Gen Con: Warhammer Online Hands On

Share | |  Print | | Discussion: 245No Commentshttp://www.mmogamer.com/09/01/2007/gen-con-warhammer-online-hands-onGen+Con%3A+Warhammer+Online+Hands+On2007-09-01+19%3A56%3A17Kevin+Stoner

Gen Con is over, but the material is still coming in. Next up is from the latest addition to our writing team, Kevin Stoner. He brings us his hands on impression of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Hit jump and read his article and wish him a warm welcome to the team!

This year’s GenCon held a massive electronic presence and we were privileged to have a look at the upcoming EA Mythic title Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, prior to the crowds rushing the booths to see if any latest developments had broken.

After brief introductions with Jeremy Dale, Lead Animator, I stepped before the world of Warhammer and was introduced to the battle priest character that I would use to experience the game.

My initial impressions of the game led me to think of The Lord of the Rings Online, with a leather cloaked priest wielding a mace and standing before a crowded town. Standard movement keys and mouse look-around features were a familiar MMO staple and assure that any familiar MMO player will be able to immediately take off and enjoy this game.

The first mission I was to play was to kill several raiders in a nearby town. This was done by selecting the individual with a scroll above their heads to indicate that a quest was available. Once the quest had been selected the map and the minimap were updated with a red outline around the area where the quest could be found. This feature seemed to be in place to save players the frustration of hunting in an area to find where a quest must take place, and allows the player to find the mission with ease.

I proceeded to the mission area where combat would ensue with an invading Orc in the burning village. Initially combat seems intuitive, though as I began to progress it was clear that combat had a much deeper role than point and click. The several available spells of the priest were listed below and it seemed as though clicking through one special ability would end the normal attacking mode and it would need to be re-engaged. Perhaps this was just due to my inexperience with this particular game, but the initial impression may have been slightly better with a tutorial built to showcase how to use these skills.

While fighting the Orcs there was also a cry from within one of the huts that was burning, someone was asking for help. I tried to reach them, but was unable to figure out how to get within the huts. I could not click on the doors, nor was I able to walk within the hut itself. I began to get the impression that perhaps this feature was put in place to help give a sense of urgency to the quest so that the player would take on the enemy more fiercely, though I definitely pulled several Orcs to me while wandering and trying to find a way in or a door to open.

After fighting the Orcs I was able to return to town and see the skill tree that Warhammer calls Tactics. According to Jeremy these Tactics will allow specialization of characters that should allow players to feel unique in the build they have. My impressions were a little skeptical since this appears to be very similar in feel and make to Blizzard’s own talent points, and specialization is also possible within Warcraft, however this is often given up in favor of the most essential 2-3 builds per class. Will Warhammer fall prey to this talent scheme as well? At this point that is tough to say, but hopefully the Tactics are found to be equally powerful and sought after to help avoid this problem.

When you line up Tactics after leveling, you will be able to switch between builds, which in itself holds a unique perspective. Say for instance that with my battle priest I want to spec out a healing build for when I am to act as healer. Then I can spec a build which is primarily offensive spell support and slot that separately from the healing build. I can then choose between those builds as they come up for necessity.

After checking out Tactics, we took the priest out to begin experiencing layered questing. EA Mythic has lined up questing so that layers will build upon each other. In the instance we were given, the character was in the field where Orcs were attacking a human encampment. As the humans were rescued they began to be recruited and stood guard nearby. When enough were recruited the Orcs led an assault against you and the band you put together since it was obvious that you were recruiting an army. At no point was there any need to turn in this quest , it simply occurred as the event was completed and the Orcs give you no time to prep which I find refreshing as it holds that touch more realism outside of other games. Finally when the Orcs were defeated a Giant roared from the woods and quickly decimated the Priest and his remaining troops. It was clear that for this piece of the quest more troops would be needed, or more PC support. This dynamic play allows a character to repeat a quest as often as they would like within a zone even if they do not get repeat fame for it.

As the priest lay dead on the screen, I noticed a countdown timer for resurrection. It was explained that this timer should be from 4-6 seconds and should always return you to the place where you receive the quest from, though this may change at a later time.

Unfortunately due to the hour I was on, there was little they could show me for RvR or PvP combat, though I did ask them what they felt would make it unique. They promised that, much like the giant, these waves of attacks would bleed over into other realms and the only way they could stop invasions from happening were also by fighting RvR battles. The world will be as dynamic as the players wish to make it according to Jeremy.

My parting thoughts were that the graphics were fair to good, and if you enjoyed the graphics in LOTRO these graphics will do you fine. None of the cartoony shading of CoH nor the bright colors of WoWWow reviews, but a solid gray based gritty feel. The combat was intuitive at first, but had a depth that could be added which may or may not confuse players early on. The Tactics system has great potential and will go far if it is balanced correctly. The fluid storyline and repeatable quests, along with a solid RvR combat system are key points to the game. All in all I think that this game may have a lot of hype to live up to, but the hype may not be misplaced. Look forward to this game being released in early 2008.