Played for a Day

OldTimeGamer

I decided to experiment with this game as it seemed to be potentially be a low bandwidth MMO.

I rolled up a Goblin Gunner and worked through a series of Quests in the hope of entering the main game and found the gameplay tolerable but nothing to write home about.  I got a lot of clutter, which was annoying with a very small inventory, and found that the game's quests seemed to work an a "just one more thing" basis just like Colombo.

What made me abandon the game was:

1. The reward equipment started to come a level or two above my current level, adding even more clutter.
2. I ran out of keys.
3. There seemed absolutely no chance the game would become less linear (without an even greater level disparity).
4. I didn't really like into the Goblin backstory.

What I liked about the game was:

1. Some of monsters were distinctive and interesting.
2. The combat system was tolerable.

I got 3/4 of the way through the quests that seemed to be leading to the spire and had just switched from bugs to ratlings before I threw in the towel.

 

Hariken

I agree with your points. The key thing is what got me also. You seem to need them for everything. I got to lvl 21 and now it feels to much like a dungeon crawler. Also i hate to say it but it seems that the dev's have abandoned the game as no one has heard from them in months.

OldTimeGamer

I understand that you need to buy the keys, in order to capitalise the game, but the point where you run out of keys (after previously being showered with them) is rather harsh and a natural point for people to quit.

As regarding developers, the game looks pretty complete and playable, if people actually like the gameplay.

Maybe they have left the game to fend for itself and moved on to create another R2 MMO?

esarphie

I've been playing it for a few days, just to see... and I have different issues with the game. It has to be the least immersive fantasy MMO I've ever tried.

Every encounter/fight is in an non-instanced dungeon, where things respawn every 10 seconds, everyone is fighting the same creatures at once, and only the final named creature can drop anything interesting. When you enter, you get an experience bar and a loot bar, which you "must" fill for extra rewards by killing and picking up money. However, once you fill one of these bars, you no longer get that reward from killing anything else... So if you fill the loot bar before you get to the final guy, (who is the only creature that really has a good chance of killing you), you don't get any drops at all from him. Plus, once you go outside, they immediately give you a secondary quest (find the lost kid, find the chunk of wood) that requires you to go right back in and fight through the exact same fights. THEN they give you the vanquish version, where you get to do the same thing a third time, which unlocks heroic, which lets you team up and do the exact same thing as a team.  So, four repetitions of the same dungeon with the same fights in a row... yippee!

Add to that the constant non-environment related reward systems, like potions for playing for 5 minutes, bonus junk for clicking something every day, rewards for doing that fourth runthrough of a dungeon, etc. and you feel less and less like you're actually a part of this half-realized world of Steam... with orcs and elves and motorcycles and oversized anime weapons...

I keep hoping that around the next corner of the game will be that thing that makes it all worthwhile, but I'm starting to think I'm just fooling myself.

Drakaden

This game went from interesting during the beta phase to an asian mentally grind game, there was actual random loot to be had and the XP wasn't fixed in each instance you did, the quests weren't the same wheel all the time, now, if you play the game long enough, you'll notice that all the quests are the same thing for every, single, dungeon. Many other features got dulled down and even completly removed, like those crystals you could get from the transmuter that you would use to get massive loot, none of that anymore.

They basically turned the game from a potentially fun game to what i would call a big piece of unoriginal and boring crap, it's sad because they basically cheated all their backers.

Back then i would have recommended the game, now, no, by a long shot.

stalker989

I have played this game for a couple of weeks now. Well where to begin. I guess I will start with the most obvious of these types of games; cash-shop = win. I am not bashing the game for being a pay-to-win, I am merely stating that you have no chance of competing with cash shop players. While the game gives you random gifts that help out some early on, that is the end of the help.

Random loot drops and "dungeon" chests, are a joke. You usually get something that is not even usable by your class.

The PvP, holy jesus, what a disaster. You can be pitted against players up to 30 levels higher than you. While it tries to utilize some type of equalizer for these matches, they are cosmetic at best. It gives you a boost to your power rating for the match, but your health and skills stay at the same level, thereby making any extra power useless when fighting against someone with better gear, more health, and higher level skills.

The graphics are ok, if you zoom in to your character (top/side-angle view).

The sounds are repetitive and annoying at best. I turned them all after the first day.

If you plan on spending some money, and like oriental style games, City of Steam is for you. Otherwise, you are better of playing checkers or solitaire.