Gamepro's MMO Report Card: 2007
- January 28, 2008 15:03 PM PST
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We weigh in on the late-arriving MMOs of 2007.
A big year for gaming doesn't necessarily translate into a big year for MMOs. In particular these games are of the slow cooked variety: a premature launch can spell disaster for a game's long term prospects. A bug-filled launch (or even half-baked open beta) can taint the audience's reception of a game well into its life. Regardless of how significantly an MMO evolves, it's hard to reconcile a poor first impression.
This sort of premature launch seemed to be a theme in the late-arriving MMOs of 2007. Our MMO Report Card looks at three in particular: Fury (developed by Auran), Tabula Rasa (Destination Games and NCSoft), and Hellgate: London (Flagship Studios.)
There was a bit of noise surrounding these games at the time of their launch, but frankly, the sheer volume of notable games released at the end of 2007's final quarter squelched the commentary to all but those most determined to listen. Our MMO Report Card examines how far they've come since their releases to help you determine if they're worth spending time with.
2008 Grade: B-
Tabula Rasa was supposed to be a counter argument to the MMO genre's current state of stagnation. Instead, it ended up being an all-too-subtle iteration on it. Ultimately, it's a modern, quest-based MMO with an admittedly polished veneer put in place to fool you into thinking it's something other than what it is. Make no mistake: there might be a firing reticle, but ultimately chance determines whether or not you're hitting the aliens with your weapons. It may not be as innovative as it sets out to be, but that doesn't keep it from being one of the most refreshing MMOs to come out in recent years.
For one thing Tabula Rasa is quite polished. Though it's not without bugs, (what young game isn't?) most everything in the world works like you think it should, and it all looks very convincing. The game's environments are more thoughtfully wrought than what you see in most any other MMO. Yes, there are fields filled with monsters that wander along scripted paths, seemingly waiting for you to drop in and slaughter them, only to thoughtfully repopulate themselves minutes later for the next assailant to come through. But there's more going on than this.
For every one of these genre throwbacks, there are dynamic areas that actually feel like war zones. In these it becomes difficult to distinguish between NPC allies and actual player characters because you're too busy focusing on the larger picture: the frantic battle unfolding before your eyes. This is what Tabula Rasa does best-- it puts you in environments that feel less abstract than your average persistent world.
Once all the essential features are implemented into Tabula Rasa (PvP is still in an awkward proto-stage) it'll be a game well worth investing time in. For now, the first free month seems about right.
2008 Grade: D
The level of cynicism surrounding Hellgate's community of players is astounding. It becomes easier to understand these embattled gamers when you consider that Hellgate was very buggy when it launched. The game's performance was rough and the servers were quite idiosyncratic. Factor in some mega-drama overseas, and a subscription model that left players wondering exactly what they're paying for and you have a recipe for disillusionment. As such, it's no surprise the Hellgate community's (virtual) world weariness has given birth to an internet meme so disparaging that it hearkens back to the darkest days of SOE hate. Yet it spawned in record time. You've officially been "Flagshipped!"
Basically, Hellgate seems like it's still trying to recover from its launch. This would explain the slow clip at which content is being delivered to subscribers, and the game's puzzling lack of essential MMO features (i.e. an auction house and a robust PvP system.) Unfortunately the developers aren't very forthcoming regarding plans for the game down the line. Indeed, the fact that Hellgate isn't an MMORPG by the strictest definition of the term is a valid point, but that doesn't excuse the game's shortcomings. It's as if the designers pretend that nothing's happened since Diablo 2 launched. Hellgate exists in a void and the only people who aren't crying foul are the purists. But even these people have to admit that content-wise, Hellgate has a long way to go before it can approach the quality of its spiritual predecessor.
Is it silly to have faith in Hellgate? Probably not. While Flagship may have damaged the cred attached to its legacy the company still has enough juice to continue building the game. In the meantime Flagship needs to do something to stoke the good faith of its community. At this point there really isn't much reason to be a subscriber.
2008 Grade: D-
So much could have gone right with this game. Fury's an MMO where PvP is the focus. It completely does away with the Player vs. Environment model (the dominate type of MMO game.) Characters advance through PvP, developing their skills and abilities while earning gold and treasure after every match. On paper everyone is on equal footing when they step into the battlefield. Every ability in the game is "instant cast," which flies in the face of one of the MMO genre's biggest PvP-foiling contrivances: the lack of mobility built into most games' combat systems. Fury, in short, was built expressly for PvP.
This is probably why it's befuddled both critics and would-be players. The game's designers clearly know that avid PvPers crave depth. They've taken this to heart, and in the process made the game's finer points more or less impenetrable to all but the savviest players. Many abilities in the game are essentially subtle variations of one another, which lends to the fine-tuning that dedicated competitors want. But this makes their applications all the more difficult to grasp for casual players and newcomers. It's ironic that a game with such a huge potential for accessibility-- a "deathmatch MMO," you could call it-- wound up being so unwelcoming.
The fact that Fury launched in an unfinished state hasn't helped either. The transition from beta to release didn't bring many noticeable refinements. This resulted in a game that ran poorly on hardware that should have been more than sufficient to do the job. Normally, one could have a measure of faith that a game like Fury will see enough gradual improvement so as to perhaps make it worth playing a few months down the line. Unfortunately, the future seems a bit bleak here.
