending of PvP and PvE provides a superb gaming experience and it's hard to not get completely drawn into the action.
To put things simply, practically every aspect of WAR centers on combat, or as the game puts it, "WAR is everywhere." Factions are conveniently divided into two sides, Order and Destruction [corrected], each with three races that can be subdivided into three careers a piece. With a wide variety of races and careers to choose from, PvP combat is referred to as RvR (Realm vs Realm) in WAR, where there's a non-stop struggle for dominance. RvR combat takes place in number of different ways, the first being special scenarios where players are queued up and compete to take and hold map objectives. The scenario ends when one faction accumulates enough points or when the timer runs out. Players can also enter into open areas designated for RvR, which triggers a ten second timer before the player can attack and be attacked. Players still compete to capture map objectives, but there's no time limit. At the same time, players can pick up a few PvE oriented quests while in these areas. Lastly, there are the Keep sieges and sacking capitol cities, mostly reserved for mid to upper level characters. Players get thrown into the fight from the minute they finish creating their characters. Although it's wiser to gain a few levels and abilities before jumping into a fight, players are free to join battle scenarios at level 1. Almost every action, whether it's competing against other players, finishing quests, or participating in public quests earns experience and rewards, so there's a constant feel of progression and accomplishment. Players can potentially reach top level doing nothing but RvR or PvE quests, but they'd be missing out on a huge part of the content. WAR makes it so easy to switch between the two that it doesn't make sense to stick with just one aspect the way other MMO's might split PvP and PvE gameplay. The two gameplay types also stack on top of each other, and completing quests or participating in RvR will improve guilds and capitol cities through leveling them up. So every player makes major contributions to the world with everything that they do. Participating in RvR earns a multitude of bonuses such as discounted merchant items and increased money drops.
Another unique feature WAR offers is the Public Quest (PQ) system. PQ's are multi-stage story quests that reset after a time. Wandering adventurers can stumble into a PQ and immediately participate from whatever stage it happens to be. Players have the option to use an "open party" system where anyone can join. Parties can be further expanded into warbands until things practically reach the scale of full raids. Public Quests generally start off fairly easy then build up to tougher objectives and usually end with a big boss fight. Completing PQ's can win some hefty gear. Additionally, they earn area influence in the area, which can also be used to buy special equipment. PQ's are easy and fun to get into and earn tons of rewards. The only weak aspect is that it's impossible to know how much firepower is needed to see a PQ to its conclusion until it's too late. For example, our small party completed a PQ to its final stage only to have the boss simultaneously wipe us all out with one shot. As fun as PQ's are, committing the time and energy to for a PQ only to be clobbered at the final stage can be quite a let down. Fortunately, you don't have to see a PQ to its end to gain influence.
One of the only shallow aspects we found comes from its small collection of crafting professions. A large majority of the monster drops support the apothecary profession, where players brew potions that will help in combat. Most of the gathering abilities go mainly toward being an apothecary. Cultivation is almost a necessity, since the game's most common drop items are plant seeds and fungus spores, but WAR isn't enough of a potion-popping game to justify the strong emphasis on being an apothecary. Defensive and stat modification potions have long-lasting effects while offensive ones offer a quick shot of damage, but most have long cool-down timers before they can be used again. RvR is so fast paced that using a single health potion rarely keeps players alive for very long, especially when low hit-point characters are involved. It's usually not worth the effort to waste the potion, since NPC healers can remove death penalties for a relatively small fee. As a result, our inventory eventually got cluttered up with potions we never around to using. Being a talisman crafter to modify gear is disappointing in comparison. At this time, there's no way to craft armor or weapons, which isn't such a bad thing considering the game's generous rewards system.The game's short list of weaknesses does little to keep players from falling deep into the world of WAR, where there's near non-stop action. There's so much to do and the game's interconnected features are all within easy access. Nothing about the game feels like an endless grind that we often experience with other MMO's. The careers are well balanced, and even though low hit point characters still crumble under the onslaught of melee types, every character makes a major contribution to the success of RvR skirmishes. In short, WAR is everywhere, and we can't help getting caught up in it.
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Just thought I'd point out that it's "Order and Destruction" as the 2 opposing factions and not Order and Chaos as mentioned in the article.
Great review though. I agree completely with the author and after years of MMO gaming (3 years, which would still be considered newb to some higher ranking dorks) I have found an alternative to Blizzards rendition that I can actually play. Many solid hours have been wasted attempting to find an alternate if not an additional MMO to play aside from you-know-what, but none compared. I even took a look into the free MMO market and found only 1 viable participant (Perfect World). I say wasted hours because none of them, although great in their own regard, were able to grab my attention and keep me intrigued with the game. Until WAR.
I strongly recommend picking up this game. Many review columns have indicated that the PvP is dominately the prefered playing style in WAR. Well, they're right! But, don't get scared. I too was a PVE prefered player when it came to MMO gaming. Things have changed, it's not the same rabble. Forget repair costs, forget hundreds of gold for your mount, forget farming hundreds of hours if not days for equipment, reputation, and professions. Queue up for multiple scenarios (RvR matches) while you quest either solo or in a group for some amazing group quests and when the match is complete be brought back to your exact location you left from.
PvP is extremely well thought out. Tiers are generalized so that upon joining you are automatically brought to the appropriate level for the tier. Example, levels 1-11 will have a default level of 8 and higher (your character level goes back to whatever it was after the RvR is complete). This makes for ballanced fighting, healing, and an overall more enjoyable experience. No more hating the level 20 noob that joins the 20-29 bracket.
Coming from someone who couldn't stand the PvP experience, this game is absolutely amazing. Take everything you hated about the games you played before and remove them. You're left with WAR.
Remember that it is early in release so there are some bugs, the wait times to get into some RvR matches can be long especially at down times but all this should be solved in time along with the many new corrected issues and improvements that will be made in the many patches to come.Posted at 6:25PM on Oct 6th 2008 by Diesel