Cow Face
One Heck of a Guy
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Note: This is a post of a review that I wrote for the website Homigawd, Why!?. I decided to post it here as well. My username on the aforementioned website is Professor Dragon.
A Shift Of Planes
By Professor Dragon [Cow Face]
In a world full of hard-boiled reporters and objective game reviewers, one teenage… dragon… thingy… will have the audacity to review a game that he’s played for less than a week. This… is… PLANESHIFT!*
Well, part of my duties as a writer** for Homigawd, Why!? is to review games. Duh, it’s a game-reviewing site! Among other things. However, I seem to be the one that does the most online gaming. So, this first game review is of a game called PlaneShift. No, not the Magic card thing! Geez.
Overview. The game of PlaneShift is set in a pseudo-medieval world called Yliakum. There are 12 different races, ranging from the typical Humans, Elves, and Dwarves to anthropomorphic (A.K.A. “Furry”) Dragons, felines, and rocks. No, seriously. Rocks. The storyline is as yet non-existent as far as I know, so I won’t be going over that. See, it’s still in open Beta- this stage is called Steel Blue. However, it’s already pretty good.
Graphics. Though not the most important part of any given game***, they are usually the most eye-pleasing. Wouldn’t have guessed that, would you? I’m all tricksy. But seriously, the graphics are quite good. Though not quite on a scale with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion or Gears of War, they impress me, especially for a completely free online game. So long as you have a half-way decent computer- I play with a 1.6 GHz processor, 512 RAM and an Intel® graphics card, sue me- the animation is smooth, and relatively high-end, at least in my newb-bogged opinion. The only real problem is that some of the races don’t have models for the females yet; for those they use the female model of one of the other races. 3.75/5 points.
Gameplay (Non-Combat). Unlike most games, the movement system for PlaneShift is both Point-and-Click and Keyboard. To move your character, you can either click on the ground or use the arrow keys. I find that the arrow keys are better for precise movement, but the mouse is best for long-distance movements. But meh, that’s me, the idiot who uses an Intel® Integrated video card! To interact with NPCs, the player must actually type things to them, instead of just choosing from a list of responses. Naturally, this leads to some confusion at times (“How do I get a freakin’ quest around here!?” “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” “Up yours!” “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”), but I think it’s a good thing, as it promotes online literacy.**** However, the addition of a Tutorial at the beginning alleviates some of that, unlike when it was in Crystal Blue (Yes, I played it for a bit in the past), and it just dropped you in the world, then laughed at your incompetence, kicked sand in your face, and left you for dead. Other interactions with NPCs are performed via right-clicking and pressing a button.
Interactions with other players are performed with a text box, set by default at the bottom-right of your screen, but movable. There is an enforced in-character environment, so you can’t say things like “omg haxx!!22! wut witdh da glihchs n thsi gsme???/.” Fortunately. 4/5 points.
Gameplay (Combat). The combat system is fairly straight-forward: See enemy. Go to enemy. Attack enemy. Kill enemy/Run away screaming. Anyone can understand it… I hope. Where it gets interesting is the amount of different weapons there are. Though I have yet to encounter any ranged non-magic weapons (I don’t think they’ve been implemented), there are still magic and blades to keep you occupied. Knives, Daggers, Axes, Swords, Hammers, and more are all separated (Even more so than in Morrowind!), and then there are Glyphs to add more diverseness, so much that I won’t even bother to go into more detail. Oh, and then if you add in the skills for making weapons and armor, and repairing weapons and armor- No! I have no wish to drown in a sea of text! 4.25/5 points.
Trade and Barter. The barter system is also straight-forward for the most part. You can receive items by looting dead enemies, then sell them at shops. Money is called "Trias," with different coins being worth different amounts of Trias. In addition to the basic Trade menu, there is also a menu for giving away items, often used in quests. But while it's straight-forward, it's nothing revolutionary. 3/5 points.
Death/Game Loss. When your health (measured mainly in percentage) reaches 0%, you die. I admit, though, I'm a tad biased. I'm the kind of loser who doesn't like losing things when he dies, so I quite like the death system. You are teleported to the Death Realm, a maze-like place where you must work to find your way out. It's always the same, but it can be confusing for new players. Fortunately, there are almost always kind players who will guide you out for free. Unfortunately, the camera often gets stuck in a bad position, and the lighting tends to be bad. 3.5/5 points.
Community. I quite like the other players on PlaneShift. While it is enforced in-character and some people do have evil characters, I have yet to find a spiteful player. Granted, I haven't played Steel Blue for long, but when I played Crystal Blue, I still hadn't met any jerks. The help system is generally quick, and often quite helpful. Oh, and the players are actually courteous. Whereas in other games- RuneScape comes to mind- they'll grab your stuff as soon as it hits the ground, these players actually respect property. Two examples of this:
I was a new player, and I hadn't gotten used to the drag-and-drop trading. In addition, my computer was ill-equipped at the time, and I was experiencing a lot of lag. The result was that I accidentally dropped my money on the ground- in a crowd of people. However, even though everyone saw it, no-one attempted to pick it up, as they knew that I was new, and that it was an accident on my part.
Again when I was new, I was having trouble with an in-game glitch concerning sacks. Long story short, I couldn't take stuff out of the sack unless I dropped it on the ground. When I did so, someone assumed I didn't want it, so they picked it up. When I mentioned that it was mine, and that I was experiencing a glitch, they very politely gave it back.
While those might just be a few good people, that has been my overall experience. 4.75/5 points for the community.
Summary. This has proved to be among my favorites in online games. While it does not yet have a storyline, I'll let that slide since it's only in Beta. The community are one of the best I've seen, and tend to be quite polite.
Score: 23.25/30 points.
Category: Well worth playing, but could improve.
External Link: http://planeshift.it/
* This would be the part where I kick you into a bottomless pit, but the others won't let me.
** Slave.
*** Says the writer.
**** Oh, no! You might actually have to use your backspace button!
< Message edited by Cow Face -- 9/30/2008 13:15:15 >
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