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However, its lack of commercial visibility doesn't demean the game in any way. This game is very unique in its own way, and with that, makes it very addictive. There are two versions of the game, free version and pay for play. Pay for play gives you an extended world and more freedom than you do in the free version.

When you begin the game, first you are given the option of creating the way your character looks. There are various styles of clothing, colors, hairstyles, genders, and body physique, but the only race you can be is a human. You would think that this feature limits you to being a boring weakling of the human race, but this game revolves all around customization.

This game is all about growing your character - there's no limit to what you can do, but being stronger and more experienced does help. Basically you can enter an area filled with level 90 players and level 200 monsters whenever you want, whether or not you'll survive for more than 5 seconds is beyond anyone's control. You're never limited into where you can go, but only what you can do by your choices as you grow.

Runescape is a browser-based game - running completely in an Internet Explorer environment. It's based in Java, but is rendered well as 3D game. The variety of items and art is rather staggering.

The style of game play in Runescape is different from that of any other MMORPG. Some common characteristics that Runescape shares is click-and-go for travel and allowing your character to attack something and automatically allow him to kill it with little or no control from you. One of the differences in Runescape is that this game does not revolve around killing things and getting stronger, but rather revolves around performing various actions involving certain skills to make you an overall better player.

The main free member skills in the game are combat, cooking, woodcutting, fishing, firemaking, crafting, smithing, mining, rune crafting, prayer, magic, and range. They are all connected in some way. An example would be training. If you want to become stronger, you need to fight a lot of monsters, and when you fight a lot of monsters, you'll need cooked food to heal yourself, which you'll need fish and build fire for, a fire for which you'll need wood, for fish you'll need fishing, for the weapons and armor that you wear you'll need the mine then smelt/smith the ores/bars, etc. All of it is part and parcel of the same skill set.

The game play involves almost nothing other than a mouse and keyboard. The keyboard is what allows you to communicate with others around you, whether it be trading or making friends. The mouse allows you do perform commands. You simply move your mouse over something, and you will view certain options. Move your mouse pointer over a person, and you will be given the options of either following them, walking to that spot, or trading with them. However, if you move your mouse pointer over a stove, you either have the option of using a food with the stove to cook it, or examining it to get a little background information on what it is and what it does.

Runescape is quite easy to understand how to play, as I have stated, it's basically a click and go game. There are no complicated rules or systems you have to learn, no various hotkeys or key combinations, and most of all NO BUTTON MASHING!

Alright, so now that I have covered the game play and style of Runescape, I will now continue onto the game characteristics such as graphics, sound, story, etc. I must admit, the environment in Runescape is quite beautiful. The scenery is very detailed and there are many different types of environments. I've experienced more than a few different terrain including forest, city, desert, wilderness, dungeon, cave, island, volcanoes, and many others. The graphics are somewhat detailed. If you're holding a 2-handed sword, you can easily tell it apart from a long sword, but you cannot see the sharpness or luster on the weapon. For players looking for higher detail in scenery and weapons, they can select high detailed game, but this will require better computer specs (nothing too high, 128mb of ram and at least 500 MHz processor).

Sound is important to any game. It makes us feel different emotions, like anger and peace. An example of this would be Final Fantasy which almost always featured great music to go with the scenery and mood. Runescape works hard to accomplish this same task. When you are in a desolate area surrounded by trees, you will hear soothing and enchanted music; and when you are in a battlefield, you will hear music to get your blood rushing.

The sound effects aren't nearly as good - they sound like they were produced in a basement with a 20 dollar microphone. When you hit a monster, you'd expect to get "ARGH" or "ROAR", but in Runescape, the sound is just "Eeep!" or "Squeak!"When you smith you'd expect to hear the thunderous roar of metal clashing against metal, making the perfect weapon and armor, but it just goes "deep deep".

Story in a game is a valuable to every aspect. There is however, no general story in Runescape. That's right, no super evil dragon or a super evil dark wizard eating the super evil dragon - sorry. Instead, there are quests that involve a problem and a history behind it (roughly 30 of 'em in the free play). The quest stories don't immerse you much but they do give purpose to your job and make you feel a little like you've helped society.

What about connectivity? The computer requirements for the game are a minimum of a 64mb ram and a 300 MHz processor, but you can experience more detail if you increase to a minimum of 128mb and a 500 MHz processor. The game can be played on dial up but of course you'll get better game play experience with either cable or DSL because in this game connectivity can play a big role in how well you do. There are about 50 different servers that are all connected, meaning they all play Runescape and will allow you to talk to your friend even if you are on server 4 and he is on server 50.

What would an MMORPG be without communication? There are a lot of players in Runescape that can play a very major role into how much fun you have in the game and how successful you will be in it. There's a chatting system where you can add people you like and ignore people you hate. It's fairly easy to understand the chatting system. However, with communication comes big danger. As in any online game, there will be the occasional jerk that will try to ruin the game for you by scamming you or turning you into a monster that you never thought was in you, but don't let them get to you. There's a report abuse option in the game that is easy to find, use it to help clean up the game.

I really enjoy Runescape. It's a good and addictive game and I would highly suggest it to players wanting to experience what an MMORPG is like, or to the person who has responsibilities and doesn't have the time to dedicate 150 hours per week to an MMORPG. It's a fine game that I have enjoyed for over 2 years and have learned and felt so much from. Hopefully readers will experience this game for themselves and have as much fun as I did when I first played. You can find more on our Runescape blog.