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Diamond in the Rough
It seems recently that far too many games are terrible at their core with cool graphics or branding tacked on as a disguise. There is a diamond at the core of Perpetuum Online. Yes, that is only my opinion but I now know where I want my gaming energy to go in the future.
I recognize that sandbox games are not for everyone. I for one have tired of the theme park MMO’s and being told that to progress in a game I need to do X, Y and Z. I’ve played all the major MMO’s that have been released in the past 5 years and only a few have held my attention long enough to sub. This is not a bash thread or pitting the two styles against each other, I state it for the simple reason of giving some background as to my state of mind. Frankly, I’m exhausted with the Fantasy based MMO’s.
My discovery of a completely unknown (at least to me) game, in Perpetuum Online, that combined Mech play in an Eve themed environment really piqued my interest. Now if I could just get into the beta and actually get my hands on it.... Sometimes you do get what you wish for!
As opposed to another thread on this forum I went into the Perpetuum Online Closed Beta understanding that the game was and is not finished. Most of the complaints I’ve read have either been fixed to my knowledge or I haven’t experienced them. What I have experienced thus far has been an absolute blast!
I am one that never made it more than a couple months in Eve so the UI had a bit of a learning curve for me as I was a bit rusty on the layout. Yes, Avatar Creations took a page (one of many) directly out of the Eve book on this one. I don’t see that as a bad thing, the fact they took a good design and adapted to their game is a huge plus in my book.
What I like
The robot fighting is fun. The movement is fluid, the controls are tight and once I understood the nuances of the different items equipped on my robot I could begin using fighting tactics.
Minor upgrades make a big difference. It only took a few fights with NPC robots before I had the drops or currency to make some minor upgrades that made a big difference.
No starter zone PVP griefing. I might be missing something but I have experienced none of what has been reported. I know for the hardcore out there this could easily be on the “What I don’t like list”. IMO, in today’s MMO world allowing some time for the “noob” to get armed and gain their bearings is a good thing.
One persistent universe. I love the idea of everyone being all on one world.
Terraforming the land. Not only can you destroy trees and vegetation but you can grow and manipulate them as well.
The economy is very similar to Eve in design which to me is a great system.
What I don’t like
The animation of the robot is a little too fluid for my taste. I’m thinking of the MechWarrior games. The robots movements in Perpetuum aren’t as pronounced and in many cases don’t have that mechanical feel. This is really a minor detail and so far I’ve largely ignored because control is SO good. Occasionally though I just find myself looking at the animation not quite sold.
The terrain is barren looking. I realize not every planet is Pandora with its lush vegetation but in this case it could be added to. This is no doubt game design because one of the primary features is Terraforming the land, but there could be a little more. Then again, it is closed beta!
That is really all I have now. I only have two days in the game but am already obsessed with the possibilities. The goal of a sandbox game is for the developer to give us, the gaming audience, the tools and then we go play. Avatar Creations has created an AMAZING set of tools!
Comments
Thanks for this post. Have been really wondering about this game alot myself and haven't gotten aroudn to doing much research or getting into the beta yet and this answers some of my questions about the game. Looking forward to them finishing it up so we can get a chance to see the entire game, sounds pretty awesome so far.
It took about 3 months to be accepted into CB. Supposedly they aren't too far off from going into Open Beta, which will hopefully get the game a little more exposure and give everyone an opportunity to take it for a spin.
Great to here, haven't gotten into the CB yet myself (applied a few months ago, though might have been under my other email which i never check ><). Looking forward to the OB so we can see closer to a finished product anyway.
I got into CBT a few months ago. Sadly, the lack of documentation and technical problems kept me from playing for more than a few hours. What I did play showed promise though, I will definitely check it out again when it goes into OB (if I can scrounge up the cash to replace this crappy temporary monitor with something decent).
They have added an in-game tutorial now that is decent and steps your through the basics. Outside of that the documentation is definitely lacking but should get better.