Wildstar review in progress, part one: Welcome to Nexus

In the months and weeks prior to its release, Wildstar has enjoyed the hype surround it – and according to all the information we had, there was a pretty good reason for it. Carbine Studios promised a “Theme Park” game that would focus on all the good things in the genre, instead of what most games aim to provide – innovation. On the one hand, this step can be easily understood – so many MMO games have been published in the past few years, with each and every one of them promises new things. On the other hand, do we really need another game that outright says it does not aim to make any change at all? That it’s interested in letting us do all the things we did in so many other games?

Shortly about the game’s plot: The universe have been created by the Eldan – An alien race to which the Dominion worship. As the bad guys in the game, the Dominion are interested in controlling this universe and ultimately they reach Nexus, a newly discovered planet that holds many secrets and treasures. Throwing a wrench in their plans are the Exiles that have reached the planet first. As the good guys, the Exile hate the Dominion from the usual reasons. A bit unoriginal, true, but a good story in an MMO relies not only on the game itself, but also on a diverse and rich lore. That one department where the developers didn’t came out short, and everyone who would like to know more about the universe and its history, can do so with a number of books and stories that will surly contribute to the understanding of the game’s world and all that happens in it.

Wildstar have quite the range of different classes to choose from, with a few specialty options on top of that. They call it a specialty because this choice only affects the special missions you’ll get access to. Thus, I have begun my journey on the planet Nexus as a female human Esper. The Esper is the spellcaster of the game, but instead of shooting balls of fire, lightning bolts and icicles, he creates magical weapons from thin air, and uses them to attack enemies from afar. On this choice I added the Explorer specialty, and therefore I was required to climb different mountaintops across the area, or discover hidden caves.

I must make note of a few things: True, Wildstar isn’t a new, never-seen-before game, but instead, it does offer a verity of activities to the player. A wide variety, as a matter of fact. Whether it’s the regular “Go there, kill 5 of these and come back” quests, crafting missions, battlegrounds, arenas, adventure missions or dungeon missions – every player, and I do mean every player, who likes Theme Park games will find something to do. This is truly a point in Wildstar’s favor. Many MMO games have gone extinct from this word due to the lack of content. I don’t believe that in the case this game will tank, it will be because there wasn’t enough contact to entertain the player.

Another aspect I’d like to shine some light on, and it is perhaps the most important thing in my opinion, is the combat system. Unlike the classic “point-and-click” system, Wildstar’s battle system is full of action. Think along the lines of TERA, or that of a third person action game. The difference is that every skill and spell you’ll use will show you its effect and spread on the screen, in the shape of a line, cone, explosion, etc. It also works for the enemies, so you’ll always know what’s coming at you, and when to dodge. This gives an element of dexterity to the game, on top of pure skill, and that’s what prevents the feeling of “Deja-vu” from settling in. In big-scale battles the multitude of colored shapes might get in the way of the action, so there’s an option to turn it off, but I came to realize it helps more than you’d think.

Speaking about colorful shapes, you’ll probably notice Wildstar is not a grey or brown game. This game, which have been said to resemble Pixar (and it’s not far from the truth), is one of the most colorful games I have ever played. The art direction makes you think of a cartoon, or perhaps a comic book. This particular direction does not appeal to me personally, but I certainly enjoy the funny sights. At times I look at the horizon, thinking a roadrunner might pass by soon. The smooth animations really help breathe life into the game, and it doesn’t look bad at all.

I have yet to experience many of the game’s activities, but so far I can say I’m feeling both ways about Wildstar. The quests are business as usual, the specialty missions give off a nice platformer vibe, the enemies aren’t too challenging, but battles are always frenetic, and I do enjoy the visuals of the game, even though I prefer a more realistic approach. I do not experience anything new or innovative, but it’s all done so well, and it’s definitely the game that was released with the most content straight from the get-go. In the next few weeks I’ll experiment some more with Wildstar (I can’t wait to build a house) and I’ll share my logs with you. So until the next time…