I'd say 4 or 5 out of 10. Standard themepark with all the same gameplay as every other game ever created in this mold. The story and atmosphere have potential but I really don't see where they are going with that either. The three factions seem only to be there to say that they have 3 different factions. The secret societies angle is really a bit laughable since they seem all to be out in the open chasing zombies lol. I really thought they were going to be undercover in the world but I guess that would have required too much finesse. On the bright side, killing zombies is always enjoyable once in a while.
I wouldn't pay $60 or a sub for this but I might toy with it as a diversion when it goes FTP.
Read the review. I probably won't buy it and wait till it is F2P. Two deal breaking lack of featuers:
1) no respec ... i like playing with specs & builds. That is half the fun.
2) no LFD ... don't feel like shouting for group in this day & age. Even TOR is going to have this.
~5 hours into my main character I decided Assault Rifles weren't synergizing with otehr stuff I looked at. I completely switched away from that to be Pistols+Elemental, and haven't felt at all gimped by the decision (particularly since I had randomly found a solid pistol weapon, which factored into my decision to switch.)
All of the quests can be repeated too (though they have big cooldowns, like 24 hours or something), which not only providesa second chance at every single quest reward (some of those quests provide nice damn gear) but more XP to drive your SP/AP generation.
LFD is definitely an issue, as that was a massive failure on ToR's part, and is just flat-out an unnecessary hassle.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
It's easy getting groups the game doesn't need a lfd. A wow style auto grouper would be a disaster. If you have difficulty finding groups, don't just have a dps build, have a healing, support or tank deck you can switch to.
Originally posted by ShakyMo It's easy getting groups the game doesn't need a lfd. A wow style auto grouper would be a disaster. If you have difficulty finding groups, don't just have a dps build, have a healing, support or tank deck you can switch to.
how would it be a disaster?
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
Originally posted by ShakyMo It's easy getting groups the game doesn't need a lfd. A wow style auto grouper would be a disaster. If you have difficulty finding groups, don't just have a dps build, have a healing, support or tank deck you can switch to.
how would it be a disaster?
I tend to agree there isd no Wpvp so taking people out of the game for me to kill is not an issue.
Well on second though, I'm building a heathy friends list because I need to. With LFG I might not
Quests - A decent amount keep breaking themselves. Hell, the investigation mission in Egypt even breaks itself when too many people are around, ( even have dev confirmation to say they will be fixing it. ) the misson in the besieged farmland with the midget guy. It won't even start. Also, the amount of investigation missions lowers considerably compared to Kingsmouth. Down from 5 to 1 per zone.
Graphics - They are pretty, however, I'm noticing way too many graphical glitches. One noticeable ones: while running I see the textures of he ground disappearing in the corner of my screen or the ground textures literally being split in half. Allowing you to see under the world. I even have the game swap from highrez textures to low rez textures and stay that way till I restart the game. ( I usually just stay in the game though. I'm use to playing with muddy textures while playing old games. )
Combat - It is pretty good once you unlock a good chunk of the wheel. You will notice the synergy of the skills once unlocked. I have a dps build that when I weaken and do afflictions on a foe, it will boost my hit rate, pen rate, crit damage and increase my defenses. It freaking hurts in pvp. Also, it does abnormal amounts of aoe damage in pve or pvp when enemies are clumped up. However, I'm a glass cannon so I can be killed quite easily and I need to be up close also.
Animations - It is what kills the positives of combat. I dislike the damn animations. If you play the game try hitting one of the filth humans. Watch how bad it looks when they react to the hit. For people not playing, when you hit these mobs, their backs go almost parallel with the ground. It looks damn ridiculous. Furthermore, mobs just lean back alittle when you hit them. Gives too little feedback in hitting. Also, player animations are still bad and have multiple repeats for skills. ( I do like the mini shoryuken in the fists line. Street Fighter ftw. They still could have animated it a little better though. )
Cities - This probably pissed me off the most. The damn cities are small as hell. Also, what makes it worse, London, the Templar city is the only one with banks and clothing stores in it. Making the other 2 cities, New York and Seoul, damn near worthless.
UI - The icons. I fucking hate them with a passion. They look too damn similar and cause a lot of frustration trying to find something with a quick glance. ( Thankfully they have a search bar at the top to lessen the frustration. ) One positive though, you can make specific bags for things. I have a bags for Dps gear, Tank gear, Healer gear, consumables, and one for all my weapons. The rest go into the main bag.
Even though I'm being pretty negative of the game. The game does make up for the short comings by being immersive and being a little difficult combat and mission wise. I actually would recommend purchasing the game even if for just a couple months.
Originally posted by nariusseldon Read the review. I probably won't buy it and wait till it is F2P. Two deal breaking lack of featuers:1) no respec ... i like playing with specs & builds. That is half the fun.2) no LFD ... don't feel like shouting for group in this day & age. Even TOR is going to have this.
1) You don't need respecs. You can learn every ability and skill on every character.
2) No LFD means having to be a bit social to find groups. I personally prefer it this way, same for most of the other people i've met so far. LFD ruins communities as WoW perfectly demonstrated - LFD is also aimed at a gear grind, which simply doesn't exist in TSW and thus makes it doubly redundant.
Expecting it to go F2P won't help you. In order for that to happen the game would have to drop to less than 50-60k subscriptions, and i can't see TSW dropping below 200k for quite a while. Funcom never meant it to be a WoW killer and so far it looks like they learned their lessons from AoC - Which is a substantially different game to start with as far as the business model goes.
If you're waiting for F2P, be prepared to wait for at least another 5-6 years, if not more
Comments
I'd say 4 or 5 out of 10. Standard themepark with all the same gameplay as every other game ever created in this mold. The story and atmosphere have potential but I really don't see where they are going with that either. The three factions seem only to be there to say that they have 3 different factions. The secret societies angle is really a bit laughable since they seem all to be out in the open chasing zombies lol. I really thought they were going to be undercover in the world but I guess that would have required too much finesse. On the bright side, killing zombies is always enjoyable once in a while.
I wouldn't pay $60 or a sub for this but I might toy with it as a diversion when it goes FTP.
I'm a long-term beta tester, and I wrote a longer review in this post:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/356322/Review-from-longterm-beta-tester.html
~5 hours into my main character I decided Assault Rifles weren't synergizing with otehr stuff I looked at. I completely switched away from that to be Pistols+Elemental, and haven't felt at all gimped by the decision (particularly since I had randomly found a solid pistol weapon, which factored into my decision to switch.)
All of the quests can be repeated too (though they have big cooldowns, like 24 hours or something), which not only providesa second chance at every single quest reward (some of those quests provide nice damn gear) but more XP to drive your SP/AP generation.
LFD is definitely an issue, as that was a massive failure on ToR's part, and is just flat-out an unnecessary hassle.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
7 of 10
Themepark style MMO (Not a Fan)
As per the norm with Themepark MMO's you feel like your playing a single player game with global chat.
As per the norm with ALL MMO's in the past 5 years, NO DECENT crafting system!
Very Hack and Slash, thought process required minimal.....
Yes it has a storyline
Yes graphics are okay
But Pretty pictures and a storyline is not going to keep me engaged for long term and I certainly wont pay a sub for it!
I am sure this game will appeal for many out there, but I am not one of them!
I prefer games like, Ultima Online Pre Trammel, Darkfall Online, Shadowbane, SWG pre NGE
My prioritys are Crafting, PVP, and Sandbox
UO,Shadowbane,SWG,Darkfall,MO,Wurm Online,Secretworld,GW,GW2,PotBS,LotR,Atlantica Online,WWII Online,WoT,Battlestar Galactica,Planetside2,Perpetuum,Fallen Earth,Runescape,WoW,Eve,Xsylon,Dragon Prophet, Salem
9/10 so far. Let's see how I feel once I've finished all mission once.
how would it be a disaster?
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
I tend to agree there isd no Wpvp so taking people out of the game for me to kill is not an issue.
Well on second though, I'm building a heathy friends list because I need to. With LFG I might not
I rate it a 7/10.
Quests - A decent amount keep breaking themselves. Hell, the investigation mission in Egypt even breaks itself when too many people are around, ( even have dev confirmation to say they will be fixing it. ) the misson in the besieged farmland with the midget guy. It won't even start. Also, the amount of investigation missions lowers considerably compared to Kingsmouth. Down from 5 to 1 per zone.
Graphics - They are pretty, however, I'm noticing way too many graphical glitches. One noticeable ones: while running I see the textures of he ground disappearing in the corner of my screen or the ground textures literally being split in half. Allowing you to see under the world. I even have the game swap from highrez textures to low rez textures and stay that way till I restart the game. ( I usually just stay in the game though. I'm use to playing with muddy textures while playing old games. )
Combat - It is pretty good once you unlock a good chunk of the wheel. You will notice the synergy of the skills once unlocked. I have a dps build that when I weaken and do afflictions on a foe, it will boost my hit rate, pen rate, crit damage and increase my defenses. It freaking hurts in pvp. Also, it does abnormal amounts of aoe damage in pve or pvp when enemies are clumped up. However, I'm a glass cannon so I can be killed quite easily and I need to be up close also.
Animations - It is what kills the positives of combat. I dislike the damn animations. If you play the game try hitting one of the filth humans. Watch how bad it looks when they react to the hit. For people not playing, when you hit these mobs, their backs go almost parallel with the ground. It looks damn ridiculous. Furthermore, mobs just lean back alittle when you hit them. Gives too little feedback in hitting. Also, player animations are still bad and have multiple repeats for skills. ( I do like the mini shoryuken in the fists line. Street Fighter ftw. They still could have animated it a little better though. )
Cities - This probably pissed me off the most. The damn cities are small as hell. Also, what makes it worse, London, the Templar city is the only one with banks and clothing stores in it. Making the other 2 cities, New York and Seoul, damn near worthless.
UI - The icons. I fucking hate them with a passion. They look too damn similar and cause a lot of frustration trying to find something with a quick glance. ( Thankfully they have a search bar at the top to lessen the frustration. ) One positive though, you can make specific bags for things. I have a bags for Dps gear, Tank gear, Healer gear, consumables, and one for all my weapons. The rest go into the main bag.
Even though I'm being pretty negative of the game. The game does make up for the short comings by being immersive and being a little difficult combat and mission wise. I actually would recommend purchasing the game even if for just a couple months.
BOOYAKA!
1) You don't need respecs. You can learn every ability and skill on every character.
2) No LFD means having to be a bit social to find groups. I personally prefer it this way, same for most of the other people i've met so far. LFD ruins communities as WoW perfectly demonstrated - LFD is also aimed at a gear grind, which simply doesn't exist in TSW and thus makes it doubly redundant.
Expecting it to go F2P won't help you. In order for that to happen the game would have to drop to less than 50-60k subscriptions, and i can't see TSW dropping below 200k for quite a while. Funcom never meant it to be a WoW killer and so far it looks like they learned their lessons from AoC - Which is a substantially different game to start with as far as the business model goes.
If you're waiting for F2P, be prepared to wait for at least another 5-6 years, if not more
Playing: WF
Played: WoW, GW2, L2, WAR, AoC, DnL (2005), GW, LotRO, EQ2, TOR, CoH (RIP), STO, TSW, TERA, EVE, ESO, BDO
Tried: EQ, UO, AO, EnB, TCoS, Fury, Ryzom, EU, DDO, TR, RF, CO, Aion, VG, DN, Vindictus, AA