Requiem: Bloodymare Review

Requiem: Bloodymare is a gruesome game. Occasionally a title comes along that lets gamers live out their most violent fantasies. Put your grandmother in front of any of the Grand Theft Auto games, and she'll be running over fellow elderly, capping cops, and committing other disturbing acts quicker than you'd think. Requiem bills itself as a horror massively multiplayer game, but it's really more a showcase of the grotesque. And that's fine. Created by Gravity Corporation, the same developer responsible for Ragnarok Online, Requiem signifies a serious change in stylistic direction for the developer.

The game takes place in a time when humanity's quest for knowledge has pretty much ruined everything. Mutants of mankind's own creation walk the planes, and indeed the gamers themselves play as something not quite human. This is an apocalyptic future brought on by technology unrestrained. It's a world where biochemical giants have had their way for a few millennium too long.

Aside from the back story, Requiem is a pretty standard MMORPG. Players grind levels alone, with friends, fight above and bellow ground, and play as rough parallels to the more typical mage, melee and support classes we're all familiar with. The most noticeable shortcoming is really the way this all takes place. The leveling system is unintuitive, and sadly under explained. The games interface is a stark reminder of why games like World of Warcraft are so popular: they're accessible and intuitive. Requiem is not for those unfamiliar with MMO's, it has a learning curve that would simply be to daunting for those new to the genre.

Requiem is largely fun to play. Once you've surpassed the games learning curve, the classic appeal of MMORPG's kicks in. You want to level up, and when you do it's gratifying. Combat is cool, and the level of gore takes a while to become desensitized to. If you're playing this game, that means you enjoy this sort of thing. The lack of creative quest's is a lost opportunity, but it's still a fun ride.

Sound is largely ok. The game's music is appropriate, if somewhat subdued. The only sound effects that really stand out are those encountered in combat. The killing noises are probably best described as "wet." The unfortunate thing about all this is that for a game striving to be scary, spooky sound effects are imperative. Acoustic details like nearby breaking twigs, ethereal howls in the distance, and the wind screaming through the mountains are largely missing.

Graphically Requiem stands out. As an apocalyptic game world populated by the sort of creatures described by H.P. Lovecraft, this is a universe you haven't seen before. Gone are the fairy's and dwarfs we accept as standard for the genre. Done away with are the pretty color pallet's of Requiem's more popular cousins, this is a desolate world. A game sub titled "Bloodymare" has a lot to live up to, and gore abounds. Dispatched enemy's are reduced to jiggling chunks of raw meat. Trails of gore follow your every sword strike. More so, spell effects look great, and the steam punk settlements you encounter are impressive.

This is a cool universe, and as such you'll want to come back and explore it a few times. Unfortunately Requiem doesn't capture the addictive quality necessary for a really great MMORPG. On a more casual level Requiem is fine. As a free-to-play mmorpg, that's really what I'd hoped for.

I'm surprised by how well put together Requiem is. It's a creative, gory game, and we don't see that as often as we should. What won me over was the apocalyptic world, and I'm willing to over look its shortcomings in favor of it. For those who like their MMORPG's serious and stuffed with mature content, you could do a lot worse. Just don't expect to understand how Requiem works before you've done the legwork.

Play Requiem: Bloodymare Here

Runes of Magic Beta Impressions

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (mmorpg's) have always had to contend with a pitfall called the "grind". The grind is what we call endless monster slaying, farming, or any other mindless game play that only serves to level your character. In addition, mmorpg's have to contend with a sizable portion of gamers who don't play often enough to justify monthly subscriptions fee's, and the hugely dedicated fan bases of games like World of Warcraft. Some free-to-play mmo's now seem poised to tackle these issue. Runes of Magic (RoM) claims to be one of this new wave of titles. Does RoM avoid the pitfalls of the grind and can it appeal to a wide enough a range of gamers, or is it doomed to a quiet and lonely death?

Graphically RoM is surprisingly good. Human character models are nice and creatures look decent. Spell effects are a high point, with molten balls of plasma exploding into flames on impact. The art direction is strange, best described as squeaky clean medieval fantasy. The world is still under construction, but it is odd walking through it and seeing a scene of such Utopian perfection. Even World of Warcraft with its bright color pallet has re-animated corpses walking about.

Good audio draws you into a game, but right now the sound pushes you back into real life. The musical scores are solid high fantasy fare, but they cut in and out much to abruptly. Attacks and spell sounds are still works in progress. The major complaint is the near total lack of ambient noise. In a forest you should hear birds singing, wolves howling, and running water. A dungeon should ring with the primal shrieks of it inhabitants. It is in beta, so these issues are hopefully going to be resolved before the official release.

A mmorpg must be re-playable, as they are supported by periodic and not one time fee's. In RoM it is not monthly fee's you pay, but much smaller transactions like renting horses or buying inventory spaces. These mini-fee's are not required, you can have fun with the items you earn in game. There is a lot to do, unfortunately it mostly boils down to killing some amount of these creatures, or simply acting as a courier. RoM is not alone, most mmorpg's do this, but these types of quests get old quick. Ultimately the repetition started to wear thin before I was tempted to spend real money.

The game is pretty well balanced. No matter your character type, you'll be able to do some pretty substantial soloing. Most necessary items are affordable with your in game gold. Some creatures become easy very quickly, others remain challenging for multiple levels. Completed quests are rewarded with experience points, gold, and gear. Party's form near the most difficult area's, and there is a decent variety of in game player types. Warrior, Mage and Priests players abound. You'll get the impression the developers are paying attention to player feedback.

In character creation you choose gender, class, appearance and the name of you're adventurer. There is an optional tutorial that covers basic movement and controls. When you dive into the game you can immediately start hacking at evil mushroom men (no rats here!). Sadly, once you start farming resources and hacking assorted woodland creatures, you never really stop. The game does try to set itself apart by offering dual classing and player housing, but it does not really add much fun to the mix.

Most most games strive for ease of use and intuitive controls, however RoM is not yet user friendly. While most aspects of the interface are customizable, the default settings will probably drive off many prospective players. You can auto-travel using your quest log, which is nice. Another appreciated feature is a straight forward opt in dueling system; its good fun killing your party members while you wait for that boss to re-spawn.

In order to compete with the big boys, a new mmorpg has to be innovative in the extreme, or do the classic genre features better than the rest. Runes of Magic is shaping up to be a good game, just not in the same league as the conventional mmorpg's. For a free-to-play mmorpg still in beta testing, it is impressive. My in game time was mostly enjoyable and crash free. The player community is helpful, which bodes well for the games future. A lot of the criticisms presented here are pretty much normal symptoms of an ongoing beta test. The developers have their work cut out in preparation of the mid March release date. The grind still sucks, but at least now I don't have to pay for it.