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(Quick update based on some feedback about the servers. While they are up and working, there are some issues with lag that persist for many players. I haven’t experienced a great deal, but it is still there and still a problem.)

I’m about as fanatical as they come when I see a Diablo clone out there. I generally pick them up quickly. Grim Dawn was fantastic and is still played, I recently started Last Epoch and have a great deal of cautious excitement for Diablo 4. Then, out of no where, Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem showed up and “left” beta. I played about 60 hours of the game and have some thoughts that I want to share. So, here we go – right into the reivew.

They Tried Really Hard

I know that isn’t a great starting statement for a review but WOLCEN Studios put a lot of love into the game. It is obvious when you look at it. By far, this is the best looking action RPG on the market right now. But all of that is just a shiny coat for an otherwise below average start. There are a ton of issues that I will bring up, but also a great deal of hope that I will editorialize at the end of the review. To start, though, just the facts.

Gameplay

Any action RPG needs to focus on feeling smooth and keeping the loot train coming. One of the issues with the game is in the animations. They are stiff. Something feels very off and it can make clicking on an enemy a chore at times. I found the most enjoyment in the game when I built a spin to win character and just went to town. This alleviated the odd feeling that comes with traditional clicks.

Loot is also a bit of a let down. There are all the tiers you expect, but until just before this writing, Uniques were unusable. Those have apparently been patched but I haven’t played with them yet so I’ll discuss that in the editorial part later.

The game plays like most aRPGs with a bunch of clicking bad stuff and picking up loot. Where Wolcen stands out is the fluid class system. You don’t really play a particular class. Instead, you create whatever you want on the fly. It sounds great on paper until you realize that everything is tied to the weapons you use.

I want to be a wizard with a shield. Too bad. No one-hand weapons are available for wizards to use with shields. Okay, I’ll go with a staff and mix in some warrior shouts. Nope. You are using a two handed wizard item so you only get access to those spells. This killed the game for me. I’m sure there was a reason they made these choices, but having skills tied to weapons, without something like Final Fantasy VII’s materia system feels bad.

Update: I should make it clear here that the primary issue has more to do with the lack of variety in weapon choices. Melee builds for example have multiple one-handed and two-handed options, while spell casters only have a one-handed offhand option. This means that you can’t use something like a wand (since they don’t exist in the game) and a shield. But you could use a one-handed melee weapon and a offhand weapon for a mage.

With all the bad, though, comes some glimmers of brilliance. The huge skill tree that is included in the game is wonderful to play around with and shows a ton of promise even if it feels a bit too close to Path of Exile. The main issue is some of the nodes do not currently work and many give very little information to help players make min-max choices in their builds.

Finally, server issues. The fact that the game is split into online and offline modes with no character swapping between those two modes is a huge issue that hurt WOLCEN Studios at launch. The servers were a mess for a good while and as I played through my offline character to get to the endgame content I realized that it was a waste of time since I would have to start all over when I went online.

I did enjoy my time leveling again, in-spite of all the issues, but it was a strange choice considering so many games allow you to switch back and forth. There isn’t a big economy in the game so cheating or duping wouldn’t have had much of an effect.

Longevity

aRPGs survive on their ability to keep you chasing that sweet, sweet loot. The loot is far from exciting in Wolcen but the endgame shows some signs of grindy brilliance. Once you complete the story you start to play through instanced dungeons that give rewards based on difficulty. These rewards are used to rebuild a city. Each area you rebuild unlocks something new or can perform certain tasks for you. One example is sending off soldiers to find money or specific types of loot. It is interesting and fun, but the time it takes is a bit extreme.

Ultimately, the lack of exciting loot and extremely long grind for the end game pushed me to play some other games in place of a nightly Wolcen run. Right now, longevity is there, but you have to really want it.

Editorializing Time

I wanted to stick to the basics of what makes Wolcen tick in the above areas. Here I want to wax poetic a bit about the game as a whole. I actually really enjoyed my time with the game, but it is shelved for a while. There is a ton of promise, but the bugs, lack of balance, boring loot, and frustrating weapon system has me in a holding pattern until I play more.

A few things that I didn’t mention already could turn in to little lightning strikes of brilliance. Skills level up, but they don’t do so in interesting ways just yet. They generally just get a bit better and let you customize them to an extent. You can collect dyes that are used to transmog your character and create some pretty epic looking outfits. The endgame is extremely intriguing but is lacking in interesting rewards.

Ultimately, the game is stunning to look at. The story is great for an aRPG. The boss fights need some tuning to feel a bit more balanced and a bit more work needs to be done to the back end to stabilize the game. In a few months, or maybe a year, I’ll revisit the game and see if it has lived up to its potential. Recently, they talked with David Brevik but made no announcements based on that discussion. If he were to come on for a while, the game could really become an all-star. This is the man that saved Marvel Heroes and worked on early Diablo titles. Brevik is a legend if you are an aRPG fan and his meeting with the team could be good news.

Ultimately, Wolcen is a hard pass right now. It needed another six months to a year in the oven before it was ready. If you are really itching for some looting and scooting and played the other big titles out there, this is worth checking out, but it should be at the midpoint of your to play list.

In the future I will update how I feel about the game. I don’t know when that will be, it is all up to the studio and how quickly they roll out new updates. Once we get a complete and polished game we will likely be looking at a hit. For now, keep the oven door closed and let it finish cooking all the way through.

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Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem 39.99 5 Score 5.0/10

















Pros Beautiful Game

Great Voice Acting

Some Solid Ideas Cons Game Can't Even Say the Word Polish

Needs Significant Bug Fixing

Loot is Completely Uninspired

Animation is Great but Hurts Flow