So the other night I logged into my iTouch and downloaded Order & Chaos from Gameloft. The game download went quickly and soon I was creating an account and for $5.99 it all seemed reasonible. My question before I start this feature is how many of you even know about Order & Chaos? Did you know that it was an MMO? Well I found out quickly what I was getting into and will hopefully shed some light onto this game.
First, I chose the game because it was listed as an RPG where I could play an Orc. I know that sounds funny, but I do love Orcs and have been waiting for a fun Orc style iGame to play. As I created my account and character I soon realized, what a minute…this is an MMO! How did we miss this? Well we did. The interface was pretty detailed for a mobile game and the third person play style fit well with normal MMO appearances.
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Next, I created an Orc Monk. There are four races in the game. The Orcs and the Undead (who look like ghouls) are on the Chaos side. The Order is made up of Humans and Elves. I chose the Monk class because it sounded cool. The other classes are Warrior, Mage, and Ranger. It seems like the classes are across all races. Overall I liked the design of the races, even though they are extremely Warcraft influenced, I cannot say that any of them looked bad.
So with my Orc Monk ready, I went into the starting zone. This is where the game seems to become “Warcraft light”. You pick up quests and begin the process of leveling. Combat is simple and soon I was off killing boars and wolves to get some levels.
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The interface in my opinion is pretty good. The controls fade in and out as you touch the screen and are as unobtrusive as possible. The chat is a bit too much and covers the bottom center of the screen; however it does have the arrow to hide it when you want. First move should be to disable global chat, as in any MMO. The movement is a bit awkward and choppy, but I am playing on an iTouch, not an iPad. The controls came quickly and I got the hang of movement and combat fairly well.
In terms of community, there were a lot of players online. The areas had a lot of people kill stealing and moving through the zones quickly to level up. The depth of the world was large enough, but the map interface needs more, though it gives you a good sense of direction with arrows, there still needs to be a stronger set up. Exploring the world was easy but movement was a bit choppy. I do chalk the movement up based on playing on an iTouch and not an iPad.
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For someone who is on the go all the time Order & Chaos might be considered a great way to play an MMO without having to log in from a PC. At first glance the game seems to have enough depth to keep players occupied, although, I have yet to explore the game fully. Character progression is good as well will players getting some specializations at fifth level. The trick is you need to have a solid WiFi connection to play the game cleanly.
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The jury is still out on Order & Chaos. For an iGame it is pretty good, but I think it will be much better on an iPad than an iTouch. As we get further into the game I’ll cricle back for a more in depth look and possibly a review. I would say “Try It” is the verdict here. Do not expect anything wildly in depth like normal MMOs, but if you want to run around and play in a fun world on your iDevice, Order & Chaos is the first of many games coming to the mobile market of this type. Let us know what you think of it.
