By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist
Masters of Belial is an MMORPG-RTS game by Brain Seal. Masters of Belial centers around the age old battle of good and evil where the proverbial ‘good guys’ the angels are the ones who are conquering while salvation rests on the wards of destruction, the Daemons.
Characters
Before you start playing Masters of Belial, you’d have to choose the hero you would be using. They are segregated into four groups which are the Truthseekers, the Royal Guard, the Angels and the Daemons. For Free accounts you have limited access to the heroes and to fully have them you’d need to upgrade it to the subscription account.
Once acquiring the subscription you get to access all the heroes and you would have access three more maps thus giving you a wider scope of the maps you can play.
Gameplay
Masters of Belial’s gameplay is RTS in a 2.5D locked environment. You navigate your character by clicking the path it would take and using either the mouse or keyboard you can use the skills that are part of your hero’s abilities.
Every time you level up you are provided both stat points and skill points which you can allocate to level up your character. For stats you can upgrade your life, mana, attack speed and damage. For the skills, every character has four skills and you can use the skill points you earn to either upgrade or unlock the skill your character has.
Aside from the growth of your character your camp also provides NPCs that sell items you can use. The choices you have are swords, equipment or usable items that can boost your character’s stats or would help regenerate your lost HP and Mana points as you continue on fighting.
Upon entering the game map, you would not only have to face the troops of your enemy, you get to also meet and eventually kill monsters that protect books that give experience points, attribute points or skill points or chests that contain huge amounts of gold.
You have this going on while you try to finish your mission which is to kill the leader of your enemy. Thankfully the game provides an offline training session so that you can get used to the game’s controls and even get to meet which NPC sells which item.
Conclusion
Masters of Belial is an MMO that has fully maximized the potential of an RTS infused with MMORPG elements into a fast paced game. Right off the bat you get to play with your chosen hero on maps where you get to explore and compete against other players.
The game encourages competitiveness. It’s as if that when you choose your character you are immediately whisked away into ancient Earth where your hero is against monsters and humans to break free from the wrest of those who are in power.
The game has wonderfully infused storytelling into a dynamically fast-paced game without burdening too much with the graphics intricacies other MMOs have been trying to achieve. Though it is obvious that the game has traded off visual extravagance with an effective gameplay, I doubt anyone would complain about it.
Master of Belial’s story is something that should be noted about the game. The whole concept of Angels and Demons or in Masters of Belial’s case Daemons puts a spin to the age old belief on good and evil, making Angels as the suppressors while those who bring destruction would bring forth salvation.
The story concept maybe a hard pill to swallow especially in a society that has forever seen Angels as the bringers of good into the world, however the game does carry enough background info that would appease those who take the time to play the game.
The game creates a whole new philosophy in terms of the idea of good and evil but you wouldn’t actually notice it because of the engaging gameplay it has. The mix of RTS and RPG elements has been smoothly done that you would barely notice the story itself. You would rather concentrate on your hero to effectively kill whatever enemies it finds in its path of course that would eventually lead to victory.
If I compare the overall gameplay of Masters of Belial, I can say that the game is like Warcraft III’s custom game Defense of the Ancients with RPG elements mixed into it. This keeps the gameplay upbeat. However, new time players would have to get used to the items and NPC locations first because it would be a handful when you’re in actual combat.
Thankfully, as a remedy for the sheer overwhelming feeling of having too much info being pressed into you in an instant, you can train offline and get a hang of the game. This at least the drive for players to really get into the game so that when they go online and finally go head to head with other players they can be better at it and maybe get to kill more people.
Masters of Belial is one of those games that is not highly flashy but has the nailed the game that they want. The core gameplay is solid and even with the graphics being as it is the game is such a treat because it’s that good. However, if you are the type who gets tired of playing the same thing over and over again, I’d suggest that you try out the free account first before investing on an upgraded amount. At least you can get to feel the game first.
Pros:
– The game is easy to pick up even if you’re not into games like this
– There is variety in choices of the heroes you can use even if you’re using a free account
– The game has an offline version where you can train and get used to your heroes.
Cons:
– The game would eventually get repetitive due to the lack of variation in gameplay
– Hero choices are limited for the free accounts
– New players can be overwhelmed with the items they need to find out at the onset.
