PVP:Yes | Distribution:Download | Retail Price:Free | Pay Type:Free | Monthly Fee:Free
Desktop Client | System Req:
| ESRB:M| Out of date info? Let us know!
2Moons Review: Reviewing 2Moons - Edit
6
| Pros |
|
 It is more free-to-play than most Nice selection of classes Player driven shops Visuals while unspectacular are nice |
| Cons |
 
|
 Fishing is a woeful distraction Little more than grind on offer PvP essentially becomes another grind Uninspired setting Will not make you quit P2P games |
One really does start to ponder the nature of life after virtually slaughtering one hundred Lizard men in the pursuit of "experience." One could argue that the MMORPG genre is simply questioning the duality of man; the mindless quest for level enhancement could be a synonym for the self-aggrandizing warmonger in all of us? The trivial pursuit of 'gear,' just a thinly veiled metaphor for our need to place pretty ornamental flowers in our hair all in the name of aesthetic pleasure? Whatever the case may be, Acclaim published game 2Moons may not ponder the very existence of Being but it certainly ponders the existence of the wildlife around you - unfortunately heading for that age-old sticky issue of casual genocide. Grind is the word of the day and 2Moons delivers such an element with reckless abandon.
Everybody Loves A Freebie
2Moons is a free-to-play MMORPG brought from the Eastern market and immediately comparisons can be drawn with games of similar background. The main issue with this game is that it simply doesn't bring anything fresh or exciting to audiences - it simply maneuvers down the well trodden paths of game play we have come to view as stagnant and archaic. I find it difficult to be really damning of 2Moons however as the old saying goes "everybody loves a freebie." This game will cost you nothing but the time consumed in game play. Even the in-game shop is woefully neglected, any complaints against such a game simply do not seem on the level. At times the game appears unpolished and generally cheap feeling but the caveat to this must be "but it's free!"
In my personal belief, games such as 2Moons should offer something a little different, something more creative and daring. Take a quick look at games like Wurm Online and Free Realms; while they are not the greatest MMORPGs they certainly try to further evolve the genre by trying new things. 2Moons is a game which simply delivers a cut and dry version of online games of a bygone age. This is a real shame as 2Moons does have some great ideas, but it is somewhat hindered by its lack of creative ambition. Of course another major theme of the free-to-play MMORPG is the inclusion of micro-transactions, while 2Moons obviously includes this, in a stroke of either stupidity or madness Acclaim really fails to make it seem essential to purchase any advantage. Inventory expanders and various armor pieces are available, however up until the real higher echelons of the game this is not required at all. In effect 2Moons is one of the freest free-to-play games out there.
)
It's All About The Visuals
For a game released in 2007, 2Moons still has a certain amount of visual charm and flair. While it isn't exactly EverQuest 2, or even World of Warcraft for that matter, it still has the ability to raise an eyebrow or two in certain areas. Hubs and Hunting Zones, while a tad generic, are rendered with a modicum of creative beauty and on the whole satisfy the visual player in all of us. One element worthy of honorable mention is the animation within the game; Combat is a spectacle to behold as your attacks knock back enemies with finesse of swordsmanship and sorcery rather than simply being an uninspired and tired affair of generic sword swings and thunder bolts.
The style of the game is very much Eastern in influence, hubs are fortress looking affairs with floating architecture and medieval generic surroundings. Of course comparisons with games such as Mir, and even for that matter Aion, can be made and this really subtracts from the overall feel of 2Moons. At times it can feel like any other Eastern grinder as individuality in the visuals rarely occurs. All of this aside however, 2Moons is a nice looking game and most importantly scales well to suit less powerful machines. As I spend my time between a PC with power of Optimus Prime on speed and a laptop with a questionable work ethic, 2Moons delivers itself graciously on both machines offering reasonable frame rates and visuals.
The Meat And Bones
Rolling a character in 2Moons is a familiar situation; you are given a choice of seven classes ranging from archetypal Warriors to hybrid Rogue/Druid types. The disappointment of this is that there is no real character customization on offer. All classes are gender locked and you can't fiddle around with your avatars facial features. While in essence this isn't a big a deal, it does lead to a lack of individuality within the game. Up to a certain level all characters of your class are carbon clones, albeit clad in various sets of armor - of which don't really differ in appearance until the higher levels. This inability to really imprint a layer of subjective creativity on your character really hinders the game early on and inherently makes the game feel poorly designed.
)
Control is handled with either WASD or a few left clicks of the mouse. Personally in my adventures I preferred the latter as it gave the game a Diablo-esque appeal but also because for the most part you will be clicking about the screen trying obtain fallen loot and activate the various menus. The games control is fluid and visceral and while I have no real complaint about it, the developers seem to have added more micromanagement to proceedings in an attempt to engage the player a little more. For instance all loot is inexplicably spilled on the ground - while this isn't apparently troublesome it does lead to treasure being lost to the fauna and flora of the game.
I played it for a little while before Acclaim picked it up. The game is really not bad for what they offer.
The article is pretty spot on. If your curious about the game give it a go, you wont spend anything but time on it and you might
find a nice distraction when you get bored with whatever current game your paying to play.
If I get really tired of Battlefield Bad Company 2 I might go back and make another sword wielding psychopath.
Cheers!
Good, honest review. I agree with most of it, but perhaps you didn't encounter the bots and hackers? The grind is so excessive that I only managed to get to level 70(warrior), 65(AK) and 50(Alk). Thats over a period of perhaps two years. It should also be mentioned that GameHi has taken 2Moons back from Acclaim. The last time I was in a few months ago, Vac hackers had been running rampant. Its too bad more attention to detail wasn't paid in the design, as I really like the graphics and art style.
One major thing anyone considering playing this game should know:
Do NOT download or play with Acclaim's 2moons client. Just play using GameHi's (the actual developer of the game) client and using a GameHi account for Dekaron Global. The interesting thing to know is that the 2moons servers are the same servers as the North American Dekaron servers from what I understand.
I say to use the GameHi client and accounts for one reason: Security. Acclaim has HORRIBLE account security... there has been a multitude of problems with people losing their accounts and very bad customer service on Acclaim's side.
Also, another major disclaimer to anyone considering this game: Beware the hackers. There seems to be a lot less bots (took a Aloken to 70 over a 2x weekend to try it out) on the Global Dekaron servers, but there are still some vac hackers. Other than that, it is a fun game. Also, the grind isn't so bad until about 115+.... though 80-90 can be a pain, specifically the 88-90. Once you hit 90 however, you will plow through several levels very quickly in the level 90 dungeon. Before I stopped playing 2moons I had a 126 segnale and 99 vicious summoner.
I look at the last post and I wonder how a game like this gets a staff writer review. Issuing a MMORPG.com health warning would be more apt.
I read nothing in that review that would warrant a score of a 6. An asian copy cat grindfest does not = 6 even if it is F2P. I tried this when it first came out, played up to about 70 and wondered why i was wasting my time. As it may not cost to play, but time is money and i was spending way to much of it on this game. I'd given it a 4 the whole time I played but kept thinking of how it was free the same as you so i kept at it.
How these games continue to get made and why so many asians love playing them is beyond me.
You know, thats a damn good question. I suspect it relates to the economy of scale. Most of them are re skinned, re ruled clones of a limited number of engines. Most are also PvP focused, which means that the players themselves provide much of the content. Content is one of the most expensive elements in MMO game creation.
As for the players themselves, much of that ties in to the human psychology of intermittent rewards. Not to mention it gives people a sense of control, which the vast majority lack in their daily lives. Couple that with the social interactions(guilds and such) and you have a potent package to draw people in. Then there is the "free" aspect. Many interesting studies have been done on how that impacts peoples perceptions. Bottom line in many of these F2P PvP games, the non paying are the cannon fodder to keep the few who pay entertained(and paying).
he is not staff www.mmorpg.com/profile.cfm/userid/1086154
Well he wrote the article for them then, but fair one, I am not sure what his relationship to the site is.
“Content is one of the most expensive elements in MMO game creation.” It is actually one of the most expensive components of any game, not just MMO’s. Let’s all play Farmville, zero content, zero enjoyment, but zero development costs and what they want us to play is more important than what we want to play. :)
You gain wisdom Citizen. You are almost ready to work for MiniTrue... ^^ Farmville is an abomination... If its the future of gaming, I'm finding a new hobby. ^^
if he wrote article to relationship of site then he left out 9dragons which is by far a better game but more pricey
F2Ps are not fun. They are like clones lately. Played some of them and remember now as a sad experience like something I shouldn't have done. They were fun at some point, but somehow I've had a feeling of loneliness creeping inside whenever I played F2P game. P2Ps are so much more fun...
Wow so many people take gaming too seriously... Someone wants to vomit when they see F2P.. that's disturbing.. oO
The game isn't that bad if you want some diablo-like gameplay. it has nice animations and somewhat addictive combat althou the game definitely isn't something you could play for months.
3 year old game, all I kept thinking of while reading is, "Why?" Why is a review being done at this point now anyways?
I'd understand it if the game underwent some sort of major improvement or change, but at this point something that old is just too far in the past to really care about.
Hmm...why did I even read this article...that's the real question I guess.
hmm shop is interesting.. but overall performance of the game is not attractive to me.