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ArcheAge CBT2 Review - Aaportal.net
Romtim
Member Posts: 175
This one is quite old, but i do not think you have seen it. The credits go to http://www.Aaportal.net - The Largest International Community of ArcheAge.
Welcome to the http://www.Aaportal.net review. I was lucky to become the world’s first official foreign closed beta tester of Archeage. Under the nickname “Romtim” I have infiltrated in this fascinating world and have experienced many various aspects of this game. XLGames met me expectations and I am happy to share with you my impressions.
The first step in Archeage is creating a new character. When you select three primary skill schools, you get many tips on your selection. As announced, there are preselected classes along with a custom class.
Special attention should be given to your character’s customization. Some details of the character’s appearance can be freely modified; some of them are selected from a list. For example, you can pick scars and tattoos from the available options, but still be able to move them across the face freely, rotate them, and increase them in size. There are not so many types of customization available yet, but we can still get an idea of what will be available for the release.
After the loading screen, we get an introduction video. There is no sense in telling you what goes on in the intro, you still won’t understand either you will lose interest to watching it. However, I would like the developers to make these cut scenes more epic. Not that I didn’t like it, but the possibilities of Cry Engine 2 and the animation we have seen on the clips would be enough to make something way more epic. By the way, your character takes part in such cut scenes, and it’s rendered with the game’s engine.
The game loads quite fast. The good part is that, when you enter the game, you only load the necessary part of textures, and all the other details load as you play. This is very good for people with unstable internet – if you get disconnected on a serious battle or any other important matter, you can return to the game in a relatively short period of time.
We start in our race’s start location, and we receive our first quest “on the spot”. The first quests are pretty easy and traditional. Developers give us time to get used to the game and look at the abilities of our character. Fairly close to the place of our appearance is the town. It has everything we need for the first hours: post office, various merchants, quest givers, skill trainers and other NPC’s.
Quests in this game are quite diverse. I have only done like 5-6 quests, but I have already looted monsters for trophies, planted a few trees, collected eggs from bird nests on the trees and even travelled around the place. Several abilities are given out immediately on the start. And it’s fairly easy to use them.
The zones in Archeage are huge. As promised they are incredibly beautiful, and completely seamless. The starting areas and cities are especially beautiful and detailed. The first thing that comes to mind is that the developers have decided to show that they can do everything beautifully and accurately. However, some other locations don’t shine with fine textures and richness of landscapes, but it’s for sure a matter of time. I think their goal in this CBT was to test some new aspects of game play.
The world is very diverse, although unlike some other games, the transitions of scenery are not as noticeable. All locations are connected in a logical order, so you can’t find snow-capped mountains near the desert, as it happens in some other MMORPG’s. You can easily get lost in Archeage; there are just so many roads in this game. And I’m not joking about getting lost, because that’s what happened with me, after I wandered through several locations in an imprecise direction. What really makes me happy is that the locations aren’t separated from each other clearly. You can traverse from one of them to another anywhere you want, as long as it’s not over a mountain top. Some locations have similar terrain and flora, which connects them between each other, making them a united part of a whole big world despite the separation of the zone maps. However this similarity doesn’t mean absence of uniqueness, in this case it’s more like an emphasis to the realism.
You can find many different innovations in ArcheAge that have not been previously combined in any MMORPG. You can already ride around on horseback, establish settlements, build ships, plant trees, collect resources, and travel. The game is very atmospheric - when i played, i felt being a part of this world, even considering that everyone around me spoke in a foreign language including NPC’s. Archeage special atmosphere - it is not like anything else, it has its own comfort and charm. The world is so extensive and fascinating that you inevitably feel yourself as an ant, but you realize that you can still find a suitable place for yourself in it.
The target combat system looks very interesting in ArcheAge. Fighting in Archeage is very exciting. Even now, the game has a wide variety of tactical opportunities. For example you can raise a player in a floating bubble to help him jump up on a tall object, heal yourself, cast on him a long spell meanwhile, run away from him. Or you conjure a stone hand to hold the enemy on one place until you cast another fireball. You can also do it the old way, rush at your enemy, knock him off his feet, throw him up in the air with a mighty blow and slice him open with a finishing blow (that’s not a hack’n’slash combo, just skills used at the right time). Characters and abilities are animated very realistically in a beautiful way. The way characters fall is always different. Depending on how the body fell down, it rolls down the slope if it died on the mountainside or if it was knocked down off the cliff. You can feel the power and the slaughtering effect of the abilities in ArcheAge, you won’t envy the person hit by a fireball. If you die - just click a button and you will appear nearby the nearest priest. If you kill a monster, just click on his corpse and select the loot you need, or just simply to kick the body around (Yes, it does move when you kickit). You can learn a large variety of skills from a Skill Trainer by using your Skill Points. There won’t be enough points to learn all the skills, so this opens a door to the uniqueness of your character.
I really liked the way armor and clothing looks on players. Clothes are very detailed and fit well to the character. It’s quite difficult to find an ugly dressed character in ArcheAge. I was very pleased by the harmony of the appearance, of many characters gathered in one place. All of them were dressed differently and wore different armor, but these differences are not striking. Moreover, unlike many games, in ArcheAge each player is free to wear what he wants. There are no restrictions, but it’s more profitable to wear a certain kind of armor to suit your style of playing. Such moments are a step forward when compared to other games.
It should be noted, that the races of Men and Elves are not alike. It’s not just about the differences in appearance and culture; it’s also about their behavior. They have specifically different cities, different looks, physique, style of dress and animations. I have also managed to see the Dwarf and Ferre races in the beta test. But unfortunately, it was too brief.
At this point, the only means of transportation in ArcheAge are carriers, horses and ships. In this Closed Beta Test, I got a horse almost from the beginning of the game. The way it behaves is very neat. It moves quickly and smoothly, and turns around comfortably fast. The horse’s animation is arranged so that the movements look realistic: for example, it can’t jump on one place (it stands on its hind legs instead), neither turn around 180 degrees in a jump. Also, the horse can wear armor, gain levels, and learn new skills. At level one it can only knock back enemies, but as it levels, it gains access to skills like throwing the rider off to selected position – a quite long-range skill or a skill that allows the rider to fight mounted. In addition, you can dismount from your horse, order it to stand still or follow you. If the horse gets killed while someone is mounted on it – the rider will fall down on the ground to continue the fight. You can also ride your horse together with somebody. Moreover, the passenger can thus fend off enemies - wield a weapon or shoot a bow.
You can also find an island or just some free spot with great sights and lay the foundation of your house. Your house is your fortress and your new home. You can build and manage furniture freely around your house, invite people to your house, smith some armor if you install a forge in it, do plenty of stuff, just remember to clean the mess up! Outside the house you are free to construct a farm and a garden, the crops you grow belong to you, and you can collect them once they are ready to cook something or just sell it on the market. If you construct a group of houses with your friends, you can actually form a village, because it is possible to construct not only private houses, but public ones too.
The sea deserves special attention. ArcheAge is the first MMOPRG, where the sea is a legitimate part of the game play. Spending a considerable amount of time to reach various islands, naval warfare, the atmosphere of sea travel and the beautiful sights won’t leave anyone cold-blooded. To lose your ship at the middle of the sea is a quite serious danger, since the distance to the nearest land is significant. To control the ship decently, a team of 2 to 10 people is required. At this moment, you can raise/lower the anchor, raise/lower the sails on each mast, climb the masts, take the steering wheel in control and lower planks at the sides of the ship, to walk aboard. In addition, at this CBT, each ship had 4 cannons on each side. If you fall off the ship, you can climb back up on the net, hanging from the deck. There is however a bind point system in game. You use some binding stone, and you can return to it with a help of a skill, which has a cool down of 30 minutes. But if there would be no such skill, you could do stuff like leaving some guy on a deserted island :thumbsup: .
You can also lose your ship in battle, but you are likely to die earlier from a cannon impact on the deck. Oh yes! The cannons are really dangerous and besides, long-range. If you aim for the coast, you can hurt or kill players and monsters that situate there. Piracy in ArcheAge will flourish just because having a ship is a great advantage for its owners – it is sort of a mobile fortress, which can destroy everything on its path. Apart from that, it’s incredibly fun!
ArcheAge has a very convenient interface: it’s easy to use and freely manageable. At the top of the screen, you can see all accessible menu’s with intuitive icons. You can move around and resize the interface freely. I was pleased to see, that the interface has everything I need, with nothing extra. It is worth noting, that the characters equipment and characteristics interface is situated at the sides of the character, instead of having a doll to dress up like in other games. However this is subject to change after the 2CBT, but I do hope that XLGames will still leave the possibility of resizing and managing it around enough.
The graphics in this game are simply divine. The view distance is amazing, for instance you can see the two Twin Mountains, known to every fan of ArcheAge from the port city of Solzreed peninsula. From the position where I stood, it was a 5 minute horse ride up to the mountains. Trees and grass in ArcheAge behave as in reality - they sway and cast shadows. If the sunset is shining through a tree, its rays are visible in the evening’s haze. A light haze hides objects, situated very far away, which makes them look even more beautiful. It doesn’t look on screenshots as good as it is in action. Birds fit well into the overall picture. They fly just like the real ones, sometimes gather in flocks and fly over some place. Locations have different looks depending on various weather conditions and the time of the day. From all this diversity, I liked the sea sunsets on tropical islands most of all.
We can now draw a conclusion - This game promises to be a new hit in the MMORPG genre. Farmer, soldier, pirate, magician, merchant – even on this state of development, the players sphere of activity is already forming up. All these aspects of game play, capabilities in physics and graphics, functions, and most importantly – the wisdom of the developers highlights ArcheAge from the total mass of MMORPGs. The game play is alike Ultima Online in its freedom, and the pve does look similar to World of Warcraft indeed. Everything described above is subject to change before the game is released, but I’m sure the changes are for the best, because at the origins of the development stands Jake Song, and he knows what he’s doing.
The credits go to http://www.Aaportal.net - biggest international community of ArcheAge.
Comments
oops doublepost
Yea I will check Aaportal.net regularly as it seems that Archage seems to be way more interesting than Rifts lol. Gz for getting in the CBT :P.
Pardon my English as it is not my 1st language
I wish this MMO would hit the american market sooner.. This seems to be the only innovative MMO comeing out in some time.
Currently Playing:
Rift + Starcraft II + Gears Of War 3 Beta
You are slowly winning me over here:-)
If the game truly has the features you describe (and I believe you), then ArcheAge surely promises to be a very solid title. At the very least, it is including things that players have been asking for years, like housing, naval battles, cultivation, etc. Keep in mind that other games have tried and done these things (DarkFall, for instance) so ArcheAge will have to go an extra step to really shine. So far, it seems they are on the right track.
The jury is still out for me if the world is unique and truly exploreable, for the website says that PVE is not yet defined. Your article talks about battles upon the seas, but what I want to know, can I dive in and find merfolk, undersea caves and such? That is what I mean by exploring. Given your review talks of quests found in nests and such, it sounds this game just might deliver for me.
Grind. Being an MMO, I expect some grind. The key is how much fun the grind is and how well they dress up the quests and activities so it doesn't seem like grinding.
Is this game totally gear dependent, or could skill overcome gear in the heat of battle? This is critical since PVP is a major aspect of this game.
Over all, I am cautiously optomistic. I would be really stoked, but I have been burned so much in the past that this is about as stoked as I can be.
By the way, I totally dig the look of the Ferres.
About the sea content - you surely can dive, and, even if there was no underwater content in CBT2, but we have already seen on one of the videos - A giant sea raid boss (like in Pirates of the carribean - the giant octopus thingy). So we can assume there will be sea pve, and I do not think they will miss the underwater content too
I would personally love to randomly find an entrance to a cave underwater, which leads to an underground cave system with treasures hehehe.
We do not know what gear will there be in this game. Honestly, I hope skill can matter, but it was too early to judge that on CBT2. We will know that in a month, after the CBT3 however.
Thanks for this.
Fair enough and sounds good.:-)
Given the care they appear to be putting into this title, I'd wager they will do their PVP "right."
Thank you for keeping us informed about ArcheAge. I will be following up for sure.:-)
Greetings..from an AA follower.
Yes the game does have all the features that Romtim describes and more.
The first CB and the second CB were all about thoses features and making sure they work. Western mmo devs do it the other way round and put those features in last.
The third CB which starts this month, meaning march till november which is when open korean beta starts is all about getting the combat up to scratch as the game is skill based to a degree.
Okay for your pleasure..
Vid 1 . WORLD http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5RUDtslVVk&feature=player_embedded
Vid 2. SHIPS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt894aENUiE&feature=related
Vid 3. GamePlay including ship building http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03XWF4ipCyQ&feature=player_embedded
Gameplay PT2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzxGcY-y0J0&feature=related
Vid 3. CryEngine 2 Powered Physics Based Destructable Environment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5E7OcHr2RU
Vid 4. Housing(notice how the mount stays when the player dismounts,it stands there grazing grass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv5Sh3M2iP8&feature=related
Vid 5. Very Cool Map Editing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1mwU14-a3Y
DEVS OWN WORDS..
Jake Song was the brains behind Lineage 1-2
Jake Song Part 1
http://archeagesource.com/topic/22-interview-with-jake-song-translated/
Jake Song Part 2
http://archeagesource.com/topic/27-part-2-of-tigs-interview-with-jake-song/
More Info.
http://archeage-online.com/
500 Screenshots from Beta 1 ALL captured by Romtim..lol
http://archeagesource.com/gallery/category/4-first-closed-beta-test/
ArchAge English Website.
http://www.archeage.com/en/contents/gameIntros
If you read the info you will find info on PVP.
Join our website for up to date ArcheAge info anbd we also have a Korean tester that keeps us up to date. With CB3 coming this month we will have some great info on the new combat features as this is what CB3 is manily about, fixing and shaping up the combat.
Enjoy http://archeagesource.com/
http://realhistoryww.com/world_history/ancient/Misc/Jesus/Jesus.htm
Wow, think you for all the links. The world looks spectacular, and the animations on the mobs are very cool...especially the Elephant like ones.
Some questions. Those Elephants for example, are they solely to be killed as mobs are in every MMO or can I tame one, get one as a mount, or otherwise interact with them in a non combat way? I am not saying that having mobs for the sole purpose of killing is bad, for it is a staple of the MMO genre, but I am curious if non combat interactions with mobs (or certain specific in world mobs) are part of the game's plan?
The cities look awesome. I am curious, will we be able to go into the buildings? The reason I ask is that in Perfect World International, they have the huge Dragon City (Archosaur) and the only purpose the building serve is to be art-- annoying art that you have to run around or fly over. If we can go into the buildings, will there be things to do beyond simply going to a smith a bank or such. For example, it would be cool to bumble into a house to find out it is the abode of a necromancer who is not to happy at your tresspassing kicking off a battle and maybe a quest line.
The ship combat looks dynamic and fun. It will be interesting to see how the particulars are handled such as who is captain, ship travel, crew roles and so on. The whole building scheme, ships or otherwise looks pretty cool.
And Yes, I see the ArcheAge world has ruins to explore. :-)
In fact, from the few fly throughs I saw, the world looks not only well rendered, but full of flavor and atmosphere too. Definitely inviting for an explorer type like me.
ArcheAge is indeed looking good and I am looking forward to seeing what it will bring to a tired genre. I really do hope it lives up to what I am seeing here. I wish the archeAge team well, for if they can pull this off, we all win-- they get subs and we get a cool and fun world to interact with.
Wow! Thank you for the post. I've been following the tidbits of info on Archeage's progress for quite a few months now, and this just solidified that I'll be playing this game when its available to us. Crossing fingers for the Q4 open beta.
Very nice - an AAA next-gen sandbox? Count me in.
I'll just reserve my scepticism for the skill system which, imo, hangs on subtleties... Xsyon, for example, has this impressive stat/skill decay which is supposed to prevent older players from being absolutely untouchable by newbies later in the games cycle. One of DFOs shortcomings stems clearly from dodgy skill/advancement system which prefers mindless grind like running into walls and endless swimming and leaves newbs in the dust. EVE counters this a bit by the fact that you can max out ONE or a careful selection of skills pretty fast, etc etc...
I hope the skill progression system (what we used to call RPG system in the old days) is well thought out. Archeage being a Korean game, I hope will manage to go beyond "grinder" paradigm that's been preventing Korean games from gaining foothold in the west.
Why do you advertise your website in aaportal threads? Can't you make your own threads? All those links are meaningless
Screenshots
Videos
instead of spamming 100 youtube and archeagesource links.
Oh and... join aaportal.net for up to date ArcheAge info AND WE ARE ALSO BETA TESTING OURSELVES.
Eh, taht review is pretty meh imo.
Personally i find taht the following review tells me so much more about the game.
http://www.aaportal.net/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=73
"I will Turn your name into a synonym for weakness"
And if we would unite the whole website into one big review, that would be an even better review (because it tells more) - if we follow your logic. I personally found that La2_cobalts review was too long to enjoy reading it.
This game will be amazing. Can't wait for more Info about it.
This game sounds like SWG in a fantasy setting. I can't wait!!
we've got a design update of the http://www.aaportal.net page
Ryzom, Haven and Hearth, Xsyon, The Repopulation, UO private shards, Mortal Online, Darkfall 1 remakes (New Dawn or Rise of Agon), RPG MO, Project Gorgon, EQ: Sanctuary (custom server)
Probably wont see it in the US/EU til 2012. But when it does... I will be there to try it. I hope it is as good as it looks/sounds.
My theme song.
Ryzom, Haven and Hearth, Xsyon, The Repopulation, UO private shards, Mortal Online, Darkfall 1 remakes (New Dawn or Rise of Agon), RPG MO, Project Gorgon, EQ: Sanctuary (custom server)
Most propably we gonna have a maximum Q2 of 2012 release on US/EU.
Ryzom, Haven and Hearth, Xsyon, The Repopulation, UO private shards, Mortal Online, Darkfall 1 remakes (New Dawn or Rise of Agon), RPG MO, Project Gorgon, EQ: Sanctuary (custom server)
There is RvR in PvP, but you can still kill anyone you want, so yes FFA. The RvR doesn't restrict you from killing your own realm member, but there are different relations between different realms, so for example pirates kill everyone and that doesn't make them a PK.
There were no safe zones on CBT2, and none are planned as far as i know. Manasus obviosly confused the free castle and walls and sieging each other stuff (not many details until the 3cbt) building on the north continent, with regular PvP.
There is no full loot (at least not yet, and i think there wont be, and i am actually against full loot in such a game)
I dont think so, at least not at this moment. Jake Song said, that 50vs50 runs smooth, and they are aiming for more. So i guess 200 people would be fine.
Ryzom, Haven and Hearth, Xsyon, The Repopulation, UO private shards, Mortal Online, Darkfall 1 remakes (New Dawn or Rise of Agon), RPG MO, Project Gorgon, EQ: Sanctuary (custom server)
Man, I want this game, NOW!
I'm a bit unsettled by the Cat-people race, all the furries are going to go bonkers for this game.
It has all the right features though, man...finally. Here's hoping.
Wait for the other races
I cant wait to see them in 3rd CBT.