WAR (Warhammer Online)

EDIT: Review Score has been adjusted to an 8.0

Let me start off by saying I like Warhammer Online very much. It does not feel like the Pavlov grind for gear experiment that Blizzard implemented and profited from in WoW after seeing us reach for the carrots on a stick in Diablo II for free.

However, Warhammer is lacking in the "addictive" factor. I am able to log off at any time I want without thinking "just one more quest". Maybe Mythic decided that they did not want to insult their audience by creating artificial time sinks (flight paths, etc) and decided to treat us like real, intelligent gamers who wanted something different.

Maybe we weren't ready...Either that or many ideas do not make a great, well-rounded game.

Warhammer does many things very well. I found the interface and gameplay to be quite good. All the menus make sense, and it is refreshing to see the menus on top of the screen rather than sandwiched at the bottom near your skills. There are several morale-driven abilities that you can "equip" at various times giving your character several options at how to approach the given situation. This is even more of a thought-provoking decision with healing classes. The class balance is quite good for a new MMO, and here's hoping that Mythic does not over think "nerfs" and "buffs". I think most people will agree that they can stay right where they are. (Well, maybe a slight nerf to the DoA class..lol)

The quests are structured to lead you into a certain direction and often don’t make you go out of your way. Collection quests off of monsters are great, as if when you need "horns" they will always drop from that creature (WoW fans know how annoying this can be). The game definitely has a nice flow, and you can tell a lot of thought went into the structure.

Still, whatever the case may be I will say that Warhammer lacks the "it" quality. You know, that girl you dated or that favorite movie you can watch over and over again? Warhammer almost feels like it has no soul. It feels like a bunch of really good ideas thrown together.

A good example is Altdorf. This is a very large city, but it is quite nondescript. It is a series of alleys and buildings with nothing special going on. I expected upon entering Altdorf to hear some epic music but I was disappointed. Surely as I approached the king's giant building (sorry if I don’t know the name) I would hear this epic score with bombastic trumpets playing, etc..... Nothing. Silence. So I walk...and walk....and walk and see door after door that cannot be opened. This is something that will always bug me about games. If there is a door, you should be able to open it, but that is a personal rant of mine.

The Public Quests are interesting but there is one public quest in the Empire zone where the trees get knocked over by a giant. Once the quest is over, it resets and the trees go back upright. It is like a Western Show at Universal Studios or the tram ride where water knocks over everything and then it resets for the next passersby. Obviously it has to be this way, but it just feels odd like an amusement park.

The Tome of Knowledge is an awesome feature (obviously lifted from Lord of the RIngs Online) that really gives you a nice sense of history within the game. The obsessed will have a field day trying to unlock everything.

I really enjoy the pvp even though I usually play pve. My only gripe is about the Destruction dominance. There are many hybrid pve/pvp quests that want you to scope out areas and they are almost always controlled by Destruction. Scenarios are basically like Battlegrounds from WoW but much better. The idea that you can gain experience from kills is great, and the Destruction dominance within scenarios is almost non-existent. In World PvP, keeps and strategic points can be taken over and it is quite a rush to do so. You can tell this game was made for pvp and it is definitely the strong point.

Crafting is such an oversight that I will not go into too long accept to say that it just does not logically make sense at all. It has no coherence because in order to be a crafter you need to gather in two specializations (one can argue three actually), which you cannot.

The graphics when cranked up are actually quite nice. My issue is that there are games out there that have graphics that blow this game out of the water and run more smoothly. In fact, Age of Conan is a great example. I am very hard on engine optimization. This is why I have always praised LOTRO, which I feel has the best graphics/performance ratio of all the MMOs. The view distance is also disappointing, as there as basically no attempt at capturing gorgeous vistas or far away mountains. Again, how can a game be so graphically limited yet not optimized? This engine also does not use your GPU to its fullest.

These issues aside, I enjoy Warhammer for what it is, a good diversion. But the MMO audience has become picky, and that is a good thing. A bunch of great ideas thrown together is no longer passable especially when people are used to games that actually have a real music score, and most of all, have some heart..

My Score: 7.6

some good points for sure,you rated it higher than I however.i'd give it a 5.5,a lot of good elements but as you say it has no heart and is lacking that addictive factor...i didn't even make it 2 weeks.

A well written and constructive review regardless of how I find your opinions.

Of the 20 or so WAR reviews that have been posted by non-professional journalists today, this is my favourite

I feel the same way in regards to heart and realism.

Like you said the game seems to be missing something that makes it feel like an epic adventure.  The public quests are nice, but considering they always reset it's not much fun after doing them a few times.  Thats if you can get them done as some public quests don't get done at all.  I usually find people crowded around one public quest in a area while the others are empty.

The carrot on a stick is an important aspect of games.  You need to have something you are always working twords weather it be equipment or levels/skills.  This is where the addictive part of the games comes from.  Without it there wont be sufficient motivation to keep leveling/skilling up.

I also agree with your point on the doors not opening.  I have a similar feeling with not being able to swim underwater or jump over obsticles in games. 

Overall Warhammer is a good game, but it doesn't have anything that makes you want to keep playing it over and over again.   People say PvP will keep people around longer then PvE, but if Warhammer is any example I don't believe that is the case.  PvE will always keep people around longer because of all the carrots on a stick you get with those type of games.

Thanks for your words.

I am getting ripped a new one here: www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php

I think I struck a nerve with them..

Originally posted by donjn

Thanks for your words.

I am getting ripped a new one here: www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php

I think I struck a nerve with them..

Wow... I read some of that link, and those people are just plain pathetic. They are reacting like you just told them their child was fat and ugly. Looks like a sea of blatent fanbois.

Originally posted by donjn

Thanks for your words.

I am getting ripped a new one here: www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php

I think I struck a nerve with them..

Well, over there you waltzed into the lions den, and began tossing around fresh meat. 

Of course they're going to skewer you...and I expect you'll draw a few barbs here.

But I thought you did a good job expressing your reaction to the game, and saying why it wasn't grabbing you.

Hasn't really caught my interest yet either, but I still plug away from time to time.

Very well written post.

But I have an answer for you, and probably for the industry.

MMORPGs are not just games, any developer that approaches with this philosophy will fail.

If I want to play a game to have a couple of hours fun, I play an offline game like Morrowind.
If I want to play a fun PvP game online that I can play when I feel like, I play a Multiplayer game like Battlefield or Unreal Tournement.
Those are games, because you can switch on/off from them whenever you like.

MMORPGs although technically are games, are more like hobbies, which you dedicate lot of time to develope your character and make him part of that virtual world.
MMORPGs aren't meant to be too casual, or beeing "just" games that you can play or stop playing when it suits you.
MMORPGs should be like virtual words, and you should feel part of the world.
WoW is not a casual game (contrary of what people think), people who spends all weekend raiding or grinding honor are not casual players, although the game feels like a casual game due to the easy interface.

WAR and AoC are failing because they are very casual, they are fun to play, but they lack the addictive factor..........because they are "just" games.
They look more like Multiplayer games converted on a massive scale, but the world is souless.
They don't offer much more than multiplayer games, so why should anybody play them for more than 3 months?

Developers need to understand that real casual player doesn't exists in MOORPG, if something there are people with more time and people with less time.
A real casual player won't be hooked to any MMO for more than few months, because they are very volatile.
If devs want to have any chances to challenge WoW, they should NOT target the kind of player described above.

Simple as that.