Have you ever wondered what happens when you die? In Endless Ages you take on death in an entirely new way. I arrived in a distant land unfamiliar to me. This body, this grass...something is different. I was planeted down in a time where nature rules. Different organisms, bats of the air, creatures of the land and mutated fish of the sea rule all around me the land. Something was different, everything was against me. I felt like an alien who landed on a distant planet, all forces of nature seeking my demise. But there was hope, four factions of species, closer to me than I understood, formed together to make their home.
What do you want to be?
The Bloblic is a massive creature who seems to be a giant made of plasma. It is the heavy weapons tank of the bunch and stands over 12 feet tall, 1200 pounds. The Amphibious is a race of frogs that stand on two legs and wield special weapons. They are a mysterious bunch and are well developed in shape shifting/hiding. The Human Male is a smart breed of warriors, much more creative than the Bloblic. While they fall short on their strength and health compared in comparison to their gigantic counterparts, they have technical insight and tactics the Blob's do not. The Human Female is the magician of the bunch, with some crafting skills thrown in the mix.
All of the species are based around a gun of some sort, according to their nature. While the Amphibious have weaponry that are just as alive as they are, the Blobic carry something more akin to a rocket launcher.
This game is one of the most immersive I have experienced. There is realism that I've yet to find in other games. You are your character; your skill defines how good you are. There is an urgency to the game, to level, to quest, to fly upon the highest branch and look at the landscape. All amazingly designed in my opinion. The "Old World", as it is now referred to, is huge. Not that there aren't bigger maps, but if you traverse it entirely it would take a long while just to the see points of interest.
Not only is it big in distance but in height it is as well. Many games have mountains that put you at a higher elevation but there always seems to be a "cut-off point" where the sky ends. In Endless Ages (EA), the sky looks real! The environment makes you feel like you are really there. Not only do you see the 100 ft. tall tree but, you can fly in to it! I stress the coolness of the height in this game because I feel it is one of the best points. Yes, there is a 100 story tall island! And, yes I can climb up it!
The caverns are realistic and seamless. Rather than clicking on a cave-type place to get into a cave you simply walk into it. I love the realism of the game, the only problem I have with the environment is that some things are just too dark. This might be on purpose, and it does add some scare value. For instance, when you're in a cave lit only by small buckets of fire and a 15 ft. tall walking death is coming at you, you start to worry a bit. Don't get me wrong, there are flare guns which light up a space, they just aren't so conventional. This can add to the fun but sometimes it can also be a hassle. I have my monitor's brightness and contrast turned up at least double what it normally is, if not more, at all times. There is a night and day system. It cycles about every hour or so. The problem is night is very dark like the caves. The types of creatures are very area specific too, which is nice.
This is one of the strongest points of the game. The world is alive. You are there.
Endless Ages was the first MMOFPS created. Not only is it the first but, it was actually done well. The graphics are great, they really fit the feeling of the game. They have redone character/monster/weapon modeling as well, which has added much to immersion. Personally, I don't mind graphics that are a bit dated, but I don't feel that EA's graphics are. The creation of the game began back in 1998, and only two people developed the engine! The player models are very smooth. Each race has such a personality unique to them. The animations are nice overall (check out the emotes), but the melee animations suffer repetitiveness, as do a few critters. There is art for all types of travel, walking, flying, swimming, jumping...even dancing!
The UI is one aspect that gives me mixed feelings. While certain aspects of the UI work perfectly, like the chat/compass/armor levels bar, there are parts that are very annoying such as the inventory or the bank. When you pull your inventory up you get a small box with a scroll bar similar to a web browser. There are about 8 items displayed at a time in the items window. When you scroll down it's easy to accidentally grab an object, which stops your scrolling. When you die your items get mixed together and can take time to reorganize. There is, however, the ability to make hot-keys, which is great. There is basically an endless list of keys/combos you can put "item x" on - easily made macros. The only downfall to this is things like quest items. Say you have a level 1 item and hotkey it, when that item becomes level 2 you must replace the old hot key and make a new one.
I don't think that the UI is terrible, it's just not the strongest point of the game. After you play for a few days though, it grows on you.
The controls are very comfortable. Although there are definitely things to learn and master, I wasn't thrown into the game having to read the manual 5 times over to figure out how to fight. Very simple: you arm a gun/sword and shoot/slice away. Using the hover packs add a unique element to the controls and do take a while to really get good at. Try fighting in the air - very difficult at first but very exciting. While Shape Shifting adds other elements it is generally it's the same simple, clean controls.
Sound is a point that hits a nerve with me on almost all games. It's all too often that I hear the same sound 8,000 times a day. EA has this problem as well but I've found it easier to handle than most. There is an environmental sound change, which is nice. Also the mob sounds are unique. Still, I would like to see more depth.
The dev's have revamped parts of the game since release. Rather than being thrown into your faction's home base 30 minutes away from the other species, everyone starts off in Boomtown. Boomtown is a most welcome addition to the game as it is a 100% improvement over the old land for beginners. All the quests in BT are instructive to the point where you know exactly what you're doing. One nice thing about EA is it can be as difficult as you make it. You can advance just as fast in the game killing things that are easy as you can killing things that are tough. Though, I wouldn't suggest drifting along in the game killing the one thing your good at until you can't take it anymore. One of my favorite things is to run around and adventure. Sure, there have been plenty of times I've stumbled upon something that killed me multiple times but I enjoyed it! This is something that's better to wait for though, because if you don't have no-drop items yet dying can cause many a headache.
Things to get used to: 1. There is no defense-type skill. Armor is your protection, period. This means you can have a level 1 or a level 18 strapped naked and the only difference will be the hit points. 2. The weapon skills only affect what type of weaponry you can use, not how hard/often you hit. There couldn't be an accuracy enhancer because it depends on your aim. 3. Stats are simple and do affect what type of damage you do and what type of weapons/armor you can use. 4. One big factor in choosing you class is your size. For instance, the Bloblic have more hit points and armor. However they also are as big as a tank, slow and can be hit easily while the AP's have low hit points but are small and fast. 5. For you photo sensitive folks, you might want to wear some sunglasses on this trip. There are more flashes in this game than I've ever seen before. 6. Shape-Shifting. This is an in-depth part of the game. There are quests that revolve around shifting, mainly for AP's, which require you to shift into a certain type of creature. This is mainly a fun part of the game. 7. Probably the biggest adjustment, you have to aim.
Very interesting ideas, very creative. There are so many things in EA that other developers should look at and take notice. So many little things that keep the game fresh. Rather than sure-fire rpg's, where you know that when your character gets to be a certain level you'll be strong, EA requires skill. There isn't the "get a high level character and weapon then click/hit a button or two". You must aim, you maneuver, you use objects to block fire, and you zoom in to snipe, hide, transform and fly away! So many great concepts that EA brings through smoothly.
I would recommend this game to anyone who likes any FPS, RPG, MMO games period. There are several small details that if added/corrected would make a drastic difference and I believe it would open the game to a wider audience, as it stands it is still a fantastic experience. The Community in the game is top-notch. The clans in the game are like families. The developers are the most down to earth I've ever seen. It's a common occurrence to see them communicating to the players in game. The GM's are friendly and help players with whatever they need. This game is the only game out there like it. Plus it has a 5-day risk free trial. No credit card required - just a valid email. I say give it a shot (no pun intended). What have you got to lose?
I'm an RPG fan above all but I enjoy most all types of gaming. I wouldn't consider being the best RTS/Flight/Space player though. PC gaming is my passion, but I try to be fair so my PS2 doesn't get lonely.
