Computer? Check. Network connection? Check. Caffeinated soda of choice within reach? Double check. Then we are ready and it is time! Welcome again to the one-man-show that is Flat Broke Gamer Review! The Blog that tries to help you in your low-cost attempt to find decent online games. I am your less-than-humble host, NoCashReq, and this week we shine our floodlights on:
Fallen Earth is a MMORPG originally developed by Icarus Studios and Fallen Earth, and now by Reloaded Productions, and was converted to its new FtP style as a part of its purchase by GamersFirst in Aug 2011.BLUF: This game tries to be too many different things at once, and is frustrating because of it. By trying to be a First Person Shooter (FPS)/Role Playing Game (RPG) hybrid, it fails at both, and although it has a really deep crafting and skill system, most people will not find this game to be their cup of tea.
SCORES
Playability: 1/5 Having to constantly switch from walk/interact mode to combat mode, lousy camera control outside of combat, and so many Heads-Up Display (HUD) windows makes this game frustrating to outright overwhelming. Casual players will not enjoy this game, unless their OCD kicks in and forces them to play through the initial pain until they get what Ctrl+K does and how to rapid swap between weapons.
Atmospherics: 3/5 This game has a great, if rather monochrome, look. Most of the terrain and characters look like they are straight out of Mad Max, but there is no real background music, and the movement, especially during combat, is stiff and robotic.
Learning Curve: 3/5 The sheer volume of the crafting system and skill system had me hopeful, as well as the six sided faction wheel, but because of the limitations on FtP players, unless you spend some cash you will take a LONG time leveling up, and even longer if you try to play one of the non-combat oriented styles of characters.
Community: 4/5 I had a lot of trouble trying to figure the game out, and the community was great about trying to answer questions and help me out. FtP players do not have access to the global chat, so you are a little bit limited, but the players I interacted with were great.
Support: 4/5 No real issues, and a regular update patten that adds more content, albeit mostly to the cash shop makes this a stable game.
Cash Value: 3/5 Buying the in-store cash at a rate of 800 G1C for $10 is a little lower than most games, but the items available all seem fairly well priced. Added to that is the First Time Buyer's Bonus, a veritable bag o' swag you get for the first purchase you make. The memberships are available at three different levels, and offer bonuses to leveling, crafting, and at the highest level, an AOE buff for you and all players with you. The downside is that not spending cash actually penalizes you.
OVERALL: 18/25 This game is not a bad game, but could do better with a lot less. FPS players will probably find it enjoyable, RPG players will find it annoying but manageable, but casual players will not make it past the first few level-ups.
BACKSTORY
Fallen Earth Takes place in and around the Grand Canyon, and one of the nice details that the game designers took in is the the topography is actually based on real imaging data from the world's biggest pothole. The world has been devastated by both nuclear war and a deadly pandemic, known as the Shiva Virus. Shortly before the world fell apart, the company GlobalTech creates the first fully functional cloning system, interconnected with a neural mapping program. This tech virtually guarantees the cloned person immortality. But with the collapse of modern society, the company ends up controlling what appears to be the only bastion of humanity, the Grand Canyon Province. As with any power system, several factions rise to try and claim dominance, and the competition soon falls apart into outright combat. There is a fairly rich and diverse play of characters included into the history of this game, the only one that I had a real problem buying into is that one of the last presidents of the USA is supposedly a member of a recognized terrorist group. No really, they have that in there.
Your character is one of the lucky people to have been plugged into the LifeNet Cloning system, and so up until the end of the world, you would have potentially survived forever. But the best laid plans of mice and men...
TUTORIAL
The creation process for your character starts with a choice of skin tones, hair, tattoos, face-paint, piercings, etc, basically how you look. There isn't a huge amount of options, none of your choices affect gameplay, and most of what you're offered can be changed later, so I chose some random stuff and launched the game.
You start playing by waking in a cloning facility with a woman's voice talking you through the first bit of the game. She introduces herself as Elena Winters, explains that the Hoover Dam Facility where you're at has been harvesting clones for various unsavory reasons, and that you have to do whatever it takes to get out. The game then tries its best to guide you through using one of the clunkiest, overloaded, overly complicated interface systems I have ever seen in a game. Seriously, this game could streamline down the controls and eliminate a lot of the HUD windows, increase the size of the text, and they would have so much more success at attracting players. Just eliminating the need to swap between walk/interact mode and combat mode would be an improvement that would make most people happy. That fact that I can be walking around trying to click on something on the ground, not see an enemy in all the clutter of the overhead map, and get killed before I can get off an attack was frustrating enough I quit after an hour of playing to calm myself. The first mission briefly introduces you to several people from what you will later learn are the six major factions of the game, lets you try both melee and ranged combat, and has you fight a bunch of nuclear mutant monsters that overwhelmed me before I could switch to combat mode. You then save the day by driving an ATV out of the facility, saving everyone and blowing yourself up in the process.
Yeah, you're dead...
Thanks for playing!
Only kidding, only kidding. Instead of being greeted by angels (or devils as the case may be) you go to a cut-scene that talks about the cloning process, how you are virtually immortal, and then flips to Elena hijacking the system. She tells you that you've been out for four years, and that the LifeNet core has been destroyed, and with it, all of the data for the clones. Your data was rerouted through a backup, but the data was damaged, so you'll eventually die now. Unless you find the alpha clones and integrate their DNA with your own.
And with that, you are given the choice of eight starter towns, and off you go! Each town has bonus skills,gear, and a horse for you, and they can all be visited, you aren't limited to only going to the one you choose. You're given quests by various NPCs you'll run into, and they are designed to help you try out most of the major functions in the game: combat, crafting, learning skills, maneuvering around the world, using your mutations, etc. Oh, didn't I mention that. Yeah, in addition to being a clone you are also a mutant. The Shiva Virus that nearly killed everyone also mutated the DNA of humans allowing us to have some special abilities. These are not enough to use solely for combat, no blades coming out of your hands or telekinesis, but they do provide a series of buffs and debuffs you can use. One of the first quests sends you off to get familiar with the Disrupt ability, which turns your next attack into a stunning blow (works best with melee). There are eleven different mutations, each with its own abilities. Using a mutation uses your Gamma energy, which replenishes over time or from consumables.
Playing through the first few quests, I found the questing process to be annoying. Every step of the way, two or three windows wanted to open, telling me my next goal, wanting me to click if I understood, detailing how to get the next part done, etc. Really, you could cut that down, get rid of some of the clutter, and it would function better. The rest of the HUD was the same. The chat window, while useful as most of the community was very helpful to me, can also be distracting and annoying. The upgrade button will minimize from covering the screen when you load up to a small reminder at the bottom of the screen, but it won't go away! Your ability bar at the bottom, the map on the right, everything is just too much clutter in your visual space, and everything is too crowded in it's own right. The map is USELESS, there is no way to tell one colored dot from any other dot of the same color, nothing is labeled, so you're almost better off without it.
Adding to the frustration were the controls. Not only do you have to switch from walk/interact mode to combat mode, but the number of key combinations to open windows, use skills, use abilities, and generally play the game almost calls for an extra hand or two. Shift+, Ctrl+, Alt+, and then just the regular keys, are you kidding me?
Next problem: The combat graphics looked more like old Goldeneye animations than what games come up with today. The characters barely bend as they move, their fighting is stiff and unresponsive, and it just didn't impress me at all. A simpler interface and controls, and more accurate physics in your animations would bring more people around to playing. But enough about what I didn't like. Let's get to the good stuff, that being the skill system and the crafting system.
LEARNING AND TRAINING
In addition to the quest and sales NPCs you're expecting in town, there are also trainers in all five of the major skill sets that allow you to refine your character as you progress. Skills are improved by spending Advancement Points (AP) which are earned from combat, leveling up, and other various activities. Combat is one of the easier ways to earn your AP, but if you are dead set on playing that pacifistic healer that keeps all your friends alive, there are ways to do it. Each skill set has a limit of how high it can go, based on percentages of your attribute scores. These are fairly straightforward stats that are also raised through spending AP but where skills are raised at a one to one rate, attributes go up at a five to one rate. As a base, three AP are earned every 1/10th of a level you raise. The idea behind this system is to allow you more control over who your character becomes, so if you want a really customizable character design system, here it is. You can be either a specialist in a few skills or have some ability with all, and there is no defining class or role that funnels you into one path or another. It would be altogether possible to have completely opposite skills in one character, go for all of the skills at once, or a more traditional approach from another game. Personally, I like having a role in the group laid out for me, as it allows me to automatically know what people will expect me to do, but I can also see the freedom with this system.
All along the way towards the level cap, which is a healthy 55 I might add, you have the chance to refine or broaden your character, either through AP spending or aligning with factions and sub-factions (which will be covered very shortly), but the main idea is that just like a real human, you should have the option to explore whatever takes your fancy. I think it was an ambitious goal, and I think that they left it a little too open, but I do applaud their efforts to allow you to craft your own character, whoever you think that character should be.
IF YOU BUILD IT
The other wide open system that's in this game is the crafting system. Literally anything that can be used in the game can be crafted, from weapons to armor, food, ammunition, even vehicles. Various vendors sell the recipes you'll need to be able to craft, and each crafting job takes time, but the nice thing is that that time is real time and keeps going while you do other things, INCLUDING logging off and spending time with the family. That's right, you can start a crafting project, leave it running overnight, come back the next day, collect whatever you built, start something new, and while you roam around in the game, the item is being built. It is actually possible to reach the level cap by being a merchant! That is, if you have enough time. FtP players are limited to only eight hours of crafting every 24 hour period, so unless you shell out some cash at some point, your crafting will be slower. There are other limitations on playing strictly sans cash, but I’ll get to them later.
CHOOSE YOUR SIDE
Upon reaching level 10, you have the option to join a faction. There are six, and they are arranged in a wheel pattern, with two allies, two enemies, and one arch rival. You start out as a Neutral, and can remain such for as long as you want, but while you will be able to go anywhere, and interact with any of the groups, you won't be able to do as much at any of the locations as if you join a faction. You also will get access to faction specific equipment and quests. There are even sub-factions with in the main six, some exclusive, some not, that allow you to further go down the rabbit hole of one ideal or another. The factions are:
Children Of The Apocalypse (CHOTA): Anarchists that blame society for the destruction of the world, they want nothing to do with restructuring technology or society. Their allies are the Vista and Travelers, enemies to the Techs and Lightbearers, and their arch rival are the Enforcers.
Travelers: Think gypsies, traders, and hippies rolled into one, this group specializes in crafting and trading. Their allies are CHOTA and Techs, the Vista and Enforcers are their enemies, and they hate with a fervent passion the ritualistic Lightbearers.
Techs: the last of the engineers and scientists, Techs want to reestablish the world through the advancement of science and learning. Techs ally themselves with the with the Enforcers and the Travelers, Butt heads with the Lightbearers and the CHOTA, and find no common ground with the Vista.
Enforcers: A military-style organization, the Enforcers believe in law and order, and want to build a world government to restore the earth. Their allies are the Techs and Lightbearers, their enemies are the Vista and the Travelers, and the CHOTA hold a special place in their cross-hairs.
Lightbearers: A blending of spiritualism and martial arts make the Lightbearers both the healers and sages of the new world. They practice various healing arts and the use of mutations. Lightbearers get along with Enforcers and Vistas, argue with Tech and CHOTA, and throw down against the Travelers.
Vista: Eco-centric beliefs lead the Vista to try to restore the natural world first. They believe that Man's role is as caretaker and protector of the Earth. They ally with CHOTA and Lightbearers, their enemies are the Enforcers and Travelers, and their main rival are the Techs.
Having this many sides to choose from, or none at all, means that you should find your spot in the world that you like, whether you hug trees, build robots, lead an army, or break it all down, there's a spot for it. Each of the factions bring their own specialized gear, skills, and various benefits to the table, as well as faction specific quests that will open up for you when you choose a side.
CASH SHOP
The cash shop is both a good thing and a bad thing for this game. If you spend any money, it is automatically a good thing, in that there is a “New Buyers Package” that gets tacked onto whatever you bought, with a hodge-podge mix of consumables and items from the store included. I also found that although the rate of exchange was a little lower than other games (800 G1C to $10), the prices were reasonable enough that it really was a wash. The membership levels are also reasonable and staggered so that however much of your paycheck you want to part with, you can probably find a plan that works for you.
The bad news is that if you spend no money at all, you face a penalty. We already mentioned the crafting limit of eight out of every 24 hours, well there is also a 25% loss in EXP, crafting is slower by 20% you only get one character slot, no global access for the chat system, and your customer support is limited to the online database. You can find the full list of limits and benefits of the memberships here:
http://www.gamersfirst.com/sites/www.gamersfirst.com.fallenearth/files/F2PMatrix.png
So unlike other games that just limit your access to certain content pieces, this game actually docks you for not paying. Not exactly what I would call a truly FtP experience.
THE FINAL SAY
So if you want a truly open ended design system, the ability to make your own ATV, and you like the feel of the world after the end of civilization, you might want to try this game. If you don't like complicated and frustrating interfaces and controls, no real direction laid out for you to start with, and you don't want to spend anything, then I would recommend that you keep looking. As for me, I do not see myself playing this one again on my own time.
That's all I wrote on this one, join us on Thursday for the month-long review of DC Universe Online, and be back next Monday for the MOBA Rise of Immortals. Until then, have a safe and enjoyable week of games, and I'll see you online!
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