Hope this review hasn't been done b4, searched the archives and didn't find anything related...
Cabal Online is a MMORPG created by ESTsoft, which is probably the first time I have ever played any of its games.
Now, onto the review. When I started out Cabal about a month ago, I was already fascinated by its beautiful stylish combat. The sad part is, in the beginning, it's not too stylish. That's okay, that's pretty understandable. Now I'm a level 53 warrior and the skills do look pretty damn cool.
Other than a standard leveling system, Cabal also introduces a little twist: the skill leveling system. The leveling and skill leveling systems are totally different from each other, meaning that you may be high leveled, but another player many times below your level may have a higher skill level. Needless to say, both are equally important. Level to do new quest and wear nicer equips/etc, skill level for totally badass looking skills.
To train your skill level, you just simply need to increase it just by simply using skills and whacking the mob. However, this is pretty much where the game fails. It takes pretty long (by my standards) to train your skills, and you definitely don't wanna be high leveled without the badass skills. There are a few ways to get around; one way is to simply punch the monster, another way is to craft/buy adept armour. Punching is slow and tedious, but it allows you to level both your magic and sword at the same time (though far slower than just training a single skill at a time). The latter adds extra skill exp gained per hit, pretty much straight forward, so I won't go into detail.
The second feature of Cabal is the combo mode, earned at level 10. Not only does it allow chaining of skills, it also gives the skills 100% accuracy, more power, etc etc. To utilize it properly, you will have to time your skills correctly. A bar will appear at the top, and you will have to time your attacks correctly with the bar. It does keep the player awake and makes for nice fighting too. You can find guides on how to combo on the internet so I won't talk about how to use it. Needless to say, if your computer is laggy, you will have a harder time comboing.
At each 10 level interval, the player will gain powerful new abilities,from aura mode to battle mode 1 to battle mode 2, etc. One thing I must congratulate Cabal about is the battle mode 2 gained a level 50, which is totally worth your trouble getting there. Each class will summon a special astral weapon unique to their class, which is really fun to use. Though it drains alot of sp (go find out what that is by yourself), it provides you with near unstoppable power. My warrior gained the astral scythe, and trust me, I had lotsa fun with it.
The character classes too are really unique, ranging from warrior to blader to force archer to force blader. All in all, there are 6 character classes, all unique in their own way. Take the force blader example. Half blader, half wizard, it's basically a magical swordsman, using a katana in one hand and an orb in the other. You don't really find magical swordsmen in other MMORPGs now do you? (correct me if I'm wrong)
Finally, the graphics. Besides the wicked looking skill graphics, the enviroment looks pretty average. Not saying it's bad looking, just...average. The music for the game is pretty good too.
Overall, here are my ratings on a 10 point system:
Gameplay: 6.5/10 (skill grinding is pretty repetitive)
Originality: 5/10 (what it has done, other MMORPGs have done. Kudos to the skill leveling and combo system though.)
Music: 7/10
Graphics: 8.5/10 ( the skill graphics are awesome, only pulled down slightly by the enviroment graphics)
Replay: 6.5/10
Overall: 6.7/10 Don't let the score get you down though, it still is a pretty good game.
This is my first review, hope ya enjoy!
Cabal Online is a MMORPG created by ESTsoft, which is probably the first time I have ever played any of its games.
Now, onto the review. When I started out Cabal about a month ago, I was already fascinated by its beautiful stylish combat. The sad part is, in the beginning, it's not too stylish. That's okay, that's pretty understandable. Now I'm a level 53 warrior and the skills do look pretty damn cool.
Other than a standard leveling system, Cabal also introduces a little twist: the skill leveling system. The leveling and skill leveling systems are totally different from each other, meaning that you may be high leveled, but another player many times below your level may have a higher skill level. Needless to say, both are equally important. Level to do new quest and wear nicer equips/etc, skill level for totally badass looking skills.
To train your skill level, you just simply need to increase it just by simply using skills and whacking the mob. However, this is pretty much where the game fails. It takes pretty long (by my standards) to train your skills, and you definitely don't wanna be high leveled without the badass skills. There are a few ways to get around; one way is to simply punch the monster, another way is to craft/buy adept armour. Punching is slow and tedious, but it allows you to level both your magic and sword at the same time (though far slower than just training a single skill at a time). The latter adds extra skill exp gained per hit, pretty much straight forward, so I won't go into detail.
The second feature of Cabal is the combo mode, earned at level 10. Not only does it allow chaining of skills, it also gives the skills 100% accuracy, more power, etc etc. To utilize it properly, you will have to time your skills correctly. A bar will appear at the top, and you will have to time your attacks correctly with the bar. It does keep the player awake and makes for nice fighting too. You can find guides on how to combo on the internet so I won't talk about how to use it. Needless to say, if your computer is laggy, you will have a harder time comboing.
At each 10 level interval, the player will gain powerful new abilities,from aura mode to battle mode 1 to battle mode 2, etc. One thing I must congratulate Cabal about is the battle mode 2 gained a level 50, which is totally worth your trouble getting there. Each class will summon a special astral weapon unique to their class, which is really fun to use. Though it drains alot of sp (go find out what that is by yourself), it provides you with near unstoppable power. My warrior gained the astral scythe, and trust me, I had lotsa fun with it.
The character classes too are really unique, ranging from warrior to blader to force archer to force blader. All in all, there are 6 character classes, all unique in their own way. Take the force blader example. Half blader, half wizard, it's basically a magical swordsman, using a katana in one hand and an orb in the other. You don't really find magical swordsmen in other MMORPGs now do you? (correct me if I'm wrong)
Finally, the graphics. Besides the wicked looking skill graphics, the enviroment looks pretty average. Not saying it's bad looking, just...average. The music for the game is pretty good too.
Overall, here are my ratings on a 10 point system:
Gameplay: 6.5/10 (skill grinding is pretty repetitive)
Originality: 5/10 (what it has done, other MMORPGs have done. Kudos to the skill leveling and combo system though.)
Music: 7/10
Graphics: 8.5/10 ( the skill graphics are awesome, only pulled down slightly by the enviroment graphics)
Replay: 6.5/10
Overall: 6.7/10 Don't let the score get you down though, it still is a pretty good game.
This is my first review, hope ya enjoy!
