I'll admit... when I first heard about Fallen Earth, I couldn't help but feel a little excited. After all, I was a huge fan of the fallout series, and am also an avid and heavy role player. The immersion factor that Fallout gave you in having to survive was wonderful... and immediately when I heard there was going to be a post-apocalyptic MMO similar to that of Fallout, I atleast had to take a look. So I did... and my first thoughts were, this wasn't going to work. The screens were a little promising on the graphics end... nothing next-generation, but good for todays generation. But I just really couldn't anticipate how the game itself would work. I feared the one thing that I loved about Fallout would be something that in the MMO world, Fallen Earth would lack, simply due to the mechanics of the average MMO. So I didn't expect much of Fallen Earth. In fact, I wouldn't have even tried it if it weren't for the beta. I figured, free play time... might as well give it a go. I will open the beginning of my review by simply saying, I was SO wrong about what this game would have to offer. Too add, I plan on leaving LOTRO, a game which I have been in love with since beta, for Fallen Earth and plan to make it my new permanent home. In fact, I might not even leave for ToR which was my initial plan, after LOTRO.

IMMERSION

So I will start with the thing I love most about MMO's, especially since that I am a role player, this is one of the most important aspects. The immersion factor is simply astounding... I give it a 10/10. If you've ever seen the Postman, with Kevin Costner, that is the first feeling you get as you finish the intro. Found in a wasteland where many people are torn between different causes, where the world around you lacks unity. More so, this world that you are apart of seems like a living and breathing world. Its simple things from riding your horse through a settlement, or out in the barren wastes and seeing a coyote roam around in search for some food. Every little detail makes the world seem so much livlier than in any game I have ever seen. This is also probably the largest scale MMO I've seen when it comes to maps and locations. It can take a long time to get from place to place, and there is no fast-travel... and I'm in love with that choice made by the devs. Taking the wasteland, and having that first breath-taking sight of the Grand Canyon is beautiful, and yet erie at the same time. All the same, the journey there is half of the fun. The wastes have good shape and realistic terraforming, and overall, this makes for a very pleasant experience.

You are also given a handful of emotes you can choose from... the UI does a nice job of categorizing them in different contexts. There are even permanent mood altering emotes that will change your facial expressions. More importantly, they blend very well, whereas mood emotes in other games... such as LOTRO, looked a little more rediculous and cartoony than anything. Every emote is animated, and all of them unique... if you really wanted to, you could make some good machinima films with only what the game has to offer with core.

Mounts are another thing that add to the immersion level. If you are riding a horse, your horse has a health bar, as well as a large stamina meter... When the stamina gets very low (which mind you takes a very long time) your horse will have to rest before he can continue on. In consideration to how large the game zones are, you will want to take care of your horse and keep him alive, as your own survival depends on it. Also, unlike in most MMO's, when you dismount your mount, they stay in the game world. They don't magically dissappear, so you have to go find your mount before leaving.

Character Customization is much better than games such as LOTRO or AoC in my opinion, but are not nearly as up to par with character customization like that in Aion. Nonetheless, you will have a pleasant experience making your toons and finding a toon that looks exactly like you, I imagine is few and far between. In other words, it hasn't happened to me yet.

CRAFTING:

I haven't worked on crafting to much myself since I started in the open beta, however, from what I did see, there was no set profession you had to choose from... you simply are able to do anything and have to level your skills as you progress. Depending on what trade you want to do, you wouldn't really want to waste too much time on the ones that don't matter. I've found that the best way to work on it, is by working on your nature, scavenging, first-aid, cooking, and one major craft you wish to dedicate your time on. The crafting system is complex and unique from any game I've ever played. Overall, for those crafting enthusiasts out there... you will find no better experience in crafting then what you will in this game.

COMBAT:

The combat is fun and addictive, though albeit frusterating at times. Having some good FPS style coordination with a mouse is definately important, as your crosshairs... unlike in games like SWG, have direct effect on how your enemy is hurt. You can shoot at anything, and depending on where you hit your target, this will greatly affect how quickly they go down. Of course, headshots aren't insta kill... but you have better luck winning a battle by taking your time and aiming for the head. Having a good melee weapon on hand is also important. The cool thing is, is that you can have roughly six weapons on you at all times... two back slots for rifles or other large weapons (including large melee weapons). To waist slots for (atleast for me) melee weapons, such as a knife, shiv, or hammer. And two Leg Slots for pistols. You can switch between these weapons easily during battle, and in fact, you can also rotate between dual wielding as well. You can have two pistols in one hand, and as the enemy approaches, switch one pistol out for a knife and be able to melee and fire off a few shots with the other pistol while jabbing at him with your other weapon. Combat animations are smooth and fluid for both the NPCs and PCs.

GRAPHICS:

The graphics aren't going to be anything particularly special in comparison to other games such as AoC. They are top notch for the current time, but they wouldn't be consider next-gen graphics. Where the graphics are nice though, is the engine they use for rendering, is quite similar to LOTRO's... so you don't have to have a high-end machine to run it at good quality. I'd say right now, the game's visuals are between LOTRO's and AoC's. As I mentioned about the combat animations, the animations are fluid and smooth, for all animations, and not only to the combat. When mounting a horse, instead of having a timer appear and then magically appearing on your horse, your character approaches your horse from the side and mounts up... the same for dismount.

OVERALL:

Overall, I think Fallen Earth is the first next gen MMO to really redefine the genre. It doesn't have nearly as many bugs in beta that other games had at release such as AoC. More so, it delivers a full complete and polished experience that many MMO's are lacking. It will please Role Playing Fans as well as mainstream MMO WoW junkies, and perhaps even a few FPS junkies. This much is what I can say atleast to my own opinion. Fallen Earth is the best and most enjoyable MMO I've played yet, and I plan to spend a long time there.

The combat was what turned me off this title. And they refused to put anymore polish on it.

Its not he mechanics of it that were bad. It was the implementation. The camera snaps when you kneel or prone, mobs run up to you to melee range...so there is no point in ranged combat. And cover doesn't exist in this game at all. The delay in shot > Target react was the last straw.

Its to unrefined and clunky for FPS players, and RPG players are simply going to be frustrated by its lack of polish or tactics.

It essentially boils down to "I will stab you with bullets".

Well said OP, at this point I am starting to sound like a fanboy to this game myself, but hell, its all about having fun and being entertained. I agree with some ppl that dont like the game, but my likes outweigh my dislikes in the game ro me personally.

I feel lost as I once was when I started playing Anarchy Online in 2002. I cant believe its been that long already. But its a good feeling and damn refreshing.

Your either gonna love it or hate it, it is as simple as that.

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

 

The combat was what turned me off this title. And they refused to put anymore polish on it.

 

Its not he mechanics of it that were bad. It was the implementation. The camera snaps when you kneel or prone, mobs run up to you to melee range...so there is no point in ranged combat. And cover doesn't exist in this game at all. The delay in shot > Target react was the last straw.

Its to unrefined and clunky for FPS players, and RPG players are simply going to be frustrated by its lack of polish or tactics.

It essentially boils down to "I will stab you with bullets".

 

I agree completely

I was excited for this game as well, I got accepted months ago to the beta, I started off with my shiny new character and thrown into the worls only to be greeted with a screen that I couldnt even click to move through the tutorial. So after a few days wait I patched and was able to get out of that room. and played for a few hours and was goin through another room that had some funky movement and got stuck talking to a NPC that didnt have an answer to his quest. I know it is beta but I was so frustrated becasue I wanted to LOVE this game so much and these just ruined it for me. So I will try in the future when I am just in dire need of an MMO to play and will think about this game and I hope to god it blows my mind next time!

I couldn't get past the horrible 90's graphics myself.

Thumbs up for postapocalyptic world... and that's all I love in this game.
In my opinion combat sucks. I don't like the idea of FPS style aiming and constant mouse clicking, plus weapon swapping is a pain in the ***.
As a huge PvP fan I'm really disappointed. Was looking forward to see some decent PvP.  There is no battles / raids / clan wars / etc. Basically all you can do is missions & crafting. I agree, they could be fun, but for how long?

The game definitely got its potential, but needs to be improved asap. No way I'm gonna pay for this, if they don't make any significant changes... but that's my opinion only. See it for yourselves guys.

I find the OP to be misleading.

Just like in every MMO mobs spawn and roam in set paths. The coyote isn't off looking for food. He spawned there so you could kill and harvest him.

While you can equip 6 weapons and remap the keys, it's still an exercise in frustration to rapidly switch weapons.

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Crafting, not really sure how it's more complex than any other game. Gather materials, queue item, collect product. There are many more materials than normal games, but in the end it just ends up filling your inventory.

It's not like you can actively do anything crafting to make a better product. You have materials you craft a preset recipe.

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A great majority of people that love the game and nearly all that hate the game both can agree on one thing. Combat sucks.

While there are multiple hit-boxes the damage isn't that significant between head-shot and body shot. It's enough to be noticeable but not Booya Headshot!

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As I've said in previous posts, graphics encompass alot. Animations, combat and otherwise are just piss poor. The emotes are pretty damn varied, but movement in general is awkward.

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I really didn't find the game world to be that large. There are three Sectors. It takes some time to travel across each one and I'd definitely not recommend going from 1 to 3 or vice-versa in one sitting. It's not exactly because they are so large, but because travel is so slow.

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That being said I hope the OP and all the other people play and love the game. I think it pulls off the post-apocalyptic theme rather well and people who like that would probably like this game.

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Originally posted by inmysights
I was excited for this game as well, I got accepted months ago to the beta, I started off with my shiny new character and thrown into the worls only to be greeted with a screen that I couldnt even click to move through the tutorial. So after a few days wait I patched and was able to get out of that room. and played for a few hours and was goin through another room that had some funky movement and got stuck talking to a NPC that didnt have an answer to his quest. I know it is beta but I was so frustrated becasue I wanted to LOVE this game so much and these just ruined it for me. So I will try in the future when I am just in dire need of an MMO to play and will think about this game and I hope to god it blows my mind next time!

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That's basically how my experience with the game went. I was excited about the concept and really let down by the implementation.

I might give it another shot down the road if MO and Earthrise both suck.

Originally posted by neoterrar

I find the OP to be misleading.

Just like in every MMO mobs spawn and roam in set paths. The coyote isn't off looking for food. He spawned there so you could kill and harvest him.

While you can equip 6 weapons and remap the keys, it's still an exercise in frustration to rapidly switch weapons.

--

Crafting, not really sure how it's more complex than any other game. Gather materials, queue item, collect product. There are many more materials than normal games, but in the end it just ends up filling your inventory.

It's not like you can actively do anything crafting to make a better product. You have materials you craft a preset recipe.

--

A great majority of people that love the game and nearly all that hate the game both can agree on one thing. Combat sucks.

While there are multiple hit-boxes the damage isn't that significant between head-shot and body shot. It's enough to be noticeable but not Booya Headshot!

--

As I've said in previous posts, graphics encompass alot. Animations, combat and otherwise are just piss poor. The emotes are pretty damn varied, but movement in general is awkward.

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I really didn't find the game world to be that large. There are three Sectors. It takes some time to travel across each one and I'd definitely not recommend going from 1 to 3 or vice-versa in one sitting. It's not exactly because they are so large, but because travel is so slow.

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That being said I hope the OP and all the other people play and love the game. I think it pulls off the post-apocalyptic theme rather well and people who like that would probably like this game.

You're simply a cynic. One can argue that any computer game is nothing but 1's and 0's, and yet some still manage to evoke some feelings of awe and wonder. Any game that you play is simply you against the machine in some form or fashion, even FPS, though your own skill does help somewhat, it still comes down to the machine and computations.

As far as switching weapons, I've remapped to the numpad, with 7/9 being back slots, 4/6 being belt slots, and 1/3 being leg slots and I can manage to switch weapons on the fly fairly quickly. It's simply a matter of practice and remapping the keys to something that works for you.

Crafting is similar to other implementations, just the practice is different. You can start the crafting, then go off and do other things without them affecting your crafting. You don't have to sit in front of a crafting station or sit still while you craft. While being in the requisite facility will speed up crafting, it's best to do that when you log off, because it still crafts even after you've logged off. What other game does that?

Combat is a somewhat different approach. Rather than just click autoattack and hit keys every so often, this one requires that you keep your crosshairs on the target, also while managing your health, stamina, and gamma. It's simply something that makes it a little more challenging. Clunky? Not moreso than EQ or any of the other ilk where it's just mindless numbers. This gives it the feel of a FPS while still being a RPG.

Graphics don't really encompass as much as you say, otherwise people wouldn't turn them all the way down after the initial 'wow' factor. Graphics count for the initial impression sure, but after that, they are simply there and most don't notice it. Gameplay trumps graphics every time.

Animation is similar to every other MMO out there. You look like you're running, walking, going  prone, dancing, etc. Not sure how you would consider it more clunky than say EQ/WoW/EQII/etc. Seems pretty similar to me, even the graphical and animation glitches that happen occasionally.

How do you consider the world to not be very large? For one, it's not broken up into zones, so you don't have to deal with loading screens unless you die. Movement I would say is again similar to other games. You just don't have the fast travel available as you do in other games. I would argue that the movement is sped up artificially in other games so that people don't have to spend the time travelling everywhere. I remember when EQ had the boats and such, making travel last quite a while. They took them out, not because people demanded it, but because the boats were buggy. And the game is just being released with a lot of empty space to put stuff, as well as add more areas in the future, so it can only grow larger.

Personally, I found the game to be pretty much the same old, same old. It's PvE focused, with very little opportunity to PvP except in designated areas. Town contention is handled via quests gotten through your specific faction to lessen other faction's influences over the town while increasing your own. Whoever has the most influence controls the town. Quests are a lot of 'kill X number of mobs', 'deliver this', 'gather x of y', etc. Factions are arranged around a wheel, with each faction diametrically opposed to another, so this makes multi-faction clans unwieldy and impractical, unless they pick one faction and only allow allies to that one faction. It's alright, but hardly groundbreaking.

Tw I'm sure what you saw, but I saw a coyote dash by my toon scaving to attack my horse, who already had a coyote run up and bite his arse. If that isnt prey selection I dont know what is. I felt like Jeremiah Johnson trying to fight off 2 coyotes from killing my poor horse parked 20 yard behind me on the road.

They have been patching every day and a lot of AI patches so its possible that you havent seen the new AI behaviors yet. :)

I was a little shocked at your comment that the world was small. I made the starter town run to oilville and up to reststopp and almost another hour north on horseback (not slow at all) and zone one was huge. I joined up with another couple folks returning south and blasting through the roadblocks and lost towns as a gang on horseback was a ton of fun. Both ways it took a lot of time and was a blast.

It seems that the actual mechanics of the game is solid but my god i dont know how anyone can sya these GFX are anything but mid 1990's GFX definetly not current and it CRAWLS with artifacts so many that it gave me a headache after an hour of playing and i had to shut it off. 

I know it is a beta and all but this game has 0 polish and really no potential graphically, yes i know thats not all there is to a game but I can feel engrossed  in a game that  looks like it used to be 2d or something, 0 depth of field massive amounts of crawling edges on everything, fuzzy text on all signs, huge amounts of hitches and stuttering especially in combat. After vanguard and AoC and oh so many others i think i will pass on a game that releases a beta 2 months before launch day that obviously needs a year or 2 worth of work.

I do not have a crappy PC either now am i tech illiterate in any way, GTX 260 - 4gb ram - Q9550 cpu - I can max games like fallout 3 no probs so the hitching and stuttering is def on the games end not me.

I am not saying it doesnt have potential, as i said the mechanics and gameplay systems seem solid like the shot placement is great, the crafting is comprehensive, the world itself seems to be open and alot of story driven questing to do... but i would rather not leave with a headache every gaming session due to crawling landscapes and stuttering battles..... that and i dont trust a company that is supposed to release a game in 2 months and just throws an alpha @ us and calls it a beta. I would skip this game for @ least 6 months until they get their shiz in gear.

This is where my smart-assery comes in to play, lol.

Lets do a compare and contrast of some popular 90's games... first up? Hexen released in the early 90's.

Next up... Duke Nukem 3D, 1995

And Last but not least, Half-Life, 1998

And just for kicks and giggles, lets go ahead and do a game from 2004.

I present to you Unreal Tournament, 2004

And last but not least, Fallen Earth.

Ok, so the graphics aren't next generation, they're still damn good for the time. And with the sheer size of this game, the graphics don't bother me one bit. In fact, I quite enjoy them... damn good thing I can play an MMO that actually runs on my comp.

Originally posted by Varny

I couldn't get past the horrible 90's graphics myself.

aye me too

The combat sucks. ive played for a few months of beta and i could love the game even with the so so graphics if the combat was better. It feels clunky and clicky, way more than a normal mmo.

 Last week i uninstalled Assassins Creed and Fallout 3 because both are simply horrible.

So i thought i would give Fallen Earth a try, when i was finished with the tutorial the only thing on my mind was "omg...the pain".

My 3 cents: 

Switching weapons is not intuitive.

Combat system totally fails.

When i press "ESC" i want whatever is on the screen to disapear.

It was just before i exited the game that i found where my char gear was.

I really dont want 99 skills to put my 10 points on.

I really dont care much about graphics, otherwise i would be playing Guild Wars, Lotro, Aion, etc. Wow is still the best mmorpg out there and the graphics are far from state of the art, i dont mind if fallen earth has 90's graphics as long as it is fun to play wich is not...

Originally posted by Binhoberde

 Last week i uninstalled Assassins Creed and Fallout 3 because both are simply horrible.

So i thought i would give Fallen Earth a try, when i was finished with the tutorial the only thing on my mind was "omg...the pain".

My 3 cents: 

Switching weapons is not intuitive.

Combat system totally fails.

When i press "ESC" i want whatever is on the screen to disapear.

It was just before i exited the game that i found where my char gear was.

I really dont want 99 skills to put my 10 points on.

I really dont care much about graphics, otherwise i would be playing Guild Wars, Lotro, Aion, etc. Wow is still the best mmorpg out there and the graphics are far from state of the art, i dont mind if fallen earth has 90's graphics as long as it is fun to play wich is not...

WOW .... just .... wow ...

Originally posted by holonist

Originally posted by Binhoberde

 Last week i uninstalled Assassins Creed and Fallout 3 because both are simply horrible.

So i thought i would give Fallen Earth a try, when i was finished with the tutorial the only thing on my mind was "omg...the pain".

My 3 cents: 

Switching weapons is not intuitive.

Combat system totally fails.

When i press "ESC" i want whatever is on the screen to disapear.

It was just before i exited the game that i found where my char gear was.

I really dont want 99 skills to put my 10 points on.

I really dont care much about graphics, otherwise i would be playing Guild Wars, Lotro, Aion, etc. Wow is still the best mmorpg out there and the graphics are far from state of the art, i dont mind if fallen earth has 90's graphics as long as it is fun to play wich is not...

 

WOW .... just .... wow ...

ROFL

Originally posted by holonist

Originally posted by Binhoberde

 Last week i uninstalled Assassins Creed and Fallout 3 because both are simply horrible.

So i thought i would give Fallen Earth a try, when i was finished with the tutorial the only thing on my mind was "omg...the pain".

My 3 cents: 

Switching weapons is not intuitive.

Combat system totally fails.

When i press "ESC" i want whatever is on the screen to disapear.

It was just before i exited the game that i found where my char gear was.

I really dont want 99 skills to put my 10 points on.

I really dont care much about graphics, otherwise i would be playing Guild Wars, Lotro, Aion, etc. Wow is still the best mmorpg out there and the graphics are far from state of the art, i dont mind if fallen earth has 90's graphics as long as it is fun to play wich is not...

 

WOW .... just .... wow ...

my thoughts exactly...

Originally posted by Bodeus

The combat sucks. ive played for a few months of beta and i could love the game even with the so so graphics if the combat was better. It feels clunky and clicky, way more than a normal mmo.

I agree completely. I finally uninstalled after having to admit to myself that FE was not what I had hoped it would be.