Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3
Part 2: The Real Deal
I've read a few initial reviews from people about War, and I've been unimpressed with most of them. While my review may or may not impress you (I don't care either way) I will guarantee you that I have alot of time invested in this game to date. Before I get to the point by point review of different game aspects, I'll make the following statement. I didn't flippantly log into the starting areas for a few hours and then say, nah...this game is nothing new and I don't care for it. Some people have done that, so I'll get off track for a second to finally speak to that point. I'll start by saying that War is the real deal. It is not a complete WoW clone. It will break into WoW's coveted subscriber base and convert many players. It will be a great game for a long time, provided that Mythic doesn't drop the ball somehow.
"Warhammer isn't anything new, a.k.a. its WoW version 2."
I will immediately discredit anyone that makes a statement even close to that one. While at some very fundamental levels, it is a true statement...making such a statement serves only to discredit all the great things that Mythic has done with Warhammer. Yes, if you are looking at the game through a game designer's goggles then there are real fundamental similarities. Character levels, quests, loot classification, high fantasy character classes, similar UI, similar class mechanics, bank, auction house, etc. are all things these games share that are nearly identical. The list is quite longer than that, but to make a top notch game these things can't be radically different. To illustrate this example, a witch hunter is fundamentally like a rogue in WoW, they are light armored, melee dps archetypes that can stealth. At those basic levels, they are identical. However, if you bother to peel back the layers then you can see how they differentiate themselves, and that example is a microchism of the entire game. WoW rogues don't have the Van Helsing theme with the pointy hats and rapiers. They don't have revolvers that they can shoot people in the face with. They don't play exactly the same. WoW's rogues are great, but so are War's Witch Hunters. There are a million comparisons like this to be made, and at the end you start to have a large list of how War is different than WoW, not identical to it.
I'll now proceed to tell you why I think that anyone who thinks War is just like WoW isn't looking hard enough. If I may, let me tell you how I think on the matter, relative to going out to eat. If I'm out with my wife looking for something to eat and she says, "Hey, check out that new steak house! I heard its good, wanna check it out?" If I said to her, "No, I've eaten at the most popular steak house before and I know what that's all about. Its beef, cooked to order, usually with a potato and a salad. Been there, done that." How nonsensical would that be? Don't you want to know how their steak is? Maybe its the best steak you've ever eaten! "Let's go in there and see if they are worth a flip" is the right answer.
And don't just eat the steak, I mean check it out everything as best you can. Was the service good? Did they take too long to bring out your food? Was it cooked right? Did you enjoy the atmosphere? There's all sorts of stuff to evaluate before you should be able to accurately say whether you think its a good place to eat or not. And hey, why is it a big deal that they serve steak just like the other places? Steak is good and people like it. There's no reason to dismiss a new restaurant because its not a revolutionary restaurant that turns the industry upside down and makes us all run around town screaming in ecstasy. If the food and service is good, that's a winning formula. I like steak. If you can take a popular steak house and put your own personal twist on it, I'm all for it and I'll probably eat there. I'm not gonna dismiss you because others have done steak before, especially if you have some very different twists on the traditional steak house at your place.
Ok I beat the steak house thing to death, but I think you get the point. War is WoW, done better...especially in this gamer's opinion. Or was that, War is steak, done better? I'll get to the specifics on why I think this in the next part of my review.
If you are looking to be blown away by a game that revolutionizes the genre because it works via telekinesis, you have the wrong game. If you want a game that puts some unique twists on tried and true mmo designs, with just enough differentiation to be refreshing, War is definitely a game to try. Read on for my final thoughts on what I think War does well and what it doesn't...Part 3
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4 comments:
Wait a second... Isnt this a warhammer review? why the hell are you talking about steak? hmm steak sounds pretty good right now actually..
Its a metephor duh... =P <3
-Beltorze
great analogy ;)
Haha, great metaphors and a good setup for the review. Almost like a fluffer for a porn scene...ok enough with the metaphors, you're better with them ^.^
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