Horizons: Empire of Istaria

"Could be better, but still rules."

Horizons never really got mentioned for some reason. Probably because It was made by a unknown company. I never even heard of it, until I saw it on Portal (it's on G4 to let you know). But when I played I was amazed!

First of all, if you've heard of Horizons, the first thing mentioned are the Dragons. They are pretty impressive, but have only 2 schools (As of when I posted this).

Before I continue, I just want to say the sound is about a 6 out of 10, but I don't care about sound. But of course someone does. So if you care about sound, than just do your best to deal with it.

Anyway, next is the other races. There are a good amount of races each with strengths and weaknesses. Plus, You can unlock new races! But I don't know how yet.

Also you can actually own property. I also know that you can in DAoC. But I'm talking about Horizons.

Oh! I almost forgot! You can have guilds/groups for you people who need that.

If you want the bad stuff, don't worry. But first I need to talk about classes. In Horizons there are MANY classes. There are the obvious Fighters and magic users, but now there are crafting classes. You can craft weapons, armor, and even spells! Plus you can sell these for money! And not only that you can join both 1 adventuring class (Warrior, Mage, etc...), plus one crafting class (Blacksmith, outfitter, etc...), but not 2 of the same. You could be a Warrior that is a weapon smith, so he can make his own weapons. For experience you do the obvious. Fight for adventuring classes, craft stuff for a Crafter, and quests are a it different. Sometimes it's obvious what class you gain in, and sometime you do in both classes.

And now for the bad stuff. Hooray! Hooray! First is a personal bad thing for ME and maybe you. The playable race of the Fiends are blue and have horns and tails. Devils that are blue to say the least. My problem is that They're horrible at fighting! They look tough, but are they? NO!! They're good at the magic. But if you like magic than no problem for you. Next on the bad thing list is the fact you need 1 silver to create a guild and, if I am correct, at least 5 people to get a name! If you have friends,or people you know, or have an idea that will join your group, good. And if you don't, you waste 1 silver. And At early levels that's a lot.

Now, for the BIGGEST problem for EVERYONE! The money in this game is in thousands, which means 1000 copper is one silver, 1000 silver is one gold, etc... You may think it's not a big deal, but it is. It takes a while to get 1000 pieces of whatever to get 1 piece of whatever. Even the crafter can't get good money at the beginning, unless someone has a big wallet and needs your item. There are still some bad things but I want to end this soon.

Oh! There are also 2 merchant types. The Pawnbroker is the basic type of merchant. The Concierge takes your items if you pay him 10% of the item in cash. He then sells it, and people buy it. You get the money someone paid. But if no one wants it, you're out of luck.

Well that's it. In the words of Cory Rouse (Host of Cheat! on G4): When life's got you down, through it into God mode and keep kicking but!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/04