RuneScape

"Runescape: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"

I started playing RuneScape back in the days of classic with my friends and then it slowly grew on me after my first impressions. But then they upgraded one heck of a lot with Runescape 2 and it went right up in my estimations. Since then I've been addicted and have now decided to shed some light on the mystery that is RuneScape...

Overview

Well RuneScape is a free (with a pay to play option) Java-based MMORPG so it's not going to be World of Warcraft or Final Fantasy XI but it still is quite a fun game to play. Set in the medieval times this fantasy realm is like no other.

RuneScape itself has currently at the time I'm writing this 22 Skills with 7 of them only available to the pay to play users. These skills range from fishing and mining to magic and hits. There are also three types of melee combat skills: Strength (How hard you hit the enemy), Attack (How often you hit the enemy) and Defence (How often the enemy hits you); which can be confusing at first. These all add up with a prayer, magic, range (archery) and hits level to determine your combat level which is generally how you are viewed in RuneScape as opposed to your total level.

There are also many quests in RuneScape with very few available for free players to do. However these quests range from slaying vampires and dragons to aiding the love struck Romeo in RuneScape's own adaptation of Romeo and Juliet.

Minigames; we all like a little game of Capture the Flag at some point right? Well now you can do that on RuneScape in Castle Wars (P2P only). Or alternatively you could go to the games room and play Reversi or Draughts; but like so many other options in RuneScape it is pay to play only.

There are also a number of weapons that can be used in RuneScape including: daggers, bows, longswords, battleaxes, 2-Handed swords and even a pickaxe can be used as a weapon. These weapons also have different classes ranging from bronze (the lowest) to Dragon (the highest). The armour in the game follows the same class.

Potions also feature in the game and as the reoccurring theme goes they are largely p2p however in RuneScape you don't heal yourself by potions, oh no, you heal yourself by eating food such as lobsters, cakes, kebabs or even whole sharks. Potions on the other hand generally improve stats for a short time or cure poison which can remove hitpoints.

Before I forget I feel I should say something about the RuneScape economy. You may think it isn't important but RuneScape tends to be the game where the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor. Now of course there is the option to train skills or market but many players have got rich selling discontinued items such as party hats which were dropped once over Christmas on RuneScape a few years back. If you have enough of these party hats you could buy the resources needed to get quite a few max levelled skills. Which again points the finger at unfairness in RuneScape.

To rate this properly I would have to give to ratings as you can't really base the free game on what RuneScape really is with it p2p option:

F2P Rating: 5/10
P2P Rating: 8/10

Game Play

Well the controls are pretty simple: point and click. It's dead easy right? Chances are you could train a monkey to do the same thing. Whilst at first it may seem OK but after doing the same repetitive task over and over it can begin to become just a bit of a bore. But for all the newcomers to RuneScape this makes for very simple learning.

Since this is the game play system I would now like to provide my insite into the battle system: click on the enemy and wait. Yup it's that simple. Sure with the higher class of weapons you get a special attack which has a fancy animation but it doesn't require you to press a special key combination or anything it's just click another button. I won't make the excuse of the java based game this time because I feel that the battle system could be improved somehow. They don't necessarily need to change the controls as such but it could be so much better.

Rating: 5/10

Graphics

Now I've always had the principle that graphics aren't the be all and end all of games and I still maintain that. With RuneScape 2 the game saw a huge graphical overhaul and maintains that by regularly updating certain areas of the game.

You may be thinking that the graphics are rubbish however I do need to remind you that this is a free Java-based game that takes about 2 minutes to get up and running so what do you really expect? Brilliant CGI animation constantly? Of course not. For what RuneScape can do it is doing it to the best of it's ability.

Rating: 8/10

Sound

Again back in RuneScape classic the game only had sounds for members and no music but with the update to RuneScape 2 a few years ago music and sound were added as a feature for both versions (Free to Play and Pay to Play) of the game. Now there is Midi file style music which you will find changes from area to area and is constantly being improved by the content staff.

The sounds are also well done although they can grow quite repetitive as you do large tasks on RuneScape but needless to say they are quite good based on the limitations that RuneScape has.

Rating: 8/10

Community

Well normally with any other review this wouldn't be added but since RuneScape is an MMORPG then I felt that it was necessary to add. There are 2 sides to the RuneScape community and I shall try to explain them both.

There seems to be quite a large number of low levelled free to players that will whine and beg for free items. This becomes very tiring however RuneScape has a public chat off feature which can mute all this so it can become bearable. There are also a number of scammers in RuneScape as well as key loggers who will endeavour to gain your items and password to your account. This can also become very annoying as most scams are obvious and should just be reported immediately.

RuneScape also seems to have a problem with 'Macroers' a.k.a. people who use third-party programs to play RuneScape for them. Their accounts tend to be low levelled accounts so when they are banned they can easily be remade. These can effect your daily tasks as resources in RuneScape are shared and so they can ‘steal' your resources.

Then there is the other side of RuneScape: the high levels. There can be quite a few well mannered and helpful high levels but there are also those who take the view that when they are better then you they don't need to help you. These stuck-up high levels can become very annoying how ever I think I prefer them to the low levels because they don't spam you with “Plz frestuf” constantly.

Rating: 1/10

Updates

Unlike most games which have slow monthly/bi-monthly updates if that RuneScape gets an update every week. These updates are normally a new quest or area however occasionally RuneScape will get a new skill. Occasionally Jagex (The game's creators) will update a weapon to give it new stats.

However there is a problem with this and that is that the new area gets crowded. This also goes for updates to items. Most recently the dragon axe was improved in the game and this saw prices for it just about triple. Jagex tends to have a habit of screwing up the RuneScape Economy just when it's settling. But I've already had my rant about the economy above so I won't go on about it.

Rating: 7/10

Overall

Overall it all depends on how you play RuneScape on how much you enjoy it. For example if you play as a high level p2per then your bound to enjoy it and if you play as a polite f2per then chances are you will still have fun but you will have attempts to scam you and beggars all over the place but with the variety of things to do and as long as they are done in moderation then RuneScape can be quite easily enjoyed for more then most reviewers give it.

I would say try f2p before automatically upgrading your account as RuneScape probably isn't to everyone's taste and you may not like it but with over 1 Million Players I would say that it was a game that many people seem to like. Heck if you want to pick up tips just go down to the local library and I'm sure you'll see some people playing it.

Rating: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/24/06