Previous Review: The Invention of Lying (2009) [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258528-FBN-Reviews-The-Invention-of-Lying-2009]
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[HEADING=1]Runescape (MMORPG, PC)[/HEADING]
[HEADING=3]JAGEX, Java - Creators: Andrew and Paul Gower[/HEADING]
www.runescape.com
[HEADING=3]I Admit, I May've Missed My Generation's WoW[/HEADING]
Unlike most eleven to fourteen year olds in the UK, in the mid of the new Millenium, I didn't find myself ever hitting the glitchy realms of JAGEX's Runescape. So, I guess you could say I was a late comer to this RPG gaming experience.
Recently I decided to try out the game that had captivated so many of us when we were pushing into our teens and beginning to explore the world of Multiplayer gaming. I must admit to you all, that I couldn't come to terms with what it was that had got so many of us addicted and talking about this game.
Firstly, not only are half the skills especially assigned to Members only - and I checked the costings for these features and fought against the temptation to empty my wallet for the intrigue - but the worlds are so vast you spend a great deal of your time either trying to find something in a quest or hauling a great load of tin and copper ore to the nearest smelting oven that happens to be a good twenty minutes jog away.
I only actually managed to get my combat level up to a measely thirty-five in the game before no amount of coffee, Sprite or slaps around the face could keep me interested in it any longer. The fighting scenes are just a bunch of repetitive clicking motions, which pretty takes the bacon for every other skill too, such as woodcutting and mining. Not only that, but money seems like a distant and pretty much useless object since all it really does is allows you to change the colour of the armour you're wearing or the size of your damn ego.
The game's character and freedom options were depressing also. I mean sure you can give your bloke a pink beard and some weird and whacky hair style to make him look like he's been kidnapped from the Sex Pistols, but essentially its very bland and uneventful. The world map is framed and cut down thanks to the sucking up of half of it being sign-posted as "Member's Only" and each town is pretty much a repeat of the other town you were just in but there's now a pub with a drunk tramp in there you can hack down with a Mithril Scimitar.
So, the gameplay is all click this, click that and wait around for your slow awaited death, the community is merely a bunch of egotistical fourteen year olds who are all levels 20-60 fannying around on their computer all day or forty-year old virgins who are level one billion and have members accounts and the quests, though each one unique and some rather enticing, easily become repetitive and have a habit of turning around and smacking you one when you realise that all that running around for an hour got you nothing but 25 coins.
However, I can't help but think that had I been eleven years old and jumped on board the band wagon of MMORPG games such as Runescape with my good mates that I may've actually enjoyed playing this game and felt some kind of pride at the cheesy crackle of fireworks when I'd leveled up my ability to click trees three hundred thousand times. Then again, the generation of eleven to fourteen year olds these days, if looking for that multiplayer experience, would probably hitch on the World of Warcraft addiction wagon rather than blow away their hours shearing sheep on Runescape to classical orchestral music.
Unless of course you enjoy clicking colourful things, in which case, this may well be your thing.
[HEADING=3] A couple of Pictures, for "funsies"[/HEADING]
Yes, I clicked this guard and then watched my green-armoured character bash numbers into his skull whilst I patiently watched the numbers count down in the "what's left to rank up" figure thing. It really was quite exhilerating. Please note the blatent sarcasm.
I guess a good feature is that, if you felt like it, you can chose to click more stuff and bury this poor guy's bones when all his HP has been bashed out of him. This gets your prayer points up. For some reason though, I didn't find that this feature was an over-the-moon kind of prospect...
This, my dear readers, is what your little avatar could look like if you have a spare four hundred hours of time and you'd happily pay to be a Member on Runescape. Look! He's got a red flat piece of card in his hand... wooooo.
[HEADING=3]Overall:[/HEADING]
Visuals: 5/10 - It's free, but there's nothing really lovely and some points are glitchy. Not to mention the fact that almost everything looks the same and there's a real lack of "Wow" factor.
The Characters: 3/10 - Everyone in the game will want to sell something to you, kill you or give you advise. No-one has a real personality.
Music: 2/10 - I don't even hate classical music, nor have a problem with the medieval atmosphere things try to make, but the music on this game is just irritating and, soon enough, you could fool yourself that you're going mad.
Sound Effects: 6/10 - Most of the stuff is cliche nature and tinny mining sounds, but this was probably one of the only mildly original parts of the game. Smelting makes a rather interesting sound, as though an elderly gentleman was blowing into a mic.
Quests/Story/Plot: 3/10 - Unless you're a member, you only have a very limited choice of quests. There's an incredible amount of clicking and running around and the rewards you get for them are so, so unworthy of your time efforts.
Gaming Experience: 2/10 - No wonder Runescape has become home to botters. There's nothing more dull than a click this, click that RPG game. Especially when you only have to click once and then... watch.
Puzzle/Challenge Rating: 5/10 - Okay, if you want to do quests well, you need to know your way around and have the patience to search, combine items to solve problems and make sure you talk to people in the right order. Quests aside though, it's just a case of getting familiar and going clicky on the things you feel like raising your stats on.
Other Member Interaction: 4/10 - Runescape had something called the "Wilderness", unfortunately when I played, they'd gotten rid of this, so all I had for member interaction was the boring and dull prospect of "battles". It failed.
Set-up/System: 9/10 - The only real praise I have for Runescape is the huge amount of programming and developing that must've been put into it. There's an incredible amount of items and things you can click on. Glitching's rare during off-peak playing times.
Tutorial: 7/10 - This was engaging, but it kind of angered me because none of the quests were as involving as the tutorial Runescape offers.
[HEADING=3]Rating: 46/100
"Thoroughly Dissapointing, Not Recommended"[/HEADING]
FBN PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Little Fockers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.255847-FBN-Reviews-Meet-The-Parents-Little-Fockers-2010] - The Invention of Lying [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258528-FBN-Reviews-The-Invention-of-Lying-2009] - Runescape [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.258541-FBN-Reviews-Runescape-MMORPG]
