World of Warcraft sunk its claws into MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) fans four years ago, and in that time several competitors have tried and failed to wrest control of the market from its clutches. And rightly so – the game is packed with Blizzard’s trademark polish and charm, and it introduced a level of accessibility that brought literally millions of new players to the genre. On the cusp of WoW’s second expansion, however, a new MMO has been released that may well challenge its supremacy.
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is an adaptation of the fantasy setting created by Games Workshop that until now has spent its life as a complex tabletop wargame. As in most MMOs, players will be asked to choose one of two warring factions – Order and Destruction – with various races and careers available within each. In Warhammer Online, however, this is a far more significant choice, as Realm vs Realm (RvR) combat is the very core of the gameplay.
Be it in scenarios (battlefields with equal teams competing for a single objective) or spontaneous skirmishes, defeating other player’s grants you experience and other material rewards. Gone are the days where the right to participate in fierce battles was earned with copious hours of grinding – from the moment your newly created character is dropped into the game world, you can join a queue to enter the fray and duke it out with those greenskin freaks (or disgusting humies, if you’re an aspiring orc or goblin).
The world of Warhammer is in a constant state of war-torn flux, and every zone you fight and quest in is frequently captured by either side as they struggle to push the lines of battle closer to their enemy’s capital city. The game is a tug-of-war on a grand scale, as your every victory, no matter how small, earns points that contribute to the war effort. Keeps, cities and siege weapons all play a major role in epic battles.
While you’re queuing to enter a scenario (and the wait will become shorter and shorter as more players sign up) you’ll be questing, and it’s here that you’ll notice several improvements to WoW’s Player vs Environment mechanics. Quests are now far more streamlined – the location of each objective will appear on your map for easy reference, and frequent trackers will appear on the screen to remind you of your progress. Public Quests littered across every zone will also give you a chance to group with other players to earn further experience and loot.
Your every achievement will be recorded in the Tome of Knowledge, a massive compendium of the monsters you’ve killed and the bizarre feats you’ve accomplished. The Tome will award you with additional experience, trophies and titles as you unlock them, and it contains a ton of background information and lore for those who want to learn more about the Warhammer world.
It’s early days and there are still a few rough spots, and aspects such as the game’s trade and crafting system need definite fleshing out, but like any MMO Warhammer Online is a living entity that is constantly evolving. Already several issues have been addressed as the game’s developers gather feedback from players, and the gameplay will only improve as time goes by. The first major content patch (due sometime in December) is set to introduce two new careers and a host of new and improved features. Warhammer Online is shaping up to be a formidable MMO experience – WoW had better watch its back.
By Hugh Milligan
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