Saga of Ryzom Updated Impressions

Online role-playing games are some of the most popular games around, mainly because they offer players the ability to escape to a fantasy setting to adventure in a world populated by thousands of other players. In addition to the monster slaying and dungeon exploring, these games offer rich social interactions that you can't get with computer-controlled characters. There is a promising crop of new online role-playing games on the horizon, including The Saga of Ryzom, a major project that's been under way for more than three years at French developer Nevrax. The game was originally scheduled to launch earlier this summer, but Nevrax delayed it until September to add a few extra features to it and to spend more time polishing it. We recently got a rare chance to take a look at the game in progress.

With so many online role-playing games on the market or in development, the struggle for each game is to differentiate itself from the pack. For The Saga of Ryzom, Nevrax hopes that the unique setting will appeal to gamers. While most online role-playing games are set in traditional swords-and-sorcery-style fantasy worlds, The Saga of Ryzom is set in a universe that combines traditional swords and sorcery with advanced technology, such as rocket launchers and laser weapons. Needless to say, this might seem a bit unfair, but the combat system is being balanced so that sword users will have a sporting chance against rocket launcher-armed users--and vice versa. The game itself takes place on the planet Atys, a pastoral world full of forests, jungles, oceans, and deserts, not unlike EverQuest's Norrath or Ultima Online's Britannia. However, future plans for The Saga of Ryzom include space travel, and Neverax plans to add new planets in expansions, including a cybernetic planet that should offer a distinctly new look and feel to the game.

The character creation system is powerful and flexible enough to create a unique-looking character. Basically, you use sliders to adjust height, build, and facial structure, while also choosing between different hairstyles, colors, tattoos, and more. In a refreshing change of pace, The Saga of Ryzom doesn't rely on stock role-playing races, such as elves, dwarves, and humans. Instead, the game features distinctly new races that, while all humanoid, have slightly alien features. There are the Fyros, a warrior race that lives in the arid regions of the world; the Zorai, a mask-wearing, spiritual race; the Matis, a forest-dwelling race, and the Tryker, a short-in-stature race that lives on the water. Saga of Ryzom will use what is essentially a "classless" system. Rather than picking a "fighter" or "healer" to play as, you'll create a character that can learn any skill. Of course, each race will have proficiencies and advantages. For example, the Fyros will have natural advantages in combat, but there won't be any restricted skills, so you can potentially create a jack-of-all-trades character if you invest enough time and effort into it. Another big feature of the game is its modular action system, which is a way to create customized special attacks, spells, and other moves. Basically, you can combine different actions to create complex ones. This will be useful in not only combat (by combining different magical spells into a powerful strike) but also in crafting items, because you can cut down on a lot of the micromanagement required to create something.

We also learned new details regarding The Saga of Ryzom's "invasion" engine, which will set up huge battles where dozens of player characters will have to fend off attacks by upward of 250 monsters. Some invasions will come with fair warning, so you'll know that an incursion is on the horizon when you encounter scouts that are probing your territory. Larger patrols will then be seen, and then the mass of the invasion force will arrive. This should give you some time to organize a defense. If the monsters raze a town or settlement, players will no longer have access to the town's services, so it will be in their best interests to battle invaders. Goo infestations represent another hazard in the game. Basically, the planet is infected, and occasionally an infection will spring from the ground, oozing green goo that contaminates the environment. Creatures that get caught in the goo become zombies that can infect other creatures, creating an epidemic that can spiral out of control. The only way to control a goo infestation is to kill the infected creatures and go to the source of the infestation, where magic-users can cast healing spells on the planet.

Nevrax has an eight-year plan for the game, but one of the interesting aspects of The Saga of Ryzom is that the players themselves will evolve the game's story over time. Races will war against one another, and they'll also form alliances with one another. In essence, players will chart the game's course. To facilitate cooperation, the game will allow player guilds, and houses for use as guilds have recently been added to the game. Players can also have their own houses or apartments, but to avoid the real-estate issues found in other games--where players buy up all available land so that they can build houses and castles--Saga of Ryzom will feature a simple system whereby players will enter a certain door and then be taken to their own unique dwellings.

Player-versus-player gameplay is always a sensitive issue in online role-playing games, especially when veteran players prey on newcomers. PvP in The Saga of Ryzom will be handled in a number of ways. First, there will be consensual dueling, which means that you may challenge other players to formal combat. If another players accepts your invitation to duel, you can then fight it out. There will also be PvP arenas, where players can freely get medieval on one another. One nice twist is that if an invasion occurs at the right time and place, the invaders may swarm into a PvP arena, thus becoming an uninvited third-party to the combat.

The looks of The Saga of Ryzom have improved since we last saw it. Nevrax has obviously spent the time polishing the game's graphics engine. The world of Atys is lush with fauna and flora, and you'll explore dark caverns as well as tranquil forests. Nevrax is currently conducting a focused beta test on the game in an effort to balance all of its skills and combat mechanics. The Saga of Ryzom should launch in North America and Europe sometime in September.