Warhammer: Age of Reckoning Review (PC)

Visually stunning but not without its problems

Now i have been hearing about Warhammer online for ages but I haven’t really given it a second look, until I started browsing the net and found myself suddenly bombarded with adverts and other reviews. I thought it may be worth a look.

It was really easy to download the client, I just went to the website and purchased it (how digital purchases should be) in less than 5 minutes.

It did take a while to download (about 6 hours on an 8 meg connection) but it was really worth it. After creating a character the game loaded in less than a minute, which is very good for an MMORPG.

Graphically the game looks really nice and the attention to detail is a breath of fresh air compared to WOW`s cartooney graphics. There is a decent amount of bloom and high tech effects which adds to the game’s realism.

The mechanics of the game can be a little daunting even to a seasoned WOW veteran like me.

Everyone can get involved in what is called “Realm versus Realm” (RVR) which is where you take your character into a sparring area of sorts and beat the crap out of anything that moves, be it NPC or real player, another nice twist is that it doesn’t matter if you’re only level 4 the game gives you a few free levels to put you on a par with the other players in the area, although these are of course taken off you should you leave the area. A fantastic idea that opens up the game to anyone at any point.

The system can be a little complicated but once you’ve started it can almost be quite addictive.

The player can also engage in “Person versus Environment” (PVE) which in my opinion is the best way to level up your character, it has the usual quest system and includes “kill this many monsters” or “take this somewhere” so even if your feeling antisocial it doesn’t matter, you can still level up as fast as anyone.

The final way of levelling up is taking part in “Public Quests” (PQ) which is where you can do it by yourself or join a group of people that are doing the same quest. When the PQ has been completed the quest resets and then it ready to do again or for the next person/group to have a go.

Warhammer: Age of ReckoningThe economy of the game is still very young so don’t expect to go to an auction house and find the thing you are looking for, but I would say give it a couple of months and the auction house will be overflowing with goodies.

Unfortunately the game itself can be a bit buggy but again it hasn’t been out long. On a number of occasions I have been running along quite happily and then suddenly I’m falling off a cliff which was 2 minutes to my left and I was well clear of. This has led to my death of course, a little annoying but it doesn’t completely deter me from playing. At the moment the game seems to be patched daily which I am sure will iron out these little annoyances.

The item crafting system is very casual and you can do it anywhere, you don’t need any special tools or equipment. The system can be a little complicated but once you’ve started it can almost be quite addictive. One example of the crafting system is: Cultivation (growing plants and mushrooms) which in turn leads to being an Apothecary (making potions) which means you can sell your new potions to vendors or at the auction house, therefore making money.

The game in its self is very, very good, it has a few niggly bugs but on the whole a very good and interesting start to what I hope will breath new life into the online fantasy genre.

The Good: Looks good; Different from WOW;
The Bad: Economy is still very young; Not without its bugs and annoyances


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Silver Y AwardSilver Y Award
4 4 / 5

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