Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa
by NCsoft
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Video Game Reviews of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa
Customer Review: Tabula Rasa review
Summary: 3 Stars
Well I've played this game and my character is now a level 50. Which is as high as you can go, so I feel I can review this game now.
Good things about this game: It is fast paced and not to hard to make it to level 50 in a month, with moderate amount of play. I didnt play them all but didnt hear much complaining about the characters being really unbalanced or sucking to bad, the medic may be the acception. Didnt have to grind more then about 4 or 5 of the levels, the rest where completed with quest. By the time you hit 25 level you will hate the bane and want them dead on sight as much as everyone else. stories I found to be interesting enough. Also great looking instances, that can all be soloed or run with a group. Found most people on the game to be really friendly, or at least helpful.
Bad things about the game: The Auction house seems a bit broken, almost impossible to make money on it, this may change with time but for the moment most stuff sells for just over vender. Money in the game is pretty much used for buying bullets at the moment, since stuff is pretty easy to get from quest, and items sell so cheap, i have 13 million right now and no real purpose for it. Once you hit level 50 there isnt any end content on this game at the time of writing this, really only thing to do is, try and find some PvP but after fighting as allies with your fellow players against the bane for 50 levels, just seems wrong to go around killing them for no reason, no if we started to get ranks, money, weapons, something for it, then would be much more fun. Everyone can color there armor to set them apart from one another, but in the end everyone looks similar with different paint jobs. As of writing this, the crafting system is very broke. For example, there is only one level 50 purple grade sword in game ive seen, you can put 4 buffs on purple items, but the sword comes with 4 on it, there is no way to remove these worthless buff to put your own on it, in fact 90% of all the level 50 stuff cant be modified in any way, and lets say you get a blue item with only two buffs on it, and want to add one more, being blue can only have 3 added to them, your chances at full skill level is 12% chance of adding a buff, and 25% off distroying your item. At least for me, I found that after getting one character up to level 50, it wasnt that interesting to level another one to that level. Becuase the first one you level seems just fine and powerful enough that theres no reason to start another one. Almost for got, even over a month after release, I would say close to 10% of the quest are still very buggy, meaning you cant finish them or may have to do them more then once to finish them because of a small mistake. example would be like dieing in the middle of a bombing run, and the quest says failed, and the guy that gave it to you vanishes, later found out you need to kill everything first then run the bomb in. This is the last part of a 5 part quest, and starting over waste 2 hours. conclusion: Game is fun and graphics are good, but seems like they have about a years worth of work to make the game fun enough to play for more then two months. but at a cost of 25 dollars as of right now, may be worth buying and playing for a month, get a good character. They hold on to your characters after you stop you acount, so in like 6 months check back in and maybe start it back up :). Hope this helps someone decide.
Customer Review: Great new MMO!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been playing MMO's for about 8 years now. I started with SWG, moved on to EQ2 and have been looking for something new for the past few months. I played WoW for about 2 months and hate how easy and cartoonish the game is. Tabula Rasa is refreshing to say the least. The game reminds me of SWG when it first came out and was still a great game.
I have not encountered a single bug yet, although as with any MMO I'm sure there are plenty especially at launch. Many games today are released when they are not even near finished, I feel they did a great job doing as much as possible to make this a great game at the start.
This game is not for the typical WoW crew, as it is a bit more challenging and takes more then button mashing/running at the AI. Strategy is key at times and FPS style is something to get used to if you are a straight MMORPG player with no FPS experience.
If you're looking for something fresh and new, exciting and challenging, I say give it a try!
Customer Review: Dull but functional
Summary: 3 Stars
I had an excellent experience in connecting, updating and playing online. The game itself has good graphics, huge worlds, but repetitive and predictable activities and minor map glitches make areas that the player can enter then not leave without restarting are drawbacks. I had not realized it was online only, and the monthly subscription price is high if you look at it as an annual cost. Game maker promises free online month after you subscribe however that never was actually provided. Expensive monthly fee outweighed game fun so I dropped after 4 weeks. It's a WOW clone in sci-fi wrapping.Customer Review: Evolving the Genre
Summary: 5 Stars
Tabula Rasa brings some new style to the MMORPG - a genre that has gotten a bit stale over the last few years. Rather than the usual TAB-target, hit buttons 1, 2, 3, 4 to excecute abilities, TR combines FPS gameplay with an RPG world, appealing to a wider variety of gamers.
Gameplay: Character movement and control are very good; the UI and controls are highly customizable to your own preferences. If you're an FPS player, the gameplay will be very familiar. If you're an MMORPG player, it is easy to adapt to. Monster AI is more intelligent than the typical "it runs at you and hits you until you kill it" type that many of us are used to, and the game has a good variety of different things to kill that all attack in different ways.
Graphics & Performance : If you put TR on the highest graphic settings, its beautiful. But even on 'normal' to low settings it looks as good as anything else out there. There is sometimes a bit of slowdown at 'control points' when there are hundreds of things assaulting a base, but you have a lot of control over your graphics settings so usually this can be dealt with. It also is worth mentioning that since release, the servers have had very little to no downtime, no serious crashes, no rollbacks, no crisis of any sort - basically to say, it had an incredibly smooth launch.
Functionality - There's still a bit that's broken, though its very quickly being ironed out in patches. GMs respond quickly to deal with any issues involving broken quests/etc. But the number of these issues is still 'low' for a game of this magnitude this soon after its release.
Uniqueness - The storyline and the world of TR is something that really hasn't been seen before in an MMORPG. You have the whole 'military' aspect, pushing back an invasion of hostile aliens, yet at the same time you have the mysterious technology of an ancient civilization card being played. Its an interesting Mix, and often times quests will make you choose one path or another, and it -does- make a difference. There's a combination of open world and instancing, but even the 'open' zones have a few (large-scale) instances which helps reduce lag / camping of quest mobs / etc. Some bases are control points that are periodically attacked/invaded and you can earn rewards assaulting / defending these control points.
So essentially, you have more to do than simply kill things and level up. There's a fairly involving progressive storyline in quests, optional quests that open up a bit more lore, there's good old fashioned "burn fight kill" with a combat system that gives bonuses for continual kills, and then there's assault/defense of bases in each zone.
Soloability & Skill: I would say 90% of the content can be done solo. Not necessarily efficiently, but it can be done. The different classes are unique enough that each brings something to a group, and the instance quests are going to be considerably easier in a group, but one thing that sets TR apart from most games is that the skill of the player, rather than a system of complex mathematics, determines what you can/can't do. You know the routine : Monster hits you for X points because its stats vs. your stats determined this. But with the FPS style of play (manual evasive action!) you have a lot more freedom to excel.
You also have stat points as well as skill points that you may freely distribute without restriction, which is also a happy, fresh memory of older-style MMORPGs, where you could actually have a 'build' instead of being exactly like everyone else.
Eye Candy : Weapons make satisfying glowy effects, there's a full array of armor paint to customize your look as well as styles, movies upon entering several instances, and the different zones/planets are breathtaking.
Overall / Value : TR has the typical MMORPG price structure. Buy the box & pay 15$/month. If you're the kind of person that plays subscription games, this one's better than most of those that are out there now simply because of its larger scope of activities, & customization. I say its easily worth the price.
PVP : PVP is by duel or clan war ONLY. A lot of people are upset about this, but casual gamers will rejoice to know that they are not going to have their questing and experiencing of the game spoiled by some bored kid who decides to kill them just because he can. Its a nice change. Though it is possible that at some point a PVP server will be opened if there is enough demand. If you play these games to kill other players, then you can skip this one, at least for now.
Customer Review: Fun but lacks depth
Summary: 3 Stars
I have been playing Tabula Rasa (TR) since its launch on the 2nd November. TR is a Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO) with a science fiction setting. Earth has been destroyed and now you fight Earth's destroyers, collectively known as "The Bane", on faraway planets.
When you first enter TR you start in "The Wilderness", the starting zone. TR uses a tier system not a class system. Everyone starts in the same place as a recruit. At level five you reach your first tier and can choose to become either a Soldier or a Specialist. At level 15 you again get to choose a branch. Soldiers have the option of becoming either Commandos or Rangers. Specialists choose either a Sapper or a Bio-technician. When you hit level 30 you get to make your final choice. Each time you gain a level you get points which you can allocate to whichever skills you have, making them more powerful. You can also neglect skills altogether if you like, giving you more points to allocate in your favourite skills. You don't learn knew skills every time you level. The only time you learn new skills is when you reach a tier.
The world itself looks good, though it does seem rather depressing and desolate. Being in a perpetual state of war there are wreckages lying around and burnt out areas. Nothing particularly beautiful about the graphics but they are good. There are no big cities such as Ironforge in World of Warcraft or Qeynos in Everquest 2. Instead there are bases scattered throughout the land. You can travel to bases you have already visited using waypoints and dropships. You access other planets through wormholes.
You level your character by doing missions which you collect from NPCs. You can in fact solo all of the missions with the exception of the instanced dungeons, where you will need to enter as a squad. You can have six players in a squad.
The UI is easy to learn. You can have five weapons and five skills (think spells). The magic in this game is called Logos and that gives you attacks and buffs etc. Combat in TR is fast and furious, particularly in squads and the instances. As usual you are at the mercy of squads, some are good and others are bad.
Graphics: Graphics are nice but the world itself isn't beautiful so you won't be awestruck by sunsets or large cities. It looks like a warzone.
AI: The AI in the game is good with enemies trying to flank you and enemy dropships arriving randomly to drop off reinforcements.
Combat: Hectic and fun for the most part. A bit of strategy is required. Crouching improves the speed with which your target reticle locks on and also increases damage. Crouching behind sandbags, rocks, and other cover reduces the amount of damage you take.
Instances (dungeons): Are a mixed bag. Instances (meaning each squad has its own dungeon) have missions and are more difficult, requiring a squad. The only problem with an instance is that once you have completed the instance and the missions, there is no reason to ever go there again. Like any game, doing and instance with a terrible group can leave you frustrated and angry, and I think I've had more bad groups then good ones. At this stage I'll put that down to the newness of the game and it's players, with players not having tried other classes and knowing what's expected of them.
Classes: I personally like the tier system, though the gap between level 15 and level 30 is a long one. The classes are unique to each other and all classes can solo. The final tier classes fall into the classic Tank Healer DPS variety, but they are different enough from other games to feel new. All classes use weapons unique to them such as grenade launchers, laser rifles, leech guns and so on. There are different damage types and certain enemies are vulnerable to different types, so switching between weapons is a necessary part of the game.
Overall: Had I written this review in the first week of release I would have rated it highly. The game looks great and the early worlds were polished and refined. From my experience any faults are picked up quickly and the developers are working hard to release patches to fix issues. Currently there is a patch due out which makes the Specialist line, particularly Medic, more viable and fun to play.
The game does get repetitive quickly. As I mentioned earlier, the gap between tier three and four, levels 15 to 30, is a long one. Waiting 15 levels before you get to try new weapons and skills is a long time. Player controlled vehicles are set to be introduced in the first expansion but whether people can wait that long is another thing.
Tabula Rasa is a fun game to play, and it caters nicely to the casual gamer. It's easy to log in and do a mission, or fight for a control point. At the current shelf price and the standard 30 day included play it's good value and I recommend buying it.