Post by w***@yahoo.comHad the game come out when Anarchy Online came out, it would have been
a close call between the two, but hmm.. AO came like decades ago.
Granted, I only played beta (close to release) for a few hours, and was
turned off by the simulacra (I think they called it), basically,
everyone at level 1 could have a pet that would grow in level, so
pretty much everyone has a pet. That was just too stupid for me to
digest. Besides, the run to mission to kill 2 guys or click on glowie
didn't break it for me.
If you like urban setting MMORPGs, play CoH, it's an awesome MMORPG
(and the best one I've played so far, including WoW and EQ2)
Apparently I'm one of a very few on this board actually playing the game and
somewhat enjoying it (though, in all honesty, I do have to take it in small
doses - haven't touched it for two weeks, but haven't given up on it yet
either). Then again, haven't played any games for a week, period, and I've
also got Guild Wars, EQ2, Jade Empire and KoToR 2 on my plate at the moment
to juggle around. So, it's just one I pick up for a few hours at the moment
when the mood strikes me.
It can be a fun diversion, but it certainly has it's problems.
On the simulacra issue, if you only played a few hours you didn't get to the
point where the 'pet' limitations became obvious. Anyone can have any
'class' loaded for their level at a given time, true, but there are only so
many memory slots available. The simulacra 1.0 program you start with maxes
out at level 4, and is pretty much useless once you hit level 7. If you
want to keep a pet on hand, you would need to go down the coder skill branch
to get the next level simulacra program. So the number of simulacra running
around following players thins out rather quickly after the first 6 levels
or so.
Mission-wise, Matrix Online has a mission system that is pretty much a
carbon copy of City of Heros. You pick up contacts as you go along, and you
either call them or go visit them for your missions exactly like in CoH. In
fact, the mission types are very similar to those available in CoH. Patrol
here, pick up an item there, talk to so-and-so over there, escort
redpill/bluepill/program yaddayadda to this point (escort missions being a
huge pain in the neck during live events such as those where agents are
popping out of the woodwork every 60 paces)
The hand to hand combat system is my chief complaint with this game. The
camera does wierd stuff at times, making it easy to lose your view of what's
going on. It's a somewhat turn-based mechanic with serious lag issues.
Darn it, NPCs even pop up off the floor after you've just killed them so
that they may get in their last 'turn'. Not just sometimes, but every time.
I guess I'm definitely not a fan-boy here. The game has its problems and I
can only take so much of it at once. But it can be a fun diversion at the
right time (or an exercise in frustration at the wrong time).
I guess you could say my overall reaction is mixed.