"Welcome to Puddleby"

Introduction: Clan Lord is a massive multi-player on-line fantasy role playing game. The story begins in which you are exiled from your homelands to a remote island chain. A land of strange and deadly animals in which you are forced to unite with other exiles to survive. You can choose among seven races and three professions (Fighter, Healer, or Mystic) or you can opt to go professionless and train to become a tailor, brewer, baker, bard and so on (these paths are open to all exiles).

Gameplay - The main focus in this game is teamwork. Though player to player combat is frowned upon, there are certain locations where dueling is possible. Focus is on killing animals. The lands are full of a variety of creatures. Some very weak that they can be killed in one hit, and some so strong that only groups of the most experienced exiles can fight them. Fighters gain experience (which lead to ranks) by killing animals, healers by healing the fallen or wounded, and mystics...well, by doing whatever mystics do. The training system is vast. Each profession (fighting, healing, mystic) has many trainers. And these trainers have no caps, so you can train them forever. Examples of a fighter trainer is Atkus and Swengus. Atkus trains you to hit creatures better (meaning you will hit creatures that you couldn't before). Swengus trains balance (meaning you will have more swings while attacking an animal, so you could hit it more). If you train Atkus you will lose swings, so you also need to train Swengus to make sure you have a decent amount of swings. Social interaction is key. Meet up with a group of friends, form a clan, go off on distant hunts, discover new lands. If you don't want to hunt, you can sit at the town and talk to other exiles. You can do anything you want in these lands. You can sue another exile at the court, marry your true love, get drunk at the pub, gamble at the casino, buy a house, make or see a play at the theater, duel at the coliseum, the list goes on... Another bonus is interaction with GM's (Game Masters). The people that play this game have good relationships with those that make the game. As a note there. The world is every growing and changing. The game started at 4mb in size, over 5 years it is now 48mb. Game Masters create new lands, new beasts, control invasions, and major story lines. The GM's take many suggestions from the players in what could be done to improve the lands (adding new trainers, new weapons, new lands, etc). Also because the lands are not full with thousands of players it has a small town kind of feel where you know everyone.

Story - The story is ever changing and exiles in the land have a major impact on the story. Today there might be giant chiggers invading the town, which will spark investigations, a possible exile raid of the chigger cavern, then tomorrow the dangerous Wizard Qual may try to destroy the town. The Ripture War lasted one month of day after day invasion, confusion, and investigation of rifts that appeared in the lands. The Rifts were strange portals that look over forests, and beaches and grew until they exploded.

Graphics/Sound - The graphics and sound rival late 80's/early 90's 12 bit console units. The world is made with c++. This is the major down fall and turn off for all interested. Sounds are very simplistic and short, and replayed over and over. Though the game lacks in this department, it is made up for well in the gameplay (the size of the lands and everything that one can do).

Play Time/Replayability - This game has no end. Exiles come and go. The greatest fighters, healers, and mystics of the land have been there for over 5 years. The system in which your character gets ranked is not capped. You could train forever if you liked. And with the amount of new and difficult creatures that keep coming, the every changing story, even the limits of the strongest get pushed. There is always a challenge. On average a exile will make 600-1000 ranks a year depending on involved their character is. There are creatures that require 700 Atkus ranks to hit! So you can see that importance of ranks, and with the vast amount of training available it would take years to get 700 Atkus ranks.

Final Recommendation - A must buy for any fantasy/rpg fan.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 07/02/04