Wow... how did I waste so much time on so many MMOs, and never play this beautiful gem? I'm pretty ashamed for one thing, but I couldn't be happier at the same time. For years I have talked about wanting to play an MMORPG just like this, and it was there all along?! Honestly I guess the main reason I never tried this game or looked into it (before it was F2P) was because I thought it would be too nerdy (ironic and stupid) or like playing the table top game and not so much like a video game - really dumb and closed minded I know, but anyway...

First off I'll say if you like MMORPGs and you like games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but you have never played DDO: just stop reading and go download, install, and play it right now... seriously.

Now onto my informal review/impression of the game:

Graphics and Sound - 8.5/10

- Graphics -

I personally think the graphics are very nice - especially if you download the high resolution package (or whatever it's called) and turn up all the settings (I will even say beautiful in some places in the game). Even on lower settings the game looks very good in my opinion and is detailed. It isn't as high quality as some of the modern games, but I think it looks fine and I don't feel like it's outdated or anything. Overall it is very good looking and polished. The interface for this game is not that great in some areas, but it gets the job done and looks decent at least.

- Sound -

The music hasn't really wooed me or anything, but it is decent. The sound effects however are good and fit in well with the game play. There is audio dialogue for some NPCs and it is well done in my opinion, and the dungeon master is great fun to listen to :P 

Game play - 10/10

The game play for DDO is wonderful, and it far exceeded my expectations. There is so much to this game from the character creation and development, to the dungeons, and more.

- Combat -

The combat in this game is quite fun. Instead of just targeting a monster and mashing keys you actually have to aim, click to swing your sword, move around, and all that. There are dungeons and raids in this game, and you not only have to defeat monsters, but you also have to solve challenging puzzles, avoid traps, etc. It is action packed and most importantly FUN.

- Leveling -

This game is -not- about running around killing EXP bags all day monotonously to level up. You only get EXP for certain things like killing a mini boss and completing quests. Most of the time I have never payed attention to quests or what the quest says in other games, but here I pay more attention that usual because (so far) the stories are actually good and interesting - it's not just "oh  I need you to kill 20 pigs for <some dumb reason>" it's like "we need you to save the villagers and slay a dragon that is terrorizing the village".

A wonderful thing about this game is that it's group oriented, and even if you don't like grouping with people (or while you are leveling up anyway) it's ok! Because you can hire "hirelings" which are NPCs that group with you and help you in battles! Dungeons in the game have a solo option, a normal group option, and there are harder modes if you want to revist the dungeons for more challenge and better reward.

- Character Creation -

The character creation isn't as fleshed out as some MMORPGs aesthetically, but I would rate it as highly customizable compared to most MMOs I have played. I was able to make a character that I was satisfied with - it had all the basic customization features I like, and there are plenty of options including a lot of skin/lip/hair color and different noses, eyes, and mouths.

There is a wide option of classes and races to choose from. Races in the game have certain cons and benefits, so they aren't just for looks. The classes include melee, tank, spell caster, healer, rogue, archer, buffer etc. but they all can be fleshed out further to your liking and you can even dual class (there are tons of possibilities for your final character). There are so many details to characters like sneaking around in the shadows, disarming traps, charming people, etc.

- Raiding, Crafting, PvP -

I cannot comment personally on raids, crafting, or PvP at this time. From what I understand though there are many raids to choose from, and raiding is as fun and challenging as the dungeons (but with up to 12 people). Crafting isn't the monotonous game of make a hundred of these and a hundred of this for one item. PvP is an afterthought in this game, but you can challenge other players (duel) there are some open PvP areas in taverns, and there are arena teams. But in honesty if you want a game for mainly PvP look elsewhere (this game is seriously a PvE lover's wet dream in my opinion). I would still rate the game play 10/10 even if there was no PvP at all, but the fact that they have duels, open pvp in taverns, and arena is just icing on the cake.

Community - 10/10

I normally would never include this as a factor for rating an MMORPG, but I feel it has to be mentioned. Before I started playing this game I heard how great the community was, and even though I rarely hear that about MMO's I was still skeptical. I'm sure it varies from server to server among other things, but from what I've heard about combined with my experience so far I have to say the community is excellent. I don't think I've ever seen a bigger group of helpful, courteous, friendly players in any other MMO period. When I started playing I had a ton of newbie questions, and there were so many people who helped me out and there was no rude "L2P shut up noob" or anything like that - I was amazed. Some people made some jokes when I asked questions, but it was all in good fun and we shared some laughs. I was not greeted with straight up rudeness or vulgarity like I have experienced in other games. Overall my experience so far has been playing with friendly, mature, funny, nice, helpful people.

Overall - 9.5/10

- Conclusion -

Awesome game from head to toe. The best thing about this game (other than it being a ton of fun, having depth, character, and beauty) is that you can play this game for a couple of hours have a blast, and feel like you actually accomplished something. It is a deep breath of fresh air compared to every MMORPG I have ever played, and I wish I would have played this a long, long time ago and I might have felt like I was doing something somewhat useful with my time (having fun) instead of wasting it (grinding on boring stuff before any chance of fun). If this game suddenly had a subscription fee tomorrow and I had to buy the game I would gladly do both in a heart beat - I don't think I would say that about any F2P game, hell even most P2P games.

Additional Info

The game is free to play (no monthly fee, no cost for the game itself), so if you haven't tried it and you are actually interested in this game or you are bored and looking for something to do you might as well download it and try it! (and really you trying it is better than reading any review)

You can play from level 1 to level 20 (every level and one raid included) for free, but the game makes money by selling extra content (adventure packs - raids, dungeons quests, etc.), classes and races, exp potions, extra character slots, extra hireling slots, and more. Although! you can earn DDO points to buy these things, and these are definitely not necessary to play and enjoy this game (there is PLENTY of content available without spending a cent). Although if you want everything available to you for 'free' (all of the adventure packs, classes, etc.) and better customer service you have the option to pay $14.99 a month, and if you buy anything on the store you automatically gain some perks over standard "free" customers.

Hope you enjoyed my review and impression - Please feel free to leave any questions or comments :)

Thanks for the review. Sounds pretty good.

I'll probably end up either here or in LOTRO if STO bombs.

Yes it's unique and good.

If ever LOTRO and DDO had a baby, if that baby had the best traits of both it would easily be the best fantasy mmo ever made. DDO needs more adventure and a more modern UI to make it right next to perfect. LOTRO needs the team play/dungeons/puzzles that DDO has and a huge reduction on X of X quests, to be close  to perfect.

Originally posted by HorrorScope

Yes it's unique and good.

If ever LOTRO and DDO had a baby, if that baby had the best traits of both it would easily be the best fantasy mmo ever made. DDO needs more adventure and a more modern UI to make it right next to perfect. LOTRO needs the team play/dungeons/puzzles that DDO has and a huge reduction on X of X quests, to be close  to perfect.

 

Those are some good points I certainly agree the game could use an improved UI. Not sure what you mean by it needing more adventure :3

Adventure as in large open high-pop areas. Instead of things like Tangleroot, there are area's like that but they are between cities/towns where many can be. Instead of cramped quarters everywhere, be like a mmo, let it breathe some. But unlike a mmo make great DDO like instances in towns, out of towns etc. Add in a standard crafting engine as well. The good news is Turbine has all the technology they just have to mix it better. Harry Pooper?

My reasons for quitting DDO were the character art and armor graphics.

They were either spandex, or just plain strange armors....

I really wish the theme had been based in Baldur's Gate and not... whatever it is that the game is based.

Great game though, otherwise.

I gave DDO a second look after it went F2P after trying it at launch and not playing for more than two days.  Upon my return I liked the game enough to actually sub but somewhere around level 3-5 it really started to lose me.  One thing I don't like is the utter imbalance of classes, it is simply far too easy to access content with say a paladin while impossible to do the same quest with a wizard even 2 levels higher.

Basically I prefer to solo and I like variety and if I wanted to play a wizard in this game it is just near impossible to solo.  Then I got into the STO beta and realized that I had more fun in an unpolished beta than I was having in DDO and cancelled my pay sub.  It is fun for the f2p but I just can't see it as worth paying for.

Originally posted by CujoSWAoA

My reasons for quitting DDO were the character art and armor graphics.

They were either spandex, or just plain strange armors....

I really wish the theme had been based in Baldur's Gate and not... whatever it is that the game is based.

Great game though, otherwise.

Agree somewhat with cujo but another issue I have is i really didn't like having no world to explore. Maybe it was just me but in my p&p D&D we did a lot of exploring the world the dm always had the planned adventure and aback up one to go with in case we started heading off in another direction.

What server do you play on?

And there are some limits on your lvling if you are playing for free.  They have some caps that you need cash shop items or drops to keep going.

Originally posted by Ravik

What server do you play on?

And there are some limits on your lvling if you are playing for free.  They have some caps that you need cash shop items or drops to keep going.

I'm on Thelanis. From what I understand you can gain all of the leveling packs in game or earn enough points in game to buy them from the store without having to spend money. What items or drops would you need to keep going as you say?

@ the other posters who mentioned exploring in an open world - I agree this could be a problem for some, and furthermore if you don't like instances you would hate this game. Although personally I've had enough adventure and exploring from all of the dungeons and instances so far. For what the game is I still give it a high score.

And yes as another person mentioned the gear is kind of ugly, but that's not keeping me from having fun so far personally :) 

Originally posted by jaxsundane

I gave DDO a second look after it went F2P after trying it at launch and not playing for more than two days.  Upon my return I liked the game enough to actually sub but somewhere around level 3-5 it really started to lose me.  One thing I don't like is the utter imbalance of classes, it is simply far too easy to access content with say a paladin while impossible to do the same quest with a wizard even 2 levels higher.

Basically I prefer to solo and I like variety and if I wanted to play a wizard in this game it is just near impossible to solo.  Then I got into the STO beta and realized that I had more fun in an unpolished beta than I was having in DDO and cancelled my pay sub.  It is fun for the f2p but I just can't see it as worth paying for.

If it helps the balance can swing the other way as you get to higher levels. Not unknown for Sorc/Wizard to solo raids.

Screw balance...that's all I'm sayin'

Originally posted by Dr.Rock

Originally posted by jaxsundane

I gave DDO a second look after it went F2P after trying it at launch and not playing for more than two days.  Upon my return I liked the game enough to actually sub but somewhere around level 3-5 it really started to lose me.  One thing I don't like is the utter imbalance of classes, it is simply far too easy to access content with say a paladin while impossible to do the same quest with a wizard even 2 levels higher.

Basically I prefer to solo and I like variety and if I wanted to play a wizard in this game it is just near impossible to solo.  Then I got into the STO beta and realized that I had more fun in an unpolished beta than I was having in DDO and cancelled my pay sub.  It is fun for the f2p but I just can't see it as worth paying for.

If it helps the balance can swing the other way as you get to higher levels. Not unknown for Sorc/Wizard to solo raids.

Class balance is what it is because of the source material. I say more power to Turbine for sticking as close to PnP classes as they have. Anyway, it is very hard to solo on an arcane caster at low levels, but in some high level content you'll be FAR more valuable. What's more you can use stealth, charms, and the like to run low level content without getting your hands dirty. 

To the OP, I've been giving this game another go since it went F2P.  It really does provide an enjoyable experience that is very different from what you get with most other MMOs.

I can see the issues others bring up about class balance, but honestly, I think that has as much to to with being a relatively faithful representation of the P&P version.  It's also a problem often experienced in just about every other MMO out there.

Anyway, it's been a fun game for me, and you can't beat the price.

I just started playing a couple days ago and I am enjoying the game. This will be my game of choice till something good comes along. I like that its different from everything else out there. I can log into this game and with in minutes I can be doing what ever it is I need to do.

I think you are a little delusional to be honest. The game is good, not so much that it should warrent the extent of praise you are giving it. I mean it is worth play and since it is free it should at least be tried, but those scores you give will just throw off people who might get hyped up by your review.

Good game, go play it. Take the review with a grain and enjoy the game for what it is.

Originally posted by ic0n67

I think you are a little delusional to be honest. The game is good, not so much that it should warrent the extent of praise you are giving it. I mean it is worth play and since it is free it should at least be tried, but those scores you give will just throw off people who might get hyped up by your review.

Good game, go play it. Take the review with a grain and enjoy the game for what it is.

I love DDO but truth is if it was as good as the OPs scores it would not have needed to go F2P to survive.

Originally posted by Rokurgepta

Originally posted by ic0n67

I think you are a little delusional to be honest. The game is good, not so much that it should warrent the extent of praise you are giving it. I mean it is worth play and since it is free it should at least be tried, but those scores you give will just throw off people who might get hyped up by your review.

Good game, go play it. Take the review with a grain and enjoy the game for what it is.

 

I love DDO but truth is if it was as good as the OPs scores it would not have needed to go F2P to survive.

Honestly it was more of an impression than a review (and I kind of stated that). Compared to most F2P games I still think it deserves high praise. I actually got a bit turned off from it lately. Excited about Allods CB3 at the moment lol.

This game had the same effect on me when I first tried it in september waiting for Aion's release. It felt so fresh and original in a world of MMO-clones. However I do not think it's 100% perfect. I regret especially the D&D paper rules which do not make for a good MMO system in my opinion (my barbarian just swings her axe in dungeons and uses almost no skills beside a few cooldowns, just moving and aiming). But on so many points, this game is really awesome and addictive. And it's different from what is done elsewhere. So when you're bored with the other big names on the market, it's certainly a good idea to try this one.

It deserves to be known by more people for sure. After my three months on Aion, I think I may be back to DDO now, and with a premium sub this time :)

 I agree

the first time i played this game i felt like i was playing The elder scrolls 4:  oblivion.  That is what i like the most of this game :D