"Engrossing for RP'ers, but hack'n'slash diablo fans may be disappointed"

Dark Ages is the sequel to the little known Nexus: Kingdom of the Winds by Nexon. (To learn more about Nexon/Nexus read my Nexus review) Dark Ages has been in testing and has just becoming available to the public in August. Being in the testing procedure has allowed me to examine both the small and great things of this ambitious game. The backstory/setting of the game is very involved and influenced by works from such people as h.p. lovecraft, edgar allen poe, and joseph conrad's heart of darkness. It's setting is genuinely good with a dark backstory and well fitted anime-style artwork. However, this setting is for more than show, the game infact requires you to roleplay your persona as an "aisling". There are even outlets built in the game that actually works alongside roleplaying such as politics, multiple towns w/ exiling ability, and a currently being implemented player run law system. The class list consists of Warriors, Wizards, Rogues, Priests, and Monks. While their spells and combat abilities (more on those later) are mostly self explanitory Nexon has gone beyond that and added skills such as tailoring, herb picking, potion creation, and weapon/armor repairing. The combat itself is manageable but could of been better. The 3/4 view can be awkward during combat for those using the keyboard and you may experience Q-bert flashbacks. Close range attacking is done with a macro or clicking the picture of the skill and spells by clicking the spell then the enemy. The AI appears to be very basic, though it is an improvement over Nexon's previous game Nexus because the enemies actively cast spells on you. They have managed to add a real sense of danger because many times one spell from an enemy could kill you. However, this could be viewed more of an annoyance because spell casting from enemies seems random. However, that's where grouping comes in, with at least one healing buddy (priests are the only one with healing) you'll feel much safer. One quirk I did have with the game though is the only highly desireable class is the priest because it is the only one who can heal. This all builds up to be a fun experiences with one large but... The people playing the game itself need to be roleplaying and not be robots with nothing better to do but hunt. With the right people people who loved to roleplay their character in such games as AD&D will have a field day. Because honestly, if all people do is hunt, it will get boring. Essentially, for people who love roleplaying in games such as AD&D, Nexon has set everything up for you from the setting to the dice(combat), but just like those games with the wrong people everything falls flat.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99