Best MMO release in the last 5 years.
This game will not be for everyone, I know that seems obvious, but if you are the type of person who looks for pretty graphics first then you will probably look upon Fallen Earth with despairing eyes. Not that the game is ugly in my opinion, it's just that I am prepared to take into account the scale of the game world which is fantastically large. The game has a very bleak look to it as well, obviously this is intentional given that it is set in a post apocalyptic world, but it is still surprising the number of people that comment how drab or empty they think it looks. I think it has a certain gritty charm about it, sure the animations could use some work and the ragdoll death physics are comical at times, but overall I think the game does a sterling job of portraying a post apocalyptic world.
Fallen Earth is a mix between sandbox and the usual quest driven mmo's out there. It has a leveling system, but rather than pick a specific class it is up to you to spend Action Points on the skills you see fit, this gives you a fantastic scope to develop whatever type of character you see fit. Fancy a healing sniper, no problem. What about a crafting melee fighter, go right ahead.
On the subject of crafting, this game has a fantastic crafting/harvesting system, it has plenty of depth without being too complicated. And it is a good job to, because certain items can be hard to come by, but with a bit of practice you will soon be happily making ammo for your weapons, food for buffs, right the way through to your own ATV's and mad max style cars. The crafting has a great system where you can add items to a crafting queue, but then go off and do your own thing whilst the timer ticks down, so no more being stuck in one spot for your crafting sessions, infact it even works through your queue whilst you are logged off!
I would definitely class this game as more towards the 'hardcore' side of things, it might not be as 'hardcore' as some would like because it still has quests, levels etc, but this is certainly no world of warcraft, and you can easily feel lost when you first start out. Luckily the game has a fantastic community, and special mention goes out the the GM's and Devs who are often spotted in the ingame help chat channel.
The game does have PvP, but I've not experienced it other than getting whooped by the devs in the end of beta party some months ago, PvP isn't really my thing and luckily it is not central to this game, although there are PvP area's should you wish to engage in it.
I must also mention that the game is being developed very well. It would be silly to not admit that the game was more than a little rough around the edges at launch, infact it still is, but there have been plenty of improvements made along with some good content such as the ability to build your own campsites out in the wasteland (hopefully a stop gap until full on player housing is released), through to the addition of ingame casino's where you can spend your hard earned chips on blackjack and fruit machines.
This game reminds me a lot of EVE at launch, that might sound nuts, but I remember how rough EVE was when it launch and Fallen Earth seems to be following a similar strategy as that of EVE, certainly the decision to have just the one server is interesting, and one that I was concerned about at launch, especially as a European player with the Server being in the US. Luckily the lag is kept to a minimum and the gameplay experience is fantastic.
There is now a trial for the game available and I would urge anyone remotely interested to give it a try. You never know, you might just get hooked like I have and come to appreciate this wonderful game which really has become one of the best MMO's I've played in many years.