Review: 8/10 - Like playing GTA with 1,000 friends

saintd

The first thing that impressed me about AA is how stable it is. I have been in on several MMO’s on opening day and this is the only one without any issues to report. 90% or more of the players are having no problems playing.

 

Compare this with the EQ opening, DoAC, FFXI, E&B and EVE. All of those games had major, major issues for months after launch. AA has been as smooth as silk. It’s got it’s share of niggling bugs, but the choice to postpone it  three months (it was going to ship Q4 2005) was clearly a good idea.

 

I hooked a gamepad up to this game and find it drives a lot like GTA that way. GTA with guns. The physics engine is fun. Racing your car around and doing jumps is a blast. I highly recommend a game pad, wheel, or joystick. The game plays fine with the keyboard, but I liked it lots betting with the gamepad.

 

When I started I was afraid it would be like Earth and Beyond, which I called "Orcs in Space.", Just a fantasy MMO with a sci-fi skin. This is not the case with AA.

 

AA is all about the driving. And blowing stuff up. And running over pedestrians who are chucking grenades at you.

 

Grouping is possible, but not emphasized. It would be nice if there were some goodies for people who wanted more grouping. Quest sharing like in City of Hero’s or WoW would be a nice addition.

 

There is a deep crafting system. However the lack of an auction or vendor system for players sort of stunts your growth in this area I think. Once they add an auction system to the game it will be a 9/10 for me.

 

If you play and you think you might like to craft, it’s probably best to save all your crafting points until you figure out which skill you want to emphasize. If you spread them evenly you can gimp your crafting future by level 10 or so. The devs plan to add a “respect” to this later, but it’s not there yet.

 

In summary, the game play is solid and stable. The game is fun and the few “missing” pieces are on the list for the near future.

 

Clever_Glove

I have to agree on stable. Some basic features I think should be the game aren't. But it didn't crash one, my client works prefectly. I can get logged in everytime.

It was a very smooth launch, the smoothest I've ever seen.