By Bryan King (Bryan), OnRPG Journalist
Who says the power of community can’t be strong? Due to popular demand, AeriaGames, a major F2P MMO publishing company, bought the license to Turf Battles, developed by IMAZIC. Turf Battles makes usage of the Unreal Engine.
Turf Battles is a PvE and PvP Free MMORPG in which tribes and their allies battle over vast areas of land. This game encompasses massive Turf Battles in many varied landscapes. Battle alongside other players or against them with help from your faithful pet. You can fend for yourself and fight a wide assortment of monsters, zombies and mutants. Otherwise join a tribe of other players to fight for the turfs and their resources. Form Alliances with other tribes to share a turf and become an imposing force in the Turf Battles.
There are many classes to choose from and advance to such as: Blade, Fist, Archer, Blue Mage and White Priest. You also have the option of fighting in the fast paced PvP battles and prove yourself to be a force to be reckoned with. But how did these Turf Wars begin?
Turf Battles Story
As quoted from the Turf Battles website.
“As all stories, the story of Turf Battles has a beginning. Long ago elves and humans lived peacefully but separately on a large island called Sephiroth. The elves called their nation Veros and the humans called their nation Ladianes. But the evil of arrogance and power caused the leaders of both nations to declare war and battle for control of this island. Many brave and good elves and humans died in the resulting Turf Battle. Finally an alliance between Veros and Ladianes was made and once again the land was at peace.
The stories of these brave warriors were told by bards and storytellers by the light of campfires over the passing stretch of years. Humans and elves who sat huddled around the safety of these campfires often looked in fear at the surrounding woods while listening to these stories, because the light casted by the campfires and their own fueled imaginations sometimes made the shifting shadows of the surrounding trees appear as if the long dead heroes and villains of these stories had once again picked up their weapons to continue their endless battles. Over time even these bards and story tellers became a dim memory and the legends that they song and spoke about became mere tales to tell children before they were sent off to sleep. Sephiroth was peaceful and the lessons of the original Turf Battle had been long forgotten. But the evil of arrogance and power soon destroyed this tranquility.”
The Rundown on Gameplay
Creating a character in Turf Battles is as ordinary as in any other game, you choose from a selection of randomized or limited customary selected features such as hair, body parts, etc. Players are able to choose from two races, the Humans or the Nephilim. The Nephilim may sound very unique, but it does resemble the typical elf. The goal of Turf Battles is to gather resources, such as gems to enhance weapons and armors, and herbs to make potions with. The whole center of the game is to compete over Turfs and their resources.
The races in the game do have a factor on what class you end up playing. Speaking of classes, the classes in the game are as follows: If you choose to play a Nephilim you can be either an Archer or a Blue Mage. If you decide on a Human character you can be a Fist Fighter, a Blade Fighter, or a Red Mage.
All of these classes have the option of basically becoming a new class at a certain level by putting points into specializations of another race. One thing that I enjoyed about the game was the constant interaction between players. The alliance of Tribes is extremely important in the game, due to the fact that there are turf battles that occur once a day per turf and whomever controls it gets riches that can help them become even stronger. Some Turfs are not owned by players, however. They are owned by powerful ghosts and monsters that require a large amount of players to capture them. In return, these turfs have a large amount of natural resources that can be harvested.
I was instantly impressed by the fact that the game focuses on territory occupation but at the same time adds great PvE elements and the need for alliances to become the best. This need for alliances brings a new sort of realism to the game, and it doesn’t stop there. Simple things make the game even more realistic, which could be very great for gamers who are tired of the casual trippy MMO. When your weapons are not engaged, your character runs faster, player attack animations are well-detailed and take the player through all the processes of regular spellcasting. Also, pets have to start out as eggs, after which they hatch and become your companion.
The game’s pet system is extremely well done and detailed; you can raise animals such as dragons, puppies, or unicorns that raise your stats accordingly. These pets level up and become stronger, which allows you to gain even more stat benefits. Apart from that you can use your pet to your advantage in battle.
Turf Battles does not offer much to newbie players other than fighting monsters and doing quests, which is extremely cliché. You have to be a certain level to do anything related to PvP, which some players might not be interested in playing.
How does it look? – Graphics
Sadly, Turf Battles has graphics that cannot be compared to how great the gameplay is. I noticed bad character models, for the beginning areas. The human female and male look extremely alike. I had a hard time telling which one was which, other than… you know. However, spell animations look REALLY good. When you shoot arrows it looks realistic in the sense that shooting arrows through obstacles is impossible. Fire-type spells actually show fire on the caster’s hands. The casters will move their arms and hands in certain motions that are unique for every spell, which is actually pretty cool, and breaks out from the norm of magic-based classes.
KABOOM! – Sound
On the other hand, the sound in the game is actually quite impressive. The musical score in the background does bring a new sort of enjoyment in an industry of games filled with the generic poorly produced music that you see. The sound effects are pretty well-done too. Arrow shots let off the realistic “PLINK!” when shot. You can hear mom’s home baked cooking when conjuring up a nice fire bolt and heals let off the melancholy sound when casted. It’s put together realy well.
Conclusion
Turf Battles brings an awesome experience in terms of PvP. If you don’t mind heavy emphasis on Player vs. Player, more so than PvE, or dated graphics, Turf Battles is a great game for you!
Pros:
– Large amount of unique classes
– Detailed and dynamic player vs. player system.
– Amazing pet system
– Great music and skill effect sounds
Cons:
– Not newbie friendly
– Dated graphics
– Weird character models
– Limited character customization
