Probably the game's most interesting support feature is its Tome of
Knowledge. The Tome serves as the complete collected works detailing your
experiences in the game. It will track each creature you encounter, provide
background information on them, and track how many times you've killed each
type. As you encounter special locations and NPCs in the game, you'll unlock
lore entries in the Tome. It also serves as a seemingly boundless achievement
list, with many, many achievements tied to killing monsters and other players,
completing quests, exploring the worlds, and more. There are even plenty of
oddball ones there for the unlocking, such as one for clicking your character
100 times or another for fighting a battle while naked. Every item unlocked in
the Tome comes with some type of reward. Usually, it is experience points, but
sometimes it can be other things such as a title you can bestow on your
character. Finding everything hidden in the Tome is almost a game unto itself,
and plenty of gamers will find themselves obsessed with unlocking it all. The
last thing I always do before logging off is to read the page in the Tome
chronicling everything that I've unlocked that day.
The game has a lot of nice features that take a lot of the typical MMORPG
drudgery out of the game. For example, the areas where you need to go to
complete or turn in quests are all marked on your map. Also, death simply
returns you to the last town you bound your character to, and the short term
penalty can be instantly erased by a nearby NPC healer for the cost of a few
coins. On the other side, there are a few aspects of the game that feel under
developed, such as the crafting system. You can select from one of four
gathering professions and one of three crafting ones, and even though the
options are limited, the crafting process is more awkward than it is straight
forward.
As for the technical aspects of the game, the graphics are sharp and
Warhammer Online's world is packed with details. The game can put a strain on
your system, though. In crowded places, such as capital cities and PvP zones
packed with players, some lag can set in unless you tone down the graphical
options a bit. Overall lag is not usually an issue, but it may be for you if
your computer is a few years old.
Overall, Warhammer Online is a thoroughly enjoyable game. It's a refinement
of the MMORPG model used by most games in the genre, so if these types of games
aren't your thing, Warhammer Online won't change your opinion. For everyone
else, especially hardcore MMORPG fans, it is highly recommended and well worth
your time to try it out.
In The End, This Game Hath Been Rated:
92%. Warhammer Online is the first MMORPG that's
been able to cut into my time with World of Warcraft, which is no small
accomplishment.
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