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One of my reviews again!!! ZU Online
well guys.. im back..and its time i do a review, this one will be shorter than my usual essays....
Zu online, i downloaded it while i was training a long skill on EvE. Figured. meh, its free might as well give it a try while i do f all on eve!
Graphics:
hmm..dont know what to say (as per usual!) sort of anime asian normal free mmo graphics, this is my first asian free mmo that ive played thats your usual grind fest, (voyage century if anyone remembers). But i still feel they are slightly different to those screenshots i see of other mnos, i actully quite like the cartoonish graphics which i did not expect!!! this one comes down to a love or hate
7/10: could use more options to enhance the games graphics (i got a new PC!!!!)
Leveling:
well... its fast. i been playing about 8 hours, after 2 hours i was lvl 20, you lvl fast on this.. i frigging love it! ok the cap is 300 i believe, but you still feel a sense of achievment when you level. how you level. i will come onto that now...
9/10
Quests:
everything you do will be a quest, you never just grind mobs.. you get quests to grind mobs!!! 90% of quests will be grinding, its very easy grind though, the xp from quests is amazing, i lvled from 22 to 23 through 1 quest, that quest was to turn around and speak to the npc accross the bridge.... awsome! but yes most if it will be kill x mobs, i can understand why this gets to people and it will get to me im sure. also the rewards (armour etc) is very very good, qest rewards are the best armour, however you are always killing you lvl mobs and they will always drop armour, it is so easy to get the armour for you that you dont need to worry about finding a npc to buy the armour off, at least that is for the begging i have not got onto refining armour or the higher lvl things yet.
10/10 for easyness 1/10 variety
Contests:
i have only been in 1 contest, it was a general knowledge style quiz that all players could participate in. this was a free for all contest, once you hit around lvl60 100s of contests become open to you, i havent done one yet but there is a huge variety of stuff to be done in these and they are brilliant xp i hear, so if you are bored of grind just enter one of these and do something totally different ingame which is a really good feature, there is so many contests that you never are far away from one, and there is plenty of people doing them to make it good fun.
10/10 best feature
Pets:
Pets in Zu are only for riding on, and for giving bonues to your stats, you cant actully fight with them which is dissapointing, a cool feature is that to level your pet you have to go to a desegnated pet zone, walk it about, basicly you stand there while it prospects (just like saga of ryzom) it finds xp leaves which you feed to it and it lvls up, also it finds the required leaves and stuff needed to keep it going, you have a sanitation,health and another one i have forgotten name of (just how much the pet likes you) each of these have different leaves and things that help keep your pet going.
7/10
Community:
One of the main aspects of a mmo for me is a mature, helpful and funny community, Zu is a real mixture of both, plenty of people are kind, helpfull all the time, there are quite a few people that are happy to sit in the chat and slag everyone off and ruin everyones day,sadly i have yet to see a gm anywhere, cant contact one to complain is diabolical.
0/10 GM support 8/10 general community
Clans (not what your thinking) + customization:
Clans are the classes of players, or proffesions, its your standard mmo tanker, spell caster etc, nothing special here, customization of your character is terrible, chose about 3 hair cuts, 2 different faces, and the colour of the hair..... ingame customization is not great visually wise, when you put on new armour it dosent change your appearance as far as i have got, however the actual amountsof armour available are very good and plentyfull
appearance 2/10 amount of items 8/10
Item Mall:
Some off you will know about my view on item malls, i dislike them but the company has to make money, personally id rather have adds placed everywhere on the login screen!! but its there and it cant be avoided by some players.
1/10
My Fav, PVP!!!!!!!!!:
The Zu online website wont tell you much about pvp, i couldnt find alot of info on it when i had a quick browse. (this is not comming from experience only what friends have told me.) once you get to lvl 20 or 30 cant remeber, you are open to pvp from anyone, very few people kill there own faction (race), you can set to pvp mode which is where you kill your own faction and no one gets deductions etc, however the 3 factions have identical maps of the game, anyone from the other 2 factions (3 alltogether) can wonder into your world and stark Pking whoever the f**k they want, bar ultra noobs. this makes it very cool as my friend says brb going to jump into WU's world and kill some guys walking there pets, which is brilliant as you are never safe on ZU! you get the feeling the only reason you lvl so fast is so you can pvp and sneak around the other factions world, this is why i can do the grind, i know that very shortly il be having a good fight with pvp and some form of body looting, not full looting.
9/10
Overall: 7/10 for a free game i rate this VERY HGHLY compared to many of the free games out there.
recommended to: i would say anyone waiting for AOC, WAR or any tbr mmo, as a time filler have some fun killing some other players eh! anyone looking simply for a cool looking free mmo with good pvp again this is a good place to go.
any questions? comments? post em here i love to hear from everyone at mmorpg.com!
Pompey606
ps: before anyone says, yes as usual it turned out to be long and boring!
Comments
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/gameId/294/setView/features/loadFeature/1746
really good preview of the clans, and the map feature which is an awsome feature i love,
basicly on mmos i always have trouble finding the npc for the quest, on ZU in the simplist terms you click on the persons name and if your in the right area it gos there automaticly on a rail that it works out, very handy. so gone are the days of spending hours finding that one npc!
I agree with you... this game really surprised me. I enjoy it a lot when Im bored hopping between WOW and EVE.
Yeah I actually like the cartoony look of the game xD. the gameplay is also smooth it's very casual friendly
I'd give it 7.5/10 for a f2p in beta
god that you agree guys! one of the main issues is the item mall.. i will admit i am very anti micro transactions.. but i paid 5 pounds to see what the fuss is about..and i could not buy anything.... for the best pet egg it is 100 BUCKS! that is outragous
i got 500 gold and i buy just 1 christmas set and some medicine and a lukey casket(i've forgotten how to spell it) and i'm poor now. i even have not enough bones to feed my pet. how poor i am...... DX
i'm very poor now.. i think
Query about the pets thing, that might be a bit inaccurate. I know from the tiny bit of time I played in beta, you can summon pets that are used for combat, not just for riding or boosting stats in specific areas. Specifically, the Summon Puppet spell. I don't remember what class its specific to or even what the rest of the line is called, but I know it exists, I even have a few screenshots with my character fighting with one.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
correct the summoner can spawn a sort of pet to fight, in the end its classed as a skil but yes its a physical object that is a bitch in pvp! thank you for reminding me! but other classes normal pet to ride on does not attack. just gives you boosts etc..
This game is quite amazing. I think the game still needs to add some content and fix some bugs.
please remember the game is still in beta which is why there are bugs etc!
To the OP - your info is partially incorrect:
1. armors do change your appearance;
2. pets are of outmost importance in Zu; you think they just "boost a little" your stats? Think again! Without a fully equipped pet you will be an easy target in PVP. Since the game doesn't allocate stat points when you level, your overall success depends on the gear you wear and the boost your pet gives.
3. the characters/clans are a little different than usual...enough to say that for instance the swordman is a actually a ranger class not a knight/paladin type; each one has unique features (like the summoning skill). And unlike other games, the female characters are formidable opponents, so apart from facing a Sun Warrior, the PVP is not as predictable as you might think.
4. the cash shop can't be avoided; sadly, the game is so nerfed that pass a certain (mid lvl) it's mandatory to get gold and buy some shop items (the pet gear and rare armor sets are just a few examples). Read the forums, ask around and you'll understand what I'm saying. The thing is, since it's an intense all areas PVP game, you are forced to get the best gear available in order to advance.
5. Zu is centered on PVP - it can't be avoided, but at least there's a point in all this, and the big prize is the afk xp you're getting by owning pillars in a certain map (even in enemy faction maps); that's why is mandatory to join a powerful guild after a certain lvl (without a good guild and a lot of friends you can't make in in Zu, so if you're the lonewolf type of player, better look elsewhere).
PS: your friend that likes to kill ppl while they're walking pets is a complete idiot. There is a limit between pvp and griefing/ganking ppl - which is exactly what this type of morons like to do. I'm sorry, but there's no other way to say it.
1. agree
2. never said that pets wernt important
3. agree
4. disagree to some degree, i dont agree that the shop is mandatory, you will be killed by an item mall junkie that is true, but if you play enough then you can get into a competitve status, im in chosen on holy server (TAI) and there are plenty players who have worked hard for items rather than buying things and they are very good, so you dont need to use the item mall however it makes life alot easyer and i cant see myself getting past lvl 100 without using it, im nearly there..
5. i think youl find i said the game is vey pvp orientated so your just repeating what i said...
ps: nothing wrong with getting pet walkers thats half the game.. staying alert for enemy at all time is what makes the game so fun! if i get killed while walking a pet.. i think fair game snuck up on me, i dont go omg what a noob he got a free kill waawa and wine like a little girl which sounds like you would
ps. sorry if this a rant im very hungover so i apologise in advance
Regarding the item shop: I'll explain why I said it's mandatory (you're prolly nowhere near that level, so I understand why you don't know this yet) - the lvl 120 and up pet gear can be bought only with gold - that means only with real cash. Same goes to the special armor sets while most of the auction house transactions require (a lot of) silver, which is obtained from converting gold to silver (you can't buy with the silver you get from commercial travels !!!). Now you might think there's no big deal, you can equip your pet with some lvl 90 gear and hope for the best - reality is: a lvl 120 player with a fully equipped pet will crush a lvl 140 - 150 player with a pet equipped with lvl 90 gear. In fact this aspect was discussed on the game's forums. So you see, for a mid level player (that means around 150) using the item mall is a must, especially when stepping in the so called "neutral zones", where the pvp is very serious - all the time.
On top of all this, there are not many ways to make money in Zu: commercial travels require a lot of time and a good know how, because you have to know where to pick items from and where to sell - while walking at snail speed and risking being attacek both by other players or bandits (NPCs). It's not very rewarding if you can't do long routes and there's a limit to the quantity you can carry. On the other hand, upgrading is VERY expensive, so you can spend a fortune in no time.
Like I said: it's wrong to attack players that are not in "attack mode"; no matter how much you try to justify it, attacking players while walking their pets equals going for an easy kill - and in 99% of the situations this is done either by a very high lvl player (who can easily take the guards down) or a strong party, so there's no bravery act, there's no "let's see if I can come from the opposite faction map alive". This game is so pvp intense that if you want to proove you're a warrior you have a chance at every corner, but going only for easy kills just to have something to brag about in the faction chat is very dishonorable.
on the pvp fact.. not everyone is playing to get respect and Bravery act.. i mean comon mate in the end its a game... there comes a limit to taking the piss mate, and calling something ingame a bravery act... i mean come on you are taking the mick........
Forcing someone to fight (and considering the way this goes down in Zu - leaving no chance for escape and killing in 1-2 hits) is PKing, not PvP, pure and simple. I don't see what's the fun in doing it. I understand you need those points, but still, I consider it a lousy way to get 'em.
right mate yes i do agree with you, but what im trying to say is the fact that people will do that is what makes the game fun!!! i enjoy running through MT not knowing wether a 160 player is going to jump out and wack me... it keeps the game fun as without it you will agree some of the quests would be rather boring, i look foward to quests in ASV cause i dont know whats waiting for me.. where as without the pvp it would just be your standard go kill 15 of these in a nice safe area... i like that fact that im may need to run like zeus is after me... that is fun...
That is completely different
PS: Well, if the MT portal is way overcrowded and nobody risks going out, chances are someone scared them away
)) Sometimes I liked to go and find out how high was was the level of the "scarecrow"...needless to say, it was fun to...run, hehe
so long,my english is bad and i don't know what're you said.