Yeah, it happened. I finally caved in and bought Darkfall which has probably the most mixed opinions of any MMO ever. Some people love it, others think it is a complete pile of shit, and some are sorta in between. Well, I am here to add my humble opinion to that pile.

After dropping the fifty bucks for the game over on the site, I downloaded the client and began patching. Prevab, who also plays Darkfall (and did a review of it right here on this site) chose Alfar as his race so I pretty much had no other choice than to go Alfar too. Why? Well, Alfar are the only race in the game that have no other racial alliances. So this was the only way I would be able to play with him properly. Why he chose Alfar, I will never know. I wanted to be a wolf man, not some emo british metal-loving pansy-ass elf.

After making my character (Darkfall only allows one character per account by the way) I hopped into the world of Darkfall, not knowing what to expect. My first thought post-login was this – DAYUM this game is ugly. And it was! It’s probably because I picked Alfar so the starting zone is all dark and gritty to go with the racial “style” but damn those were some ugly textures.

I picked up the first two quests – kill 4 goblins and get 4 goblin axes – and headed out to kill some goblins. I kinda got lost along the way and ended up falling off a cliff into a very large swamp. My map said there were goblins in the swamp, so I began looking. This is where Darkfall began to get me. I was so used to being able to actually see mobs plain as day in other MMOs, but this was different. I couldn’t make out anything among the destroyed buildings and rubble the swamp contained. It felt like I was actually out hunting something. I felt like I was all alone in some swamp with goblins, with no one there to help me. Everything was silent. Then out of nowhere, I heard the sound of an arrow flying through the air and a split second later my character screamed in pain. The chase was on! From there, I ran around a corner and waited. When I came out for a look I spotted a Goblin Scout, just about to launch another arrow in my face. I ran up to him and spammed my melee attack until I saw him hit the floor. Seemed to work well enough. I gathered his possessions and went back behind cover to try and spot more goblins. This went on for a while, and eventually I had killed more goblins than necessary because of all the ones that had attacked me out of nowhere when I had been looting their friends’ stuff. I felt like I was doing really well and owning these gobbos up – until the goblins got wise and ambushed me. I had been looting more stuff and had foolishly let my guard down when three goblins (shaman, scout and fighter) began attacking me. I tried to run, but the shaman finished me off with a magic missile and I fell to the ground. When you die in Darkfall, you lose everything. Even your quest items. I ended up safely gathering four more goblin axes before handing both quests in and then logging off. Nevertheless, it was a good experience and definitely a unique one.

I like this one so far though, more then I thought I would. The world can be lacking in some areas while others seem very finished but the AI provides a very different sense of tactics that I have never before experienced in an MMO. It just felt really different. The UI is pretty good too. I’ve heard people complaining about it before, but I was comfortable with it after about 30 minutes of use.

The only problem I have with Darkfall is the fear of not having much to do in the future. It seems the PvE is generally quite dry and grindy (which is not a problem when the combat is so great) but when the whole game is about grinding skills it will become a bore for me quite quickly.

But still, Darkfall has serious appeal and I can see myself continuing to play it.

-Rav4ge

Just some more quick LOTRO impressions.

I decided to make another character since myself and Conor both agreed to not play our dwarf characters unless we were both online. I went with a (gasp!) hobbit hunter which completely violates my terms and agreements toward life. Okay, so I don’t really like hobbits. But it’s okay, because I just wanted to see how their starting area compares with the dwarven one, which Conor and I found to be quite bland.

Well, I’m pleased to report that Archet (and The Shire) are both like a thousand times better than the dwarven starting zone. I now feel bad that I started the game on such a “meh” attitude. I actually felt like I was playing a Lord of the Rings game this time. Seriously, I’ve never felt so attached to an area in an MMO. I was doing one of those “deliver the mail” type quests and I had to stop to enjoy the scenery. High green hills with tall trees and roaring waterfalls – damn, it felt like I had been there before in RL, like something out of a dream. It’s just so different from what I’m used to seeing in games like WoW… maybe it’s the landscape. It’s so varied and not just flat with some dips here and there.

Anyway, ending this here before I get too carried away. I had to mention this stuff though, Turbine seriously excelled at this element of design.

-rav4ge