Darkfall Online Review
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For the past few weeks I have been playing Darkfall Online. It started over in Europe and has recently moved to North America.
If you are familiar with Ultima Online (UO), you will know that back around (97-02), it was definitely the ideal game for PvP, guild war, looting, ganking, house looting, etc... But as more players complained about getting killed over and over or having their house looted, the game slowly took shape to accomodate those types of players and effectively made the game less interesting for those who thrived on the games original strengths.
That being said, people like myself who played UO starting back in 97' have felt an empty spot over the years, yearning to find a new game, but always reverting back to free UO servers that are running build versions of the game when it was at it's finest. Now with Darkfall, there is a new hope.
Over the years, gamers have asked for a game with unrelentless killing, guild war, kingdom building/management, and a strong PvP system. Darkfall has answered. The game mechanics are a bit to get use to, but once you understand the GUI and overall controls, you will begin enjoying the FPS interface for magery and archery, as well as the balanced combat system.
Once you reach 50+ weapon skill, you can chop people's heads off.
Newer gamers who are accustom to games such as WoW or Guildwars may be turned off by the game because the interface is definitely not the most user friendly at first, and the fact that you WILL be killed eventually by a enemy race or PK could also deter some players.
With so many aspects of the game, I plan to cover other elements in future posts, but one ideal aspect of the game is a user's field of vision, there is no 360 degree view for players who are NOT mounted, so this allow enemies to creap up behind you from trees, behind mountains, etc... It makes for good sneak attacks.
Lastly, the fact that you can build a city with your guild allows for true guild politics and management. Numbers are important, but to be successful, a well organized guild who manages crafting, raids, resources, etc.. will be the most successful.
Overall, not a game for all, but a game for old school guys like me who enjoyed the old UO days.
The looting system is un-restricted, anyone can loot anyone.
I do feel that a $15 a month price tag is a bit steep for this game. It's a good game, but from an operations stand point, I can't imagine the overhead being high enough to justify such a high monthly cost. But its a European company, so that could possibly call for higher costs somehow.
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The game is pretty impressive from the stand point that "anything goes" MMO`s in the past had their own carebear version of PVP. Darkfall allows anyone to attack anyone and take what you want.
So far I took on a crafter roll in the game and decided to give weaponsmithing a try. So far its laid back and does not require a lot of effort. It does require time thou. Generally I use this time to watch tv or do homework as I craft. It is automated so once I start it and have the resources it can go for a while.
Another aspect that I like is how well / important they made player crafted items and the need for players to craft. Everything has durability and weapons/armor can not be repaired(as far I know). So if you want something, you kill monsters for it (Durability is generally below half) or you get a high durability item from a player that is guaranteed to last you a while. Overall they made a huge effort to make crafting a viable part of the game and if your friends or in a clan with some high lever crafters, you will have first dibs on the goods.