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Wartune, The Review
ThreeSixty
Member UncommonPosts: 41
The game is called Wartune, although I haven't seen any evidence of a war, and no idea who wrote the tune. There is some "lore" provided, but... I haven't really been reading it. I've been playing a few days, currently at level 28. Here's a brief rundown of what I've found so far.
Review bullet points:
1. Basic turn-based side-scrolling combat. At first you only have Campaign mode, which are solo "dungeons"; at later levels you gain access to group "dungeons". Forming pugs for dungeons is easy, and the game auto-advertises your run if you opt to create one. You can prepare 5 abilities to use in combat, plus 1 rune (consumable). There's a little skill involved, but not much.
2. Very generic character classes, warrior-type, archer-type and mage-type. Classes can spec two different ways; for example, I'm a mage and you can choose "dps" or healing, or mix them as a hybrid and be crappy at both. Basic stats to go with them (strength, intelligence, etc). It's very simplified design, even young children could probably grasp character build-outs.
3. Quite good artwork for a free-to-play browser game. The combat backgrounds are quite detailed to match the area you're in, and player "castle" backgrounds are quite detailed. They've put somewhat more effort into the various artwork than they probably even needed to, if you care about that sort of thing. There's a distinctly Asian flavor to character appearances, and there's no customization options. Female avatars are the typical enviable-figure types, although it's nothing that hasn't been seen elsewhere in hundreds of other games. Also, there are interesting tiny details that, again, I appreciate because they weren't necessary. When you liberate some story NPC from a dungeon, they often become a wandering avatar in your city that you can click on for a comment later on. Completely pointless and irrelevant... which I like because it shows someone was actually thinking about it at some point.
4. Farmtune. Sounds really juvenile, but it's fairly harmless. The game's "farm" aspect is simply a way to essentially force you to meet other people, and the chat is constantly filled with "add me for farm". You really can't get anywhere with your farm without other players - as a result you'll find your friends list (initially capped at 200 "friends") full pretty rapidly. General etiquette is to invite anyone and everyone you see to be a friend.
5. City-building. The game employs the typical time-based "building" for upgrading various parts of your player city seen in most of these types of browser games. The higher the level of your barracks, the higher you can upgrade your troops' abilities; the higher the level of your warehouse the more gold you can store, etc. Not rocket science. Guilds have their own version of the "city" with available upgrades, where guild members can acquire additiona skills/stats and items.
6. Gear. Game is pretty much controlled by gear. Gear can be enchanted (trade gold for stat improvements), socketed (add gem(s) for stat improvements), recycled (disenchanted for refinement crystals) and refined. Refinement is potentially the most valuable of these features - it allows you to re-roll all of the stat bonuses on any item. So if you loot some pointless ring with phys attack as a mage, you can refine it so it has stats you can actually use, as long as you have enough crystals (so far has been very cheap to do it). Rerolled stats are random... so it's easy to waste time/effort on this. At later levels you also get access to "astrals" which are just yet one more way you can buff various stats/attributes.
7. Miscellaneous garbage. Interestingly, there's not a huge amount of down-time, something that seems to plague most other browser-based games. One busy-work task is to simply check the farms of your 200 now-closest friends, which takes some time in itself (although not that much, since the game notifies you graphically if one of youre friend's' farms needs attention). There are bounty quests which are really nothing more than time-wasters and free experience, one of which is... whack-a-mouse. Easily the funniest concept I've ever seen in one of these types of games.
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Wartune is a decent time-waster. If you don't want to pay, the P2W factor isn't really all that onerous; it just means you're not going to be at the top of the heap in the arena. Standard for all of these browser-based P2W games. The PvP arena is where pay-to-win resides.
From what I can tell right now approaching level 30, the open-world PvP factor is very tame, which is good for the more casual free-type player. Unlike some games of this type, you can only plunder other players 5 times a day (5 plunders total, not plundering one person 5 times) and city-protection tokens are fairly common drops if someone really cares about not losing a handful of gold. No one is subordinate to any other player in a serfdom or slavery-type way (contrast this with, say, Castlot, where one player can "own" 2000-3000 soon-to-be-rage-quitting players simply by being higher level or having bought uber-gear). The game essentially throws resources and experience at you constantly, so the PvP can (at least at lower levels) be ignored. In fact, the game throws so much stuff at you, I'd almost think it's designed to force you to want to pay for more inventory slots (surprise!). So far, there's been nothing close to debilitating raids on my city or resources. Sure I get plundered several times a day (there's a daily quest for it) but it's virtually immaterial, and I'm of course just going to turn around and do it too.
Seems to borrow heavily from most of the well-known tropes; races and concepts from Warcraft, some other bits and pieces from Skyrim and Oblivion; some parts from Dragon Age, etc. Almost makes you wonder if there's some sort of copyright violation. Essentially the game seems to be a typical time-based gear grind, so if you've got no other game right now (so yeah, I'm not playing Guild Wars 2) or no money, hey, why not.
Like all time-based games though, as the server ages no doubt it will be harder and harder to be a new player, as the existing playerbase no longer does the group instances etc at the low levels. Right now the game is constantly abuzz with new entrants, but I have no doubt that will pass as the casuals/disinterested drop out and only the more dedicated players bother to stick around.
The developers have already added two new servers since the first one opened a few days ago, which I found a little unusual. Ordinarily these types of games will wait for 2 or 3 months to open the next server, as players often will "reroll" on the new server in an attempt to "min-max" their character better to, for example, dominate the arena. In that way the game can create an ongoing revenue stream.
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Summary:
It's free. Strongly suspect as a server ages, its population will decline and become exceptionally top heavy, so if you want to take a peek now is probably the time while the servers are fresh with new blood. (This is not an advertising paragraph. Joining games of this type weeks or months late almost always sucks badly).
If you're an OCD min-maxer (my name is Three S., and I'm recovering, thank you), this is just yet another game that's going to try to get you to cough up "real money" at almost every turn. But to play a free-to-play browser-based game is to know what you're getting into, and if you're just in it for the free entertainment, like I am, the production qualities in Wartune are actually quite good. It's never going to be an AAA title, but I've definitely played many games that were a LOT worse than this.
I didn't check before writing this to see if there's still MMORPG.com keys available--I used one and the starter gear you get for it was quite good. I'm on the original Temple of Ibalize server, and if you want more info or a helping hand in the game, lemme know.
Final note: for me the performance of this game in Chrome was abysmal. Could be on my end, but the Flash responsiveness was awful. Game runs flawlessly in Firefox.
Comments
Good review.
I too stumpled upon this hidden gem here on mmorpg.com with the free starter gear.
Am now lvl 28 and i quite like the game. And the AFK combat options suits my play style which is on/off while browsing the web or playing another game.
I joined a guild which helps on the social aspect, a good guild enhances the experience.
The Game is free
The game is set for a max player lvl of 120
you will be lvl 50 befor you can afford lvl 30 gear .unless you pay $12.00 USD for said gear
you will be lvl 120 befor you can afford lvl 40 gear , unless you pay the $19.00 USD for said gear
the need to pay to play jumps into this free browser far to early
the towns do not yet fully work. you can not trade anything. they have a comming soon flag on the trade system ,that has been there from day 1. comming soon may = the same day as the Apocalypse .
the game is SUPER unbalanced in race. archers have high def and atack mid range hp . warriors have high attack def and HP.
while casters have low HP low DEF low attack, and mid range magic def
Play to lvl 30 isnt to bad , past that your wasting time, or tossing money on a crap fly by night browser game that is less than 1/2 compleat ,With no sign of work being done to better the game.
This is a fly by night cash cow. there looking for the best of the best mentality to max out a few credit cards and then sit back and laugh at the stupid people that spent money on there fly by night game .
Thanks for the review.
Level 28 now here. There is the most content in a browser game I have ever seen.
Today I bought a monthly VIP pass.
Only to recognise the VIP wheel items mostly crap up your inventory with more consumable items.
The cash shop itself isn´t much of a p2w actually from what I see. I guess it gets tougher later on.
You can buy a monthly sub, but except of +50% exp it isn´t worth much.
The cash shop itself is built on total whaling. Though I currently don´t see much P2W there at Level 28.
LvL 40 is ez to hit in a week to 10 days,. in a browser game thats as yet still unfinished , and the only adds to the game are CASH SHOP adds , The need to pay $30.00 USD in the first 10 days of game play is flat out retarded.
sure you can earn your lvl 30 gear CRYSTALOIDES , at a rate of about 5 per day, if your lucky... very lucky... and play for 4 or 5 hours a day. And you only need 200 to make your lvl 30 gear.
Sure you can earn your lvl 40 gear CRYSTALOIDES , at a rate of about 2 per day, If your lucky...very lucky... and play for 4 or 5 hours a day, And you only need 400 to make your lvl 40 gear
Sure you can earn your lvl 50 gear CRYSTALOIDES , at a rate of about 2 per day, If your lucky...very lucky... and play for 4 or 5 hours a day, And you only need 800 to make your lvl 50 gear
With out Rage in this game you cant play past lvl 29. your set gear is what gives you 90% of your rage. no rage no skills , no skills no kills. If you cant kill anything, why play???
200 days+ grinding for a set of lvl 40 gear in a game that max lvl is at 120 isnt really that bad right.
IF YOU PLAY THIS GAME PAST LVL 29 , There is something bad wrong with you, you have some kind of disorder and should seak out medical attention ,
IF YOU PAY TO PLAY THIS GAME PAST LVL 29 , There is smoething bad wrong with you , that even A DR, cant fix. you should most likely be commited to a home for the insane .And put in a place credit cards will never again come in contact with you.
What? Grammar is your friend. This is really too painful to read.
I've played many games and this game is addicting. It has a sneaky way to tell you take a break or go to sleep because there is nothing you haven't done. Do all the bountys and done,do all your multi's and done,do every boss fight and bg and arena and done for the day. Every event is pre scheduled for you, so you can plan what time you're available to join in. funny they schedule a boss fight at 4pm est and nothing else til 7pm. why? cause you need to eat your dinner or walk the dog. 3 hour window.
As i said,i like this game, sure you need to spend a few bucks,but how much does any recreational item cost. 10 bucks for a movie and 3 bucks for popcorn, and 2 more for a drink. think about it,it's not so bad to pay 8 bucks for vip a month a a few bucks more if you decide to buy balen, the equivalent of gave money. If you're a gamer and looking for a decent enjoyable game i give it my 2 thumbs up for what its worth. If you're looking for a game and tired of same old same old, give this game a try. what do you have to lose.
Yea, I agree with most what is said here, I also like the game, it's quite addicting and looks very nice. On second thought, I think the game is not so P2W, I'm lvl 45 and still haven't paid anything. You must earn most of the gear in the game. One of the bad things for me is that it's to hard to craft higher lvl gear, by the time you craft lvl 40 gear, you'll be lvl 50. Also, I would like to be able to trade with other players, auction house would also be nice.
But nice game, all in all.
Normally I just lurk here but for people to post this game is not pay to win makes me go to the trouble to create a account.
First the game is a very fun game for free and if you don't care to be competitive and don't care that you will at times be stopped in the PVP then it is good. Pretty much you play for the first 30 days of a server and as it dies off you jump to the next like everyone else.
Now this is one of the biggest pay to win games you can find. First there is the $8.00 subscription which is fine give you a little more XP and makes the game less painful. No issues here. First they had wings in the game for $20 that give a fairly big and some special horses that also give a bonus to all your stats again for $20. So $40 is not too bad, but the cash shop users wanted more so now you can buy 16 pair of wings to combine ($320) more than 20 mounts ($400). Lots of clothing which is only $4 but give attack energy. Again you can buy multiple so its about another $100. Now this does not even start the actual weapons and equipment you have. Most people earn this in game the best sets are though 3x3 pvp but even free players can get these. What the cash shop players do though is use the shop that sells random stuff and keep reseting it over and over at .85 until they can buy the stones to create equipment again at about $1.00 each. Total cost for a set of armor and weapons say at level 40 using the shop is about $700. Then you come to the gems and the sockets. Again you get these in game for free but you can buy them which the cash shop users do. another couple hundred.
It is not uncommon on each server to have about 20 people who spent over $1000 on their account. This is for a single character on a single server. I know one guy admitted he spent $2500 in less than a week.
The largest issue with all this is the game rewards being the top or being the first. So those that buy their way to the top in the beginning get more gold and other stuff. This lets them buy the tiny amount of stuff you cannot directly buy in the cash shop.
These extreme pay users band together to form the largest guild and because they are rewarded for winning they can grow stronger by doing nothing basically. When you have 1 guy that can take on 4 of equal level from a opposing team there is no chance. Again if they are even in doubt of losing a guild battle the cash users can indirectly spend real money to allow purchase of basically IWIN buttons that cause damage to their foe.
Not sure why they spend this much. Their are 2-3 new servers every week. It only takes about a month before the pay users have locked out all the free to play who then jump to the next server.
It is still a fun game if you keep in mind you will never ever be able to win many things unless you pay HUGE money.
I've been playing it for some time, as of this post I'm a lvl 49 mage (Shivani on Kongregate server 1) about to pop 50 (that opens a new tier of stuff to do and risks in PvP for those that don't know). I paid about $60 into it once when Clothing came out because I understood the tactical significance of that clothing...beyond that I have done quite well and had no need to put more money in, nor do I plan to.
True, there are those that put somewhat stupid amounts of money into the game, but if they want to put that kind of money down on a game like this, hey, be my guest, it's your money. Light or non-payers can still get quite strong if they do it patiently. Don't level up too fast, gain decent strength before you move into a higher activity tier (which is usally every 5 levels).
It's simple, it's fun, I can do what I need to do in it without grinding for hours on end, just popping in at certain key moments during the day for an hour or so...and I've been playing it for months, which is far longer than a new $60 single-player game from the store usually lasts me so I consider that money well spent.
Where's the any key?