Before i begin I’m going to say i posted this in the wow section with actual paragraphs since this site can’t handle it in reviews. Read it there if 1 giant paragraph scares you. Graphics 9/10 – The graphics of this game are above average. They made it to be more of a fantasy setting, which they succeeded at. To some it may be bad or horrible, but it is in my opinion that a game doesn’t have to have graphics so good that you have to upgrade your computer just to view it decently. It just has to have a unique style, which most of the competition is lacking, the latest trend has been “whoever has the best graphics wins!!” instead of “hey lets make this game look unique, and set it apart from the competition”. World of Warcraft tried something new, and it succeeded.
Sound 8/10 – The music is nice, the attack sounds are good, nothing really to complain about. I am personally not a fan of in game music, so i listen to winamp. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to really rave about either.
Gameplay 9.5/10 – Combat is fast paced and enjoyable. Food/water isn’t killable enough to bankrupt your character, since your natural regen usually covers you. Unless your a mage, but you are given the ability to make food/water and that makes up for it. Warriors though are severely lacking. Rage is more of a handicap then a bonus. Since rogues start with 100 energy and are always “good to go” warriors have to start at 0 which makes holding aggro in the beginning a challenge. Other then that theres great gameplay.
PvP ??/10 – Untill battlegrounds comes out i can’t give this a true rating.
The grind 10/10 – IMHO the perfect speed, people complain about it being too fast, and about it being too hard. So i think it is pretty balanced. You can either grind or quest with no penalties for either. Quests are fun, some are unique(not too many im afraid, but theres only so many things you can do with a quest system). But there are fantastic ones, like collecting pages of a book, exploring ruins, etc. Just because some people hit 60 in 1 month- doesn’t mean everyone will. If your a casual player itll take you about 3 months if not longer depending on your actual in game time.
Server Stability 8/10 – It has some lag at times. And it has some downtime. But overall its up 90% of the time, and after the first day of retail its been nearly perfect in lag issues. Nothing to complain about here. But its not up 100% of the time so i can’t give a 10/10.
Overall 9.5/10 – It is a fun game, which almost anyone can enjoy. Alot of the bad reviews from people I’ve heard tend to be nothing more then eq2 fanbois who came into this game with the opinion that it was going to be a flop, and then as they played they pick out as many flaws as they can, and then they exaggerate them so many times in their mind that they eventually believe them to be true. This game is definately worth a shot, even if you only play it for the first month. It is a great game and lots of fun. As a side note, i did not take in customer service into this rating, because the review wouldn’t be fair, since the amount of time when you actually need them is slim to none.
I gave the rating a 10/10 on the actual review form, because at 9.5 i consider it to be closer to 10 then to 9.. but thats just imo
