MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy writes this quick look at the upcoming Perfect World Entertainment MMORPG, Battle of the Immortals that he garnered from a few hours of play in the game's closed beta.

I know that there's a certain level of hesitation from a lot of long-time MMO gamers when it comes to free-to-play titles. The common belief is that while the quality of the imported titles may be climbing, the amount of money needed to spend on each game to actually play it fully is not something many are willing to spend. Perfect World Entertainment's newest title Battle of the Immortals, at least in its early hours of play doesn't seem to share quite such a fate. Without delving too much into the value and necessity of its cash-shop items, I can attest that after a few hours of play BOI seems every bit as engaging as many of the industry's recently released F2P games. Similar in style to single-player offerings like Sacred in terms of gameplay, with a rich back story and dozens of unique and promising features present, Battle of the Immortals may be another in a growing list of F2P games in my regular rotation.

Read the Closed Beta Preview.

Where is it Jon? :)

Another F2P tossed onto the pile. I wish it the best, but it really amazes me how many F2P games get churned out every year, and how they all happen to look and feel so similar.

I don't know what disturbs me more, the fact that one user beat me to posting the article with a reply to this thread, or the fact that another one bashed the game before I had even posted the article...

Originally posted by Stradden

I don't know what disturbs me more, the fact that one user beat me to posting the article with a reply to this thread, or the fact that another one bashed the game before I had even posted the article...

What can I say, my rage for F2P games requires no reading. I faceroll and out comes a post about F2P games.

I really wanted to like this game.. but I have to totaly disagree with this preview. There is no place here for people who like action RPG's. Everyone may as well fire up sacred or diablo 2..hell, even diablo 1... because they are far superior games. This is a normal asian grindfest MMO with an action mask over its face.

Originally posted by aovannor

I really wanted to like this game.. but I have to totaly disagree with this preview. There is no place here for people who like action RPG's. Everyone may as well fire up sacred or diablo 2..hell, even diablo 1... because they are far superior games. This is a normal asian grindfest MMO with an action mask over its face.

It sound like to me you didnt even play this game...This game has both Character level and Skill level...You can level your character all u want..But it dont mean squat if you dont have the Skills to match it..It kind a put the pkers on edge..Sure you can be a lvl 50 character but it dont mean you can pawn a lvl 20 who has more power skills..The playing field is how you make it..Also it dont take long to team up with others to do bigger boss quests..Sure the game needs tweaking here and there..But this game is a lot better than most Free to play games...

Messy, dull and generally schizophrenic game imo.

It's a miracle this guy even lasted 3 hours really :D

After messing with their goofed up installer and getting it to finally work I tried the game out. I uninstalled it pretty fast. PerfectWorld Entertainment keeps churning out terrible games. Another Asian MMO that really just doesn't do anything for me. I keep wanting to like their games they import over here from asia, but they are boring and not inventive at all. The only game PWE has left I remotely have hope for is Forsaken World and I know they will probably hose that game, too.

Originally posted by Danubus

After messing with their goofed up installer and getting it to finally work I tried the game out. I uninstalled it pretty fast. PerfectWorld Entertainment keeps churning out terrible games. Another Asian MMO that really just doesn't do anything for me. I keep wanting to like their games they import over here from asia, but they are boring and not inventive at all. The only game PWE has left I remotely have hope for is Forsaken World and I know they will probably hose that game, too.

Well gee, sorry you did not like it, but I heartily disagree with you about their games, they are some of the better f2p games on the market.  The big problem I have found with Perfect World games is that their item shops are too pricey.  Have to wait and see if that continues with this game, but you can generally play their games without the item shop.

If you enjoy sub par games and grindfests then more power to you, sir. I prefer actual gameplay that is fun and doesn't make me rely on paying for items in a cash shop just to play at higher levels.

Glad to hear they don't restrict you with beta agreements and such.

I went to lvl 41 - I came out of it as a decent grinder.  Lots of things you loot need explanation. You will quickly run out of storage capacity which I suspect is by design. (so you can buy more space).

Events are a loose term in this game. Means a multi arc mission instead of a scneario. Crafting is there but it is something that needs to be more clear in describing how to do it. Upgrading mounts/ gear seems easy enough. Upgrading pets is more vague. i ended up releasing pets when I wish I could have "converted /(crystalize?)" them into materials to upgrade pets i wanted to keep.

Guilds have little function as far as I can tell at this time.

Levelling is easy but you are limited in what powers you get, so reaching end level doesn't seem so urgent,

Coins is the limited resource as far as I can tell. you need coins to purchase skill/gear/pet upgrades.

Alright, I'm going to give you guys a bit of in-depth, as someone who got a Heretic to level 55 in TWO DAYS:

1) No, it's not grindy - In fact, I  wish it was harder to level, because I was in my 50s just from doing events with PUGs, and had quests from my early 20's I still hadn't gotten to. It was frustrating. Around 55 it became much less insane to level, but when you're given 300 minutes of free double exp a day and getting around 20k exp per mob in a dungeon, only need about 1.6mill to level, you can still manage several levels a day easily.

2) No, it's not that much like Diablo - I actually didn't care that much for D2 because of the skill system (I am looking forward to D3 though, but that's a whole other topic). As everyone kept comparing BoI to Diablo, I was going to pass, but I was bored. I expected VERY little of this game and actually ended up liking it quite a bit. I intend to play more once OB hits, and have stopped for now since everything will get wiped. Anyhoo, Diablo was more hack and slash; few things needed to be hit more than a couple of times to die, and there are AoE's to go around. There are AoE fests in the game, but every class only has a couple at most (Heretic only has one, I wouldn't get my second till level 70...mages don't get any at all till higher levels). So, monsters still die fast, but you'll mostly be picking them off one by one. Also, monsters in dungeons tend to take a LOT of damage before they go down, but they don't hit too hard so you can safely sit surrounded by things and just peck them away bit by bit.

3) Pet system is thuper! - Everything in the game can be a pet D: Of course, this assumes you're patient enough to grind on things till a pet drops, and I think it's been confirmed that quest-summoned mobs don't drop as pets, but otherwise there are screenshots posted of even the really big bosses being pets. No one knows if that was just a GM thing though...can't say for sure. I do know for certain that normal mobs in and outside of dungeons are tamable.

4) It's fun, but has SERIOUS issues - Gold and Loot space. These problems are the only thing that could make me walk away from the game. I love the gameplay, so much to do, so much to complete, more events than you can fit in a day and still get your scenario quests in...but when you only have two rows (out of like, a dozen) in your bag open to collect all the loot that drops, you start to get pissy. Also, there's only 2 rows in your stash, as well. So, you have 4 rows total to start, 2 of which you need to be in a town to access, and lots of quest/gift/random loot. There is speculation in the forum that slots are supposed to open at level intervals (30,60,90) but it's not confirmed, AND it even looks like it might be necessary to spend 1500 or more ZEN (cash shop money) to open them. This is extremely greedy, as inventory manageability is pretty crucial to a game like this. You will find yourself throwing away important things, things that could be important, and things that you don't even understand the use for (items desperately need better descriptions) but that you got through a big event and thus are afraid to throw away. But, what choice to you have? VERY frustrating.

4b) As for Gold, there is so very, very little of it to be bad and it is so very, very important. It's not even a cash shop issue, because I don't see a way to get money from the cash shop unless you buy things then sell them, though most seem to be BoA. Mobs OCCASIONALLY (like, 1 out of 20) drop an item that can be sold for gold, but it is very little. The mobs my level were dropping things I could sell for about 68 gold, and certain mobs dropped a scroll that could transmute 10 of them into 1 larger item that sold for me. The problem is, leveling skills past 2 or 3, especilly my Heretic Buffs, was 12k+. This leaves me with a critical choice; level buffs for my team, level heals to keep myself and others alive, level attacks so I can actually play the damn game, or save the money for things I'll need like equipment, MP regen, etc. Money is frustratingly tight, and is an issue that needs major addressing. But then it's a CB, hopefully that will change.

Okay so, dassit. I enjoyed it, but it has issues. If they're addressed, I'd add this to the list of games I keep on my HD, even if I'm not actively playing.

Originally posted by Danubus

If you enjoy sub par games and grindfests then more power to you, sir. I prefer actual gameplay that is fun and doesn't make me rely on paying for items in a cash shop just to play at higher levels.

Show me a RPG game where you dont grind in something? If you need money you grind..If you need better armour you grind..If you need items you grind...People just need to look at the item mall stuff to see if its enhanced the Character or not..Before you download and play..

Originally posted by hoopty

Originally posted by Danubus

If you enjoy sub par games and grindfests then more power to you, sir. I prefer actual gameplay that is fun and doesn't make me rely on paying for items in a cash shop just to play at higher levels.

Show me a RPG game where you dont grind in something? If you need money you grind..If you need better armour you grind..If you need items you grind...People just need to look at the item mall stuff to see if its enhanced the Character or not..Before you download and play..

He just meant he prefers to play to pay rather than pay to play (the irony).

Anyone that says that this game is grindy has NO idea what they're talking about.

Battle of the Immortals is extremely easy to level in.  I have not had to grind ONCE, and I have two characters that are level 60 currently.

My favorite thing about the game is that if you want to dungeon crawl with your friends, you can do that.  If you want to play it like a traditional MMO and quest, then there's that for you as well.

Those of you who are knocking the game before you even try it.  You're really missing out.

I'm tired of all of these ignorant gamers that as soon as they say "Free to Play" they scream HATED IT.

Props to the author of this article.

The opening reference to a ...

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certain level of hesitation from a lot of long-time MMO gamers when it comes to free-to-play titles

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made me lol, I have to admit. Understatement much? :-)

I can't say I'm interested in this game, as it sounds ... unappealing ... to me, but I do think that the "hesitation" you refer to is more than justified.

Originally posted by n00bit

Another F2P tossed onto the pile. I wish it the best, but it really amazes me how many F2P games get churned out every year, and how they all happen to look and feel so similar.

I have to agree - Asian MMO's all basically play alike and they churn them out like they are on a conveyor belt.    In fact I think there must be some simple game engine they all use to trun out these games as we get so many new ones every year.    Most are utter garbage and geared for the Asian gamer who likes the kind of game play these games offer.    Let them knock themselves out playing them.    

Originally posted by gaeanprayer

Alright, I'm going to give you guys a bit of in-depth, as someone who got a Heretic to level 55 in TWO DAYS:

 

 ...

Thanks gaean for this nice review. I downloaded and played about 3 hours like the OP - didn't hated it but didn't loved it either, but maybe i 'll give it another try after reading your review.

I dont trust anything Perfect World makes anymore.  After Jade Dynasty being such a horrible game, and the item mall shop dependency to boot, I'm going to have to pass on this particular title.   Its a shame, too.  Perfect World International was such a nice game.   Then this group went all Giant Interactive on the public and started publishing games with greed to rival ZT Online.

Thanks, but no thanks.