Neocron 2.1 is one of those great games out there that, sadly, many people don't know about.
Monk - A monk is basically a 'wizard'. He/she can cast Psi spells in order to heal others, damage others, or cast boosting spells, known as 'buffs' in order to temporarily increase/decrease select skills for a certain amount of time.
Spy - A spy is all about intelligence. Spy's can master rifle combat, pistol combat, or even drone combat (where the user controls a tiny drone to fly around and do his killing for him). Spy's also can master things such as implanting (installing implant chips into other users in order to boost skills), repairing broken items and weapons, researching items in order to make blueprints, constructing items from blueprints, or hacking, in which the user can gain access into locked doors, locked boxes, or can enter HackNet - a Matrix inspired world where the player can fight security protocols and hack his way into faction databases in order to steal things.
GenTank - GenTanks, or 'Tanks' as they are commonly called, are basically the muscle players in the game. Tanks will level in Strength categories much faster, and to a much higher level, than any other character class. Tanks will be the ones using rocket launchers and chainguns, as well as being the ones who can gun the heavy artillery on vehicles.
Private Eye - Quite simply, a Private Eye is an equal balance of all the other types. Private Eyes level, for the most part, equally in Intelligence and Strength, as well as Psi abilities. The Skills
I won't list all of the possible skills here, but I will give you a taste of what Neocron does offer, as far as skills go.
Intelligence: -Hacking: As stated above, the user can hack his/her way into locked doors, boxes, and enter HackNet, a 'virtual' world where you can gain access to other faction's databases and fight off attack software programs as if they were actual mobs (enemies). -Research: When you research, you make a blueprint of an item. The purpose of this is so that you can duplicate items, and re-construct them to form better copies. For instance, if your friend just got a cool new sword, you could borrow it for a second, and make a blueprint of it. You can then give it back, and keep the blueprint for yourself, find a constructor, and have him make a clone of that sword for you to use. -Construction: Researching and Constructing go hand in hand, however it isn't advised that you have a character do both. A constructor must put together parts listed on a blueprint in order to make a copy of the item specified in the blueprint. -Implanting: Implanting is commonly referred to as 'poking' in this game. When you poke someone, you install an implant that they have sitting in their processor. The purpose of implants in this game is to boost skills temporarily (I would say permanently - but you lose the effect of an implant if you remove it from your body).
Listed above are just a few categories from one Skill available in Neocron. As in most games, there is also a Dexterity, Strength, Constitution, and Psi Use, where you will have even more subskills to choose from and level in. Now, on to the next cool part in Neocron; the vehicles. Since Neocron features such a vast outdoor environment, known as the Wastelands, you will most likely want to find a safe, and fast, method of transportation. There are a variety of vehicles to choose from, such as motorcycles, treaded vehicles (that some say resemble the Warthog from Halo), Tanks (not to be confused with the player class!), quads, and cars. Not to mention that just about every vehicle mentioned above has at least one other version of itself that comes equipped with a weapon mounted to it (with the exception of the tank, which always has a weapon mounted). So not only can you travel safely, but you can kick ass too, if needed. Oh yeah, and there is also the whole category of flying vehicles as well... In Neocron, there are many 'groups' to choose from. They are known as 'factions', and who you join determines who likes you, and who doesn’t. It also determines what kind of items will be available for you, once you have completed the Epic quests for that faction. Each faction has an Epic quest for you to go on, which is usually done in 5 to 6 parts, based on your rank. For instance, if you are level 10, you can start the first epic for your faction, but once completed, you cannot start the second epic until you are at level 20. The epic requirements run in 10 intervals, with the except of the 5th mission, which occurs at Level 45. Also, the factions you join will determine what side of the fence you are on. If you are a citizen of Neocron, you have one major enemy - the Dome of York. If you are in the Dome of York, your enemy is Neocron. There is also a neutral faction you can join in the game, the CityMercs. The Neocron factions include: Protopharm (specializes in chemicals/drugs [the good kind])
Tangent (specializes in weapons)
BioTech (specializes in implants)
N.E.x.T (specializes in vehicles)
CityAdmin (the 'government' of Neocron)
Diamond Real Estate (specializes in real estate [apartments])
And then there is the other side of the fence, which are the factions belonging to the Dome of York. DoY factions include:
Twilight Guardian (want to override Neocron's govt. and replace it with democracy)
Brotherhood of Crahn (origin of the Monks, want peace, and to learn to adapt and overcome recent and futuristic biological hazards)
The Black Dragon (specializes in drugs [the bad kind], and a bit of real estate)
The Fallen Angels (the 'Tech Freaks'. Strive to make new tech devices to make coping with the post apocalyptic world more bearable.)
Tsunami Syndicate (Prostitution, Gambling, Drugs, and extortion. They make up the majority of the 'good time' places found in Pepper Park, inside Neocron.
There is so much more to go on about in this game, such as the ability to join a clan, take over outposts, hunt mobs and make trophies out of them, start your own tradeskill service, or simply go exploring. However, most of everything I have discussed about Neocron is a good thing. This does not mean that Neocron is the pinnacle of perfectness. In fact, it's far from it. Neocron is laden with glitches, bugs, and general grievances. To start, there is an annoying glitch where your game seems to spontaneously crash when it wants to. Sometimes I go weeks without a single crash, other times I will crash 4 times in an hour. There are also lots of synchronization bugs, such as the fact that if you descend or ascend from a GravLift, your in-game player model appears to get stuck there, so even if you are running around, other players see your character just standing there. This can be insanely annoying if you are going somewhere with a friend, and you can't see him, or he can't see you. To fix this, however, you need to sit down in a chair, or enter a new sector or zone. Also, since Neocron was made by German developers, while everything in the English servers is entirely English, it's not always the best English. Frequently I will be on a mission, and an NPC will tell me something that just doesn't quite make sense, such as the term "Welcome in our new faction headquarter." instead of, "Welcome to our new faction headquarters". On top of this, there are some times really crucial spelling errors made, which can be a major pain in the ass. I once spent an additional twenty minutes on a mission, just because an NPC told me to contact someone in Sector 2, when the person was really in Sector 3. However, if there are enough people playing the game while you are doing the mission, or if you download an epic guide, you shouldn't have much of a problem. While that last paragraph might make you reconsider your opinion on the game, it really can be overlooked. Simply, Neocron 2 is an awesome game, with a respectable community. It's just a shame that not too many people play this game - they don't know what they're missing.