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General Discussion » Warhammer beta capsule review

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dougmysticey Hard Core Member Joined: 6/25/06 Posts: 1141	8/20/08 11:38:40 PM#1 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Warhammer capsule review: Warning: There are minor spoilers in this write up. It has been a while since I have written a formal review and many have beaten me to the punch but I felt like giving a perspective to Warhammer online as I see it. I hope you get some nuggets from this write up. I am a long time gamer and MMO player. My life in MMO’s began with Meridian 59, the original Everquest, and, if you even remember this, AOL’s Neverwinter Nights. That one dates me to be sure. Along with a lengthy experience with virtually every commercial MMO release (and a bunch of free play games as well) I have also designed table top games with over 20 published works. I wrote several published reviews for Scrye magazine as well. Lastly, I am a long time player and fan of the Warhammer universe and ran a Warhammer fantasy game for a couple of years. That being said I fully expected to be overly critical of this game. This is a mini review so I am not covering all features. WOW players: If your first MMO experience was World of Warcraft, that great game is probably your basis for all MMO’s. To start, I would like to drop a little history on you. Warhammer, as a universe, is 25 years old and has its roots in table top miniature warfare. There have been many strategy computer games based on both Warhammer fantasy and Warhammer 40k. Blizzard originally wanted to license the Warhammer universe for their games but Games Workshop was having none of that for whatever reason. Thus, the Warcraft universe was born and it has several similarities to the older, grittier Warhammer Fantasy world. If WOW has been your first and perhaps your only MMORPG I will add a few footnotes for you. I do this because of the similarities in the universe. It is easy to mistake Warhammer as a WOW clone. What did I play: I played both a Chaos Marauder and a Witch Hunter of the Empire through about 15^th level. Both characters were well balanced and had unique abilities. The Marauder is able to twist and mutate his body and as long as you keep your off hand open you can turn it into a nasty claw-like weapon. The Witch Hunter uses a pistol and sword with corresponding abilities. This class also builds up acquisition which fuels some of the character abilities. Both of these classes are the DPS characters as I understand it but are not supposed to be able to take too much damage in a straight up fight. This was my basis for my choice in beta. I tend to like the DPS machines (Like the Barbarian in AOC). Character design and Character models: The character design is pretty basic; pick a race from one of two groups (Destruction and Order) then drill down with a specific character race/ class and sex. There has been enough info on this so I will not dwell on it. Customization of your toon is not as good as some games (very low here) and two characters of the same type will look similar. Some will think this a weakness but in staying true to Warhammer table top games it makes some sense. When using minis your units will have a uniform look with subtle differences. The models are a lot more static than some games, better than WOW but not nearly as nice as AOC. This is not a big deal to me personally. Starting the game: In both starting zones my character’s started on the battle front with a quest giver standing before me. The game graphics fits the setting well and in both starting zones for these characters the war torn landscape was ragged and gritty, replicating much of the Warhammer fantasy world well. As you begin your journey you will think the game has little new to offer and you do some PVE quests to familiarize yourself with the game. Luckily, Mythic starts to introduce you to some of the differences quickly. For each class I ran into my first of the Public Quests (PQ’s). Both were very cool. By this time you will have a few levels and feel comfortable with the action bar and abilities. If you have any concern the interface is JUST like the average MMO. This did scare me at first as I have read about the many cool things Mythic wants to bring to us but this look so typical it worried me. WOW Players: You will immediately think “clone” as you have what is clearly the standard in MMORPGs, especially fantasy based ones on the surface. The interface is extremely familiar in layout and quest givers are clearly noted. As I explained earlier with the history lesson, Warhammer is not a clone. All of these MMO staples were present in MMO’s older than WOW but Blizzard did an excellent job at refining and combining these to create a standard in the industry. The game visuals are grittier and battle torn but similar as well (though improved on the older incumbent). With that said I will move on to specific features and mechanics. I want to start by saying my view and perspective is NOT that of an avid PVP player. I am a PVE fan but I have did play DAOC in RVR for some time. I generally avoid PVP servers mainly due to the immature community and the “more level means you’re tougher” based game play of the average MMO. Public Quests (PQ): Yup, we have all heard and read about them. All I can say is what a great move. I hated waiting to get into raid groups for hours while teams formed. It was painful because I have a wife, kids, full time job, etc. Hear is part of a great answer to that. I experienced the first few PQs for both characters but do not want to ruin them for you so I will address the first one only. For my Witch Hunter, I came on a break in the road with a large farmhouse in this distance. The road was lined by wheat fields and a group of players stood vigilant on the path. As I approached a dialogue box appeared letting me know the PQ was starting in 23 seconds. I ran up to the group and without joining a party was part of the quest. Chaos Marauders swarmed out and the first stage began. We had to kill 25 of em. I won’t spoil this too much for you but PQs roll out in three stages. In the third stage of this very fun PQ a massive Giant crashes through the woods, knocking trees aside. It took a bunch of us to kill it. As you fight and go through the stages a blue bar to the far right fills up. This is your influence bar. There are three segments to this and you will have to do then a few times. Each of the three segments represents better gear you can get from the local rally master. Tier three is elite gear and is pretty good. Once full you stop gaining influence for that region and need to move on to other areas. Also, at the successful end of a PQ a chest drops and you are ranked against the others that participated. A random roll, coupled with your rank in the PQ event, determines if you get to pull loot from the chest. Even ranking number 1 in a PQ and going through many PQ events by level 12 or so, I only once pulled anything better than a lesser loot bag one time. The one time I did pull better it contained a rare item which was nice. Scenarios: The next type of player event you run into are scenarios. These are short, 15 minute PVP events. The first to amass 500 points wins the event. You have to queue up for these and when enough players have entered to play a dialogue pops up asking you if you’re ready, need a minute more, or decline. In the ones I played you basically have to win and hold points of contention. At the end you get to know who won and how you ranked in the event (kills, deaths, experience, and renown, etc). Not being a typical PVP player I did not fare so well the first time. Died 8 times and kill 3. I caught on quickly to the class and learned how to win and support a team though and was able to end up averaging 20 kills and 4 deaths in future events. The experience award is decent. These are fun breaks and can bust the immersion in the game a bit but that was OK as it stuck to the feel of constant turbulence and war around you. Renown levels: I mentioned renown above, this is your PVP leveling rank. You gain renown as you kill in RVR or in scenarios. Renown levels have an impact as eventually, in your first RVR warcamp, you run into a renown trainer and can buy gear that is only for people of a certain renown rank. This impacts all levels of game play. The renown abilities have an immediate and obvious impact. The first I took gave me and experience increase for kills in RVR, the second one put up a damage absorbing shield (on a very low random chance) when I am attacked. These first two appeared in the lower left hand corner and can be reset if you get more or better (active slots are limited to 3 of these) Others boost stats and other abilities and you can add points to them to beef them up further. Renown gear is far superior to the average gear you get in the game. Rare loot bag drops on PQs are the only gear I spotted that was better. RVR: As I stated, I am not a PVP player at heart but like RVR in DAOC I found myself sucked into many battles with my Witch hunter trying desperately to gain control of the zone for the side of Order. This leads me to my first potential issue. There are an overwhelming number of players on the side of destruction which means much tougher RVR odds for Order on the server I was on. In the first big RVR zone within the starting areas for Order and destruction (I think the max renown level there is 10^th or 11^th but I am not 100% certain on that) you are fighting in a town overlooking a beach. You need to take and hold certain points from the other side. If you take them all the control shifts to your side (which impacts the zone for you in different ways). When you take a contention point NPC defenders pop up and the place is lost to the enemy for a certain period of time. These battles are FUN though. Even outnumbered my first few forays into the hot zone were not great. Eventually I got in with a large group of well organized Order players and we formed a Warband (Multiple groups of 6 players). This demonstrated to me that pure numbers and brute force button mashing were not going to win you the zone in RVR. Tactical skill and organization made a difference. Even though we were outnumbered nearly 2-1 we retook the zone for Order and managed to hold it. Organizing your nukers, healers, tanks, and DPS characters well worked for us. A Dwarf set up some small flame turrets (class ability) at entry points that offered us some additional fire power against the oncoming hordes. Again, you gain renown for your RVR kills of which my Witch hunter has chalked up over 300 kills already. Some other features of note are: Open parties: What a simple but awesome addition. Click on the grouping button under your character portrait and you will see all open parties, whether or not they are in PVE, RVR, or PQs, and a button to join. Unless the leader closes off the party or there is no room left you can join instantly. Very cool feature. WOW players: Older WOW players may recall waiting for hours to enter dungeons and raid while parties formed. This system really overcomes t hat problem so far. Keeping in mind I only played to 15^th level before writing this. This is true of other fantasy games too. The Lore book: Warhammer has 25 years of lore and info. Also, you gain titles and achievements similar to other games like Lord of the Rings online. The Lore Book tracks it all, notes each creature you kill, all of your quests completed, history, scenario info, to name a few; very nicely done. Crafting: Ouch, I am thinking this is a weak point. The crafting features seem fine but were limited to two gathering skills and only apothecary crafting so far in Beta. Being so close to launch that worries me a little and I am hoping that it is just something cool they are saving for release. It is the one area I am concerned about at this stage and looks like it is not quite ready for prime time. Closing: Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. It does start off looking like a very stereotypical MMO but if you stick with it the differences start to show through. PVE is typical kill, fed ex, etc quests but the lore behind them and stories are well written if you bother to read them. I am not sure how avid PVP players will feel about the game but I can tell you that RVR sucked me in for hours of fun in just the first, lower level, RVR zone. There is a lot to do in the game which should keep you from getting bored switching up from PVE to public quests, scenarios, and RVR. Again, loads to do. If you like what I have about the game it is worthy of trying. I can imagine I will be playing this game for a while. Other than the crafting and a few, extremely minor quirks, balance, and bug issues, the game is pretty close to ready for launch. I experienced no lag (even with some 30+ players on screen and NPCs around us) and only got booted one time. That is all good but I was playing on a beefy XPS M1730 lap top. Thanks for taking the time to read this and enjoy the game.
Login or Register to never see this panel Top 10 Games of 2012 Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes : Amenadresh Returns! The Real Top 10 MMOs of 2012 Rift : Conquest - Open World, Three Faction PvP The Secret World : Hell Hurts Diablo 3 : Review-in-Progress Part Two
skitzdout Novice Member Joined: 2/05/04 Posts: 413 "<[EQ]Prathun> I can work on fixing EQ for the rest of my grown life and never fix it."	8/20/08 11:57:35 PM#2 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) nice review. seems very honest. so far im liking what im seeing and hearing about warhammer. will have to see for myself though to be sure if i will stick with it but by the sounds of things, i would cause there is something to do at all levels and not just the first 20
Tuck2000 Novice Member Joined: 3/20/08 Posts: 363 Bartle Test result: Killer Killer 73% Explorer 60% Achiever 33% Socializer 33%	8/21/08 12:21:42 AM#3 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Good review But OMG "AOL’s Neverwinter Nights" I have not thought about it in years.
Vynt Hard Core Member Joined: 9/19/04 Posts: 447	8/21/08 12:40:43 AM#4 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) The first RvR area depends on what race you are. You queue into a scenario and the highest level you can be is 11. Once you're 12, you're considered tier 2. Humans and chaos start in the scenario you described. There are also open areas you can RvR besides the scenario/battlegrounds that have their own objectives too. I played every single class, including trying them all in tier 4 (can't say much about that still). I liked the dark elf scenario in tier 1 called Khaine's embrace. it was more of a capture both points, then a big explosion killing people near the points. In the first scenario, things aren't quite balanced and some classes can feel more like gods compared to endgame. Also, what a lot didn't know was that if you go to the open rvr areas in tier 2 you can buy level 10 renown rank 6 gear which is insanely better than the rr4 gear you can get in a warcamp, basically allowing you to take on 5 players np, hehe. I'm sure that gear will probably be changed to level 12 to make it tier 2 gear so this doesn't sway the balance in tier 1. I'm not going to go into in an in depth guide or anything because I could write for several pages on the ins and outs of this game and every character and how they are in each tier, and all the little things that are extremely fun like PQs. My character of choice is the disciple of khaine at release. Wonderful in pve, good in rvr, claimed to be very weak in final tier, but if you know how to work things, then quite good, at least was for me. I've been playing the beta for a few months and while I won't go into everything like I said before, there is one thing I will say: I am definitely playing this when it is released. I am having a lot of fun in a BETA! Some bugs, but not bad and quite polished. Still, after all that time, I am having a blast and love playing. Only 2 things bug me atm. One, the servers are closed now because of preview weekend, damn you all! :p And two, Mythic is releasing the game earlier than I expected which was later in September or early October, because I am on vacation most of September and won't be back until about the 21st! Grrr. Anyways, my advice to anyone is give the game a shot and see if it is your thing. if you liked daoc, you'll probably like this, although you may find as I have, 3 realms is better than 2, but 2 is still pretty fun. If there could be a 3rd realm in this game, it would probably be the best game ever (for me), and I've played a ton of them, hehe.
dougmysticey Hard Core Member Joined: 6/25/06 Posts: 1141	8/21/08 6:44:38 PM#5 Report this post Explain why you are reporting this post: (750 characters max.) Thanks for adding to the RVR, scenario and renown info Vynt. That is good stuff.