2moons Open Beta Review

Introduction

This review is composed to give a Non Hardcore Gamer point of view. I have not played huge amounts of MMOG’s so my point of view is based on “first impression” for a new player. (I have played FFXI, WoW, SR and EQ)

Important! This game is still in Open Beta.

MMORPG’s have been around for a while now, Everquest and World of Warcraft being the genres Breakthrough to mainstream success. There are now hundreds of MMO’s, some are free to play some pay to play. (http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/gameId/0 MMORPG.com gamelist, check it out)

 

Story

“To cut it really short, the story is focused on a giant Door that when opened, beasts (pitborn) are unleashed into the lands of Haran and kill almost everyone. Two cities remain Braiken castle and Loa castle, and once you step outside, you're in ever-increasing danger. You and people like you must try to survive until the two moons cross, only then will Trieste - the white lady, be re-incarnated and can once more seal the gate closed with her own blood. The more you follows the quests from level to level, the more the story will reveal itself. By completing the quests and interacting with the NPCs, you will slowly learn the history of the 2Moons world, Haran, and of the threat that faces it. you will learn about the principle characters who shaped the world and how they put Haran in dire peril. You will be able to fill you roles as a hero, although not always “nice” hero, and do you part to destroy the enemy.  The NPC’s are very funny, there is a lot of profanity and adult themes.” http://2moons.acclaim.com/about2M/overall.html Official Story

 

Overview

2Moons has been promised to be “the most violent and bloody MMORPG available” "No mercy for the weak, no pity for the dying, no tears for the slain".  This Tagline seems to imply the Games main feature will be player vs player and a lot of player killing involved, this will undoubtedly pull many hardcore gamers into the realms. With an age recommendation of 17+ it is not for the light hearted. This game is 100% free if you want it to be, the developers philosophy is the more players they have the less they need to charge per player. The in game advertisements pay for you to play for free. You can however buy Acclaim coins with real currency to purchase in game Items.

http://2moons.acclaim.com/about2M/six.htm Official Character descriptions

 

Introduction 

In 2moons you create your ultra violent Alta ego from a selection of six classes, including (Females) Segita Hunter The Segnale and the Incar Magician (Males) Azure Knight, Vicious Summoner and Bagi Warrior. These classes have very different skill trees. At this point you cannot have all classes any sex however there are rumors of this changing in the future. There is also severely limited customization for characters, meaning actually 'none' at this point (however Customization is a feature which is almost guaranteed to be implemented as soon as the developers can, due to consumer demand) once you have chosen your class you then begin exploring, questing, and battling in the world of Haran. The game lets you create multiple characters on the two servers available, Trieste and Abaddon, both of which have sub-realms or shards capable of hosting thousands of simultaneous players.

 

2moons realms are nicely almost densely populated already, the unfortunate issues with login and lag plague the game at this point, though still being Open Beta probably has a lot to do with it, this should be improved before release. The game has a very slow beginning, although within minutes of logging in you can be pounding creatures into a bloody mess, its lacks substance in early levels. Many new players may give up before seeing the games full potential. The developers really must work on this aspect because new players shouldn’t have to be patient to enjoy this games huge potential. 

 

2moons is superficially similar to dozens of MMORPG’s which have come before it. There so many Korean MMO’s it has become slang to describe a MMO as “a Korean Grindfest” or “from the Grind factory” etc  (grinding being repetitive Game play to gain EXP and levels, for a non hardcore gamer “not fun”) the fundamentals of a typical MMO are all here, dungeons, dangerous creatures, exploration, questing, gaining items, skills, levels etc. This style of gaming is notorious for being a time sink and for effectively forcing players to engage in repetitive, monotonous gameplay for hours on end in order to make progress. But in contrast 2moons has a lot of variety, and the combat system features vast fast relentless action-packed battles that are bloody and intense, whether you're fighting alone or in a group. You can travel around very quickly by teleporting, even at very low levels, to where you need to go, throwing you into the battle fields quickly and easily. The mini-map is also very easy and helpful for exploring.

 

One thing 2moons lacks is that long-sought-after goal of many massively multiplayer games, which is to make the player feel rewarded regardless of how much time they have in to the game. Though I do believe the developers are working on upping the rewards from quests etc. The current quests are a lot of fun and the Dungeons and instances are well implemented and exciting however when you put your heart and soul into an hour long quest and receive a few experience points which you could have earned in half the time just from grinding… well you get it. I have faith in the developers to fix this.

 

PVP

2moons sets itself apart from the flock with its exciting, bloody, relentless player vs player system consisting at this point of duelling, player killing, siege and dead front. Some people don’t like PVP, but there is no running from it in this game, if someone is stealing your mobs, you just Ctrl+Click them and you can kill them, there are punishments for killing sprees however.  Of course, player death is inevitable in a game such as this, but Death in this game really is nothing to get agitated about, so when you get killed, don't worry. other MMO’s have made it a point of penalizing the player upon death, such as by inflicting an increasingly steep experience point penalty, directly resulting in a sense of failure and wasted time. More-recent online RPGs have doled out more-lenient penalties in the interest of appealing to more players, but 2moons all but eliminates the sense of penalty altogether. Death is just means your out of action for a short amount of time. At first you will find very little tactics involved to defeat each other, however the more you level the more complex PVP becomes. You have the option of using your skill and stat points to create devastatingly powerful PVP characters.

Duelling is very simple PVP where you invite any other Player to a duel to the death anywhere in Haran The defeated duel player reincarnates on the spot with minimal health and mana. Duels frequently occur in Safety Zones such as Loa Castle, Braiken Castle, and Denebe. The victor of a duel earns PvP points, however, there is no current known use for PvP points.

 

Player killing is what may separate this game from the casual gamer, there is no running from it, any player can attempt to kill you for any reason if you are in wilder zones (contested territory). It's rough, mean spirited and violent. This actually makes the game more fun in my opinion, you must always be vigilant, ready to make a mad dash to escape being murdered, it adds an element of suspense and apprehension.  There is a system that applies consequences to players who attack non-PvP players. So, it s fine to fight with players who have identified themselves as player killers (Niete in 2Moons terms). However, Niete players will suffer some consequences, such as not being able to purchase items from the shopkeepers and having to avoid the guards in the castles

Special battlegrounds expressly suited for large-scale PvP competition will give further incentive for you to square off against the opposing Guilds. Dead Front and Siege: Possibly the most exciting of any PVP in any MMO. This is a team-based/party event. Up to four groups/parties compete in an assault on an intimidating Fortress built by the demon race, Serpents. The ultimate goal is to kill off the boss, and then survive a free-for-all battle. The last team standing becomes the supreme winners. Siege Battles are very similar to dead frond Involving large armies of players fighting to control a fortress.

 

Graphics/Design

The graphics are beautiful, probably the best of the free to play MMO’s and seriously contending with pay to plays. Though the world of the game is very large, you can still effectively travel on foot, taking in the frequent breathtaking sights of Haran. A lot of the joy of playing 2moons is the rich detail, such as small animals, birds, grass blowing in the wind, petals falling from trees and various weather effects.

The blood in 2moons is fantastically obsessive (it reminds me of those 80 grind-house films) coving the ground in an aftermath of carnage following PVP battles. Everything is seamless and blends together well. There is the classic Bloom effect illuminating the world, though many gamers dislike the effect because it is often used to cover up poor graphic quality, here it enhances and enriches the world.

There is also a strong Diablo influence in creature and dungeon design, dark gloomy and detailed, it match perfectly with the mature theme of 2moons. From an artistic standpoint, it's hard to deny that 2moons is impressive. Character Design is out standing. From Huge spiky impressive armour for a Bagi warrior to sexy skimpy outfits for the segnale. There are many armour sets, although not quite enough, you will find many characters look the same at certain levels. Though this can be a useful tool for gauging the level of characters for PVP duels  . more armour and weapons will be added. The creatures of Haran are very well designed. You begin by fighting small spiders, bugs etc and as your levels increase you incounter larger more impressive creatures. Unlike other games 2moons does not recycle creatures by just making them a different colour or different level, so everything is new and exciting.

 

Controls/Gameplay

There are still a few issues with controls. However they are simple enough. Anyone who has played any MMORPG will pick them up almost instantly. The learning curve is not steep, once you get used to a few specific elements of the game. And you can play for a long time. The top level is 150. also the help window is extremely useful. 2moons combines a click to run and WASD systems, so you can use which ever you prefer personally.

There are still a few issues like some flying creatures are unusually difficult to click on to attack, and when the camera goes behind a wall/hill the wall/hill goes invisible when you try to click to move you end up running into the wall which the camera is behind. Your skills and abilities are linked simple to numbers on the keyboard.  

http://phpbb.acclaim.com/2moons/viewforum.php?f=34  Official Gameplay Guide

 

Music and sound

2moons has excellent sounds for an online RPG. Subtle background ambient sounds work well in context with the visuals, making the world seem very much alive. well composed symphonic music creates great atmosphere while travelling, fitting perfectly with the game's different, detailed regions. battles feature hard-hitting effects and painful yells and bloody sounds. Great sound design results in clear and resonant echoes within cave environments, in audio distortion when exploring or fighting underwater, and in other such things. 2moons also makes good use of speech, both for player characters' occasional outbursts and also for all non-player characters, who'll verbally greet and abuse you, this helps give the characters deep personalities. Many of the NPC sound tracks where from actually player recordings from a competition acclaim help during closed beta, a good example of just how much acclaim have embraced player input. MP3 System: In 2Moons you can create a custom music list to listen to during gameplay using the in-game MP3 Player, this is a much appreciated addition which helps make grinding less tedious.

 

 

I will give it a 8/10 in beta.

However I believe it has the potential to be a 9/10

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