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Red Alert 3 has been completed and released for public eyes, the Beta was near perfect when it was out for closed Beta. The story line flows as well as it did in the first and second installation, but added more the way it did with its first game: Command & Conquer. But the story isn't it, the full three dimensional gameplay is fun and the interface is comfortable, not to mention the incredible graphics, hope all of you can enjoy it!
Playing the WAR: Beta for the past week has been a lot of fun. The developers had a game in mind that was easy to get into and fun to play, that much is true. WAR is a blast, there are so many options and paths to follow that it seems impossible to do them (although I HAVE to do them). One set back for WAR is the hardware it seems to require. I'm running an Althon 64 3400, 1GB DDR, ATI Radeon x1650 512MB and I'm having problems with "lag", although it isn't lag, it's hardware hang. I've been setting counters and logs with performance on WinXP and have noticed that WAR is allocating 600MB of RAM for itself. On top of the RAM it seems to be eating, it's also taking some page files with it, which tops at about another 600MB. This is the most negative thing I can say about WAR, then again, my components (except for Video) are over four years old. I'm in need of an upgrade, but isn't money always the issue?
Back to WAR: Beta... Right when you start the game you're in combat against the opposing faction (is that in every game? I think so). So how is this different? The way everything is presented is entirely different, not as far as graphics or skill levels or even the Tome of Knowledge, which is a very new approach to a standard RPG "journal" like you'd see on Baulder's Gate. One very different feature of WAR is the class/race based professions.
Professions in WAR are completely different than any game I've seen. For example, when you start the game you have six different races to choose from, three are order and three are destruction. Each race has different professions and each profession has different skills, no profession is the same unless we broke it down. There are four basic classes in WAR, they are: Healer, tank, melee dps and ranged dps (kind of obvious). Although this is true in any game, no actual profession is the same, the healer on the empire is completely different than the healer on dark elves, and so on. This makes for an interesting game, as nothing is the same. Also, each profession has different paths, and this is where WoW comes into play, like the talent trees we have paths. For instance White Lion is generally considered melee dps. But what if for a second I want to be a tank, his path can be changed. There are three paths for white lion: Hunter, guardian and axeman. A hunter has dps spread between him and his lion, equal dps between them. The axeman has damage reverted to his lion and dishes out dps himself. Guardian has damage reverted to himself and the lion dishes out damage, as well as his group members. Those are three different typical classes, melee dps, tank and whatever hunter would be... =P But as I see it there are three distinct classes within a profession. That's a total of 60 different classes within WAR, as each profession has three paths. Then again WoW did the same thing with nine classes with three talents in each. giving them 27 total differences.
WAR has a very WoW feel to it, but WoW is very private, I feel like I'm playing by myself, the mentality of: "Why should I help you, I did it on my own..." I was in a group fighting a Giant Hydra within 15 mins of playing WAR, it's just too much fun, that's just one example of a public quest. At the end of public quests they tally up your contributions to the quest and roll for loot, which isn't that bad (the loot is pretty good in other words =P). I've also taken part in the herald RvR, which is also quite different. RvR and the amount of kills each side makes determines who controls the area, and it's always displayed on the screen who's in control. It's a constant battle against the opposing side, which is amazingly realistic. I mean come on WoW represents war against the sides, but it's all peaceful almost all the time. Even in dungeons it seems peaceful, in WAR you hear people screaming and things burning all the time, a more realistic feel, like I'm in the battle against the opposing faction. These features make it that much more fun. It does have a WoW like feel though, but it's okay, they did a lot of things right with WoW, WAR did all the things that WoW didn't do. They also added features that WoW would never do. Oh and another note before I go, there is almost no travel, everything is all so close, and I almost forgot... When a mission is accepted it puts up a "waypoint" an area on the minimap and world map is marked of, not necessarily a specific spot, but an area is highlighted in red, making missions fast, but still leaving for exploration, not giving the whole answer, but making it easier. Because who honestly wants to run around all over and find Johnny Crapper to get his flowers to him... OMG! Anyway, it's loads of fun, and if ever given the chance, picking it up is a great idea!
Don't get your panties in a bunch about hardware requirements, it's kind of jumpy on the lowest settings and I still love it, can't wait to play it live so I can max my White Lion to 40! Oh wait almost forgot, I RvR'd when I was lvl three!! PvP is almost instant, too much fun! They also put everyone at the same level in the RvR, i.e. level 8.
So long for now, let the WAR begin! WAAAGH!
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