advertisement

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Updated Hands-On

By Brian Ekberg, GameSpotPosted May 13, 2008 3:01 pm PT

We try our hands at a variety of different characters in our latest look at EA Mythic's massively multiplayer online role-playing game

We've written a good deal about EA Mythic's upcoming Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the incredibly popular Warhammer universe. The game has recently entered into a closed beta period, which will allow the development team to finalize some features and fix some bugs before leading up to a public beta later this year. We had a chance to take the game for a spin at EA's spring press event this week, during which we got a chance to try a variety of characters and even create one from scratch.

We started off with a simple orc choppa, a green-skinned brute with a weapon that looked like an oversized butcher's cleaver. After running around a bit to get a feel for the game's responsiveness, we took up a few of the game's simple beginner quests--basic run and kill missions designed to get you used to the combat in the game. Our choppa had a handful of basic attacks--a ranged attack where he threw an axe at a foe, a basic automated attack, and a more powerful blow that needed to be activated for use. While playing as the choppa, our main opponents were dwarves. During one mission we had to investigate some mysterious barrels down by a nearby river; upon inspection, each barrel we investigated turned out to have a half-naked dwarf in it. We quickly disposed of the dwarf, but we were left wishing that we had read the quest description a bit more closely for an explanation.

After killing the barrel dwarves, we moved on to a level-one High Elf swordmaster. Unlike the hulking orc brute, the high elf was long and lithe, cradling his long two-handed sword in his arms almost like an infant. Though he moved like a fancy lad, he swung his sword with deadly purpose, as we found out during a beginners quest when we took on a number of frightening-looking witches that we found fighting with non player characters during our exploration. Though it might not be the case later in the game, the NPC warriors that we fought alongside weren't good for much; it was up to us and our dandy sword swinging to make short work of the evil witches.

After experiencing the low-level characters, we moved on to a level-20 Chaos Zealot, a character type that looks like it takes its worship of the Chaos gods very seriously. At level 20, you'll obviously have a lot of abilities on-hand and, having previously played two straightforward character types, it took some time to get used to the powers of our zealot, who focused on indirect attacks, as well as healing allies. The area we started in as the zealot was a farmland, and one of the nearby quests tasked us with sneaking into the nearby villagers homes to steal various objects from inside, a prospect that set the pesky villagers off. So sad that so many had to die for so little...

Our final stop with Warhammer was the character creator, which is as straightforward and easy to use as can be. After choosing your side--Order or Destruction--you can choose from one of six races (three apiece) and then choose your class, which varies depending on the race you choose. You'll have some pretty standard options for character customization from the outset--including hair color and style, as well as a number of face options. We ended up with a Dark Elf Disciple of Khaine, a dual-blade wielding badass that looked like a cross between a High Elf swordsman and the Chaos Zealot we played as previously.

Whatever kind of character you create, Warhammer Online will toss you into the eternal fray of war early. All starting areas for characters will be beset in some way by an enemy race, giving you plenty of opportunities to mix it up and get used to the combat system. In addition, such additions as public quests (where players work together to complete cooperative goals) and realm vs. realm combat look to prove that even in a universe that knows nothing but war, you can still have fun. Though there isn't a strict timeline yet, the public beta for Warhammer Online is set to begin later this year, and the game is due for release in the fourth quarter of 2008. Stay tuned for more on the game right here at GameSpot.

133 Comments

  • lokinpwnzall

    Posted Jul 13, 2008 11:44 am PT

    man played AoC out booooored me sooo much after a while but i stiecked to wow before i think i gonna stick to this i like green skinned brutes and dwarfs this game is gonna rock bigtime i mean like orc butchering their own people for better choppas and putting naked dwarfs in barrels thats orc hell whit civilised greenskinned humans like in wow xD

  • viiin2

    Posted Jul 8, 2008 3:05 pm PT

    This game looks stupid I saw a video on it and it looks stale the graphics aren"t that great the animation is jerky it looks like a game that came out six years ago....what a waste

  • TheScreamer

    Posted Jul 4, 2008 9:12 am PT

    I usually don't play MMORPG's but this one does look very nice, so I might buy it. I just hope you don't have to pay as much as for WOW.

  • nitsud_19

    Posted Jul 2, 2008 9:54 am PT

    I keep trying to back to WoW but after an hour or so of playing it gets soooo boring. All my friends that played it dont play anymore either, and its a game best played with buds imo. This game looks refreshing, the pvp is going to be great.

  • jjmc3

    Posted Jun 18, 2008 6:48 pm PT

    the game seams alright, WoW wasnt that fun to me though

  • sirmathew

    Posted May 31, 2008 6:05 pm PT

    From the moment i read about the white Lion Class and that great lion pet my interest in Warhammer Online have increased at an impressive rate...
    As a WoW Hunter and wow pet system lover i hope that the lion will be able to taunt/hold aggro so that i can kill mobs from a range ...
    Also the lion growing system is GREAT in paper,let's hope all that will be also great when we play...

  • longhorn7

    Posted May 23, 2008 1:48 am PT

    Jooj, if you are in fact old enough to remember DAoC, than you should know that Mythic has nothing to worry about when it comes to making a successful MMO.

  • WoWmustbemylife

    Posted May 22, 2008 5:08 pm PT

    wait for the effing game to come out already, trying to judge an MMO before it comes out is like trying to judge a beauty contest where all the contestants are hidden behind walls.

  • gamingnerd121

    Posted May 22, 2008 1:52 pm PT

    I'm not sure if i remember this correctly, but Blizzard's Battlenet was involved some sort of testing if i am right before they wanted to make their first attempt in the MMO genre. (yes i do play WoW as well) Warhammer looks interesting. not really sure about AoC that will probably depend on time. i'm not defending WoW as being the best MMO just trying to remember what started it all. WoW had problems with things in the early days but eventually they got fixed and with TBC expansion i have rarely seen anything such as lag.

  • Jooj posted May 21, 2008 4:50 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    Jooj

    Posted May 21, 2008 4:50 pm PT (hide)

    I've just watched the "Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Interview 5" video, that poor guy looks worried! And he should be! I am sorry but for me WAR is a fail. I never did like the Warhammer universe and this isn't going to change my mind. The graphics sucketh, they look Wow like but without the charm and reeking of the sort of greasy haired, tubby, leatherjacket wearing idiots who dreamed up this puerile infantile dross. On the bright side it might get some converts from those that can't afford the PC's to run AoC. I can't say for certain but I'd guess it's going to be AoC and Wow (for sentimental reasons) for me!

  • Artemios

    Posted May 21, 2008 7:38 am PT

    r u gonna have to pay like on WoW?

  • Vasot

    Posted May 21, 2008 2:20 am PT

    WoW is overhyped c-r-a-p

    Age of Conan and Warhammer all the way

  • quistoman

    Posted May 20, 2008 10:30 pm PT

    I have friends in beta and from what I hear, this game takes a lot of strengths from Dark Age of Camelot.
    I don't think every aspect of any game can be perfect but people are happy with the progression this game is making and game mechanics take time to work out. Ill play this game because the focus is on player skill not what your wearing and I like the way combat works in this game. I see no reason the game will "tank or be the best" there is enough room in MMO's for Warhammer , WoW and even AoC. The people WoW lost to AoC wont hurt as bad as the people that plan to take entire guilds right into Warhammer. The difference would be the people leaving for AoC will most likely be back if they dont like the new game, that wont happen with the warhammer crowd if Warhammer goes south a good number of gamers Ive talked to say they will just move out of MMOs all together but none of the want anything to do with WoW.

  • Kooken58

    Posted May 20, 2008 9:18 pm PT

    Enternalrage you are the people who need booted out of WAR beta and get real respecful players into it so they can make the game better. the beta is not a freaking LOLZ I GET TO PLAY EARLY THING. its for finding bugs and giving the devs positive feedback that makes the game better. Also that is great AoC runs good, because its released and finished and WAR is not how can you say the game sucks when it is not even finished.

  • MasterGofen posted May 20, 2008 5:29 pm PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    MasterGofen

    Posted May 20, 2008 5:29 pm PT (hide)

    Eternalrage your an idiot. WoW is a great game you probably just sucked at. WAR is gona be soo tight. PvP all the way so SAFD

  • gunwar

    Posted May 20, 2008 4:13 pm PT

    People that don't know Games Workshop won't think WAR is before WoW... Just go online and search for a GW centre.. You will know why its so obvious that WoW copied WAR decades ago. Even the WoW charaters look like the WAR characters. I wonder why Games Workshop don't sue Blizard

  • flameboy118

    Posted May 20, 2008 12:24 pm PT

    yeah eternal rage you seem to have issues... playing a game- an mmo no less for five minutes and declaring it rubbish is slightly short sighted of you..... Maybe you just don't get it, as Age of Conan is more action packed and easier to get into. And yes my Crysis on high running pc can handle AoC

  • BikerPunk

    Posted May 20, 2008 12:14 pm PT

    Eternal Rage - glad you can jugde a game in 5 minutes. i consider every sinlge game rating you have ever done as useless as it is impossible to make an educated judgement without getting into the game. congrats, you have failed gaming.

  • nyranasaurus posted May 20, 2008 8:17 am PT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    nyranasaurus

    Posted May 20, 2008 8:17 am PT (hide)

    Y would you play this? CONAN is here!!!!!

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Quick Links

Summary | Reviews | News | Previews & Features | Images | Videos | Downloads | Answers | Hints & Cheats | Forum | Check Prices

Check Prices

GameStop $19.99 SHOP ›
advertisement
advertisement
Click Here

Related Unions

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Boxshot Enlarge the boxshot
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Game Stats

Full Game Details »Close
Also on

Games you may like…

Users who looked at content for this game also looked at these games.

See More Similar Games
advertisement