User Rating: 6.3 | Horizons: Empire of Istaria PC
By seriphinx | Review Date:
There really is nothing new here, other than playing as a dragon for a race..But I have a problem with that cause it seems they were so hyped up about being dragons that they went cheap on the other models graphically speaking. I mean, they look OK…but if you like to play and look cool doing it, stick to Everquest, or DaoC if those are the ones you already play. The sound is decent, nothing that reaches out and surprises you or anything, but its there so that’s fair enough I suppose. The music is actually pretty darn good, kudos on the soundtrack. Now to the main issues The terrain is decent, nothing that makes me think its better than anything already out, in fact, in my opinion it isn’t better than anything already out, except for Everquest which shows its age every time you look at the ground, but comparing to Anarchy or DaoC, everything is pretty much equal with all the options turned up. Gameplay wise, crafting is indeed the emphasis here. If you like crafting, and lots of it, this one takes the title away from DaoC or Ultima. With that being said, even though there are some regions where everything is in reach, sometimes it just takes too long to make things. Im not a powergamer don’t get me wrong, but when it’s a routine of : do this just to make this just to do this just to make this just to get a tiny piece that you REALLY need?? Indeed it’s a deep system but every now and then guys, Id like to speed the process up a little, especially if I am pressed for time. So for that purpose alone, I would still rather do UO’s or DaoC’s crafting. Not all of us have 4 hours to make about 10 things just for a quest yielding 100 copper even if money is balanced differently there. Now that might be right up someone’s alley, just not mine. It IS FUN, just not practical for me. The graphics on this game are ok, animations and character models are on par but nothing that takes my breath away. As I said before, the humans and some of the other races look somewhat generic compared to other games that seem to have their own originality them with the exception being the cat race, those actually look a little sleaker that EQ's Vah Shir race. It has already been mentioned by others, but there does seem to be a problem with how things load on the game. Sometimes I am put into the world before the world seems ready to have me, trees with no ground for example, and waiting on PC’s that run by to have their actual armor on or waiting for NPC’s to actually pop where they are suppose to stand takes away from the whole "immersed in another world" feel. Im glad it wasn’t just me, I have a decent system and decent graphics card along with decent cable connection, so I’m not going to listen to any “it could be you” arguments when I can easily point out the other rpg’s that load and look much better without any problems. Lastly, I like a game that’s easy to make an account and also easy to CANCEL one also. I mean if the customer service end of a game like creating and canceling is in check…HECK..I might be so inclined to re-establish my accounts and play again sometime down the road if I get bored. This is the first game I have seen where, in order to cancel, you have to actually call up their customer service department to talk to someone first..Its True! Its True! Not so much a big deal I guess, but why not do it the way every other game does? AUTOMATICALLY! LOL If you don’t believe me for those that play, pretend like your going to cancel on the web page and see what it tells you. :-) All in all, this game could be awesome if it had some things redone and corrected, and like any online’r, I am sure patches will fly out fixing some of these, but for now, I’ll pass and save some money. Bottom line: If your already playing another mainstream game: i.e. Everquest or DaoC or FFXI for that matter, just stick to it for now. I wouldn’t look for anything to put my trust or money in until EQ2 came out.

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