Howdy, folks!

Today, we’re going to be taking a look at the admittedly rather old (but much improved) Warhammer Online as it nears its 1-year anniversary. The Warhammer Fantasy (and Warhammer 40k) IP has had a lasting influence on the video games industry, inspiring several other notable products, so it’s interesting to see how the MMORPG version of the original turned out. Well, let’s not waste any more time; onto the review!

The World

The Warhammer Fantasy world is already mostly established by Games Workshop. Magical items are much more common in the game than they would be if Mythic was sticking completely to canon. But then again, that wouldn’t be as much fun. Players familiar with either the tabletop strategy game or the pen-and-paper RPG will recognize plenty of locations and important figures. Players choose a career (class/race combination) from either Order or Destruction (good or evil) and spend their lives working against the opposing faction.

Progression

Progression is fairly straight-forward. Kill things, complete quests, gain levels in your class (called a career, though you can’t change it), and get more powerful. Quests are divided into personal quests and public quests, and players also get a modicum of experience exploring and unlocking new achievements, though that’s never much. Players also have a renown rank, which is raised by participating in player-versus-player (called Realm vs. Realm or RvR) combat and scenarios. RvR also gives regular XP as well, and you could conceivably level up entirely by killing other players. The progression itself manages not to be too tedious, but it can get repetitive at times.

Crafting

Compared to most other MMOs, the crafting system is fairly weak. There are four “gathering” tradeskills and two “crafting” tradeskills, and characters can only learn one of each. Players can’t make their own equipment; they can only craft potions and talismans that would fit in equipment slots. Furthermore, until recently, most of the talismans weren’t even permanent. The crafting system has improved somewhat, but players still can’t create their own equipment.

Guilds

Guilds in Warhammer Online are pretty dynamic. They provide various benefits, which increase as the guilds level up through experience and renown. At later levels, guilds provide easier access to items and dungeons that would otherwise be more difficult to come by. Guilds may also carry customized standards that give buffs to nearby allies when deployed by a nearby ally with the Standard Bearer privilege. Furthermore, high-level guilds can capture RvR strongholds known as Keeps and improve them to defend against enemy attack. The guild system is fairly robust, but there are often too few Standard Bearer privileges to go around; they are strictly limited based on the guild’s level.

Realm vs. Realm

While it’s conceivably possible to go the entire game without engaging in RvR, you’d be missing out on the true spirit of the game. It’s heavily designed for RvR, with a public battlefield in each major zone and multiple scenarios for each level grouping. The scenarios are semi-private arenas where members of Order and Destruction duke it out against each other. Aside from allowing players to gain renown and unique loot, the RvR system includes zone control. Taking control of a zone is somewhat difficult, requiring a commanding lead in RvR performance or taking and holding all objectives in the zone for a set amount of time, but once the zone is taken, all players of the controlling faction get a pretty hefty buff and an experience and renown bonus. At later levels, players can work toward assaulting the enemy faction’s home city.

The Price

You can buy the game itself for under $20 on Amazon, but at around $15 a month, you’re paying a pretty penny in subscription fees. There are ways to reduce the per-month cost by purchasing a longer subscription, so if you plan to be in it for the long haul, go with that.

The Community

Think World of Warcraft, but slightly less hardcore on average. Warhammer Online caters to casual and hardcore alike, so neither demographic will feel too left out.

So, to sum it all up…

PROS: Lots of PvP (RvR) content, a high quality guild system, fun and integrating quests.

CONS: The crafting system is decidedly lackluster, grinding can get repetitive, and if you don’t like PvP, this game isn’t for you.

TRY, BUY, OR TRASH? Definitely try it out. If it’s not for you, don’t subscribe after the free month, and you’re down less than $20. If you do decide to play, come say hi to me on the Iron Rock server. I’m in the Order faction, and my character name is Alanther.

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