7Million Review: GTA it Ain’t
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist
7Million is a MMO that puts you in the seat of a criminal trying to make his way in the underworld. You take on quests that put your skill as a criminal to the test honing your craft and eventually making you one of the most distinguished criminals in Paradise City.
Starting Your Spree
You start off the game smack dab in the middle of an infiltration mission which doubles as your tutorial. You are introduced to the game’s interface and to the three types of NPCs you’re going to interact with in the game.
The controls are simple enough, reminiscent of Rockstar’s GTA controls. The game is straightforward in terms of how you play it, with quests being your major reason to run around the city. There are a lot of unique features that make up 7Million, which I will eventually lay-down later.
7 Million quests? That’s a LOT!
However I must really stress that you’re going to see a lot of similarities with GTA, and it’s not just due to the controls but also the game’s feel and look. It will probably remind you of cities you’ve encountered in the various GTA games.
Similarities
7Million just screams “GTA Online” at the get go. The game uses a lot of bright colors in the its facade and interface which is similar to what GTA games look like. The game’s choice of camera angle, is also another system that is similar to GTA.
The primary character controls use a combination of the keyboard and mouse, making it feel like an offline game rather than an MMO. I personally think that this is a good choice in terms of the game’s controls and overall gameplay because it has already been proven through other same themed games. No Stats
GTA-like city map
Among the various unique aspects of the game, I wanted to concentrate first on the lack of any stats in 7Million. Oh you do get to level up, however, whenever you do level up you don’t get stat points or even allocate anything in your character screen. Everything in 7Million is skill-based making it some sort of an equalizer in terms of players who have been fervent in playing the game and those who aren’t really playing it for hours on end.
The lack of any stats in the game is an iffy choice for players because this eliminates the use of leveling up in the usual MMO sense. This unique game system defines what 7Million is about and you see how well it is synched to the overall game system. However, this game system is a risky venture because it can really turn you off specially if you are the type who like their MMOs the way the rest of the world plays but if you are open minded enough, this game may deliver something new to your MMO gaming experience.
Leveling
Even without stats, your character still levels up. Leveling in 7Million is more like a title rather than something to better your character. Leveling in 7Million means is that you have finished enough quests or “jobs” that satisfy the required amount of achievement points needed for you to go to the next level. Achievement points are basically earned through questing and doing jobs. You don’t have a weapon slot in 7Million hence you do not kill anything in the game.
This is tied to the removal of stats in your character because there won’t be really any reason to have them especially if you won’t be killing anything. The elimination of killing monsters in 7Million further restricts the things you can do in the game, which if you really look at it doesn’t give you many options.
The Jobs
As I have mentioned, quests in 7Million vary in terms of what you do but are strictly related to stealing. Accomplishing these jobs requires you to finish mini games that symbolize one aspect of your job. These mini games are not really that hard to do, however as you go for higher level quests these mini games will have shorter time spans and in turn become your biggest problem.
Play one of the mini games
Accomplishing jobs reward you with items, accomplishment points which level you up and add to the list of done quests in your quest tracker. Also, jobs have a certain time window and if you finish certain jobs within this time window you are rewarded either the bronze, silver or gold medals.
Jobs can be done solo or with a group, and your main reason for player comparison will be the time you have done your quests. There is this one unique game system that 7Million has that’s connected to the quests you do and it’s related to social networks.
Other Feature
There is a feature in 7Million that lets you connect to your social networks, like Facebook and Twitter to “announce” your achievements in the game. This is the first time I have experienced this kind of game feature and I find it really fitting for a game like this, where bragging rights is all related to how fast you have done your jobs.
With job rewards, go spoil yourself
This also fits well to the current trend in the online world where almost everyone has their own Facebook account so it really is a convenient way of showing your friends your achievements without really making too much hassle for you.
Conclusion
Overall, I think that 7Million is more of a casual game rather than a full-blown MMORPG. If the removal of stats and the addition of social network connections in the game features is not enough to label this as such then I think that the game interface, which is made to make social interaction easier, is the final game feature that cements this game as a casual one.
The game’s first impression is undoubtedly “GTA Online” but once you get to spend time with the game, you then change perspective and it becomes a game on its own. If you are looking for a game that eats up your time without making you to spend more that you can spare, then this game is just for you, however if you are looking for a more hard-core stealing type of MMO, you should go look for something else, cause frankly this game is no GTA.
Pros:
– Game controls are easy to grasp
– Game is easy to learn
– Quests are easily accomplished.
Cons:
– Game feels too much like GTA
– The game is more casual
– Not many people playing.
