Shadowbane (pc)
A game that has gone through countless stages of beta and several delays of release finally went public on March 25, 2003. Shadowbane is a new fantasy-style MMORPG recently developed by Wolfpack Studios and produced by Ubi Soft. Set in the world of Aerynth, Shadowbane is the first MMO to offer a Dynamic World Model, which allows players to physically affect the terrain, politics, and history of the game as it evolves over time.
Shadowbane, unlike the other large-scale MMORPGs is largely based upon PvP (Player vs. Player) combat. The goal is to create large scale guilds with fellow players, build massive kingdoms, and conquer anyone in your way. Of course, in order to first become useful in any battles, one must first level their character up in PvE (Player vs. Environment) combat. This is the popular form of leveling in other RPGs, where you group with players and hunt down creatures for experience and loot. But no need to worry, while it may take many weeks or months to level your character up in other games, leveling in Shadowbane is actually pretty quick. The max level is 70, but there is not much point in going past 60 since you don’t get anymore trainer points. A person’s general level can be recognized easily by selecting them. Depending on how many “ranks” or symbols of their class they have, tells what level they are in quantities of 10. (Ex. If they have 4 symbols they would be between the levels 40-49.)
Character creation is a part of MMORPGs I always enjoy. Shadowbane’s character creation is somewhat simplistic, but it gets the job done. There are 10 races, 3 of which can be unlocked after a player has been subscribed for a certain amount of time, and over 20 classes. First a person must choose from either 4 base classes, which can then promote to the main classes at level 10. Each character receives a certain amount of attribute points that they can spend on strength, dexterity, spirit, or intelligence. These affect various stats like health, damage amount, stamina, and mana. In addition to spending attribute points on stats. players can also purchase runes. Runes give players various powers like faster running, better weapon skills, etc. But you only receive a certain number of rune slots, and these want to be saved for better runes you may acquire while in-game, or for disciplines. Disciplines are rare runes that grant extraordinary abilities. They can give characters pets, teleportation, and any abilities that only certain classes may have. To balance things out, people are only aloud to have 3 disciplines. Character look isn’t very diverse, but you can choose from hair, face, facial hair, colors, and starting clothes. One part I did like is that you can choose both your first and last name right away. The funny part is that the name filter isn’t very strict at all, and characters sometimes have rather peculiar names.
After entering the game, you are briefed with several tips on how to play the game. These can be very useful to newbies. Every character receives a certain amount of health, stamina, and mana. Stamina is used for various melee abilities, flying, running, etc. It can often times be a nuisance, since it runs out fairly quickly, causing you to not be able to operate in a battle. Mana is used for casting spells, and health is pretty obvious. Movement is handled by right clicking, which I find to be very useful. When running across long distances holding your finger down on an arrow key can get annoying. In the corner of everyone’s screen is a mini-map. It is even possible to right-click on a spot in the mini-map, and your character will run to there. The entire user-interface is very customizable. Any window can be moved around, resized, and an option to change the transparency and font is available. You can even change interface skins for a different look.
Combat is handled nicely as well. Players attack creatures or players by double-clicking on them. The damage you hit for, or are hit by, is displayed above the creature and in your chat box. During combat players can perform different types of special attack, which result in dealing more damage or putting an effect on the monster. These attacks or abilities are gained by training with your certain Class Trainer. Points for training are acquired by gaining levels. Additionally, players also get attribute points to spend on strength, dexterity, spirit, or intelligence.
The guild system is very extensive, allowing for true social and political maneuvering featuring 13 guild types, probationary member voting, guild ranks and titles, a deep guild allegiance/fealty system, a unique coat of arms creation tool, war declarations and assassinations for the ultimate experience in online political intrigue. Every guild has some sort of a goal. Some choose to stay neutral, and focus their cities on advancing with the economy. Others stay intent on military power, building fortresses of massive proportion. Alliances are very popular; groups of guilds that don’t like each other team up to help overcome foes. And even though you can attack anyone anytime, it’s not always very wise to. Attacking someone in a certain guild can create large guild conflicts, and random player killing is sometimes looked down upon. In my opinion, the best part of the game is the sieges. When two armies of mass proportion clash in the heat of battle, rarely can any other game match up to such an adrenaline-pump. Siege weapons can be controlled by players, and are useful in destroying buildings, walls, or clusters of players. Since every guild has their own customized guild symbol, it is very easy to identify a friend or foe since it floats above their head.
One of the downfalls that plagues many players is the graphics. The game was in production for a long time, and by the time it was released very promising graphics engines were being used by games such as Asheron’s Call 2. Particle effects are very lacking, and the same textures seem to be used throughout the landscape of Aerynth. Characters have limited detail, and can look rather plain. But one great feature in the game is the recorder. Players can record their experiences or battles in the game, and send them to anyone else to watch. Despite all these low-caliber graphics, players sometimes still have problems with lag and loading. Although, it does have better graphics than any of the low-scale MMORPGs that are out there.
Unfortunately, sound is somewhat lacking as well. Sound effects are a bit cheesy, and when an enemy hits me it sometimes sounds as if my character were in some erotic fantasy. Not to mention, there isn’t a very large variety of them. On the other hand, as you travel throughout the landscape, the background music can change from fast-paced beats to smooth feeling melodies.
All in all, Shadowbane is a decent game. I am currently playing it to fulfill my gaming needs, so say hi to Boladon if you play on the fear server. Politics are always changing, and warfare keeps me addicted. While the game does have some flaws, Wolfpack Studios has done a great job. It’s nice to play in an MMORPG that isn’t based on laborious item-camping and prolonged leveling like EverQuest. So if you’re looking for a game to take up your time until the next great MMORPG hits the shelves, you should definitely pick this one up.
Gameplay: 8.5
Fun Factor: 8.5
Graphics: 6.5
Sound: 7
Overall: 8
Minimum PC system requirements:
Pentium® III Processor 700 MHz. or higher
128 MB RAM
1 GB free hard drive space
Microsoft® Windows® 98SE/ME/2000/XP
CD-ROM drive
56 kbps modem + Internet connection
32 MB TNT2 (or better) OpenGL-compliant graphics accelerator
DirectX® 8.1 or higher
Minimum MAC system requirements:
G3 350 MHz. or higher
128 MB RAM
1 GB free hard drive space
OS X version 10.2
CD-ROM drive
56 kbps modem + Internet connection
ATI Rage 128 32 MB
Categories: Reviews, Role Playing
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