 |
Home | News | Reviews | Gallery | Videos | Calendar | Blogs | Cheats | Demos | Contact Us |  |
The folks at Turbine and Microsoft decided to put their new gaming engine to test by throwing an end of beta event. What kind of event was it? A cataclysmic one no less, that began isolated near a city called Shoushi. The fact that events happen in Asheron's Call 2: Fallen Kings isn't really all that spectacular. Events had happened in the original Asheron's Call but Fallen Kings is aptly illustrating that new content and new visuals need not require you to plunk down extra money for an expansion pack.
  
Indeed, the new visuals far supercede what happened before. Not only are there new monsters aligned with dark powers, the sky has taken on a reddish texture and in general, there are substantial changes to the architecture. Existing towns that were healthy and vibrant are now charred out; a pale representation of their former selves. Without a doubt, the developers will continue this trend, month in and month out, to help move the storyline along and actually let the players participate in creating the story. However, even in the beginning when Shoushi was ravaged, you still had to travel there. That highlighted a particular fault of Fallen Kings; the lack of a quick transport system. This should be duly rectified with the addition of mounts and steeds. These steeds will provide freedom within the spacious areas themselves. Our beta privileges let us look at them - in three different environs, tentatively codenamed 'barnes'.
  
The current events that I personally witnessed involved seeking out various boss characters, or what the developers called 'tryants', which come in the form of dragons and giant lizards. While these dragons still dwarf even the largest of the players who went up against them, they are but a sign of things to come. Turbine has promised there will be even bigger creatures coming to menace the land in subsequent episodes. I don't know about that, but I was already quaking in my boots coming across the first one (and I had invulnerability too). Initially, the tryants just happened to be around the most ravaged areas but then, as the beta event accelerated, they began moving in on different cities and the monsters simply spread everywhere. And what you experienced on each world was different because by the very end of the beta, real admin characters were driving the world around: spawning monsters, ensuring kingdom versus kingdom conflicts were balanced (or at the very least, fun), so on and so forth.   
Apart from invasions, kingdom versus kingdom combat and general monster fighting, there were still some events geared towards lower level players. The developers behind Fallen Kings are committed to bringing an enjoyable MMORPG experience to all and some early parts of the events were linked to this, like simple foot races. But still, the most exciting things were best enjoyed by higher level characters as the loot and tryants continued to be more beneficial to those who have spent a significant time in the game - the upper echelons of the Fallen Kings social strata, the elite and most prominent players.   
This is still the first of many events promised for Fallen Kings. However ostentatious the initial one may be, the subsequent episodes will undoubtedly be better. Amongst the Fallen Kings community boards, there were some dissenters and not just from the lower level characters who couldn't take part but the higher level ones as well. But if the opinion of the majority is to be considered, the event was a resounding success, especially towards the very end. And the beta has done what it has done: provide a glimpse of something new to rejuvenate the Asheron's Call world. If it also provoked salutary criticism, so much the better because Turbine was, is, and will continue to be very hands-on with this iteration of Asheron's Call.
|
Copyright (c) 1998-2009 ~ Game Over Online Incorporated ~ All Rights Reserved
Game Over Online Privacy Policy
