WAR: The good, the bad and the ugly
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve had the retail box of WOW: Lich King in my hands at my local gameshop. Thirty, forty times? Has to be something like that.
Wait a minute, the title of the article is about Warhammer Online. Right, a bit offtrack here.
The good:
Realm vs Realm, also know as the PvP part of WAR. It rocks, it really does. Realm vs Realm has really hit the deck ever since the last patch (1.1), especially open Realm vs Realm (also know as keep sieges). Not to forget the instant PvP action. You’re out there questing, press a button and voila, you’re in a queue for a war scenario. Offcourse this is very depending on the server you’re playing on. Remember my previous post about deserted lower tiers?
Anyway, since my rerolling another toon on a medium/high populated server I’m having a blast PvP’ing. This is the ultimate power of WAR.
The bad:
PvE sucks really hard.
If you’re accustomed to WOW PvE, then you’re in for a nasty surprise. Offcourse that’s not to uncommon for a PvP minded game. The PvE is primarily focussed to get your character levelled and geared.
I just find it very very boring. From tier 1 to tier 2, tier 2 to tier 3, etc … The quests follow up rapidly and are very repetative. Kill x amount of this, talk to x, go to x etc …
Trophies and unlocks.
All scattered around the world are special things you can unlock, so called trophies and phat eyecandy lewt. Again, very grind-like to get it all, pretty much undocumented stuff. You’re pretty much on your own to figure things out. I’m not expecting and ingame wizard/tutorial every single step of the way, but I also don’t want to alt+tab to www.wardb.com for every unlock you know?
The ugly:
Bugs and bugs.
It’s not unusual for me to CTD 3 times in one hour. Also the HUD (partyinterface, stuff like that) needs a lot of attention. Every single time I log in my HUD is messed up for some strange reason, and I can spend 10 minutes re-arranging it all.
Why am I not super enthousiastic about WAR?
Like I said, the PvP / RvR is really a blast, and in the end, that’s the endgame. Plain and simple. But is it enough?
I keep comparing with World of Warcraft, mainly because I played WOW for such a long time. I feel that WAR is missing the epic-element.
I got pretty bored of levelling the other day, so I had this urge to go and unlock some bestial tokens (you know, to get some trophies etc). Nice, besides the fact you have to look up all the trophy quests and mobs on alahkazam or something first. Sure you could try and do it one your own, run around the map (zone) without any goal what so ever and hope to god you come across something that makes you unlock something.
Do I recommend WAR?
Tough nut to crack. WAR is in a very very early stage. It’s an infant among mmo’s. And it clearly shows.
If you’re not into PvP then this game will not suit you. You’re better off in WOW land or you might even wanna try Lord of the Rings Online.
In short, PvP rocks. And if you don’t mind the bugs, unpolished stuff, pretty grayish worlds, then WAR will keep you happy for some time.
Mythic does have tons of work ahead, endgame wise. I can’t see people doing the same keep sieges forever and ever.
No more World of Warcraft for me
What’s new on the World of Warcraft frontlines? In short, nothing.
Actually there is a little something that’s of interest, I cancelled my sub yesterday. There was nothing that could keep me playing. Not even the prospect of the new expansion later this year. Like I said in a previous post, more grinding and gearing up. Brrrr …
Warhammer Online is sparkling my interest. I spoke to some people who are in the beta at the moment, and they are actually very optimistic about the game. And the fact that it’s not a gear-grind makes it all the better.
Warhammer Online the next World of Warcraft?
This is a video from WAR online.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind? World of Warcraft? Right on. It has so much similarities. Don’t be fooled by the video because it looks kinda crappy, the graphics I mean.
In my opinion, WAR will hit it big on release. People are getting burned out by WOW and this title might provide that much needed break.
Do I plan on trying out this game? I’m not sure.
I played WOW for a long long time, and ‘had’ to quit mainly because it started to feel like a second job. I got soaked up in WOW so much my everyday life suffered from it. So, finally, after much effort, I was able to put WOW aside.
I’ve read some articles claimed WAR would be geared towards the casual gamer, but we’ve heared that one before right?