I HAD forced my sleepy eyes to stay open till midnight on Monday last week all for bragging rights: I wanted to be among the first to play Warhammer Online: Age Of Reckoning (WAR).
Like the 2,000-plus other gamers here who paid double for the collector's edition pre-order, I had a four-day headstart. Like them, I wanted to be as far ahead of the gamers who did not pre-order.
However, when I finally got started, I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. There must have been hundreds of other dark elf players roaming the starting area, all trying to kill the same monsters to complete the beginning quests.
There were too many players and too few monsters to kill. Unabashedly, I rushed to the front and joined the hunt, like some ugly Singaporean cutting queue to get his hands on toy cats during the McDonald's Hello Kitty rush.
The popularity of this highly anticipated game is no surprise. WAR is expected to give World Of Warcraft (WOW) a serious run for its money. Certainly, it has got off to a good start - selling 1.5 million pre-order cards to retailers even before the game has been launched.
WAR is all about competition. You must choose between the good Order side and the bad Destruction guys. After that, you can create only characters linked to the chosen side.
There are three races on each side and three to four classes per race, which brings the tally to a total of 20 classes to choose from.
Different strokes
The diversity of the different classes, each with different combat skills and fighting styles, is splendid.
I kicked off as the dark elf sorcerer, who specialises in unleashing high-damage spells from afar as well as crowd-control skills, which can root the enemies.
The black ork is a melee tank with huge muscles but a tiny brain which simply lives to rush to the frontline while the chaos zealot heals from afar.
Now, for the good guys.
In this camp, there are folks like the dwarven engineer who can set up gun and flame turrets.
The elven archmage is a master of offensive and defensive magic and the warrior priest is able to clobber with his giant hammer while healing himself at the same time.
Like WOW, the characters have a cutesy feel to them and you can complete quests solo or in a group.
However, the real fun lies in player-versus-player (PvP) combat. I especially enjoyed the 'scenarios' in which one team of about 20 players gangs up against another team from the other side. Not only must you be fast with your fingers to move and unleash attacks, but you also need good teamwork and smart strategy to win.
Levelling up
In WAR, you can actually gain experience points (XP) and level up with higher-level characters without completing even one single player quest, because you also gain XP by fighting PvP combats.
More importantly, you can get better loot in PvP than questing and the best loot comes from raiding the castle of the opposing side.
Each character also gets his own 'Tome Of Knowledge', which makes a journal of every little achievement you make in this game. It tells you of your quests, the bestiary of creatures you encounter, the titles you have won for your brave deeds and more.
While the virtual world of WAR is huge, it did not offer the same feeling of grandeur as WOW. I still remember the first time my gnome mage walked into the huge Ironforge dwarven halls. I had to stop to admire the magnificent craftsmanship. The dwarven halls in WAR, by comparison, are bland.
However, don't get me wrong. WAR is still a top-notch game and excels particularly in massive PvP combat, which thrills serious gamers like me.
Cheat sheet
THE dark elf sorceress and the human bright wizard are good choices for getting plenty of experience points (XP) from player-versus-player (PvP) combat.
That is because they both unleash the highest amounts of damage from a distance. The more damage your mete out, the more kills you make and the more XP you get.
At level eight, you gain access to your first 'morale' skill. With it, you can shoot a magic bolt that does twice the damage of normal bolts. With that additional spell on hand, you will even be able to take out the elven archers one-on-one. (They often underestimate your ability to kill.)
A high-damage class also means you get to kill the monsters faster. Therefore, you will level up quicker compared to, say, a melee- or healer-class character.
Melee tanks are crucial for PvP combats because they lead the charge into the attack. They are also the best choice for running straight into the fray to capture flags and strategic positions.
The good thing about healers is that many of them have offensive skills. The archmage, for example, is described as a healer but he or she can outdamage a sorceress at level five, although at higher levels the healer will lose out.
This article was first published in Digital Life, The Straits Times on Sep 24, 2008.
