Rise of Immortals Review #1

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They may take our lives, but they will never take OUR FREE GAMES!!!!! Fellow Cheapskates, we are back in action at FBGR, and we are off and running with the MOBA:

Rise of Immortals was developed and produced by Petroglyph Games, and was released only seven short months ago in September, 2011. It is currently available via the Steam Store.

BLUF: Although the game developers claim that the persistent character growth is a feature, having to train every character you want to play until they are viable is not something I want. This game definitely has better casual player appeal, with several PVE maps in addition to the PVP maps, but it is a second tier game in comparison to the benchmark, League of Legends.

SCORES

Playability: 2/5 If you've played similar titles, you'll pick this game up easily. If not, the short tutorial, easily ignored reminders for skill tree and artifact slot unlocks, and easily missed clicks due to a very tight aiming device will frustrate you.

Atmospherics: 4/5 The game has a consistent style to the maps, interesting character designs, and the background music is nice. The optional skins for the champions leaves something to be desired, as they are mostly color changes, with no real difference from the original.

Learning Curve: 4/5 Each character has a unique style of gameplay, and can be customized for the player's preferences, allowing you to find your optimum build and strategy.

Community: 4/5 PVE matches do not differentiate according to character level, so it was common for me to follow someone around in the match 20+ levels above me, and just from that you can learn a lot. No real complaints about language or rude behavior, but no real hands held out to newbies either.

Support: 4/5 I had no issues with the game, and the crew at Petroglyph run regular updates and add new content at least once a month.

Cash Shop: 3/5 Prices seemed fair and reasonable, especially since the game hasn't been out long enough to have a huge number of characters available.

OVERALL: 21/30 There are a few things I found annoying, but overall I felt this was a good game. I think I will retry it in about a year, if it's still up and running at that point, to see how it has matured.

Backstory

Rise of Immortals is based in the same world as Petroglyph's game, “Guardians of Graxia,” released 2010 both as a board game and online game. Graxia is a world of floating continents, connected by portals from one to the next. The original game was a turn-based strategy game, featuring the races of Graxia as your armies. Rise of Immortals takes place several centuries later, when the crystals that power the magic of the world and keep their continents afloat start to lose power and die. After the crash of one continent, the people of Graxia find out that nothing can be done to permanently stop the decay of the crystals. Destroying one of the crystals, however, sends its charge to the other crystals, and war breaks out, as every faction fights to protect their crystals while destroying everyone else's. In a desperate bid to stem the tide of death, champions, called Immortals, are chosen from among the races and out in the world to d battle. The losing forces watch as their crystals are destroyed by the victors.

Each Immortal has their own backstory, and each has their own reasons for fighting, but in the long run, it all comes down to survival.

TUTORIAL

The tutorial starts you with Kyrie, a Melee DPS Immortal that excels at single target attacks. The announcer walks you through getting around, the various abilities that Kyrie has, and the major objectives of the match. What I found lacking was that there was no persistent gear tutorial or guide. In other games, there is at least a pop-up window that says, in effect, “Hey! Look over here! There's stuff you've earned that you need to look at or you will be left behind by your competitors.” In this game, the icons for your skills improvement flashes, but that icon is tiny on the screen, and the flash is barely noticeable. I stumbled onto the artifact page by accident, just in trying everything out.

MATCH ME UP

After you have learned the basics, your next choice is Immortal selection. This decision is more important here than in other games, because of one simple thing: Each Immortal must be leveled up independently. In other MOBA games, you level up, unlocking persistent skill or gear slots, and you can assign them to any character you choose. Rise of Immortals, however, ties progression directly to the Immortal, meaning that if you start with Kyrie, and decide that she isn't your style, you'll have to start from scratch on the next immortal you try. There are currently 21 Immortals to choose from, and each is labeled as to their role in the game (DPS, Support, Tank, etc.). Oh, and that's one role per Immortal, these guys are not designed to be flexible enough to cover more than one.

Once you have chosen your Immortal, you will be sent to The Hub, a non combat map where Immortals hang out in between matches. You'll be able to see other players, their level, if they are in a group, and if they are queued up for a match. This is also where you have access to your skill tree and artifact page, the two persistent stat bonuses each immortal has. Skills unlock every level, where the artifacts unlock in groups every ten levels, to a level cap of 50. You also have access to the global marketplace, where you can buy artifacts, various buffs, skins, etc. Artifacts and Immortals can be bought with earned points from the matches, but all other purchases are cash.

At any time in the hub you can change immortals or queue up for a match. There are currently four match options available: 1v1 PVE, 2v2 PVP, 3v3 PVE, and 5v5 PVP. Each has its own map and goals, and each awards different amounts of permanent EXP to your Immortal. You can see the number of people in the queues, which is nice to know so you aren't waiting forever for a match, and 1v1 PVE is always available as a practice venue. While I played, I saw no one enter the 2v2 queue, but there were plenty of players in the 3v3 and 5v5 maps. Solo and team match-ups in PVP are done by level, but not all players are in the same level bracket. Rather, each team is given an equal amount of players at about the same level. In the last 5v5 game I played, each team had one player at level 17, several players around 6 or 7, and I think we each had one player at level 1. needless to say, the team fights were anything but balanced. If your high level player was there, you dominated until the other team's leader showed up. It's nice that they want to let everyone play without waiting until there are enough lvl 50's on to make a match for them, but this system is not balanced.

PVE matches are a lot of fun, and will really appeal to the casual player, as even the lowest level player will be able to contribute. The 3v3 Map includes two in-lane monsters that stop you and your creeps (NPC low level forces that auto-spawn and head down the lane until they meet resistance) until you are high enough in level to kill them off, and a dragon that is released from the enemy base once you destroy it. The dragon heads straight down the map to your base, ignoring all terrain, and only attacking if it is attacked, until it either dies or destroys your base.

YOU ARE A UNIQUE SNOWFLAKE...

Just like most MOBA games, there are a variety of maps, Immortals, and team compositions to try. The differences in this game are where it succeeds or fails:

Persistent Immortal Growth: Fail. Having to train every single one of them to get their skills and artifacts sets filled up is slow and annoying, whereas other games you develop as a player and unlock the slots you need, then apply them to every character you choose to play.

PVE maps: Success. Having separate, interesting, fun challenges to do that don't require players on the other side means you have a great way to learn your character in an easier environment.

Larger Maps: For the PVE, larger maps are a success as they allow more exploration, more minion camps, and more opportunities to have some fun. For PVP, it's a failure, as it means it is far more easy to steamroll a team that doesn't pull together fast enough for a team fight.

FINAL VERDICT

This game is good, but just not good enough yet. In comparison to other MOBA titles, it has some originality, but where it matters most, the PVP matches, it doesn't compare well enough for a seat at the big table.

That's it for this review, join us next time as we take a crack at the MMO Forsaken World. Till then, goodnight you kings of Mainstream, you princesses of New Content!

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League of Legends Review #1

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FBGR is back again! Welcome, welcome! In case this is your first time here, I'm NoCashReq, the humble host of your weekly peek into the crazy mixed-up world of Free-To-Play (FTP) online multiplayer games. This week I’ll be taking a look at:

That's right, we're diving into the world of MOBAs with the League! MOBA stands for Multiplayer Online Battle Arena, and for strategy enthusiasts, this is one of the many game styles that will appeal to you. Players are broken into teams that compete for specific goals that win you the match. League of Legends (LOL) was developed and published by Riot Games in 2009, and is currently played in several e-sports leagues competitively around the world.

WARNING: I feel I must admit that this review is not entirely without bias. Not that I work for, or in any way profit from, Riot Games. Rather, I have played LOL for close to a year, so I can't really approach it with absolute objectivity. I love it, and I play it more than any other game. And so, you must take everything I am about to say with a grain of salt.

There.

You were warned.

Now onto the review!

BLUF:

This is a complex and surprisingly diverse game with a style to please virtually any gamer, especially those who love strategy. This is a somewhat difficult game to learn initially, but well worth the work to unlock the variety of available champions, runes, and masteries. Addictive, challenging, and guaranteed to never be the same match twice, LOL is only hampered by its occasional lags and glitches, which the company constantly works to correct.

SCORES:

1. Playability: 4/5 This is not the easiest game to pick up and play. Remember way back when I talked about how if my wife could learn it, it would get a 5? Well, she tried. Just for me, she tried to learn. And she couldn't get it. For someone who has played a lot of games, you’ll pick up the controls fairly quickly, but if you've only ever played Solitaire on your computer, you will have to work to understand all the controls. The game does allow for a complete overhaul of the keysettings, and also has an option to use “smartcasting” that works well with several champions and simplifies playing.
2. Atmospherics: 5/5 The look of this game is a unique blend of fantasy and steampunk, with a lot of variety. Each of the champions has at least three skins available, and the maps are great without being too distracting. The music is low key, and the announcer, text messages, and player interface are good without being too distracting. The only thing to complain about that I could find was that the skins are only available for cash, which is hardly worth complaining about because even the basic skins are good.
3. Community: 3/5 There are just as many great players on this game as there are players that you want to leap through your modem into their living room and strangle them with their own mouse cable. Riot's “Tribunal” does help to curb some people's foul language and insulting habits, but don't be surprised if you need to “mute” someone's text comments to make it through the game with your temper in check.
4. Learning Curve: 5/5 Part of the reason that the game is difficult to learn is that there is so much available to you strategy-wise that it's like drinking from a fire hose. There are (at the time of writing this) 92 champions to choose from, each with different abilities and play-styles, and more always on the way. You will not have trouble challenging yourself to continuously improve.
5. Cash Value: 6/5 All of the things sold by Riot in the game store that affect gameplay are available without any cash investment. All of them. In addition, the experience and Influence Points (IP) boosts available are well priced for their value. And all of the champions and their skins eventually hit the rotating discounts, though the base costs are pretty reasonable.
6. Support: 4/5 LOL regularly has issues with lag, glitches, abilities that don't interact right, and various other problems that will frustrate you at some point. The good thing is that Riot works to correct every problem brought to them, the glitches do get ironed out eventually, and constant tweaks to the game ensure that the playing field stays relatively even.

OVERALL: 27/30 Definitely worth trying out, the only gamers I can see that wouldn't like this game are the ones that only like to go it alone, as there is no real single player mode. This game will not let you get bored easily, and will likely continue to grow and develop. Try it. You'll like it.

BACKSTORY

The most amusing way to learn the backstory to this game is this 60 second video:

For those of you averse to videos, people talking really fast, or if your connection is acting up, here’s my stab at explaining the history behind the game.

The people of Runeterra have battled each other for ages, banding together in clans and countries and competing for land, resources, honor, and everything else imaginable. The primary form of combat was magical and the vast amounts of mystical energy being slung back and forth slowly began to tear the lands apart. Earthquakes and natural disasters became more and more prevalent until an alternative was suggested. Smaller battles in a controlled area, and limited to a handful of combatants, could be used to settle disputes, and limit the abuse to the the rest of the world. The Institute of War was created to house these battles, and thus the League of Legends was born. The countries of Demacia, Noxus, Ionia, separate city-states, and various other tribes and clans are regularly represented in the battles held there. Alliances between the factions are fluid, often changing from battle to battle. The only constant is that someone will win, and someone will lose.

TUTORIAL

The tutorial levels are designed to walk you through the basic concepts and controls used to play the game using one of the easier to understand champions, Ashe.

Ashe is an archer with cold based abilities, and is one of the recommended champs for new players. The standard keysettings place movement and basic attacks on the right button of your mouse, special abilities are triggered with Q, W, E, and R respectively, and if the ability is aimed, it is triggered with the left mouse button. Two “Summoner Spells” are also available, triggered on the D and F keys. These spells are available to all players, regardless of the champion you use, from a list of 14 spells (two of which are available only in standard matches, and one is only for the Capture-and-hold mode). The “announcer” for the regular matches instructs you during the tutorial and highlights the information it is trying to show you in a step-by-step method until it has covered the basic concepts, then it lets you find your own way to finish the levels. It introduces you to the minions (small bots that are periodically spawned, travel down the lanes on the map, and auto-attack the first enemy it runs into), turrets (stationary bots that have high health, a ranged attack, and will attack your champion if you are the only target in range or if you attack the enemy champion while in range), the inhibitors (strategic points in your enemy’s base that, if destroyed, cause your base to start spawning super minions), and the nexus (THE major strategic point, destroy this in a standard game and you win).

Once you’ve completed the tutorial, or if you want to skip it, there are two other modes that the game recommends for you to learn from before moving on to the PVP modes. Co-op vs AI will match you and four other players against an all bot team at either beginner or intermediate levels. Custom games also allow you to play against bots, however, you can use it to set up any number of variations, from 1v1 to a full 5v5, and with real players or bots filling any of the slots. For new players these two modes are fairly easy, allow for modest Experience and Influence Points (IP) earnings, and let you experiment with the free week champions against predictable enemies. The bots in Co-op are smarter than the custom games, with the intermediate bots being the most likely to act like a real player, but they generally stay to the lanes and will only chase you down past their minion wave to a certain point. One popular game style has developed in custom games, ARAM or All Random All Middle. All players are assigned one of their champions at random, and players adhere to an honor code of staying in only the center lane, and not retreating past their outermost functional turret.

PVP

The main part of the game is in the PVP matches. There are three maps available currently, and each has several options of set-up. Classic games can either be played 5v5 on the Summoner’s Rift map or 3v3 on the Twisted Treeline map. They can be played with normal champion selection, draft champion selection, or with ranked draft selection. 5v5 matches are used for several eSport tournaments around the world, and are usually what people consider a standard game.

The other available map is for Dominion games, called the Crystal Scar. Teams for Dominion are 5v5, and normal or draft selection are available. Unlike the other maps, Dominion is a capture-and-hold style, with five Nodes at the points of the pentagram shaped map. It’s a fast paced game, usually with lots of give and take, both in kills and node control. Holding more nodes erodes the points of the other team, and the more you have, the faster it goes.

Normal selection is probably the most common for all maps. Players on each team select at the same time, and don’t see the other team until the load screen. Both forms of draft are more competitive, as it allows each team to “ban” champions from use, and selection of both the bans and the champions to be used switches back and forth between teams. Also, only one of each champion is allowed in the game, so if the other team (or even one of your teammates) picks your favorite, you’d better have a backup. Teams are allowed to swap champions between two players who both have access to them, so early players picking for later teammates is possible.

Once past the set-up, there are a few major archetypes, but the overall progression is similar for all players. Champions start at level one (or three for Dominion) and with a small amount of gold. They gain experience and gold for killing minions, neutral monsters found in the jungle, turrets, inhibitors, and the enemy team. Each level they go up, they gain a skill point to activate or improve one of their four abilities. Gold is spent at the marketplace next to the spawn point to buy items that improve their stats and provide special abilities or effects. Many of the items are used to build better items, so early investments are converted to better gear as the game progresses. Winning in a Classic game is accomplished by destroying the enemy team’s nexus, and in Dominion it is accomplished by depleting the enemy team’s starting score of 500 to zero.

That’s the simple side of it. The really complex part comes from the team dynamics and from the overall strategy and coordination that a team puts together. In a standard game, do you split your team into two players top and bottom lanes and one middle, or do you have someone who will use the jungle as a “fourth lane.” In 3v3, are you two champs in the bottom lane and one top, or does someone want to try jungling here? Dominion games are so fluid it’s almost impossible to have a preset strategy, so you have to constantly have to readjust your thinking and your route of attack. Who will be your major “carry” characters, the ones who will deal the major amounts of damage and win the team fights for your team? What balance between Ability Power (AP) and Attack Damage (AD) characters will you have? The possibilities are endless.

WHO WILL YOU CHOOSE?

Individual choices are just as important. Summoners start at level one, and increase to level 30. This level carries over games, and unlocks additional mastery and rune options. Masteries are completely free points that are assigned before a match in the mastery trees (offense, defense, and support) to improve stats. Runes are purchased in the in-game store using IP, and again, boost stats. These are the first two pieces of what most players refer to as a champion’s “build.” The third part to that build is the items bought in game, and there are usually two or more builds that maximize your potential in a certain archetype for that champion. The most widely recognized archetypes are: AP Carry, focusing on building powerful abilities; AD Carry, which develops the speed and damage output of your auto-attacks and can be either ranged or melee depending on the champ; Tank, usually the initiator of major team fights, these characters can absorb massive amounts of damage and have some type of crowd control; Junglers, those champions that specialize in using the “fourth lane” to gain gold, experience and “gank”, or surprise attacks; Support Champions have healing and mana recouping powers and are usually matched with one of the carries; and lastly, Solo Lane Champions with high survivability, and can dish out enough damage to defend their lane by themselves. Some champions only really have one type that they fit, most have one or two strong archetypes. How you build defines your game strategy to some degree, and affects the team strategy. The variety of builds, combined with the fact that there are almost 100 champions means that it is very seldom for you to find any two games alike. Added to that is an option to set your abilities on a “smartcast” setting, where the computer will fire off the ability towards the cursor’s current location without left clicking, or self-cast if your cursor is over an invalid target. This allows you to snap off spells faster, but doesn’t work with all champion abilities. For those that it does work for, it can be extremely useful.

CASH VALUE

The market for League of Legends has the champions, variant skins, Summoner experience point boosters, IP Boosters, bundle deals, Runes, extra rune pages, etc. But here’s where this game earns extra credit: anything that directly affects gameplay can or, for runes, must be bought with Influence Points (IP), which are earned by playing the game. Match wins earn more points than losses, and the first win in a 24 hour period earns bonus IP on top of that. Each week there is a rotation of free champions that allows you to play with those you don’t have unlocked, and champions can be unlocked for permanent access with either IP or cash. That means that although you will see people who shell out money for every new champion or to get the cool looks of a special skin, you won’t run into anyone who has “paid to win,” nor will you ever need to pay to fill your runes or get all the champions you like. EVER. In addition, if you do shell out some greenbacks, Riot regularly has champions and skins on sale, and older champions have been reduced in price, so if you watch for it, you can get some champs for a steal.

The EXP and IP boosts are also reasonably priced, and have two different options of depletion. You can either get boosts that have a time limit (# of days) or boosts that only apply when you win (# of wins). And if you buy both the timed and win boosts they stack on each other, so no matter how often you play or how good you are, the boosts are a good investment.

CONCLUSION

Go download this game; it is definitely worth your time. Hours, days, and even months of fun and addictive gameplay are in store for you.

Later this week, I’ll sum up the four games this month, let you know which game will be the long review for next month, and tune in next week when I review the chibi heavy Elsword.

Till then!

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