The flavors of Mecha, Moe and Violence rolled into one. This MMO Shooter is an anime fanboy/girl's dream come true.
Graphics: 4/5
The graphics are the nicer kind of 3D. The art designs are anime-like and are well animated. Unlike other MMOs, there's an in-game option and UI to edit the character skin, so no more secret underground modding communities. Also, exporting your custom skins and importing the works of others just takes a few clicks. Though this cartoonish style may not be for everyone, it works well for this kind of game, where the focus is not just on how cool and your character is, but on how fast you can move around and how hard you can hit your opponents, while not sacrificing aesthetics.
I played this on a netbook (imagine the power on one of those little things) and it worked smoothly, albeit with long, but tolerable, loading times. Here's my rig:
Video Card: Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 3150
Video Card Memory: 250 MB
Display: 1024x600
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate (Game is ran on WinXP SP3 compatibility as suggested by other players)
RAM: 1 GB
Like I always say, if I can play it on my stuff, anybody can run it on theirs. So this game gets a boost on the graphics department for playability.
Sounds: 4/5
I like the way the original Japanese voices are used in the sound effects and radio calls, while the American voice actors are used for the main characters. This strange mix balances the game's anime feel and the need for the international community to understand what's going on.
The sound effects used in shooting and flying suits every action very well, you can easily know what your team mates are doing without even looking at them. The music is another thing though. It's nice and upbeat and all, but it doesn't stand out that much. Well, some might say that this is intentional so that one could focus on the game. But kicking baddies and good music in MMO can go hand in hand if done correctly. Go search for the in-game music made by the group called Hanstone. (Yes, I'm a Hanstone fan). Also, look up Touhou music.
But what surprised me is the addition of one feature that I rarely see on cute PC shooters: Voice Chat. This proves very helpful on missions requiring strategy and unison.
Addictiveness: 3/5
Ah, the addictiveness scale. Too high and its bound to ruin real life and too low and it will not get your attention. This game hits right on the bat with a 3.
This game is addictive enough that you'll want to play it as much as you can to get one more level, or just one more upgrade. With the tons of robots, parts, weapons, items, colors and skins you can put on your robot, you'll probably spend a lot of your time customizing them and making them more unique and you'll do battle while looking forward to the next part you're gonna buy. Customization is a huge part and very enjoyable part of the game. And not only can you customize one cute robotic anime girl, you can build/buy other ones and make them your own unique creations. So far, I believe you can have 30 robots in your main Garage and 60 robots in the sub garage. That's a total of 90 mechas under your control!
Also, this game is casual enough that it lets you put down the game and get on with life. I'm going to play this during the weekday nights when I have work and school in the morning. The weekends are reserved for my Final Fantasy runs and reruns which need more time and concentration.
Replayability: 5/5
MMOs usually have very vague end-game scenarios so judging replayability is difficult on an MMO like this one. But let's say that you've maxed out all your stats on your robot and you've reached the highest possible level on her. It would still be 100% more fun to create a new one experience the action again. And with three different types of mechas, it'll take you quite some time the best ways to play them all.
Overall Verdict: 8.5 out of 10
This is a fairly new MMO in the international waters, and there's still a lot of room to grow. But as young as this game is, it's already amazing. Now all it needs is a good community and dedicated updates to keep it running. Good luck to CosmicBreak and I assure you, I'll be playing the game.
Kryztfr Out