World Class Villains

I’ve also been beta testing Fallen Earth. With the NDA gone…

Conclusion:

– An indie MMO through and through that is unlikely to get more than a niche audience.

– It’s sort-of sandboxy and sort-of hardcore (travel times will kill casual play) which might have appeal to certain corners of the market.

– It isn’t the prettiest title nor the most technically proficient title being released either.

Combat:

– More FPS-ish than most MMOs, but the aiming feels crunchy (rather than smooth) and melee combat is a series of ugly, desyncronised animations that you aren’t sure if you’ve hit or not.

– You have to watch your ammo since you can run out.

– Lots of different weapon types, both ranged and melee. Ever wanted to attack someone with a corkscrew? Here’s your chance.

Crafting:

– Your character will scavenge materials from the land, buy books from vendors and can learn to create pretty much anything in the game.

– Very broad and very deep – large number of different crafting types and different items that you can craft, up to and including vehicles – but the actual crafting aspect is ‘click the button, run around for 10 minutes until you hear the BOOUNG sound’. I smile at the thought of bashing post-apoc mutant animals with a 2-by-4 while apparently also mixing up some relish at the same time.

– Crafting is much cheaper than buying and every player will probably have a crafting mule before too long to supply their main with goods.

Character:

– Characters earn APs as they level that can be invested in stats (5 APs = 1 stat point increase) or in skills (with a 1 for 1 conversion rate).

– There currently is no way to retcon AP points and it is extremely easy to gimp a character by trying to make them too versatile.

– Can have a wide variety of appearances, especially as you start customising your clothes through crafting.

Communication:

– Apparently fully global chat is going to be turned off and global chat will be limited to sectors.

– It is functional but not flashy.

– Didn’t try out teaming.

Content:

– Post-apocalyptic desert is a great setting for a world that is sometimes empty.

– There are plenty of normal MMO quests that suit a title developed over 8 years.

– Beta testers had concerns that very few players had tested out endgame content. How well PvP and conflict towns actually work will be seen in open beta / release.

Collectables:

– There are some for longer-term quest goals.

– Not sure about collectable loot.

Competition:

– Apparently a third of the world is for PvP.

– Higher level characters will pwn hard lower level characters. Gaps in AP level, equipment level and skill level can’t be overcome easily.

Community:

– There are some die-hard Fallen Earth fanbois who often seem to think that “Modern MMO players have it too easy – MMOs used to kick you in the nuts and that’s a sign of good game design!”.

– This is a game that will need to grow like EvE in terms of community size if it is going to survive.

Contingencies:

– MMOdom’s most misleading tutorial. It’s fun, but you start with a max level character. Guess what happens at the end of the tutorial?

– Sometimes the graphics look passable, other times it will look like you’re back in 1998 and your Voodoo II is about to die.

– Animations are often very jerky. Syncronisation is a big issue.

– Major problem: if you enter an area with a lot of new buildings / textures, expect to see a massive drop in frames per second as FE loads them all up. Also expect to see a lot of things ‘pop’ in your field of view. A huge weakness of Icarus’ engine is that it appears to be bad at loading up new models / textures in the background so grinds the PC to a halt every time it hits that situation.