RuneScape

"Runescape, not for the faint of heart"

Gameplay:
F2P: 6/10
P2P: 9/10

Let me get one thing out of the way now...Runescape is a Java based game. Therefore, it is limited in it's capabilities and should not be compared to the newer, higher-end games that you'd buy in a store.

Runescape is a rather easy game to get into (rather hard to get out of for some people). You start with a few low level items to begin with, and must work your way up from there. You can chose to either be a Melee character (hand-to-hand, swords, maces, war hammers, etc.), a Mage, a Ranger, or a mix. You could also choose to become a Skiller, and train up the more important stats rather than focus on combat. One of the gods of Runescape (there are 3 main "gods" of Runescape, with a few wannabes), is named Kairi Jin. He was actually a mortal that focused on skills rather than combat. One day while cutting Yews, he stumbled upon one of the rarest tomes in existence. From this book, he learned how to ascend to godhood. He is the Neutral based god of Runescape. Pata Pure (good) and Icy Revolt (evil) are the other two gods of Runescape.

For those of you less religiously inclined, there are a ton of other things to do in Runescape. In the free world (F2P), you can go on many different quests, go pking (more on this later) with your friends or a clan, merchant items, or just have fun doing whatever you want. F2P can be a dangerous place for new people. Because it is mostly full of underage users who whine to their parents if something goes bad, it's what I like to call the Dark side of the Runescape community. They love to scam new users out of their hard earned gold and items. One common scam is the Trust Trade. A player will ask to hold your items, and say they will give them back. DO NOT DO THIS. They are going to steal your items and never give them back. Another common scam is a player will say they can "trim" your armor. Trimmed armor can only be obtained by members (P2P), and then sold to F2P. PLAYERS CANNOT TRIM ARMOR. They are just trying to steal your armor.

As mentioned earlier, PKing, or player killing, is a rather fun but dangerous way to spend your time. In the 3rd era of Runescape, the gods had many wars. The greatest of these, the God Wars, ravaged the land of Runescape. The Wilderness (the only area on F2P where players can fight and kill each other) is the scar left behind by those wars. The Wilderness (or Wildy as some call it) is a very dangerous place for those that are unprepared. You will run into many dangerous creatures, but perhaps the most dangerous of all, an experienced PKer. There are many people that chose to specialize in PKing. They often join clans of other PKers to increase their chances of survival. NEVER GO INTO THE WILDERNESS ALONE. Many new people are tricked into going into the Wilderness, few return with their items intact. The Wilderness is the favored area of the evil god Icy Revolt.

Don't fret though! Should you die to a PKer in the Wilderness, Pata Pure will bless you with new life. You will respawn in Lumbridge, with the 3 most valuable items you were holding at the time.

On the F2P world, you are restricted to the type of armor, arrows, spells, and prayers you can use. On F2P, the best armor and weapons are made out of Runite (Rune for short). You can recognize this armor by it's color. It is a light blue (not to be confused with Mithril armor which is a dark blue). There is a catch to wearing Rune armor though. Not only do you need to have 40 Defence, but in order to wear the Rune Platebody, you must have completed the Dragon Slayer quest. This can be a very dangerous quest for those that do not know what they are doing. At the end of the quest, you must face off against a powerful dragon named Elvarg. If you are successful in defeating the foul beast, you have earned the right to wear the Rune Platebody, and the Green Dragonhide Body (the best armor for F2P Rangers). As stated before, Green Dragonhide (Green D'hide for short) is the best armor that a F2P Ranger can get. F2P is only allowed to use Maple Bows, and up to Adamant (Addy) arrows. F2P Mages are only allowed up to the level 59 Fire Blast spell (highly recommended that you use this whlie PKing). Fire Blast is a very powerful spell that can deal up to 15 points of damage per hit!

A very common sight in the F2P Wilderness is a clan of Pures. Pures are a very specialized type of character, and not recommended for a beginning player. Pures are characters that focus on one or two skills, and train those very high while neglecting their other skills. A common Pure is a Mage/Ranger, or a Ranger/Melee. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. Another common type of Pure is a Strength pure. This character can be very dangerous if you're not prepared. They train up until they can use a Rune Scimitar, and then train nothing but Strength. A Rune Scimitar combined with a very high strength can be a dangerous combo. A much less common type of pure is the Defence pure. Many people lack the patience to build this type. They do not level their Attack or Strength at all, and focus only on Defence. Many people choose to stop at level 40 Defence to wear Rune, but the real men go for 60 or 70 Defence (some even higher).

If you choose to pay the $5 a month for membership (highly recommended), you can escape from most of the underage scammers. You will also have a lot more skills to train up, about 10 times as many quests, and the world you can explore becomes much, much bigger. One very profitable members skill to train is Fletching. Fletching is basically, cutting or buying logs, using a Knife (buy from any general store), and selecting which type of bow you would like to cut. Then, you must obtain a Bowstring (pick Flax and spin it), and attach it to the bow. Voila! You now have a brand new bow. Though it can be tedious work, Fletching is one very good way of making money.

Another wonderful P2P skill is Agility. Agility affects how quickly your run energy fills back up. Remember how when you were pking with your friends on F2P, and you'd be swarmed by a clan of pures? You'd run away (like everyone else on F2P), but you wouldn't make it very far. Oh dear! Your run energy is at 0%! With Agility, your run energy fills back up to 100% much faster. Plus, should you ever decide to return to the hell hole that is F2P, the bonuses from having a high Agility stay with you.

Weapons and armor on the P2P world becomes much more diversified and powerful than on F2P. The best armor (that doesn't need to be repaired) is Dragon armor. This armor is very strong and rare. Many people choose not to spend the many hours required to earn it themselves, so they just suck it up and buy it. Dragon armor requires 60 Defence to wear. The strongest armor (though it costs money to repair it) is Barrows armor. Barrows is a very popular P2P mini-game, that can be very dangerous, or very rewarding. There are 6 different types of Barrows armor (4 Melee, 1 Mage, 1 Range). Rangers also get many new types of Ranged armor to wear. They can choose from different types of D'hide Armor, Karil's armor (Barrows), or a multitude of others. Mages get new types of robes to wear too. They can use Mystic, Enchanted, Ahrim's (Barrows), or Infinity Robes.

The weapons are also as diverse and powerful as the armor. Dragon weapons are very popular (and much stronger than Rune). Dragon weapons require an Attack level of 60 to use (and many of them also require you to complete a quest). Barrows weapons become available at level 70 Attack and Strength (70 Mage for Ahrim's Staff and 70 Range for Karil's X-bow). Perhaps the most powerful weapon ever though is the Abyssal Whip. This weapon is extremely strong and fast. The only competition this weapon has is the legendary God Sword. The God Sword is the strongest weapon in terms of power, but it is also much slower than the Whip. Rangers get some very cool new weapons when they upgrade to P2P. They can use Karil's X-bow, a Rune C-bow, a Dwarven Cannon, or the newest favorite of Rangers, the Chinchompa. Mages also get many new spells and runes they can use. If you complete the Desert Treasure quest, you gain access to the branch of Ancient Magicks. The strongest of these spells can do up to 30 points of damage to a group of people! They can also gain access to Lunar Magic after completing the Lunar Diplomacy quest.

There are many other great things about F2P and P2P. I just do not have the room or time required to list them all.

Story: 5/10

There really isn't a storyline, but the quests provide a ton of background and history for the world of Runescape. The quests can be very entertaining and informative.

Sound/Music: 5/10

The music from the game isn't too horrible (though others would say different). I personally don't mind it, but there are some that choose to turn it off completely. It is all up to you.

Graphics: 6/10

As I stated at the beginning, this game is Java based. As such, it does not have the best graphics in the world. DO NOT TRY AND COMPARE THIS WITH WORLD OF WARCRAFT. Nothing irritates me more than when World of Warcraft lovers come to the Runescape boards and try and bash the graphics. RS is Java based, WoW is not. Of course WoW is going to look better.

Overall scores (not an average):
F2P: 6/10
P2P: 9/10

I hope you have found this review to be very informative and worth your time. If you have any other questions about Runescape, please take them to the board. Just do not spam.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/09/07

Game Release: RuneScape (US, 03/29/04)