Best of MMORPG

Last weekend I went to electronics and gaming convention in Singapore called “License2Play”. It was a little disappointing as there seems to be only Asiasoft there and there were few demos on show. As “License2Play” was supposed to be a fair for internet games, I thought of the various MMORPG I had played before and thought I should do an article on it. A “Best of…” awards of the MMORPG games I had played;

Best Storyline: Lord of the Rings (LoTR)

As it is based on the books, you would expect LoTR to have a good story. However Turbine outdid themselves on the story as the various Epic Quest of the game woven nicely into the story of the books. Sometimes they overdid it as I found myself struck on several Epic Quests as I was unable to get 6 guys together to take on the quests but LoTR did things right as you get to see what Strider did at the Prancing Pony before joining the Fellowship of the Ring, how Elrond laid several trails to confuse the Dark One, and even what happened in Moria after the Fellowship of the Ring ran through the mines. For any fans of the books or the movies, this game is great.

Best Graphics: Age of Conan (AoC)

For a MMORPG, AoC has some of the highest requirements needed for your PC. The upside for this is that AoC has the best graphics of any MMORPG I had seem. Opponents don't just fall over when you kill them; heads will drop off, blood will splatter on the screen, they will dance around in pain while engulfed in flames (my personal favorite) etc. Graphically, AoC is head and tails the best in the MMORPG genre.

Best World: World of Warcraft (WoW)

What can you say about WoW? Despite being one of the oldest MMORPG out there, this game is still the undisputed leader in the genre. The reason they are the king is because of the brilliant world they put together. The world of Azeroth is full of history and small details that make it almost like a living world. The in-jokes scattered around the world also gave the game a sense of humor that is mostly lacking in other games. There are other newer MMORPG on the market but the size, scope and smoothness of gameplay make WoW and the world of Azeroth a fully immersing experience.

Most Vicious: Age of Conan (AoC)

For gamers who had never played AoC, take care when you enter the PvP server. There are games out there designed for PvP but none match AoC in sheer viciousness. You have assassins hiding near quest-givers to back-stab people who are handing in quests, and when you kill creatures chances are that someone will be shooting at you while you bend down to pick up the loot. I was traveling along when I saw a guy afar bending down to pick up loot. I shot at him, he looked up, he turned around and then he died. And I was even hunting! I just happened to chance upon an opportunity I couldn’t refuse while there are gangs out in the game who actively go out to hunt for solo players. That’s just the way the PvP server is in AoC.

Cuteness Award: Wizard101

Developers of MMORPG usually feel obliged to add a few cute things into the game to lure in the kids. Almost all MMORPG are guilty of this, with maybe AoC being the only one out, but no one is as shamelessly cute as Wizard 101. As a young wizard coming up the ranks in a magic academy, the game milked all the cuteness in the world for all its worth. Whether you are practicing white, death, fire magic etc, all your spells will come with cute graphics that will attempt to kill your enemies (and you) with sugar. It’s actually a pretty good game so you may want to try it out but you have been warned.