Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning [PC]

We're entering the third week of playing Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and if you're wondering where the review is, well, let's just say that like many MMOs this is a massive game. We've invested dozens upon dozens of hours playing it days, nights, and weekends and we are yet still scratching the surface of some features. So the review is still being worked on, but there are definitely things to like and some things to dislike, thus far in Warhammer Online. On the whole, we'd have to say that the experience has had more plusses than minuses thus far.

I've been spending a lot of time questing, mainly curious to see whether it's possible to get through the game playing solo most of the time. That's important if you're a bit antisocial or you like to just play through games on your own. Thankfully, it is indeed possible to get through most of the quests on your own, although you do need to be careful. A significant number of quests often require you to assassinate a target NPC surrounded by minions. If you're partied with a group, it's relatively easy for you all to just battle your way through the layers of defenders, but if you're on your own you need to slow down and infiltrate into the enemy camp to do the job. There's usually a route or way that lets you bypass the majority of the defenders.

Quests that require you to simply gather a certain number of objects are also easily done solo. The only major problem is that every now and then you get the quest that requires you to kill a very high-ranking hero, which is almost impossible to do on your own. In one case I had to take out a dark elf hero to get a nifty piece of class armor for my shadow warrior; however, he killed me within seconds. The only way I could take him down was to join another group of players, help them out on a public quest, and then have them help me out afterward. It took about five or six of us to finally take the hero down, but that was the only way I could see to do the job.

If you're wondering if you'll have enough to do in the game, rest assured that my quest log is overflowing. In fact, there are so many it might seem overwhelming, but one nifty feature is how the quest log ties into the in-game map. Calling up the map not only shows you your location and your surroundings, but your quests are highlighted on the map as well. If you have to kill, say, 10 dark elves, then it outlines the area where you'll find those dark elves. Often, when you're running around the world you'll realize that there's an easy-to-accomplish quest not too far away, and you can make a quick detour to take care of it.

Meanwhile, public quests are turning out to be a fun and interesting challenge, if a bit exasperating at times. The trick is that public quests are a great way to get some really nice loot, like a piece of armor that completely outclasses whatever you're wearing now. The problem is to get that really great loot you have to basically come in first place, a position that's determined by your level of participation in the multi-stage battle that's combined with a dice roll. It is equal parts hard work and luck to determine your final seeding when the public quest is all said and done.