Wildstar is Sci-Fi MMO with Sense of Humor
Putting out a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) can be a scary prospect, as it means your product will have to compete with the massively successful "World of Warcraft." "Wildstar" is a lighthearted sci-fi MMO with enough action-packed combat and quirky humor to give even jaded genre fans something to keep an eye on.
Tom's Guide met with developer NCSOFT at PAX East 2014 for a hands-on demo of "Wildstar," and the game seems to combine some of our favorite tropes of both MMORPGs and space operas. The game presents a pleasant mix of strategic combat, traditional quests and colorful visuals.
MORE: 15 Best PC Games Right Now
"Wildstar" takes place on the contested planet of Nexus, which both the freedom-loving Exiles and the order-focused Dominion have both claimed as their own. Selecting either Exiles or Dominion will give you access to certain races, like the Exiles' hulking Granok, or the Dominion's robotic Mechari. From there, you can customize your character's sex and appearance.
What sets "Wildstar" apart from similar titles is that it lets you select both a class and a path. Class is a pretty straightforward choice: warriors excel in melee combat, engineers focus on ranged support, medics can heal party members, and so forth.
Paths, on the other hand, determine how you'll play the game. Depending on your class, you'll get different quests, story arcs and side activities. Explorers chart unexplored territory, soldiers dive into combat at every opportunity, settlers make wild lands habitable, and scientists unearth the secret history of Nexus.
What makes paths interesting is that they confer useful skills for every class, so any class and race will theoretically mesh well together. A warrior-scientist is a perfectly viable combination, as is a medic-soldier.
We played a nimble Mechari warrior-scientist, outfitted with a futuristic sword. Although our first quest was simple enough — light a bunch of beacons on a military road — we soon found that quests are not restricted to towns. While following the road, we found lots of other tasks to accomplish, from hunting down valuable gems to killing some of the local fauna.
Combat is not the traditional "target an enemy and auto-attack" affair. In "Wildstar," you fight foes in real-time, and you need to right-click for every swing of your weapon. Each weapon has a different attack arc, meaning that you can take on multiple foes at once, depending on your class. You can also see enemies' special attacks before they come, giving you an opportunity to dodge out of the way. It's not quite as involved as a regular action game, but it's miles ahead of traditional MMOs.
"Wildstar" looks like a fun intergalactic jaunt that has the potential to carve out a niche for itself in the competitive MMO market. The game will release on June 3 for $59.99, plus a $14.99-per-month subscription fee.
Follow Marshall Honorof @marshallhonorof and on Google+. Follow us @tomsguide, on Facebook and on Google+.
Copyright 2014 Toms Guides , a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
