Mortal Online review

[Talgurin]

So i've been looking around for an MMO to play that's not "softcore" and offers something in terms of adventure that linear content games (WoW clones) don't deliver.

I heard some negative reviews about a game called "Mortal Online" but I was told it's very "sandbox" so I decided to check it out.

I actually highly recommend this game. I'm somewhat floored by it.

I played for a few hours with an F2P account. Starting out, I almost quit. You're thrown into a newbie area and it's a complex interface, and you don't know WTF to do. You start trying to kill pigs and drowning in shallow pools of water because you don't know how to float to the surface (space bar).

But as I got used to it, I discovered it's actually a really good skill based system with good combat dynamics and a great crafting system. It's designed after Ultima Online, but a big feature that makes it much better is you can remove skills you've learned but don't want anymore. In UO it was not quite as convenient as this if I remember correctly. I also find myself comparing it to Elder Scrolls, and I like this system better... I remember playing Oblivion and sort-of messing up my character because of learning skills I didn't need that affected my stats.

As I kept playing, I learned that the game is totally merciless and hardcore. Same as UO or old school Rallos Zek / EQ... people kill and take your shit. And, you have to run back to your corpse just like EQ. Like any good PvP game you have to keep going to the bank, storing your stuff, then heading back to the wild. It's always tense and you're always looking over your shoulder. Fortunately, there's incentive for players to remain "good" as murderers become outcasts.

Oh yeah, and there's THIEVES! Characters continually pretending to be nice, running up to you, and running off with your gold. You have to be vigilant almost always and ready to say "GUARDS" or kill the thieves yourself.

- Graphics

Ok, here's where this game really shines. It's not a perfect setup, oddly the textures are not the best I've seen in an MMO, it's kind of buggy and feels like an indie development project (it is)...YET, the art direction is the best I've ever seen in any game second only to maybe Skyrim or Fallout. Trust me, get out of the really boring newbie district and into the main capitol, and you'll see these massive statues guarding the imperial palace... I can't even describe it, you have to experience it for yourself. My jaw was on the floor.

- Music

The music is really great and creates a sense of adventure constantly.

- PvE

So far I'm still killing zombies, but the fighting is good. It's twitch like Elder Scrolls. Very close to Skyrim combat.

- Dungeons

Pitch black without a torch. Deep, very big, and very scary. At least, that's my impression after wandering into some sewers. No hand holding bullshit.

- Immersion

Again really impressed. In the constant quest to survive I've had some really cool experiences. Twice I was cornered by player bandits, and both times I talked my way out of getting killed. The first time I drew my sword and told them to "bring it" and they believed my bluff. The second time I started telling jokes and they let me go. That stuff just doesn't happen in many games besides old school Ultima Online. Everyone is constantly interacting, forming exploration parties, bartering things like horses for raw materials, and teaming up to fight off murderers hanging by the city gates.

Downsides:

The learning curve takes 2-3 hours at least to get through, and I think it turns people off initially (I went from wanting to uninstall it to never wanting to log off, in a 5 hour period). You also have to pay money for extra character slots, but not a big deal if you enjoy the game. Finally it's buggy in parts. I think the game is Swedish, and I notice the English translations are loaded with typos. Oh yeah, and the bugs. I hear people in chat all of the time getting stuck in walls and crashing. This is just needs more tweaking, but the game's 3+ years old and I hear it's much better than it used to be (apparently it was once virtually unplayable!)

Overall, I wanted to share this review on P99 because I know other gamers like myself are into these types of games, and Mortal Online really delivers the stuff I look for in a sandbox MMO. My character on there is "Falgurin" and you can message me here on p99 if you wanna meet up. It IS f2p (a huge 17 gig download) but skills are stuck at 60 until you pay money, which is still a pretty decent preview period.

[Colgate]

i played this game in the earliest closed beta and into release for a month or two

i was more immersed at times in this game than i've felt in pretty much any other game, and then something wacky and retarded would happen glitch wise and i'd die of laughter

it was neat, the scope of the world makes it super interesting from an explorer gamer standpoint, but the game was so laggy/buggy/unbalanced that everyone i played with quit, and so did i

i haven't really touched it since then, hopefully it's a bit better now, i imagine it's a lot less hardcore now than it used to be

[Talgurin]

You know playing 5 hours I did not personally experience a bug. The lag comes in sudden freeze ups, but it wasn't TOO bad. I think the game was likely fixed somewhat since launch.

Originally Posted by Colgate [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

i played this game in the earliest closed beta and into release for a month or two

i was more immersed at times in this game than i've felt in pretty much any other game, and then something wacky and retarded would happen glitch wise and i'd die of laughter

it was neat, the scope of the world makes it super interesting from an explorer gamer standpoint, but the game was so laggy/buggy/unbalanced that everyone i played with quit, and so did i

i haven't really touched it since then, hopefully it's a bit better now, i imagine it's a lot less hardcore now than it used to be

[Colgate]

the biggest problem was the lag in my opinion, where someone would be hitting you from 20 feet away

[HappyTr33z]

Originally Posted by Colgate [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

the biggest problem was the lag in my opinion, where someone would be hitting you from 20 feet away

I played last year and this was a big problem. PVP was a lag fest. That's the only reason I quit.

I am completely down for trying it again though man, we should get a P99 guild started on there :P

[kaos057]

Looks pretty hard core. I'm patching now [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

[Talgurin]

Originally Posted by kaos057 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Looks pretty hard core. I'm patching now [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Here's some tips starting out:

Ok, they say you need like 2 crafters to compliment a fighter (supplies and money), but I think you can still make a swordsman without going this route.

Use Butcher skill to make money. Kill those pigs and horde meat, then find one of the vendors in the newbie area who will buy it. Slaughter pigs, after your butchery skills are like 30 or 40 go into the skill menu and lock them in place since you don't need to be a grandmaster butcher. Every 100 or so pig meat units is 1 silver and you can get a lot from 1 corpse. You should be able to get like 1 gold after 30 or 40 minutes.

Use the gold to go to the broker by the bank and look for a weapon for like 50 silver, I hear spears are great if you can find em, I'm going with 1h slashing.

Next up, go to the graveyard and fight zombies. They carry some copper, but they're not as profitable as the pigs.

There's some NPC quests. One of them involves killing undead, and this should be looked into more.

A big goal is to get up to like 60 Swords / Weapon Skill. Then you can adventure in more places and probably kill beasties with big money.

[kaos057]

I don't really like the character creation. They don't tell you anything about them and I couldn't find shit on the net really. I played for about 5 minutes and got lagged to hell when entering the city so I got off for a while. Logging back on now with some graphics adjustments for round 2. Just hoping my race selection isn't gonna haunt me.

[kaos057]

oh btw while adjusting the graphics I noticed a full nudity option lol

[Talgurin]

Originally Posted by kaos057 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

oh btw while adjusting the graphics I noticed a full nudity option lol

I was looking for that rofl