RF Online Preview - Chip Wars

RF Online has launched in North America and Europe now, and this online role-playing game from South Korea is about to get a wave of Western players. The game has already been available in Asia, where it has reportedly gained more than a million subscribers. And unlike most online role-playing games set in fantasy realms, RF Online features a mix of fantasy, science fiction, and anime, as you'll create a virtual character and take part in huge battles online to determine the future of an alien world.

The three factions in RF Online are all quite distinct from one another. The Holy Alliance Cora is a magical faction that looks quite a bit like traditional fantasy elves. Meanwhile, the Accretia Empire consists of militaristic robots, so instead of magic they rely solely on technology. The third faction is the Bellato Union, a race of what are essentially clever gnomes who build and pilot giant mechs.

While you'll be able to do many of the tasks that you can do in most online role-playing games, such as socializing with other players, exploring uncharted wilderness, and battling all sorts of monsters and alien creatures, one of the major features of RF Online are the player-versus-player battles, which can be epic in size. Every day on Novus (the game's setting), three massive battles are fought between the factions for control of the prosperous central mine that burrows deep into the planet's core. The victorious faction gets to extract precious materials that increases the wealth of individual players, as well as the faction as a whole, so there's a lot of motivation to gain control of the central mine. As a result, these battles can involve thousands of players at a time.

Codemasters says that the battles are resolved not by one faction completely eliminating another faction, but by winning what's called the chip war. At the beginning of each battle, each faction has a unique "chip" created for them. Should a faction's chip be captured, that faction essentially loses the battle and must wait for the next battle and the next chip. The chip war rages until one faction manages to capture another faction's chip while maintaining control of its own. If no faction manages to win within three hours, there is no winner for that round. The winners of a chip war not only get to reap the rewards of the central mine, but they can also enlist the aid of the holy stone keeper, a powerful guardian.