Mythic improves on the MMO formula with intense PVP and streamlined PVE. Looking for a reason to leave WOW? look no more
I started beta testing WAR about a year ago, and i have to say the game has come a long way. When i first began testing, there is no doubt that i was not a fan of the game. Fighting seemed clunky and just wasnt fun. PVP seemed very imbalanced and unexciting. There just didnt seem to be any direction to the game. I am happy to say that this all changed about a month ago, and the game has become a very refined experience.
Everything in WAR seems "just right". The time it takes to play a scenario, the time it takes to finish a quest, the time it takes to kill mobs... it all just flows. Honestly, this game screams "casual gamer". "But wait!" you say, "how could that be? I thought this was a hardcore PVP game?" Indeed, this game is a PVP game, designed with PVP gamers in mind. However, do not mix the extreme amounts of time that it takes to get anything done in WoW with what happens in WAR. In WAR, players can easily queue for scenarios, do a little PVPing, and then log out and not feel as though they accomplished nothing.
Reknown Ranks come fairly quickly in the early stages, and every few reknown ranks are accompanied by a brand new set of gear via a reknown gear merchant. This is where the game clearly defines itself. Rewards do not come by spending hours in the same dungeon doing the same bosses over and over. You do not have to waste your life to get ahead. The game seems designed to give players the best experience in the shortest amount of time. Enemy players are treated just like mobs in game, giving the player both experience and reknown points. As a side bonus, players also drop money when they are killed AND there is a chance at an uncommon to rare item drop. WAR does everything it can from lvl 1 to tell you it is a PVP game that treats PVP like PVE. This is something that i dont think any other game has ever done. You get the excitment and unpredictability of PVP mixed with the rewards and advancement of PVE.
To ease the minds of the hard core gamer in all of us, there is definitely incentive to play this game non-stop. Only dedicated players will achieve the highest reknown levels and receive the best gear. this does not exclude the casual gamers however, because there is always gear to be had from city seiging and player drops. Dedicated players will receive the most prestigous sets of gear through reknown ranks, and they will be rewarded for their persistance.
To switch gears, lets talk a little about PVE. In a word, the PVE in WAR is top notch. The questing system is very reminiscent of WOW, with one key change. When you receive a quest, a red bloodstain will be placed on your map in the general area of where the quest objective is. Gone are the days of searching obscure corners of zones for that one ellusive quest item. WAR tells you general area that the item should be in, and you just have to look around for it. "But what about teh exploration!" This is a valid concern, i agree, however, notice that i said "general area". WAR does not show you EXACTLY where the item resides, it mearly places a fairly large red area around where the item should be, and you still have to look around a bit. If you are confused as to what you are looking for, mearly mouse over the red area, and the game will display the quest objectives for you. Sounds a lot better than wandering aimlessly around looking for things right?
PVE fighting is fast and furious. The pace of battle is definitely faster than WOWs. Mobs die faster, and you typically end up fighting more than just a single mob at a time. Class mechanics work fairly well, every class can contribute meaningfully to a fight. Classes also have fairly distinct roles in the game. This means that there is no "im a shadow priest... i dont heal" happening in this game. Healers are healers first and foremost. While they can do damage, they will never be able to produce the damage that an actual damage class can. In that way, WAR takes its own approach to what it means to be a "hybrid".
Now then, on to a hotly disputed debate, WAR's graphics. In my personal opinion, this game looks GREAT. Character models are detailed and expressive. The art direction definitely benifits from the years of concept art and development produced by Games Workshop on the Warhammer series. Classes look distinct in their specific armor sets. My only real gripe here is that i just wish there were more looks. Basically what you can expect is to look the same for 10 levels at a time, or tiers in WAR's terms. 1-10 has a very specific look per class, as does 11-20 and so on. Another small gripe is the draw distance. Coming over from Age of Conan, the draw distance in WAR is very short. You can expect a similar draw distance to what you see in WOW. Environments are detailed and interesting and reflect the mood of the race that inhabits the area. Greenskin and dwarven areas are going to a lot of wilderness and large stone and wooden buildings, while chaos areas are going to look otherworldly with fleshy, moving trees and darks skies that pulse with energy. The atmosphere in WAR is very appealing.
Now then, you have heard my praises, now lets talk about a few things that are bothersome. WAR does a lot of things right, but there are a few things that damper the experience a little.
First off is server populations. The populations on each server are very sporatic. there are a select few servers with queues of over 600 people waiting to get into the server, and there are other servers with literally only a few hundred players. This is a game that is only as good as its population, so it is bothersome that Mythic has not done a hole lot to spread out the populations at the time of this review.
Next, certain classes seem "less effective" in PVP than others. That is to say, tank classes still seem to not particularly have a role in PVP. With a solid healer, a tank is near impossible to kill in PVP, but then again, tank damage is so low that they are almost a non-factor. Players often take to completely ignoring tanks due to their low DPS. Now on the flip side, in the scenarios where teams have to hold a specific item (ie a flag or artifact) to win, tanks are amazing and extremely effective. In my view however, the fun of PVP comes from actually killing people though, so i do think tanks need some work.
Finally, i know many will not agree with me on this, but the game seems to almost level too fast. It is very feasible for a player to get to lvl 40 in 1-2 weeks of play. Some people like the quick leveling, but to me, it should take ATLEAST a solid month of play to hit maximum level, if not slightly longer. Longer leveling times gives me a better sense of achievement, and definitely extends the life of the game. I fear that the population may reach maximum level much quicker than Mythic intended, and then there will be a significant lul between that time and when an expansion lands, or new content is added.
My last words on this game are thus: this game is worth playing for every MMO gamer out there. It mixes seamless PVE with the absolute best PVP experience you will have in an MMO at this time. The game has a fast pace, and is incredibly rewarding. Mythic is a solid company, and now that it is backed by EA, you know that WAR will have the funding and backing that it requires to be around for the long haul with expansions and additional content. GO BUY THIS GAME!!!