WAR (Warhammer Online)

I've played WAR a bit now and here are my impressions (actuall impressions may vary, not available in North Dakota, Maine and Deleware, please allow 10 to 16 weeks for delivery):

Good:  Game is easy to play.  Maps show where quests are, items are not hard to find, options are very limited on character so not a lot of things you can do wrong.

Bad:  I would like to be able to speak to more of the game, but the servers are down so much I havent had a chance to play many of the toons.  Thats right, they have already brought the servers down for a big chunk of the day several times, and it hasn't even been out a week!  That in itself is almost a game breaker for me.  Not the kind of thing you want to see as you start a new game.

Gameplay:  The gameplay is very linear and .. yes... very boring.  Leveling is very slow, (which I'm ok with), but your options are very, very limited.  It is a simple click buttons as they light up on your hotbar game.  Very little strategy and almost no variation allowed.  Reminds me of Wow without the ability to really customize your character.  (Note:  Please turn off the flamethrowers, WoW haters and WAR fanboies.  This is just a frame of reference, not a plug for WoW)

Graphics:  Graphics are cartoonish, which works for this game.  Think of WoW with a little grit.  They really did a good job of capturing the tongue in cheek feel of the warhammer world.  Animations are really not there yet, but I'm sure as the game progresses they will polish it up.  Game will run on even a modest system, but if you run at or near the minimum settings, be prepared to have to turn the graphics down to a point where you can barely read any script on the screen to get it to run without lot's o' hitching.  On a decent system, it runs very well. 

(Quick Note:  I have a LAN in my house and business, long story :P, and have played this game on 3 different rigs.  At work, I have a minimum systems requirements computer, and the only way to keep the game from being a VERY slow slide show is to crank all the graphics to the bottom.  You end up with a game so crude you can barely read the script on the screen.  Think early 1990's type graphics.  On a middle of the line system, it plays fairly smoothly, but if you start trying to move the graphics up past average it clogs down fast.  On a high end system, the game is so slow it's unplayable. (Wierd, I know)  I am looking into driver issues and the like and hope to have an update later)

PvP:  I can not speak to PvP.  I generally only can play an hour or two at a time, and the PvP instances never triggered while I was on.  I wanted to play, and with the PvE portion of this game obviously not the main focus of the developers, PvP looks to be the bright spot in WAR, however, it just NEVER happened.  Thus here is another gamebreaker for me:

     If you roll a toon on a server that has a low population, you wont' get a lot of PvP playtime because there isnt enough people playing to trigger the PvP instances.  However, if you roll a toon on a high population server, you can't even log into the game and have to wait in a que for up to 45 minutes.  Now, my time is limited, and if I'm paying for a game, I want to be able to play it when it's best for me.  So, because of the way WAR has set up the PvP instances, you can either:

               1.  Play on a server with Low load and rarely get a chance to enter a PvP zone.  or...

               2.  Play on a server with High load and wait to even play. 

This means that if you can only jump on for an hour or two a day, you will NOT be able to play PvP much.

What does it all mean:  Well, the game looks like you would picture the Warhammer world come to life.  The Warhammer world of cartoonish and 'fun' minatures, not the Warhammer world of the intro movies, btw.  The did a good job of capturing that feel, and yet putting out a game that will run even on a modest stystem.  I can't really say anything about balancing yet, because, as was mentioned before, the game has spent a lot of the time with down servers, so havent been able to get much playtime in.

Is it FUN?  Well... the PvE quests are well layed out and easy to see and complete for the most part.  I have to say there are several games out there that handle PvE MUCH better (Wow is not one of them) and with the character development really just a one way track, it gets boring fairly quickly.  That's not to say it isnt fun to run around in the Warhammer world, it just seems to be missing something, like depth of character development was not a big concern.

Would I recomend it?  Well.. that is tricky.  The PvE part of the game is fun for a bit, but there are just other games out that handle that part SO much better, it's hard to justify paying to play this game.  The PvP is supposed to be good, (with the usual complaints of play balance 'tween toons), but I havent been able to try it.  So, I would say:

If you like solo'ing, or don't PvP much, then WAR is NOT for you, and you will get tired of it quickly.

If you like PVP, but can't play for more then 2 hours a day, then WAR is NOT for you, as you will not be able to get into PvP instances much in that period of time for the reasons listed above.

If you like PvP, but can sit down for large chunks of time at a whack, then you should be able to get a decent amount of PvP in, but... I can't tell you what thats like  :P

The PvE part of the game is horrible in my opinion.

I ran my first level toon to a war camp and got the scenario repeatable quest and the quest for killing ten greenies. That gives me 1,500 xps every scenario and at level 7, I have over a gold.

And I don't have to pve.

Theres a bunch of us at the war camp doing the same.

You really should experience the PvP aspect of the game before writing a review and making suggestions to people.  For many PvE type it might just have the right balance of PvE/PvP in it.  Be that world or scenario type. 

For reference, are you playing destruction or order?

Originally posted by Icedanno

it hasn't even been out a week!

Thread title:  WAR. A weeks review


Hint:  I'm seeing some discrepancies there.

I disagree with your review almost in its entirety.

First of all I play on a Med/med server and can get a Scenario to pop every 10 minutes. Or I can wander to any number of places and get owned by mass numbers of destruction.

Not to mention your claim about custimization... What level did you get to? 10? 15? So what you have like 3 mastery points? Not even enough to get the first mastery skill... Of course there was no custimzation. Thats like playing WoW to level 20 and saying BAH my character is just like all the other people with the same toon, there is no custimzation(As the OP did using WoW as a reference because everyone knows it).

As far as graphics if your playing on a min requirements PC then you shouldnt be playing games honestly because if your still playing on one that old you obviously could care less about playing anything in the first place.

Also your complaint about server downtime.... Um have You played a game at launch before? This is such minimal downtime, previous games would sit at hours of downtime every day just to fix issues. Hell WoW even gave everyone 2 weeks free when it released because it would be down for days at a time when it launched.

Originally posted by Vato26

Originally posted by Icedanno

it hasn't even been out a week!

Thread title:  WAR. A weeks review


Hint:  I'm seeing some discrepancies there.

It's been 8 days since the CE headstart though.

Originally posted by Icedanno

I've played WAR a bit now and here are my impressions (actuall impressions may vary, not available in North Dakota, Maine and Deleware, please allow 10 to 16 weeks for delivery):

 

Good:  Game is easy to play.  Maps show where quests are, items are not hard to find, options are very limited on character so not a lot of things you can do wrong.

Bad:  I would like to be able to speak to more of the game, but the servers are down so much I havent had a chance to play many of the toons.  Thats right, they have already brought the servers down for a big chunk of the day several times, and it hasn't even been out a week!  That in itself is almost a game breaker for me.  Not the kind of thing you want to see as you start a new game.

The servers have been shut down for a 4 hour maintenance at the release day (after head start) and Monday after the first weekend. I don't see why this is a problem at all. Are you seriously expecting they do not shut down the servers for official release? the maintenance today after the first weekend is very welcomed because they will optimize and fix some issues. You are a bit ahead of yourself, this game is released for 4 days!

Gameplay:  The gameplay is very linear and .. yes... very boring.  Leveling is very slow, (which I'm ok with), but your options are very, very limited.  It is a simple click buttons as they light up on your hotbar game.  Very little strategy and almost no variation allowed.  Reminds me of Wow without the ability to really customize your character.  (Note:  Please turn off the flamethrowers, WoW haters and WAR fanboies.  This is just a frame of reference, not a plug for WoW)

The PvE part is basically a story line with some side quests. Epic quests for some of the best gear start in the newbie zone and go all the way up to Tier 3 (Level 20+), YES, one 'linear' Epic Quest with a great storyline and rewards. I don't see your point at all. The game does a great job directing you through the areas to find RvR, PQ's and other points of interest. This is not called linear, it is called good Quest design.

I don't know what you have played but you probably did not understand that every class has a different system behind the combat. Bright wizards for example build up energy using skills but that can backfire if you take it too far. Swordmasters have several stances....the list goes on. Sure you have to press a button to activate a skill, what else do you want to do? Wiggle your mouse around while shouting in your microphone?

Graphics:  Graphics are cartoonish, which works for this game.  Think of WoW with a little grit.  They really did a good job of capturing the tongue in cheek feel of the warhammer world.  Animations are really not there yet, but I'm sure as the game progresses they will polish it up.  Game will run on even a modest system, but if you run at or near the minimum settings, be prepared to have to turn the graphics down to a point where you can barely read any script on the screen to get it to run without lot's o' hitching.  On a decent system, it runs very well.

Depending on your taste entirely. For me the graphics work. They are exactly the style i expected from a Warhammer game. The armors are actual armors modeled in very detail not just painted textures on the body. Armor can be customized with trophies for personalization. The rest of the game looks fantastic. The areas are vivid and impressive. Every area has it's own unique style and feeling.

PvP:  I can not speak to PvP.  I generally only can play an hour or two at a time, and the PvP instances never triggered while I was on.  I wanted to play, and with the PvE portion of this game obviously not the main focus of the developers, PvP looks to be the bright spot in WAR, however, it just NEVER happened.  Thus here is another gamebreaker for me:

     If you roll a toon on a server that has a low population, you wont' get a lot of PvP playtime because there isnt enough people playing to trigger the PvP instances.  However, if you roll a toon on a high population server, you can't even log into the game and have to wait in a que for up to 45 minutes.  Now, my time is limited, and if I'm paying for a game, I want to be able to play it when it's best for me.  So, because of the way WAR has set up the PvP instances, you can either:

               1.  Play on a server with Low load and rarely get a chance to enter a PvP zone.  or...

               2.  Play on a server with High load and wait to even play. 

This means that if you can only jump on for an hour or two a day, you will NOT be able to play PvP much.

Not entirely true. Yes, scenarios will not pop that often on a low population server. The main reason people complain about the scenarios is however that they forget there is a scenario in every racial pairing. These will not pop at the same rate because some are just not as popular or worth the time. Here is the list by popularity:

Tier 1:

1. Nordenwatch (Empire vs. Chaos)
   
2. Gates of Ekrund (Dwarf vs. Greenskin)
   
3. Khaine's Embrace (High vs. Dark Elves)
   

Tier 2:

1. Mourkain Temple (Dwarf vs. Greenskin)
   
2. Stonetroll Crossing (Empire vs. Chaos)
   
3. Phoenix Gate (High vs. Dark Elves)
   

The top scenarios pop about every 5 minutes, the 2nd placed ones about very 10-15 minutes, the 3rd placed ones about every 30min - 1h (or sometimes never).

 

What does it all mean:  Well, the game looks like you would picture the Warhammer world come to life.  The Warhammer world of cartoonish and 'fun' minatures, not the Warhammer world of the intro movies, btw.  The did a good job of capturing that feel, and yet putting out a game that will run even on a modest stystem.  I can't really say anything about balancing yet, because, as was mentioned before, the game has spent a lot of the time with down servers, so havent been able to get much playtime in.

Is it FUN?  Well... the PvE quests are well layed out and easy to see and complete for the most part.  I have to say there are several games out there that handle PvE MUCH better (Wow is not one of them) and with the character development really just a one way track, it gets boring fairly quickly.  That's not to say it isnt fun to run around in the Warhammer world, it just seems to be missing something, like depth of character development was not a big concern.

Would I recomend it?  Well.. that is tricky.  The PvE part of the game is fun for a bit, but there are just other games out that handle that part SO much better, it's hard to justify paying to play this game.  The PvP is supposed to be good, (with the usual complaints of play balance 'tween toons), but I havent been able to try it.  So, I would say:

If you like solo'ing, or don't PvP much, then WAR is NOT for you, and you will get tired of it quickly.

If you like PVP, but can't play for more then 2 hours a day, then WAR is NOT for you, as you will not be able to get into PvP instances much in that period of time for the reasons listed above.

If you like PvP, but can sit down for large chunks of time at a whack, then you should be able to get a decent amount of PvP in, but... I can't tell you what thats like  :P