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Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising Review: The Official Review - Edit
6.1
| Pros |
 Decent story and solo play Great animations Low-cost subscription Minion system is interesting |
| Cons |
 Not much group content Nothing really to do but quest Very buggy all these years later |
Be sure to read Adam Tingle's Second Thoughts: Gods & Heroes - Magister Mundi Sum.
I remember beta testing Gods & Heroes while it was still under the direction of Perpetual Entertainment. Sure I could make a few jokes about just how perpetual they really ended up, but that’s neither here nor there anymore since Heatwave Interactive picked up the code and license and ran with it. I’ve been waiting what seems like forever to play a finished version of Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, and I’m afraid I’ll be waiting for a while more. Though Heatwave’s first foray into the MMORPG space is not completely without merit, it’s plain to see that the game they sought to flesh out and polish in a mere 18 months is still several more “moon cycles” away from being ready for primetime. Underneath the bugs and shallow nature of the title, G&H has some truly compelling toys to play with. But unless you’re the most diehard fan of Roman mythology and culture, I’d recommend waiting a while before picking this one up.
Gameplay – 6/10
The core of G&H’s gameplay is designed around the “minion” system retained from Perpetual’s original vision, and tuned up a bit for Heatwave’s final release product. You play a hero whose entire family was slaughtered by Telchine cultists, and you’ve been granted a chance by the Gods to seek revenge. It’s a pretty cliché but effective story, and so long as you don’t mind reading quest text, there’s a good bit of meat to the “lore” behind Gods and Heroes, even if a lot of it was sort of already pre-written by those crazy Romans thousands of years ago. There are four classes at launch with the promise of two more to come in future patches, and they range from your basic healer to your tank and DPS: Gladiator, Mystic, Priest, and Soldier. I’m betting you can figure out which is which.
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The bulk of your time with G&H will be spent roving about the countryside, killing mythical, human, and wildlife creatures all in the name of the glorious “Quest”. If you’re not a fan of the traditional quest grind these days, I’d say back far away, because G&H has them in spades. Your map will become a treasure trove of quest-helper icons and location markers, as you trudge over hill and under bridge collecting viper blood, killing bandits, and stabbing satyrs. The only real problem I have with this is that the quests are almost entirely of the collect this or kill that variety, and in an age where MMO questing is beginning to change, G&H’s formula feels… formulaic.
Additionally the combat is somewhat unresponsive, as often the game seems hesitant to register your proximity to an enemy for the first few seconds of a fight, and you’re left hammering a hotbar key to no avail. The animations are top notch for a lot of the more choreographed moves (which we’ll get to later), but because of their complexity they often get bugged out and your character can get locked facing one direction when you really want him to turn around. The minion system is the game’s true innovation which happens to be what we’ll discuss next.
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Innovation – 6/10
The real caveat to the gameplay, and likely the only thing that will feel new and refreshing to an experienced MMO player (aside from the Roman setting), is the Minion System. Early on during the tutorial zone, you’re introduced to the squad management system and how to find and recruit minions. They’re littered throughout the game, and often come packaged as rewards to various quests. Some will be mere humans with abilities akin to the game’s classes, and others will be mythical creatures with more attractive skills and benefits. Depending on your character’s chosen god, you’ll even have access to things like minotaurs or centaurs as your minions.
And while the minions themselves don’t always act in the most intelligent fashion, it quickly becomes apparent that you’ll be able to have a full party of computer controlled characters in no time. My Gladiator roved about with both a solider to tank and a healer to keep us alive, and it worked wonders. The only real question is whether this affects the social aspects of the game, and though we’ll cover that later, I can freely tell you that solo play is pretty prevalent across the game with the main exception being dungeons. Why party with anyone if you’ve got a full group in your pocket?
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Polish – 5/10
This is probably the area where G&H is the most lacking. When Heatwave said they hoped to have the game launched in about 18 months, I raised an eyebrow. In the Perpetual days, I remember rubber-banding and bugs galore during the G&H beta. And while thankfully those server-side issues seem to be resolved, the game is still quite messy in terms of polish. The animations during combat are beautiful when they’re working properly, but all too often they get bugged out and you end up looking as though you’re trying to sodomize the enemy. The terrain is filled with tons of tiny un-traversable molehills, there are parts of the UI that actually are labeled “NOT WORKING”, and in general G&H just reeks of Live Beta Test. The UI even warns you when you set your settings to higher visuals, because they’re perfectly aware that it can destabilize the entire client. There’s a great PVE game hiding under the bugs Heatwave is up against, but it becomes frustrating often enough to just throw your hands up in the air and log out.
Aesthetics – 7/10
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G&H is a dated game, but it’s not without some good looks. When turned to the higher end of the scale, the lighting, shadows, and ground covering foliage are all very attractive. The animations, as stated previously, are sublime when they’re working, and the entire game’s Roman myth feel is fantastic. As a big fan of the time period, I love the look of the armor, the architecture, and of course all the ancient creatures. Where the looks falter though is in the textures and geometry of the landscape. Often a muddy mess, the textures are just poorly done. Additionally, the lighting at night time in many areas is so dark to make the game difficult to see, and there’s no obvious way to turn up the gamma via the options either. Lastly, G&H’s UI is serviceable, but also quite old looking. The whole thing has a red and gold veneer to make it “Roman” in flavor, but it’s not very sharp in terms of resolution or design. And while it works for what it’s supposed to do, it will no doubt feel a little clunky and old to many gamers.
Social – 6/10
There’s a great community in Gods & Heroes, and the Heatwave folks themselves couldn’t be more conducive to maintaining open streams of communication if they tried. There’s something to be said about their independent nature, as the “Little Guys” always seem more apt towards talking about the issues and addressing player concerns. That said the community in game is a bit different. Folks don’t talk much, the servers are still mostly on “Light” duty, and grouping is mostly non-existent outside of dungeons and guilds. The chat is easy to use, and as long as you take the initiative, you can get some great conversations going and find help when you need it thanks to the Global chat channels.
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Longevity – 6/10
The level cap in G&H is set at 30, with many more to come as unfinished zones open up. The curve is actually steeper than most gamers may be used to anymore as well, so it’ll take some time to get all the way to the cap. Still once you’re there, there’s just not much to do. You have an Estate or “Home” to call your own which you’ll rebuild and add to as you play the game, but there’s not much real point to the system yet and it’s not especially something to keep someone tied to the game for long. There are some end-game dungeons to run through and some special gear and minions to obtain, but beyond that there’s no economy to speak of, no crafting, and no PVP. Gods & Heroes is feature-light, to say the very least. And while the team at Heatwave has been very forthcoming about their plans to add all of this in the near future, the fact remains that right now there’s not much to do in G&H besides quest and level up and be done with it.
Value – 7/10
Gds & Heroes is a traditional boxed-MMO with a price-tag of $50 at launch and the customary 30 days free game time. Once that’s through, the subscription is a budget $9.99 a month as opposed to the $15 usual price so there’s that working for the game. But in truth, I just can’t see an instance where G&H as it stands right now is worth the price of admission. Unless you’re a diehard Roman myth nut, I’d give Gods & Heroes a good solid six months before diving in whole-hog. I’m not about to suggest they need to go free-to-play, as the game’s obviously not designed for it, but I think a lower subscription and no box-price would make the title more attractive to folks looking for a new game to try.
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Conclusion
In the end, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend Gods & Heroes just yet. There’s a lot of great questing to be had, and it’s plain to see that there’s a good game lying underneath all the bugs and lack of polish. But as a player, I think Heatwave’s still got to get a few more patches under their belts before G&H has what it takes to earn a spot in my lineup of go-to games. The setting and minion system are great ideas, but all the other features that make an MMO worth paying for monthly need to be added in stat to keep folks past the first month. All is not lost, that’s for sure, but keep an eye on this one for now and let’s see if Heatwave can live up to their promises of more and better content.
Nice review. The box price is what is holding me back from playing this, as that monthly sub isn't too shabby, but knowing the game is half finished...makes me cringe at that box price. I too plan to wait a few months and see what they do with the game before I jump in. Unfortunately, some BIG games are coming in the next several months and I may just forget about G&H altogether for quite a long time. Especially if SWTOR is the next to launch.
Pretty good review. I played beta for quite some time and did not purchase this game. I rose a huge alarm on the forums when the release date was announced, including a list of items promised in a state of the game address. I could go into detail more about what is lacking in the game, however it would be bashing and the game designers don't deserve to be bashed for all their hard work. Suffice to say I didn't feel the game had progressed from February to release to my satisfaction for purchase.
I'd say this game has some value though. Not for me, but there are some people out there really jonesing for the Roman environment. Look up some of the tribes like Speces Fides Bulla and they will help you get rolling and let you know what quests and dungeons to skip due to their being broken.
Bill pretty much sums up my experiences in beta. I *want* to like it... but I just don't yet. Still, the only hope for them to repair these issues and make the game something everyone wants to play is for people to be playing it in the first place. I won't be one of them.
So, why don't you actually recommend it when every part of it, according to you, is above average, ranging between 6/10 to 7/10? Or is it just plain silly to assume that 5/10 is an average value?
The issue is with the "... out of 10 scale".
It just doesn't work.
how is a 2 really better than a 3? Of course "3 is one bettah!" but there are too many gradations along an "... out of 10" scale.
It should be out of 5 or a letter grade.
for the most part I find both the review and the "second thoughts" right on. There IS a good game in there and if one like this type of mythology then one might have a bit of fun.
I personally give it a C+ with some B and even a few A moments. Still, a C+.
Not sure bout the Euro but in UK the subscription price is a whole £1 cheaper than a normal MMO, while US gets 5 $. what all that about ?
Played the game in beta and the darkness is a joke. You cant see a thing when night falls, and for some poor players, due to timezones its always night time when they log in.
I wouldnt rate this game at 6.1 3-4 would be my score.
Lol until the do something about fixing about the box price, as in do away with it; I will pass. I don't want to pay for a half finished game that seams lack luster.
Not only that but the folks over at gods and heroes were saying the other day they don't have the sub base they hoped for.
I think this games going down quick.
6.1 seams a reasonable score.
I played G&H for a little bit, and quickly concluded it was not for me - for all the reasons put forward in this review. Soon, it could skip right by F2P and become our first Pu2P game - pays you to play.
This game and other recent releases really has me thinking hard about what process is used to fund these games. How does a start-up company get a capital group to put money its way? Doesn't anyone do any market research?
I'm trying to imagine the discussion on diligence findings. "Yea, there are now a bazillion WoW clones, 99.9% of which fall short in features, polish, and innovation and are not doing well, but heck you've got a Minion System, so here's $5M. I'm sure you will have 300K subscribers in no time at all."
Really? Really?
As was mentioned, the "out of 10" skews this, so you have to "interpret" MMORPG.com's ratings system. If you look at the game list on the website, all game ratings fall in the range from about 5-9. So:
<6: Garbage, don't bother
6-7: Not very Good, try if it's free
7-8: Pretty Good, worth a try
8+: Great, why haven't you tried it?
So for all intents and purposes, a 6.1 = A smidge past garbage.
Launching a game with more missing MMO elements than existing in game I dont tihnk I could rate it much higher than 3 or 4 really.
Currently It is a shell of a MMO rather than anything else and their box and subs approach will hurt them more than benefit in the long run.
I've been watching this game like Tom Sawyer watching one of Aunt Polly's pies cool on the window ledge. There was a time in my life I would have grabbed it up early and fast. But I see a lot of players on these forums who,just like me,are suspicious,cynacle,and jaded because they have been taken for a ride by games released half done. I've never seen so many MMORPG fans homeless and without a light at the end of the tunnel. God help the next big thing that fails to deliver. Gamers will be like the pitchfork and torch mob at the end of "Frankenstein". Get a rope...
I am in accord with Bill on this review... I played the Beta fairly recently and didnt see much I felt was worth a box price and sub... not a terrible game... but not one I would pay to play for an extended period... I would score it about the same and with similar descriptions...
Tried to cancel my subscription , this seems to be impossible because the "subscription self- service has not been implemented yet". What do you mean this game isn't pre-beta?
Agood review and spot on really..i love this game but atm i,m a bit frustrated because of some of the problems..imo this should not have been released for 2-3 months to allow polish,content toi flow into the game..all being said i really do like the game and hope that HW make this a success.i will definately be playing this in the near future and would haveno probs recommending it to anybody.just give it a month or two to shine.
Also if i were the CEO i would really consider allowing people to download for free to get the people in..the sub fee is cheap ,but because of the shortage of content,i would sort that and bugs first.
I do not think they will have population problems if they get the game right and allow a free download of game..it should end up with quite a few subs,,thats only if they get it right.
I dont agree on reviewers opinion anymore, it depends on who reviews a game.
Darkfall was reviewed here on mmorpg.com by a themepark lover and a fan of world of warcraft.
He reviewed Darkfall a game thats hardcore free for all full loot pvp sandbox game he did not understand the game at all back then.
Eurogamer gave Darkfall 2/10 he played 20min could not figure the game and was killed over and over by goblins first mob you encounter and said game was crap.
Reviews are nothing there just indication and some personal view by reviewer who manytimes not even like the game they review.
I know from last 10 years maybe view reviews that hold, rest is mainly bullshit hehe.
Another pointless score at the end of a half decent review. Why do you feel the need to put acompletely arbitrary number at the end.
That's very true and you are "right on" with your assessment. However, being a person who has played Gods and Heroes; briefly in the original closed beta and in the beta that was recently held, I agree with this review.
I think for the most part I can objectively look at anything and comment on the pros and cons based on what the items is and what it is trying to accomplish and this review would be "close" to what I would write.
Still, I do agree, people need to try things for themselves and hopefully a review will give people enough information to allow them to stay away or perhaps dive in based on what they are looking for.
I tried to cancel too, and no luck. The manage account screen says they are still under construction. I called my credit card and had them put a hold on it before they billed me the next $10.
So you're saying a more honest review of Darkfall back at launch would have been perhaps a 6.1 like was given here?
Fine, but note the one poster who helped qualify the rating system as 6.1 being equal to just "a smidge past garbage", probably an accurate reflection after all.
As for this review, it actually seemed fair and balanced, and judging from the folks agreeing with it, I'd say probably pretty accurate.
This game is in fact a theme park MMO and was reviewed by a person who enjoys theme park MMO's, doubt it could have gotten a fairer shake than that.
Good review. The only thing I'm question is the 7/10 for value. I would have given it a 3.
Great animations??? Ewwww....
Agreed. The box price is also what made me wait on this game. I remember when HW got the game, they announced it was going to be a F2P game and honestly I thought that was a great idea. Then when they announced a $49.99 price I got second thoughts and stayed with STO since I'm a lifetimer over there. I'll get G&H when 1 of 2 things happens: 1) The game gets more content and polish, or 2) The box price goes down to say... $20. Till then I wish them luck, I played both PE and now HW's betas. I think the game is great its just sad they shackled it with that nasty price because after all this time I find it hard to justify droping that much money on a game that is as old as G&H is, and as unfinished as it is.
I will say that 50% to 70% reviewers who do their job properly are correct on what they say. Its important that you find a reviewer or a website that has a staff that you like. I for one tend to agree about 70% of the time with gamestop and about 65% of the time with mmorpg.com. In the end no one person can be right for "me" all the time but they can be in the general ballpark. Now Darkfall was a wreck when it launched. Little to no titorial, absolutely no guidance at all, a ganking community... people go on about how great DF was and I have to say I agree with some of the reviewers who tanked it. I would put it at launch in the 2/10 to 5/10 range give or take a few factors.
I got into a guild with a castle in DF (so yah I played for about 20-30 hours back then) and found the only thing to do was constantly grind on afk toons of theirs because leaving the safety of the city was too dangerous. The whole game was one big gankfest with little to no direction... and even though sandboxes are supposed to allow you 100% control there should be some form of direction that gives you the vaugest of goals. DF and many other failed sandbox MMOs lack such things and its why it dosn't surprise me when these games get tanked in the review space. So to get back to the point I do think DF was a weak game at launch. Does it diserve a re-review now? Yah sure.
I have tried this game. I have played it much more than the 1 hour that seems to qualify critics to go write a thourogh review.
It has bugs, yes.
The content is leveled at 30 currently, yes.
There are only 4 classes, yes
But there is much much more to the game. To reach level 30 does require lots of time. There are people who still havent reached it even to this day and there are some who reached it within a week. Its all how you play.
According to the devs the auction house will be up soon and they are almost done working on the 5th class. The level content to 40 just needs cleaning and streamlining as it is already created.
There is group play for all the dungeons. Unless you level up higher than the dungeon, you cannot solo them to the end. Yes you can poke your head in, complete some quests and get some kills but the bosses require a group or an outleveled toon. There are whole areas with group monsters starting around the 20's. If your reviewer didnt play that long, he has no grasp of that. It gets harder as you level. Between 25 and 30, almost all the monsters are 2 player mobs. They can be soloed with skill but watch out for adds. My recollection of 30-40 is its even harder. I will see when its released
My recommendation is that if you want a fun game and a good community, you should give it a look. Go look in thier forums, there is a guy who likes to stream his play live. You can see the actual game being played. Do your own reviews.
Same here. The box price is the only thing stopping me from checking it out. Although it looks like they may do something about that based off of this post from the CEO.
http://forums.godsandheroes.com/showthread.php?1563-General-Update-on-Production-Priorities
I did my own review, titled "Rome rising, or the fall of an empire?" here on MMORPG.com. Instead of categorical scores, I simply gave a narrative of my experiences playing the game. Most of my impressions were similar to other reviewers.
However, when it came time to assign a score, I gave the game 2.5 out of 10 points, since I felt this game is in the bottom 25% of MMO games I've ever seen or played. Was my methodology wrong for choosing the rating?
Thank you for the review, I love the Roman theme. I do think sans the $50 box fee I would already have tried this out since I all am currently playing is AoC and World of Tanks, mosty Tanks too. But Tanks isn't really a true MMO so while it feeds my PvP fix great it doesn't do much for my nice relaxing PvE and exploring and all that other stuff fixes.
Anyways point being I know of at least one player(me) who would try this if it had a lower box fee.
There are some great animations, it's just that they don't seem to "fire off well" for some reason.
Pretty spot on overall, but id remove about 2 points from every single rating (20+ beta gladiator).
The animation part : the GLADIATOR has some nice animations, the other classes don't. Well...actually it's one skill : pancratic assault. And it stops you dead in your tracks to do random damage (at least you now magically autoattack while the animation is playing, making it not that much of a dps loss).
They actually made the nights brighter at the end of the beta, but you still can't see shit. We demanded torches, but were left in the dark.
Textures and quests are leaps and bounds better than in (early) beta, you now don't have to run across the continent to finish them, and not all places look like someone puked on your gfxcard.
It still has a lot of potential, but I'd suggest you get yourself Titan Quest and the addon for the time being (dunno about the US, but you can get both bundled for 10 € or less). You'll meet about as much people (in single player), the graphics are far superior, and your char is actually reacting to your mindless clicking. (Yes it's greek mythology instead of roman, but the romans pretty much ripped of the greek pantheon anyway).
I bought the game, and played it for a bit, but after a week i couldn't really get myself to log on anymore, but at the same time i couldn't say too much bad things about it. And really i didn't know and still don't know why, it have almost no value, the quests aren't interessting, the game isn't responsible, except for the gladiator, player characters animation is almost not existant.
My guess is this game is an empty shell with a nice soul and we maybe have high hope well at least i wish they can do something with it in the near future, because its a nice and original game with a lot of good idea inside or planed or maybe it just a bad game with a good hype and overall marketing.
I don't know, if something got the answer i would be glad to know :p
Review seems about right. Shame and I hope they can get it together. The box price is what hurts most. Lower it to 20 dollars and I think growth would be better.
Thanks, that pretty much sums up my experience as well. While I do wish them all the best, the game just isn't ready for prime time, at this point. I'll check back in six months and see what has happened since then.
Lower it to $20 now!!! So myself and the others have some people to play with lol.
Overall they shoulda made this game free to play,The game wasnt ready,it was bug hell in beta testing,the list goes on and on and ON!!Lol
That may a bit harsh since it is playable, albeit buggy. I would consider a game in the bottom 25% unplayable every single session without the ability to even complete a whole gaming session. But ratings are subjective and if that's what you feel, then I think it's valid.
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@Bill Murphy - Bill, while I think Fred's review may have been a bit too harsh, I think yours was just a little too generous. In all, if a game can't be recommended to play but for the most diehard of the setting, then I can't see it rating in the 6+.
While every review and rating is subjective, when I compare the rating for this MMO to the recent STO review the two don't jive well. I know it's two different reviews, but the ratings just don't make sense. Imagine a user that is unfamiliar to the site, looking to play an MMO and were to make comparisons side by side, I think it would be somewhat confusing to them.
That's just a little feedback, meant to be positive, to help further future reviews. I think you're doing a great job with the new system.
The rest of the review I found very helpful and informative and appreciate the candor and willingness to be critically honest. I wish the best for the developers in the future and hope they can smooth out the rough spots. I may take a look at this in the future.
I bought the game about a week ago and i am really enjoying it . Granted i only have a level 13 atm with two minions but it has something that other mmo titles are lacking mabyee its just the nostolgia of old games i once played.
I give it 7/10 atm atleaste it is playable unlike alot of mmo's that are getting released of late.
I aswel been in the beta, the latest before the game gone live. I know you can't judge a game totally on the beta experience only, but i felt lik this game should have been released 5 years ago. The development of this game been a long one and to much has changed on the MMORPG world. You want your MMORPG to be sold you need to catch the attention, and with the many bugs and the feel of the game being incomplete i fear hardly anyone will actually buy this game. Whitch will result in the game dying before they probally even finished the game.
My biggest problem was that it indeed didn't feel responsive and a huge "been there, done that" feel around. Although thats not the games fault entirely, its just there are so many MMORPG's out there who all try to be the same to attract the mass crowed that for me its time to see something really fresh again. Sadly Darkfall and Mortal Online wheren't my kind of games. I don't like being ganked to shizzle so playing a full PvP game isn't fun for me, altough i love the ideas darkfall has. Mortal Online was way to hard for anyone who never experienced a sandbox game before, no guide or help at all from the start. To make it worse it could happen you started a zone as new player in the night, making you see nothing at all, seriousely just pitch black. No clue what to do, where to go too and no other players around to ask questions.
Gods & Heroes just came out to late in a uncomplete state. Maybe they fix it, but i wonder how many people will think about this game in a few months when SW ToR and Guild Wars 2 came out.
To me it sounds like the game should have a score of 0. As in shouldnt even be released yet. Judging just off the review and what others have said its not even in an open beta state. It sounds more like an alpha test.
What is being said is "The basics of an MMORPG are there. You can level up. The artwork is in though the textures ect havent been polished. The combat mechanics are there but are bugged. The world itself is inplace but again, buggy. Quests and isntances are in but like everything else are buggy."
In another words for a title that requires a $50 box price AND a sub its in a alpha test phase or MAYBE an initial closed beta phase. If you are going to be like a AAA title in pricing (granted the sub price is a whole 5 bucks less a month) you can NOT put out a game that is as far along as other AAA titles are in there internal/family testing phases.
Even if they dont want to claim it as a AAA title (though the box price says otherwise) releasing something in this state is a death sentance in this day and age for MMO's. I saw it on steam and came here to see what people where saying. My last MMO was Rift. By all accounts rift was 10000% more ready for launch than this title and it could not hold my attention and thousands of others. So what hope does this game have? None in my opinion.
Look at AoC and WaR. From the sounds of it these two titles where ages beyond this game at launch and look where they are now. And thats with funding well beyond this company has.
How can you possibly give it a 7/10 if the best thing you can say is its "playable"? Maybe thats why I'm so jaded with MMO's these days and if GW2 doesnt do it for me I'll be done with the genra all togeather. When people start giving above average scores to a game because its "playable" its no wonder the amount of crap that has been released over the years. Oh I'm guessing you are talking about the minions for the 7/10. Sorry been there done that. GW1 had the same thing though maybe G&H does a better job of it.
Anyway I wish the title luck. I really do. I just dont see how people these days will throw away 50 bucks for something that shouldnt even be called an open beta let alone a released product yet.
Gods and Heroes has some really interesting new ideas.. i did like beta testing it but.. at least for me, the issue was motion sickness.. some weird prespective angle used in the game messes my brain after 10 minutes playing or so.. wich doesnt happen in the other mmos i play.
To the poster that said Darkfall wasn't garbage...
It was... just an FYI.
Nice looking solo game.
Checked it out on the free trial today. Noticed for a released game that's been out for a month, there's a hell of a lot of bugs. Most are minor such as text errors showing up in quest chats and some are gameplay affecting such as monsters skipping out of position.
Others are just plain stupid to have not been corrected such as the unable to exit the game which appears to have been a problem since before release. Honestly, who releases a game with a known error that will not EVER let you sign out so you need to shut of the program tree through task manager to end the session.
Not sure they understand customer service either. Signed in and was playing for about an hour and suddenly, mid-combat, the game crashes. OK, figure that was an error but no, it was maintenance and they didn't bother to in-game announce it. The forum posted that they were going to have maintenance....1 minute before they shut down the server and kicked everyone out. Sort of something it doesnt take a genius to figure out, but you'd think they would let people know in advance when they decide to do routine maintenance.
Also, for those who do subscribe, there's currently no method to cancel your subscription. You have to send in a support request and hope they do it in time to not charge you another month, which is happening a lot if you check their forums.
Graphics are nice, not mind-blowing but nice enough in a mmo. I ran it on max and had no issues with the graphics themselves. Some people in chat were lagging but that was probably the result of their system not being able to run the settings they had on.
Quests exist in abundance, so there's no shortage of things to do, but they seem to be solo only so there's no real drive for a community.
Character control seems to be sluggish which apparently is a program problem since most people say the same thing happens. You keyboard move but there's a delay in responce for turns, etc. Also the controls in addition to being clunky, are entirely dependent on you. Char's don't auto-turn to face the target you choose. And if you don't face them....you don't fight them. Simple little auto-move feature would fix that if even just to turn the char to face the target. It's nice that mobs in dark places are highlighted in red to make them stand out.
Chat is another one of those clunky irritants that really should be streamlined. You have your main, party, clan, world, combat chats, etc. But each one is seperate from the others. Nice to not see the combat damage scrolling through your chat, but not so nice that you can either see clan, party, or world at one time and have to click to the check out the others if you want to know whats happening. One main panel with all them allowed at once and select which one to chat into would be more convenient.
Crafting, harvesting, auctions, more classes are all to be released soon, which just begs the question, why didn't they set a more realistic release date instead of releasing a half-finished game? Paying to beta-test a game is asinine in my opinion. Paying $50 to beta-test something is even worse.
The game potential is nice, but potential doesn't keep players for long. Playability and enjoyability do. I wouldn't say this isn't enjoyable, but I wouldn't say it has something irresistable either.
Overall recommendation is hold off on this game until they fix the problems and have something close to a finished product to take your money with.
Agree completely. Maybe is also Rift to "blame" :-) for what I will say ... but anyway: purchased few days ago, have few alts but only 1 being lv. 8 ... and I'm afraid he will remain lv. 8.
After setting all to max and setting to ignore 32-bit limit graphics are acceptable. But ...wow, with such poor graphics wondering why they limit maxed out to 64-bit ... i can play without lag marvel of gaming Rift, can play Wow maxed out ... even Aoc, War, ... decently ... in plain 32bit OS W7. However in 32-bit mode they are completely unacceptable, horrible, bad joke, .... But ignoring their 32/64 bit limit .... app crashes very often.
So one with 32-bit W7 (which btw is nearly required for rest of games) have 2 unacceptable choices: a)playing that horror which they planned for 32bit environment or b) ignore, set all to max ... and crash sometime every few minutes.
All looks like 10 or more years old. And game it looks contain only NPCs, no real players at least not up to lv. 8. Seen in 3 days maybe only 2 or 3 live people on Apollo EU server at afternoon to evening hours. I'm actually sorry for that as many programmers and rest of staff left their soul in game ... but after high standards have been set by many predecessors nobody should release game in current state that looks more like alpha or prealpha.
However I love epoch in which game is put, Roman times, their gods, .... have also many fun expects .... but I guess will stop to play at my 3rd day out of 30 free with purchase. And in this days few times left ... then forced myself to go back hoping my disappointment was wrong .... but sad truth is overall would never give more then maybe 3 or 4.