Fallen Age Preview
By Thundolfe

What would you do if you had an entire world to yourself?

What if you entered Norrath and were the only one there? Or ported into Dereth with nary a soul? What would you do if you were the first ones to step foot in one of those electronic worlds?

Personally, I'd run around aimlessly pushing all sorts of different buttons to see what would break. Which is exactly what I did following Savant around as he introduced me to the not-quite-open-yet-beta of the MMOG Sleeper Hit Of The Year (tm), Fallen Age.

If you were expecting a "You've never heard of Fallen Age? Are you living under a rock?" statement right about now, it's not gonna happen. Fallen Age has taken a decisively low-key approach, having actually been in development for two years. Imagine that - actually focusing on the game rather than glitz and extravagant celebration? Whodathunkit (sadly, most of the MMOG industry doesn't thunkit very often).

What *is* Fallen Age, exactly? Well.. take Diablo II, smush it together with Age of Empires II, sprinkle a bit of Fallout on top for flavor, toss in the competitiveness of Quake, and box it up with a nice ribbon of none of the above and you start to get an idea. Fallen Age itself is not necessarily original - the three comparative titles listed are all highly popular franchises - but combining them all together within one world most certainly is. FA's strong points come from the way all these elements work together, not as separate entities.

I am bad at PR, so I'll let their website do the talking here:

Fallen Age brings together many combinations of genre's and gaming preferences to make "the game that gamers want."

• Science Fiction Fantasy hybrid. The game takes place at approximately 6400 A.D. - A strange new earth.
  
• 126 Unique Spells and Skills each with their own awe-inspiring 3D effects.
  
• Three Race/Class combinations each with six sub-classes, and the opportunity to partially multi-class in the later levels.
  
• 500 levels of action-packed game play.
  
• Several choices for consensual PvP (Player versus Player) combat. (Guild Wars, Deathmatches, PK Zones...)
  
• In-Game Ladders and Rankings for Deathmatches.
  
• An incredible equipment system which provides for 10,000 unique items per game world.
  
• In-Game tracking of Mob and PKills.
  
• A completely original and unique Colonization sub-game! A combination of Turn Based Simulation and Real Time Strategy where you build your empire, ally with friends, conquer enemy territory, manage resources, tinker with politics... become an Emperor.
  
• In-Game property and Housing!
  
• ...and much more
  

Ambitious, certainly. And here I was, just a lowly cow, being given an opportunity to be one of the first to enter this new world that promised so much. Can Savant and crew combine these familiar elements to produce something new and exciting (not to mention, uh, fun)? Or will that same complexity be the game's downfall?

Only one way to find out, I suppose.

Join me now, faithful readers, as we crack open Fallen Age's egg.


The Adventure

After logging in, I found Savant had pre-created a character for me - a Chakra, a wizard-type character. Fallen Age uses a skill-tree system, where you start as one of three classes (Fighter, Shaman, Chakra) and develop your character into more powerful, specialized versions of the above. The system is somewhat similar to Asheron's Call - as you kill baddies you gain experience points, which are then, in turn, able to be spent on raising skills, learning new spells, and the like (for example, one of the spells I bought cost 30,000xp). Every time you raise a stat, you raise a level.

Noting that I already was level 80 (wow, I'm powerlevelling before I even know how to play!) I clicked login and in I went.

I found myself in a lush green pasture, surrounded by ruins of some sort and standing next to a blonde lady named "Lusy" who was wearing a very detailed flowing black cape. The first thing noticeable when you log in is that the world looks good. The edges were sharp and crisp, and the player models look fantastic and are quite detailed. My avatar was also repeatedly slamming his hands together. Why? I have no idea. The conversation I had with Savant went like this:

Me: What am I doing with my hands?
Savant: You're slamming your fist into your palm.
Me: Oh.

More on this later.

Secondly, the music (midi format) in FA is quite good. In fact, it was good enough that I left it on, which is something I have yet to do in any of MMOGs I have played. It fits in nicely with the atmosphere of the game and the musicianship is well done, when I could hear it (more on this later, too).

Around this time Savant showed up and started to show me around his world.

The controls are simple, but seem to get the job done. Left clicking on the ground moves you to that spot, and also activates your melee attack - holding your cursor (which, strangely, looks like the old Power Glove for the NES) over a monster changes it into a sword, and holding down the left button will cause you to attack said bad guy until one of you is dead. Left clicking also acts as a "Hail" for NPCs, who all have a unique opening line upon clicking them (much in the same way Baldurs Gate II works). Depending on what that NPC is there for, left clicking on them can open a dialogue, a shop window, or a training menu where you can purchase skills. Right clicking casts spells and activates special abilities.

Before we set out to explore the different areas of the game, Savant challenged me to a DeathMatch, which he promptly whoomped me in (mainly because at that point the only thing I knew how to do was run around). The PvP system in Fallen Age reads like a case briefing from the OJ Simpson trial, but I'll attempt to explain it here.

PvP (which is turned off until level 30) is consensual, meaning you must challenge a player to a DM which they have to accept (think /duel in EverQuest), and are then taken to a mirror image of the world where you fight your battle. That is, of course, unless you are in a PvP - free zone, or in a zone specifically designed for PvP (there are "safe" zones as well). The interesting twist here is that a player can reported for nonconsensual PvP. After three reports, that player's name turns red, and upon the next death, is sent to a "jail" cell for 30 logged-in minutes. There's also a complex system of "Honor Points" akin to a reputation system of sorts, which can determine how expensive vendors sell goods to you, etc.

Confused? I was too. For a clearer picture you can read the official explanation.

After being 0wnz0red in DM, I went and explored the colonization mode. This is where you can conquer other player - built establishments, build up your empire, and otherwise Blow Stuff Up (tm). Again, the website does a better job explaining this then I can:

You begin the game with a plot of land which you gain access to after a quest at level 30. Colonization begins turn based where you use your turns to explore the land (and expand it), create houses, factories, schools, and laboratories. You get to build your own bank where you store your money, and your own item warehouse where you store your excess items. You build upon this land until you're ready to begin production and training of soldiers. Once these soldiers are fit and ready for battle, the system takes a turn into Real Time Strategy where you engage other players in political and strategic warfare; where you make friends and enemies, become a king, or maybe even the Emperor of your server.

RAWR! Look out world, here I come.

At any rate, colonization mode is heavily detailed - think of it as Simcity 3000 meets AoE II. Each different building has a different sound associated with it, and much like the artwork, is well polished. I spent most of my time moving around the area rather than doing any colonizing, so I can't comment on that part of it just yet.

After returning to the Adventure mode (what the isometric viewpoint is called), Savant took me around different parts of the world. This is where the current version of FA really shines - the models and animations of the various creatures are extremely well done. There are slimy slug-like newbie creatures (aptly named "Slugs"), dinosaur-lizard-scaley things, and a whole host of strangely - named beasts that I could not possibly describe. You really have to see them to believe it, but the artwork is completely original. The spell effects are also very good. The colors are vibrant and rich, a welcome change to this hardcore EQ player (if I see one more variation on a frog, I think I am going to be ill). It's hard to describe - just click on the screenshot links to see for yourself.

There are zones in FA - we went through several of them. The loading time is minimal, however (as in, a few seconds), and they are not escape routes - monsters can follow you through them as well. The AI is still being worked on, but already monsters will try interesting things to get to you. This includes using a type of "phase shift" ability that enables them to move through certain objects and surprise you.

We proceeded into a dungeon (which was basically a new area with brown walls, though we didn't go in deep), where we encountered more original creatures - these actually dropped loot, namely a nice breastplate and leggings. Loot is trivial in FA - there's some real nice stuff out there, but if you don't have it, you can be just as effective. You don't have to be uber if you don't want to be. Also, each set of armor has a unique look, or so I'm told - avatar customization isn't implemented yet, but is scheduled to be activated soon after the opening of beta.

Having been around the world smashing monsters (which all die in a satisfying explosion of guts and blood), we headed back to good old Lusy for some training. I spent most of my xp on two new lightning spells, which I then inserted into my hotkey bank at the bottom of the screen. Casting spells and the like is easy - press the hotkey number associated with the spell you want, then right click on your target. ZAP. I used this complicated technique to completely destroy Savant in DeathMatch. God mode my ass.

Satisfied that I had shown Savant the error of his ways (see the screenshot of me ruling the DM ladder), I thanked him for the tour and logged off.


The Good

As said above, most of the visuals in Fallen Age are outstanding. The "screenshots don't do it justice" cliche is overused, but it holds true here - you really have to see it on your monitor to appreciate it. The colors are vibrant and rich, the monster design is outstanding and completely original, and the terrain changes and textures are outstanding. If the avatar customization follows suit you'll see lots of colorful people running around.

Sound as well is quite good. The music (when it plays) is high quality - best I've heard in an MMOG so far. The spell effects/environment is also well done - lightning crackles as your spell winds up, NPCs and shopkeepers address you in different tones and accents, monsters growl and squeal, and in general everything just sounds crisp and clean.

The quest system also looks promising, though I didn't see much of it myself. For those who are oldschool RPG/Fallout fans, you'll be pleased to know that the system is very traditional - when you speak to an NPC, a dialogue box with a profile pic pops up and gives you the details. It's nothing critical, but it's a nice touch and will be familiar to those players who have been around.

While not directly related to the game itself, it's good to see it so far along in development. Too often games are built upon hype and fanfare, without there being any real development behind it. Far from the case here - there really is a solid game in Fallen Age, they really do have the financial backing, and yes, they really might pull it off.


The Bad

Number one on my suck list would have to be the "at rest" character animations. I'm sorry, but standing there repeatedly pounding my fist into my palm every second is repetitive, amateurish, and just looks dumb. If I had my way the characters would have a slight torso-twist animation (kind of like UO) and that's it. The current setup is simply too obtrusive. Blech.

While I mentioned the excellent music above, the main problem is that half the time it didn't play. Often a track would start and simply stop after a few seconds for no reason, never to return. Talking to J later that night (who also got a tour) revealed that he had the same problem, so this is definitely on the "beta bugs" list.

The chat system also needs some work, though after speaking with Savant about it last night it sounds as if improvements are in the works. AC players will tell you that the weakest part about AC's UI is the chat system, and it needs some work here as well. Typing and moving is difficult if not cumbersome, and accidentally forgetting to activate the chat window can cause you to open all sorts of windows. There's a text-wrapping issue which makes it difficult to follow conversations - thankfully there is a journal function that lets you scroll back to see what you might have missed. The font used currently is just a Times New Roman font (I believe) and it looks out of place, not to mention hard to read in some places.

Finally, the engine itself seems to need some tweaking. While the game ran fine on my monster of a machine (PIII-1GHz, GeForce2 GTS 64MB), there's some nasty choppiness when moving stuff in and out of your inventory, and when moving windows around. It wasn't enough to make the game unplayable, but it was highly annoying. That mouse pointer needs to go, too.


The End

This preview started by talking about "cracking the egg." I'd say by now that egg is pretty well cracked. So what's the verdict? Is Fallen Age the Next Big Thing (tm)? Can it combine all these different playstyles into something cool?

The answer is, I don't know. It's hard to make that kind of decision when there's only two of you playing. What I saw seemed solid, though.

Fallen Age is an ambitious game not because its individual parts are original, but because the sum of all those parts is something that hasn't been attempted before, let alone attempted in an MMOG environment. It will require heavy tweaking to work, though, which will require plenty of player feedback. That responsibility falls directly on the dev team's shoulders.

Whether their "Open Door" policy will work in this case remains to be seen. I suppose we'll start finding out on the 21st, the day beta begins.


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