So, I've been looking for quite a while now for an MMO that breaks the "click and wait" style of game play that other MMOs I've played have. I didn't want an invisible number based dice roll to tell me if I hit or miss or if I'm hit or missed. I wanted to actually dodge and aim attacks. I was told no such thing exists and that none ever would because of technical demands for such a thing. I got what I was looking for "mostly" with Dungeon Fighter. A 2D side scrolling fighting game MMO.
Well, now there's Vindictus. An free* action MMO that plays like Devil May Cry or God of War.
*There is no such thing as a free mmo. They all have ways of getting you to pry your wallet open. Some sneakier and more shameless than others.
Graphics:
+ Vindictus has graphics on par with american pay to play MMOs with glistening armor and motion captured attack animations
- Since the instanced missions are Peer to Peer, when someone on your team lags it makes everything look choppy. The frame rate drops like a stone
Story:
+/- Vindictus doesn't have much of a story, but what it does have is presented very well with solid voice acting and visceral imaging of a brutal war torn world where the gods themselves have commanded humanity to wipe out their enemy to the very last man or forever live in a godless world of ruin and slaughter.
Sound:
+/- The music doesn't stand out for me in this game. It's not grating, but you wont be bobbing your head to it either.
+ The voice acting is quite solid and enjoyable
Gameplay:
I know what you're thinking "Darkauthor, get to the game play please? We could care less about the rest of this crap." and that's why I saved it for last and forced you to read the rest! Suckers! Mwa ha ha ha ha!
+ Vindictus is an action game much like Devil May Cry or God of War. You get a light attack, hard attack, dodge, and block buttons and combos you can pull off with patterns of attack. You wont be cursing an invisible set of dice for your misses and death. It'll be completely because you wanted to try and get that one last attack in instead of rolling to the side and ended up with an axe in your skull
+ Vindictus doesn't have hordes of trash laying around for you to pick up. Loot is rare and almost always components for crafting items. What items you can't seem to find are available through the player auction houses which can all be accessed from a single location
+ The boss fights are frantic and only easy if you and your team work together and impossible if you just rush in. Only the female warrior can take more than 2 hits from a giant monster, and that's if she's good enough to block in time. Strategies like throwing grappling hooks to trip the boss or to latch onto one of their limbs resulting in a massive tug of war between you and it to try and keep the enemy hindered. These strategies are a MUST and, personally, my favorite part of the game. Enemies with multiple limbs will require more than one person to trip or disable.
+ Environments are fully destructible and almost anything can be picked up and used as a weapon, from barrels, fallen debris, to the petrified corpses of your enemies... You can even grapple your enemies and throw them into each other while they're still alive.
+ Grappling a significant part of the gameplay where you use the environment as a weapon against your enemies. From backing them into a wall and pounding them until it stops being funny, to throwing them into each other or into crates, pots, rocks, and walls. The physics engine is a more powerful weapon than any sword you'll come across.
+ Equipment is destructible. Remember when I said the female warrior can block giant monster attacks? Only a certain number of times before her shield shatters. Armor breaks off visibly as the enemies rip off your hard shell to get to your tasty pink insides.
- The instanced missions are peer to peer, not peer to server like in most MMOs. So when one of your team mates lag, you all lag.
- The first hand full of missions are free to join. But higher level dungeons require silver coins to join and each of your characters only get 50 of those a week severely limiting how much you can play in a week. You can switch to another character, but since there's currently only 2 classes to play....
+/- You will be visiting the same dungeon many times. But you can select "Oaths of Honor". Rules you can select to follow that will increase exp and gold rates such as "Vow to never use a health potion" which eliminates your ability to use healing items in that instance or "Vow to complete dungeon within 10 minutes" These keep dungeons challenging even after you've out leveled them.
+/- So far the stuff you pay for with real money is only aesthetic. Different hair styles, hair and skin colors. Most free* MMOs start this way and then slowly slip in stuff you need that you can only pay for with real life money until you have to drop a couple hundred bucks to partake in end game content or pvp in the free* MMO.
In conclusion, Vindictus is an incredible departure from traditional MMOs formulas and well worth trying for anyone into action games or MMOs.
Well, now there's Vindictus. An free* action MMO that plays like Devil May Cry or God of War.
*There is no such thing as a free mmo. They all have ways of getting you to pry your wallet open. Some sneakier and more shameless than others.
Graphics:
+ Vindictus has graphics on par with american pay to play MMOs with glistening armor and motion captured attack animations
- Since the instanced missions are Peer to Peer, when someone on your team lags it makes everything look choppy. The frame rate drops like a stone
Story:
+/- Vindictus doesn't have much of a story, but what it does have is presented very well with solid voice acting and visceral imaging of a brutal war torn world where the gods themselves have commanded humanity to wipe out their enemy to the very last man or forever live in a godless world of ruin and slaughter.
Sound:
+/- The music doesn't stand out for me in this game. It's not grating, but you wont be bobbing your head to it either.
+ The voice acting is quite solid and enjoyable
Gameplay:
I know what you're thinking "Darkauthor, get to the game play please? We could care less about the rest of this crap." and that's why I saved it for last and forced you to read the rest! Suckers! Mwa ha ha ha ha!
+ Vindictus is an action game much like Devil May Cry or God of War. You get a light attack, hard attack, dodge, and block buttons and combos you can pull off with patterns of attack. You wont be cursing an invisible set of dice for your misses and death. It'll be completely because you wanted to try and get that one last attack in instead of rolling to the side and ended up with an axe in your skull
+ Vindictus doesn't have hordes of trash laying around for you to pick up. Loot is rare and almost always components for crafting items. What items you can't seem to find are available through the player auction houses which can all be accessed from a single location
+ The boss fights are frantic and only easy if you and your team work together and impossible if you just rush in. Only the female warrior can take more than 2 hits from a giant monster, and that's if she's good enough to block in time. Strategies like throwing grappling hooks to trip the boss or to latch onto one of their limbs resulting in a massive tug of war between you and it to try and keep the enemy hindered. These strategies are a MUST and, personally, my favorite part of the game. Enemies with multiple limbs will require more than one person to trip or disable.
+ Environments are fully destructible and almost anything can be picked up and used as a weapon, from barrels, fallen debris, to the petrified corpses of your enemies... You can even grapple your enemies and throw them into each other while they're still alive.
+ Grappling a significant part of the gameplay where you use the environment as a weapon against your enemies. From backing them into a wall and pounding them until it stops being funny, to throwing them into each other or into crates, pots, rocks, and walls. The physics engine is a more powerful weapon than any sword you'll come across.
+ Equipment is destructible. Remember when I said the female warrior can block giant monster attacks? Only a certain number of times before her shield shatters. Armor breaks off visibly as the enemies rip off your hard shell to get to your tasty pink insides.
- The instanced missions are peer to peer, not peer to server like in most MMOs. So when one of your team mates lag, you all lag.
- The first hand full of missions are free to join. But higher level dungeons require silver coins to join and each of your characters only get 50 of those a week severely limiting how much you can play in a week. You can switch to another character, but since there's currently only 2 classes to play....
+/- You will be visiting the same dungeon many times. But you can select "Oaths of Honor". Rules you can select to follow that will increase exp and gold rates such as "Vow to never use a health potion" which eliminates your ability to use healing items in that instance or "Vow to complete dungeon within 10 minutes" These keep dungeons challenging even after you've out leveled them.
+/- So far the stuff you pay for with real money is only aesthetic. Different hair styles, hair and skin colors. Most free* MMOs start this way and then slowly slip in stuff you need that you can only pay for with real life money until you have to drop a couple hundred bucks to partake in end game content or pvp in the free* MMO.
In conclusion, Vindictus is an incredible departure from traditional MMOs formulas and well worth trying for anyone into action games or MMOs.
