Warhammer Online may focus on realm-versus-realm (aka, Order versus Destruction) combat, including epic raids on enemy keeps and large-scale battles between opposing races, but it’s hard to imagine an MMO without a little dungeon crawling.
War never changes. Literally in MMOs, as regardless of how bitter a conflict is it all whittles down to a few games of Capture the Flag with the eventual putting aside of differences to save the world. However, in the gritty Warhammer World, everything - every zone, every territory - from Rank 1 onwards, is pretty much at war. And why shouldn't it be?
The time has come to take off the training wheels. Massively multiplayer roleplaying games, from EverQuest to World of Warcraft, from Guild Wars to Lord of the Rings Online and everything in between, have become the definitive PC genre. Yet most of the new ones feel like clones; merely the next incremental step. We've yet to see a truly next-generation massively multiplayer game - a game that binds epic quests, amazing landscapes, deep and rich
Mythic Creative Director Paul Barnett likes to talk. And not just about his online RPG. "A game guide is actually there to corrupt your enjoyment of the game. It tells you the most efficient, straightforward and dull way to increase your numbers, and in no way tells you the wonder and joy of the game you're playing. And for most games, the wonder and joy is in getting there. In fact, in most of life, the joy is in getting to something."
There's more: "We now have people obsessed with getting
Dont expect Warhammer to start off in a time of relative peace. This isnt Middle-earth, and living memory doesnt have much in the way of peace, even among relatives. For a start, Chaos Marauders have been threatening the stoic warriors of Nordland for centuries, but with their plague tearing through the town of Grimmenhagen, they seem closer than ever to taking control.
Meanwhile, The Bloody Sun Boyz, the vintage band of greenskin hooligans led by the performance-enhanced Orc Grumlok and his
Mythic Entertainment's Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning looks great, feels unique, and best of all... is almost done. The visuals are varied and lovely as expected (scorched villages, bloodshot eyeballs peering sidelong from tree-trunks, elves smoking opium, all the greats). There are no weak player classes (i.e., these healers also fight) and its tiered quest system is intriguing: players gain experience on progressively more elite quests just by being in the right area, whether grouped up
For the million plus Warhammer fans worldwide, it's been an embarrassment of riches lately with so many Warhammer titles slashing their way to the PC. Add one more: Mythic Entertainment'sWarhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. While the Warhammer universe has its roots in tabletop strategy gaming, Reckoning is a massively multiplayer online game for anyone who ever wanted to join the fracas in person.
How you join it is up to you. Enter the fray as a common, beer-swilling dwarf and fight your way
