Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

"Is this fresh and new?"

<Intro

The idea of an MMORPG is not a new type of game, many have tried and many have also failed compared to World of Warcraft. I feel with the sea of games trying to be the next big things, I seriously feel that Warhammer online has a serious chance for longevity and success. So far I have felt the same twinge of an on-setting addiction when I completed the first few things and found my first public quest. I was starting to enjoy it immensely.

Questing

This is where it really shines out. The quests are really fresh to me, though most would claim them to be a bold-faced rip-off of games previously made in this genre. Well, my thought are as follows, nothing is truly original in this day and age. If something is similar, ok. The Quests are fresher as to how, they are gone about completing.

Say you have to collect 5 "somethings", no matter what you get them. This means more time for more quests and you do not have to fumble around killing 30 monsters for 10 items, or whatever analogy best speaks to you. The quests are mostly pretty fun, and contain alot of varying content.

In the lines of quests, there are nifty quest helping tools, much like add-on's for other MMO's. The truly great thing is that, these come already into the game, and no searching for add-on's tailored to you unique desires. The quests are streamlined perfectly and all you do, is fight your way through the area's, not fight to find the areas of specific item dropping monster.

Also might I add, partying up to do quests is so much better with the idea of you getting what you need easier. This subtracts the frustration of not getting what you needed and someone leaving group when they are done, while you still have 5 more to get.

Also the need for grinding is low, if you want to you can, nothing really stopping you. You can actually gain stuff from scenario's in the lines of Renown and Exp.

Public Quests

These are great, and you can start doing them right from the get go. Think of these as kind of raids like in WoW, but you don't have to queue up for them, you just walk right in. You can also get some sweet gear from the fame points, or the rolling of loot after a successful PQ. It really does make you want to experience the whole of these quests. So no more waiting to get to a higher level, no more queuing up for yet another horrible PUG full of ninja's.

Graphics and control's

The graphics are fantastic and really lend well to the flushing out of the setting. It feels epic, and looks equally epic. The controls are good but sometimes I have a heard time clicking on exactly what I wanted at that exact moment, but you can press key-commands so it's not that painful.

Realm Vs. Realm

This is great, sacking cities, scenarios and a whole lot more. When the majority of people get to this content, this will be epic. So far I have yet to taste this part seeing how I am going slow to savor the extent of this game. Also the great thing is, this RvR is not end-game material. You can do it from level one, and that's a huge thing IMO.

Lore

I actually want to learn all of this great lore behind everything and find myself not just clicking OK, but reading all of the well done material. It also makes me go at a slower pace so I can best enjoy the world and all it has to offer. There is a rich storyline here, you just gotta read the blurbs, which might be annoying to those who just wanna run around and quest.


I really do hope that this game will have some serious longevity to it, and live long enough for us to see added content and new races/classes. All-in-all, I highly recommend this to players who need something fresher, or a new game to take the place of something you got sick of.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/26/08

Game Release: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (US, 09/18/08)