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This is a free online MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) that you can download by going to the Endless Online website. I have an old account on EO and I have recently dusted it off to grab some screens for this review. The game is still in development, and has been for a while now, but it has basic facets that still bring about the "online" RPG experience. So what's the story behind this game? Well...strange...I don't remember there being any set destination in mind. To be blunt, the game is somewhat free roaming. There are various little quests you can take such as a pirate quest that allows you to search an ancient pyramid, or a witch quest that allows you to help an apprentice witch. However, there are level restrictions and you can only access certain areas when you reach a certain level and such. Story is pretty much nonexistant.
You can communicate with various people from all over the place, trade items, form parties, create guilds and more. You can also change classes now (this was not previously available) and equipment alters stats whereas before, you mostly wore what you thought looked cool. Warriors excel at damage ratio and STR, Priests can learn holy magic, etc. While I say this, there is also a way to make warriors learn priest and wizard spells and you can form what I would call "class combos" in this way. There are a couple of new monsters too to help (or harm) newcomers. You can also make good friends online and establish relationships and the like.
I like the calm and cool music that the game provides and it gives the game a feeling of mystery and adventure. The graphics are very simple. I can't really say anything good to defend the graphics really, but it's a free game and I understand that the creators of the game aren't game designer professionals. The game is "anime" inspired. What I mean is that you can expect to see some ridiculous looking characters walking around. Girls in school uniforms wielding an axe, nearly naked guys with frog faces, guys that look like pandas...yeah, that kind of stuff. However, with these kinds of games, you have to be wary of certain locals. They may lie and cheat to get ahead, and you will hear more than your fair share of "newb"...even if it isn't directed at you personally. Leveling up requires the patience of a saint too. You may notice that I didn't specify how many saves the game uses or how much it costs to save your game. Well, MMORPGs tend to auto-save when you quit or in the event that you disconnect when too many people are using the server. Those are only a couple of reasons, but that's why the game uses auto-save.
Having said that, you will encounter problems with people on virtually any MMORPG. Phantasy Star Online, Phantasy Star Universe, and many others I'm sure. In the latest version of Endless Online (version .28 as of this typing), there seems to be more bothersome users online than ever. Players are constantly using different methods to hack and cheat in the game. The most popular method seems to be "Speeding", where a character can move and attack many times faster than usual. This can be used to PK (Player Kill) other gamers easily as well as steal kills, hog experience points and dropped items, and slow down the server when too many people do it. The game has spammers too, which are basically just people who can post messages very quickly. Depending on how you spammed in the past, you could disconnect players around you and you had to ignore the spammer to prevent yourself from being disconnected from the server. Now, it is used to flood the global chat (a chat where you can speak to everyone, no matter where they are). Finally, there are scammers, who will trick you out of items, regardless of how rich they are. They are generally people who know the ins and outs of the game, item values and such, and will rip off the naive and unknowledgable. This can be done by switching items in a trade and so on and so forth.
Endless Online's community has also plummeted. You can expect loads of offensive language from kids 13 and possibly younger as well as various other forms of misconduct. The community may have taken a hit for several reasons, but one obvious reason seems to be due to the lack of any significant updates to the game. If you've been playing the game for a while, none of those things may bother you as much. The game still has potential and I like the various costumes you can put together. The game is STILL one of the better free MMORPGs too. Finally, let me remind you that many of the negative things that I stated still occur in other online games. Community issues are generally uncontrollable and people will always want to cheat...I mean, let's face it; I'd be speaking a whole lot of BS if I were to say otherwise. Do I still play the game? I do, but only occassionally. - Written by Vyse the determined - |
