E3 '07: Dungeon Runners Impressions

Given the huge growth in massively multiplayer online role playing games, it's easy to forget that there's still a good portion of gamers yet to enter the genre. It's these players that NCSoft is aiming to attract with its latest venture, a game that could probably be called the first casual MMORPG. Free to download and free to play, the game requires only a $5-per-month outlay if you want its premium features. We took a look at the game at E3 to see if there could be such a thing as a "free" MMORPG.

The structure to Dungeon Runners should still be familiar to MMORPG players, but it's generally much easier to do things in comparison. For example, it's much easier to level up your character at the beginning of the game. There are 100 levels to work through, but the idea is that you should be leveling up every 15 minutes or so. NCSoft also has an interesting approach to characters, in that you can change between classes midgame for a small gold fee. This, they say, allows players to experiment and find their ideal character without facing a penalty to do so.

It's clear to see that the entire game is geared toward making the experience as welcoming as possible. Your health and mana regenerates automatically, so if you're taking a pummeling, you really just need to run away to survive. If you are killed, then you respawn close to an obelisk that will take you back to where you were in minutes. As well as making it a little bit easier for novices to get into, it also makes Dungeon Runners a game that you can play alongside another MMORPG. NCSoft said that you might want to run a "main" online game in one window, and then minimize it to do a miniquest in Dungeon Runners when you have some downtime.

Of course, the developers wouldn't be able to finance a totally free game unless it was funded either by in-game advertising or some sort of revenue stream. While you can complete the main quest and make it to the top, 100th level without spending a penny, upgrading to the $5-a-month package does bring a few benefits. First of all, you can stack your potions, meaning that you can heal yourself even more easily in battle. Secondly, you gain access to banks in towns where you can leave your items and free up your inventory. Thirdly, in a feature that was added recently, you can use voice chat between fellow premium members. Finally, if there ever is a queue to join a server, premium members jump up ahead of those playing for free.

So far, 100,000 people have downloaded the game and logged online to play it. Whether you're on a free or paid account, you have access to the monthly upgrades that NCSoft makes to the game which add new features and generally iron out performance issues. It's clear that Dungeon Runner's intentions are quite modest, and it may be a low-fat alternative to a proper experience such as World of Warcraft, but there's certainly some sense behind the "free to play" idea. With free access to the game, a potential market of millions will eventually decide if the game is a success or not, and if it does well it could pave the way for many similar pricing structures. Dungeon Runners is available to download now.