Darkfall Preview

[bellygrub]

Here is a preview of Darkfall I found. Some very innovative stuff. I bolded what I felt was extremely pleasant.

One thing is for sure, if you are a fan of PVP then you will certainly want to take a serious look at this game. In this game, you will be able to attack and be attacked anywhere, any time. Not only that, but the PvP fighting in this game will be based on the skill of the player. If you cannot handle a bow and you are facing off against someone who has used a bow many times, you can pretty much kiss your behind goodbye. One of the things shown to me by Kjetil in a gameplay video was a massive PvP battle that the staff of Darkfall participated in. Well, as massive as you can get with a staff of about 20, that is. As the battle raged on, it quickly became apparent that this is not simply a fire-and-forget type MMORPG. If you miss your enemy with a swing of your sword, you better be prepared to defend yourself, because you will be attacked. Not only that, but players will have to be well aware of where their casters are at all times. If a healing spell is cast upon you and a enemy decides he wants a heal and runs into the AOE of the spell, well then, he gets healed as well. It works the same with damage spells.

Darkfall will also have something that is not found in current MMORPG games – naval combat. Naval combat on a scale that has never even been conceived of before, that is. First of all, if you want to build a ship that is bigger than three elephants, you can. There is almost no size limit on naval vessels. Basically, like everything else in this game, if you have the resources and the skill, you can produce whatever you want. On top of that, just like in the real world, if you can pack 8000 players onto one tiny ship without it sinking, then so be it. There are no slots or other pre-determined limits on the amount of characters you can pile on to vessels. One of the examples they gave me was if a player wanted to surprise an enemy base, they could sail their ship in with only a few players on the deck. Once the ship got close enough for players to swim ashore without getting killed, the captain of the vessel could literally open their holds to release a tidal wave of men.

This may sound like mindless fun, but there is another side to naval combat. Guns, and lots of them. If you want to run a clipper ship with 8 cannons on each side, then you will need 16 gunners who will roam the waters with you. They will also need to be good at aiming and firing their weapons. Just like in real life, skill plays an important part.

The game will feature AI pre-built cities, but it will also feature player-built towns as well. Players who own cities will be responsible for providing for their citizen’s defense and daily needs. If players do not perform these duties to an acceptable degree, they will be overthrown and more than likely replaced. Darkfall is a dog-eat-dog world where anything you can imagine can happen.

At this point, those players who enjoy solo play and adventuring must be saying to themselves “this is all great, but what if I do not plan on teaming up?” Well, I am happy to report that Darkfall has a fully functional quest and PvE system. If you are the type of MMO player who enjoys long quiet treks to find out of the way points on the map, or the type of player who will solo against virtually insurmountable odds to retrieve a useless trinket for an NPC, then Darkfall will be able to meet your needs.

One other truly innovative feature of the game that needs mentioning is the weather. How can weather be innovative, you ask? Well, Darkfall has fully functional weather systems. For example, take point A and point B. Point A is located west of point B. The wind is blowing east from point A to point B. If it is raining at point A, eventually, because of the wind, the rain will reach point B. Not weather in the Darkfall universe happens randomly. If you are planning a night time raid on your enemy, you may want to wait until a night that has a full moon scheduled with clear skies so you can see, or you may want to wait for a night with no moon and rain so you can sneak up on your enemy easily. Yes, Darkfall features this depth of field, and with this level of detail, the possibilities are almost endless.

With all these intricacies, you may be saying to yourself, “this is all well and good, but with all this to think about, will it be fun?” The answer is a resounding yes. Both Tasos and Kjetil assured me that they have taken every precaution to ensure that nothing becomes tedious unless the player wishes it. They are both fans of FPS gaming, and they have brought that level of action and excitement into this MMORPG game. The marriage should prove to be a great mix of RPG strategy and FPS fast-paced action, with a bare minimum of grind.

Darkfall is a title which is attempting to bring a level of realism to the MMORPG genre that has not been successfully attempted before. Are gamers ready for this level of freedom in their online adventures? We think so. Does Aventurine have the ability to present this freedom in an attractive, powerful, and fun package? Again, we think so. If you are a player who craves a high level of non-linearity in your games, and the power to engage in just about any activity, then Darkfall may be the game you have been waiting for.

Taken from mmoreports (http://www.mmoreports.com/review/3/1/)

[Mr. Hrm]

Sounds like it's really shaping up!