There are a lot of massively multiplayer online games out there.
So what if you gave an MMOG only one weekend to make an impression?
I love playing MMOGs, but I just don’t have the time to play them all; I need to be choosy. For my first “Massive Weekend,” I recently gave the beta of Richard Garriott’s “Tabula Rasa” a weekend test run to see if it merits more than three days’ of my precious playtime.
Garriott’s known for creating the medieval-themed “Ultima” RPG series, and while his highly acclaimed MMORPG “Ultima Online” was considered ground-breaking for 1997, times have changed in the last decade: A little game called “World of Warcraft” has set the critical and commercial bar for all MMOGs moving forward. While every new MMOG that comes out claims to be a “WoW Killer,” if any one game is worthy enough to throw its hat into the ring, it’s Garriott’s “Tabula Rasa.” By the way, “tabula rasa” also means “clean slate” in Latin; I hoped it would refer to the gameplay as much as the storyline. Hit the jump to see how my “TR” weekend went…
FRIDAY, DAY ONE (4 hours, 54 minutes logged):
It’s 10 p.m. on a Friday night, and I’m sitting in my apartment in Brooklyn after having dinner with friends. I’ve been looking forward to playing the beta all week, so I install the game and log on. The opening cinematic fills you in on the story: Aliens have attacked Earth in a hostile, H.G. Wells-style invasion. World leaders had seen this coming and have hand-picked “the ones who could fight” (meaning you and any “TR” subscriber — congrats). Via alien-created wormholes, you travel to the frontlines of a war that’s been going on for ages on other worlds. And while you’re militarily-trained, a select few have also harnessed an ancient alien power that you don’t fully understand, and it evolves in you over time. “Change is what we need. A fresh start. A clean slate,” says character Sarah Morrison, the steely-eyed redhead who can be seen on the box art. Now onto character creation.
Unlike most MMORPGs, I can only choose to be a human; no elves, dwarves or alien races. I create a woman with hot pink hair, milky smooth skin, medium height. She dons a midriff-bearing top, tight military pants and an eye patch. (She looks just like me!) As for the name, I give the random name generator a try. The first combo? “Blap Jew,” which I skip because it sounds kind of anti-Semitic. After I pass on “Pazmie Kinifiegard,” “Lovianie Zadlippen,” and “Faudierina Fylbriff,” I choose the most unwieldy, randomly-generated name possible: “Roccherrolodyth Durkenblewtor.” I hit “Enter Battle.”
Next, I’m at bootcamp, or the ever-important tutorial. Roccherrolodyth (let’s just say “Roc” for short), is a new recruit in the AFS (Allied Free Sentients), an army of freedom-loving species fighting against hostile aliens called The Bane. I speak with various officers who give me helpful tips, and the first quest revolves around teaching me the user interface. The combat system is quite different from typical MMORPGs; it combines elements of first-person shooter controls with the strategy of RPG stat calculations. There’s a targeting reticule at the center of your screen, which is controlled by mouse movement. The reticule also shows how much cover I have, and I can even use the C key to crouch for cover. The hot bar only has 10 slots: five for weapons and five for abilities. The left mouse button controls my weapon (click to shoot) and the right mouse button activates a selected ability. The controls take a bit of adjustment (I find myself a bit trigger happy at first), but usually the number of keys I have to hit to play any other MMO is equivalent to launching a space shuttle; “Tabula Rasa” shows that sometimes less is more.
Once I get a handle on the unusually uncluttered UI, I go after my first three Bane. Even as a Level1 player against three, I take them down easily with a few rounds. The sound of the gunshots and the ambiance of space-rock blasting in the background makes it so satisfying (I obviously don’t play a lot of shooters). In the midst of all this, I hit Level 2 and am able to put some points into my Attributes (Power, Mind and Spirit) as well as specific Skills (like Firearms and Sprinting). I fight a few more bad guys with the help of AI teammates and secure an outpost. From there, I am assigned to find out more about my “Logos abilities,” the ancient alien power mentioned in the cinematic. With that, I look at the time: it’s 2 a.m. and with installation, I’ve been sitting at the computer for almost five hours. My boyfriend has long given up on being awake; I need to get my ass to bed.
SATURDAY, DAY TWO (4 hours, 17 minutes logged):
I log on around noon after eating a lazy gamer’s breakfast (I don’t recommend eating a bowl of cereal while playing “Tabula Rasa” — or any game for that matter — because you just can’t get the milk smell out of a mousepad). Now where was I? Oh yeah, learning more about my alien “Logos” powers, taught to humans by the ancient alien race called the Eloh. The first one I receive is the Lightning power, and it’s kind of like the Electrobolt in “BioShock.” I add Lightning to my abilities hot bar and blast some Bane; they die almost instantly. Sweet.
Most of missions I have are pretty standard at this point: collect items, kill enemies, find and talk to certain NPCs. I also have to search for Logos information points to learn more about my special abilities. While there are indigenous creatures in the woods (who do not follow a predictable pacing path, so you can’t always just sneak by), there are also Bane dropships that randomly appear with Thrax soldiers. In other words, enemies don’t simply respawn at the same points, so farming won’t be so easy. You can usually hear the sound of gunshots, get in on the action and earn some XP according to how much damage you do. It always feels like a larger team effort; anyone who’s around can just start shooting to help the cause.
When I reach Level 5, I can choose my class: Soldier or Specialist. For now, I choose Soldier because I want to focus on mastering advanced weaponry and armor (and mostly because I want a machine gun). Next, I get a mission that requires me to make an ethical decision: Will this bite me in the ass later or help me out in the long run? I won’t give away the exact details, but having to stop and think about the consequences of a mission is something I haven’t done before in an MMORPG. After that, I try to continue my other missions, but there are so many overzealous beta testers all trying to kill the same creatures, and the dropships don’t seem to come often enough. I even have to wait in line to attain some Logos information. I decide to go exploring, and I finally find myself alone in a wooded area. But then I run into some Level 12 enemies, who are not Bane, but native aliens. They’re hostile. I die.
It’s lunchtime, and I decide to take a break and watch a DVD I rented from Netflix. It’s Joss Whedon’s “Serenity,” which turns out to have a similar feel to “Tabula Rasa.” The space saga features ruthless aliens called Reavers who remind me of The Bane; malevolent and hideous aliens who drop in on their ships and wreak havoc everywhere they go. Anyway, the movie’s over (I thought it was pretty good), so I better get back to playing the game.
Oh yeah, I died. Dying brings me back to the nearest hospital with full health; that’ll teach me to go exploring alone as a lowly Level 6! After my total-death experience, I decide to find another Logos information point for a mission. I’m wandering around in a cave, and I run up this tiny path, which leads me to a dead end. Somehow I get stuck, literally, between a rock and a hard place. I hit the space bar to jump, and I smash the keyboard, but I don’t budge. Such is the pitfall (and point) of a beta. I dutifully send an e-mail to NCSoft about it (I basically write, “Yo, I’m stuck in this rock”), and I log off for the day. I should like, put on jeans and go outside or something.
SUNDAY, DAY THREE (3 hours, 47 minutes logged):
Since I have to work this afternoon, I log on early Sunday morning and check on “Roc” (whose name is so fitting now); she’s still stuck by a rock in the cave. I type into the general chat, asking if there’s some way for me to return to the base or the hospital or anywhere via the touch of a button, but I’m ignored (jerks). I can’t even kill myself (I tried). I later learn that certain character classes can create temporary waypoints for rapid transit (this wouldn’t have helped me here, but it’s good to know). I decide to create a new character who I dub “Captainamazing Durkenblwetor.” I quickly run through the tutorial and the first set of missions. However, somehow (and this is no fault of the beta, but my haphazard speed run), I abandon a mission that’s needed to move on through the game, and I can’t figure out how to get back to where I got it. So Captainamazing is in MMO limbo without missions to complete. Oops.
Maybe this is a good time to try the cloning function. At the character selection screen, it gives me the option to clone Roc, who is Level 6. The character starts off looking like Roc but I can change her appearance, and I name her “Badluck Durkenblewtor.” I learn that the cloning system allows players to save their character build at various points in the class tree. The purpose of this is so that you can try different builds without having to start over at Level 1 with a new character. This is pretty handy, as I am prone to mull over and constantly change my mind about skill points and class builds. So I clone Roc and enter battle with Badluck. Unfortunately, she’s in the same place as Roc, which is still at the stupid rock (”Badluck” is also an appropriate name).
I create “Four Durkenblewtor” and do a speed run to Level 3, but I run out of time. I’ve been tapped to write copy for some awards show that MTV has tonight, thus my weekend is over early. However, I was still able to get some quality time in with “Tabula Rasa.”
From more than a dozen hours of play spread over three days, the game impressed me overall. The active combat system, the simplified UI and the dynamic battlefields all helped to create an atypical MMO experience. Not to mention the aspects of the game I wasn’t able to try over the weekend: PvP, grouping, playing with the different builds via the cloning system, whatever’s beyond Level 6… Essentially, Richard Garriott’s “Tabula Rasa” isn’t re-inventing the MMO wheel (what game could at this point), but it provides a refreshing take on a genre that’s getting crowded pretty quickly.
VERDICT: I think I’ll give “Tabula Rasa” more than a weekend’s worth of play. It’s rock-solid (pun intended).