Elysian Shadows

Sorry if the review seems kind of poorly written but I don't have much time as of now.

Site - http://us.runesofmagic.com

Ok so if your a WoW player (or used to be) and you are bored of WoW (or just hate the game now) I strongly recommend you try Runes Of Magic. Ive been playing it since it came out of closed beta and its a very good game overall.

Quick Rating:

• Graphics - 7/10
  Gameplay - 10/10
  Content - 8/10
  PvP - 10/10
  Cost - Free

Ok now a more in-depth review.

Graphics

The graphics in this game are 3D but nothing out of the ordinary for a free MMORPG which gives it a 7. It also has sort of a cartoonish touch to the graphics. Nonetheless they the visual style isnt something to really worry about; graphics do not hinder a games quality by much. Here are some screenshots.

http://www.mmorpg-center.com/images/Run ... review.jpg
http://www.bestfreemmorpg.com/imgs/runes-of-magic-1.jpg
http://www.tbaglan.org/news/uploads/052 ... 7dcfd8.png
http://www.freemmorpglist.com/pics/foto ... _magic.jpg
http://www.mmorpg-center.com/images/Run ... eview1.jpg

Gameplay

I will split this section into a couple different ones.

Controls: The controls are what you want them to be. Fully customizable control panel with the option for keyboard movement (WASD) or mouse movement (Click - To - Move).

Customization: The character customization is pretty detailed for a free MMO. It lets you change the shape of your characters body (hands, legs, hip, head, height, hair, face, etc.) to a huge extent.

Classes:

• Warrior
  Scout
  Mage
  Rogue
  Priest
  Knight

Each player can choose 2 classes. Yes 2 classes. To give you a general explanation, a player starts out choosing one class, then at level 10 you choose a dual class. Each class has its own set of class-specific spells and general spells. The class specific spells can only be used while being that class, while the general spells can be used at any time. This allows you to be a Scout/Mage or a Knight/Rogue or whatever you want.

Lag: If your a big free-mmorpg player then you have probably played a lot of MMO's where you try to cast a spell or use a skill and it takes maybe 3+ seconds for your character to actually use the skill. Thats not the case here. Just thought id point that out because thats a reason I dont play a lot of the free MMO's.

Content

The content is 'meh'. There are a lot of quests, and dungeons that you can grab a group for and fight your way through. But im not ready to give the game a 10 for content due to the fact that I think it hasn't reached its full potential yet.

PvP

The PvP in this game is amazing. It gives you that open world pvp system like WoW has but with a loot drop setup. They even have (or just came out with, i should say) battlegrounds. Instead of a 'Horde vs Alliance' theme they have an 'Evil vs Normal vs Good' theme. Evil and good give the player different buffs as well.

Cost

Yes it is free which means you have nothing to lose except your time. They make their money by selling items through an item mall.

Not that I think it's bad, but the graphics and UI are extremely WoW-ish. I still think I'll try it. Thanks for the in-depth review.

I've played this for a while, it's a fairly large/indepth game for a free2play mmo and its definitely upped the bar for others, but I agree with what Ginto said. It's a complete rip off of WoW which is and isnt a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

I'd definitely recommend it to someone who isn't willing to pay to play, but if they were, I can think of a few others I'd show them first.

Terranova3y2 wrote:I've played this for a while, it's a fairly large/indepth game for a free2play mmo and its definitely upped the bar for others, but I agree with what Ginto said. It's a complete rip off of WoW which is and isnt a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

I'd definitely recommend it to someone who isn't willing to pay to play, but if they were, I can think of a few others I'd show them first.

It is a rip off of WoW except for the fact that RoM has yet to screw up and piss a lot of people off.

Bludklok wrote:

Terranova3y2 wrote:I've played this for a while, it's a fairly large/indepth game for a free2play mmo and its definitely upped the bar for others, but I agree with what Ginto said. It's a complete rip off of WoW which is and isnt a bad thing depending on how you look at it.

I'd definitely recommend it to someone who isn't willing to pay to play, but if they were, I can think of a few others I'd show them first.

It is a rip off of WoW except for the fact that RoM has yet to screw up and piss a lot of people off.

That comes with time

Just look at SWG...

Sorry not too sure what SWG is.

Star Wars Galaxies...They completely ruined that game in 1 update.

Yes, that's part of how EVE-Online got popular.

Ive never come to understand how EVE online got so popular... To me it looks like a terrible game. :/

I've always wanted to get into EvE, I got the trial and there was just way too much reading to do once you logged in, I lost interest very fast.

Looking forward to Star Trek Online tho :P

Terranova3y2 wrote:I've always wanted to get into EvE, I got the trial and there was just way too much reading to do once you logged in, I lost interest very fast.

Looking forward to Star Trek Online tho :P

OMG me too! pure pwnage! I'm not even a trek fan and I can tell it's gonna beat the pants offa WoW

I think one of the better things about this game is the fact that the game does not restrict players to a 30-day subscription fee.

Rather, if there is an ingame product or item that is desirable, it can be purchased for a said amount of "Diamonds."

From current experiences, it seems that the auction house ingame allows for circulation of a diverse array of items which in other games would normally obtainable only to premium players. Not so in Runes of Magic.

Essentially, I believe this model keeps the Runes of Magic team from becoming too complacent with static income.

Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons also seem to be doing well from their Free2Play model.

Digression aside, its a neat game overall. Artemis server for the win. :D