Holy bajeezus is the game bad. And I mean really really bad. With games like WoW out, this is terrible.
First, I was assuming that RYL was the name of the game world or something, but its an oh so clever acronym for "Risk Your Life". With a name like that, I knew I was in for trouble from the get go.
So I loaded it up. I was expecting at the MOST a mediocre game, but NOTHING this terrible. The graphics were horrible. I mean we're talking worse than PS1 graphics. First impressions are everything, and if your first impression is that your game looks like crap, that's not a good thing. In this day and age, heck even five years ago, these graphics would not cut it.
The whole interface seemed clunky and arcane and like you'd have to sit down and read a dictionary-sized manual just to figure out what you were doing. It was NOT user-friendly, to put it nicely. The chat system, while operational, seemed dated as well. EVERYTHING about this game seemed dated. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it seemed like a downright homegrown game made by one person. I've seen better looking games from the Blitz Basic game dev community...
The sound, I don't really recall the sound, I was just basking in the terrible chicanery that is RYL: Path of the Emperor.
Needless to say, it didn't take me long to get fed up with the crappy controls, graphics, and crappy everything and uninstall this train wreck.
The developers at the time were offering some sort of contest where you could win a jackpot of money; 100 grand I believe, or something like that. You'd have to pay me 100 grand just to play this game.
I have NO faith in the sequel to this game. With World of Warcraft, and the upcoming D&D Online, Neverwinter Nights 2, etc., I have NO idea why you'd even bother to waste your time with this or its sequel.
My advice, stay VERY FAR AWAY FROM THIS GAME! I am not joking.