Pardus Review: Space is the Final Frontier
By Vincent Haoson (Vincenthaoson), OnRPG Journalist
Pardus is a graphics-based browser online game that puts you in the seat of a space pilot making his way in Space. Your goal is to eventually get to the point where you are now piloting the biggest ships and being the biggest name in the known Pardus Universe.
Buckling down
As expected from a browser game like this, Pardus follows the usual setup when it comes to in-game goals. That is to earn big by doing whatever it is available on the game. You are given a number of things to accomplish that goal. The game hurls at you the usual gameplay. Do quests, mine, buy and sell are the options that are given to you. The game mixes the use of battle strategy with business. This shouldn’t be really surprising as most of the games on this line follow almost the same gameplay.
Resources Rich
Pardus may not be original in terms of the gameplay but the game saves itself by giving you a huge library in terms of trading. Normally, you have about 3-4 resources you can use in browser games, in Pardus however, you get about 20 resources you can trade in the market.
If you would look at the big picture, the huge tradable item library is not really all that. Collecting resources does give you the sense of adventure because you would have to actually travel to get those items but the feeling is only temporary. As you continue on playing, collecting the resources would eventually become a chore and you’d rather find a different means on collecting.
As a mere pilot
Of course what would a space online game be without ships. Pardus nurtures the spaceship pilot feel by providing you the means of owning a spaceship and piloting it in-game. Normally, in a browser-based game like Pardus, piloting a ship is done through text, Pardus, however does away with texts and uses graphics as your piloting means.
This gives the game a little something to look forward to because you would be greeted by graphics instead of being bombarded by texts. However, you shouldn’t expect much with what you see because the game graphics are not really that visually stunning. The thing about Pardus’ graphics is that travelling in-game could be quite a chore, especially when you would notice the frame refresh whenever you click on the map. Aside from the refresh problems, Pardus have any major problems in terms of providing you controls over your ship.
Building up your game
Pardus not only provides you the ships you can use but also allows you to customize your ships to your liking. The ships you buy serves as the overall template to your ship design, you can equip your ship with weapons, armament and what not. What I liked about the game’s ship customization is that it allows you enough free reign to play but limits you enough so that your ship wouldn’t be too imbalanced if you go against players of the same level. The harmonious mix of limits and customization gives the game a little something more to offer than other browser games out. However, this shouldn’t be much of a surprise given that the nature of the game’s about space and space ships.
Building your character
Aside from building up your ship, Pardus also allows character build up. Aside from the ship stats you also have your character stats. Every character made in Pardus starts off with a pre-determined set of stats and the gains your stats would eventually earn are determined by your gameplay. The character stats is a nice way of adding the player’s gameplay into the whole mix. This gives something like of a signature for your character in-game because the way your character’s stats add up shows what kind of gameplay your character is using. This game system is a plus for the game because it gives you an identifying mark for your Pardus character. Though this wouldn’t be such a big deal for a lot of players I still think this is one of the things that encourage players to come back.
Buildings
Aside from taking care of your ship, the Pardus game system also has buildings included in the gameplay. You are given a sizable area to build structures that gives you resources. This would be your primary income earner in the late stages of your game. The resource structures provide you the alternative route of earning in Pardus. Having your own resource structures makes it easier for you to do trades and even build up your own ship. Adding this element into the whole gameplay makes you push past the battle strategy setup and forces you to also think of resource building tactics. This change from one tactic to another gives the game more scope and adds something that normally you wouldn’t find in browser games like this.
Premium Accounts and balance
If there is one thing that I liked about Pardus, its that the premium accounts and the free-to-play accounts do not really have that much of a big difference in terms of ship strength and character stats. Though one cannot deny the advantages Pardus provides for Premium account users, the advantages are sort of convenience centered.
This would mean that majority of the things Pardus offers to premium users are things that would help you make your Pardus experience less laborious. This says much about the game’s giving importance to balance above all else. This gives the game at least a level playing field for all subscribers, which some browser games tend to overlook.
Conclusion
All in all, I can say that Pardus is one of those Browser games that are under appreciated due to the lack of any marketing power but has something to offer. Visually I can’t say I was impressed but the graphics does it work, gameplay wise, it has a stable and enjoyable system. If your someone looking for a space themed fix that is not just battle centric but also resource centric then Pardus is a game just for you.
Pros:
– The game is graphics heavy
– Gameplay starts with a tutorial
– Game is balanced between premium users and free to play users.
Cons:
– The game can be tedious in the late stages
– The game’s graphics is not that visually stunning
– The game pace is slow.
