Recent reviews by Mudtowner

Decent, but nothing amazing. In fact, not having played the first one, I'm a little unsure why everyone couldn't wait to play this one. Above average at best and what's this... Batman can't jump? Ok. Has to be a part of a move. There is no standard jump button. What silliness.

Took 8 attempts to create a character. Game kept crashing each time randomly through the process. When finally finished, server kept going down. Thought it was just a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ game until I read that when this went F2P, over 120,000 people signed up. Noticing that there was no server selection (could they really only have one for this game?), I wondered quite a few things about how well this game is supported. On day 3 I was able to log in for a little longer and play a little longer than before. Game seemed fun. Waiting to see how the game actually plays before doing a full review.

Hilarious, fun, fast gameplay. Entertaining to be sure with enough attention to details that keeps one coming back for more rounds. There are better FPS's out there, but this is a gem of a title. It gets so much right without burdening itself with the need to out-graphics any other shooter. It's free, so there's that too.

Creepy, immersive, and submersive. You feel as though you are really playing at the bottom of the ocean. The cut scenes are above average and the action is pretty good. Not as stunning as the first for some reason, probably missing the "wow, someone came up with this world" factor, but a solid title nonetheless.

Good and bad, but mostly on the bad side. Controls are clunky and unnatural feeling. For example, you move your character with the arrow keys, while using the ASDF keys to attack. Periodically, you have to use the mouse to select menu options, while other menu options require the X key. Camera control is done with the Q and E keys instead of the mouse.. ugh. Graphics are a mixed bag. The game has a cell-shaded look similar to Borderlands, but some elements of the architecture and background feel like they're rendered for a 800x600 display. Also, the game world you start in is a street that has three shops you can enter, a dungeon entrance, and a town square that is mysteriously blocked off from you entering it. The action is twitch-based though, which is a nice change of pace for an MMO (but I use this term lightly as nothing in it feels "massive"). Fighting sequences feel very anime-ish or like any Capcom/SNK fighter (flashy, glitzy, etc). It's free, so I dunno.. you might like it.

Diablo-esque loot slasher. Has a decently fun mix of Diablo and Gauntlet in gameplay. There are plenty of different types of weapons and armor that drop in the game, although after a while the variety feels very homogenized (i.e. not many epic wonders of the realm, more +4 short sword with random elemental damage bonus multiplier on it). By this standard, the game feels like a very basic Dungeons & Dragons game. They even put the four basic classes in the start-up lineup.

I played the co-op and single player modes. Co-op play is an overall fun, arcade-style go at the adventure. The "lite" story campaign feels more like a linear stand-up arcade game, so you just sort of go with it as you would any other arcade game. Co-op was quite a bit easier with 2 players, so I have a feeling that the game didn't scale in difficulty with more players.

Graphics are dated by today's standards. They suffice for a game that will most likely be relegated to the "Heavy Sale" category for Steam sales promos. One thing that bugged me was the grunting noises all the NPCs made for talking sounds. I would have preferred silence or a tone as the dialogue unfolded. Then again, the story wasn't all that compelling. There are camera issues as well - which, while annoying, aren't gamebreaking.

Pros:

Decent co-op (fast paced and minimally bogged down with the RPG element)
Has both action and RPG elements, neither sacrificed more than the other
Plays fast and is a good boredom buster

Cons:

Graphics aren't kind on the eyes
NPCs grunt-speak
Weapons & armor are yawners
Camera is possessed by gremlins

Overall: C+

It's an older title now, so should be only a cheap sales or bundle pickup. Nothing to go out of your way for on this one.

For a free monthly subscription, one sure can't complain a lot about Forsaken World. The graphics and character/npc/mob animations are crisp, clean, and detailed. The game world feels big and combat is very anime-ish and fun. There are a few minor gameplay issues, but it is free after all.

Awesome cell-shaded graphics, cool voice-over and music, make BL a real blast to play. Total loot-shooter (similar to Diablo). Tons of different weapon/stat combinations. And a fun (up to) 4-person online play.