RATINGS:
Pros: More features and game content than many MMORPGs on the market, a beautiful graphical style that perfectly accompanies the humorous tone set with the characters and dialogue.
Cons: Navigating around Capitals using the map can be a bit of an issue when trying to find things.
Gameplay: 8
Graphics: 8
Sound: 9
Overall: 8
We took some time out to head to the planet of Nexus and check out NCSoft's/ Carbine's sci-fi MMORPG WildStar now that the game is out to see what was happening on the planet surface and look over the new content that has already been added to the game.
For those unaware, WildStar is a three-way battle between three powerful forces, the oppressive and tyrannical Dominion faction, the Exiles who have been driven from their home world, and the planet Nexus itself, which is often more deadly than both factions combined! The game brings a wonderful blend of action, colourful humour, social elements and strategic combat and it is clear from the onset that this is an extremely polished product.
Logging into the game for the first time, we are faced with the two primary factions, each of which have four different races available to them, from the cute and cuddly to the sinister and ugly. There is a high level of customisation open to players where they can design the look of their character with a wide variety of different cosmetic options, depending on the race that they choose. Players have access to different classes and with six classes in total (Warrior, Spellslinger, Esper, Engineer, Stalker and Medic), each individual class plays in a completely different way and can focus on two main roles. The Granok Warrior, for example, that we took out for a spin can concentrate on being a DPS fighter and dealing a high level of damage or build themselves up as a powerful tank able to take the hits for both their own protection and to help their allies.
Aside from their class, players are also able to take on a Path, which is also picked up at character creation and lets players take on optional sub-quests and gives more content. Paths help players get more from the type of content they enjoy. Whether choosing the Explorer path and gaining bonuses for reaching the top of a mountain and charting entire zone maps, or Scientists that are able to discover the true meaning behind a facility and gain access to it. Falling in line with our Warrior class, we decided to check out the Soldier path, which in general lets us do more killing and with a little more flair. As a Soldier, we get to try out experimental weaponry, take on even bigger and badder boss fights and hold out encounters where we needed to keep defending an area from waves of enemies.
Combat is a real thrill in the game with the addition of "Telegraphs", which are typically seen in almost every attack in the game. Before an attack is fired off, players can see the area that the attack is about to hit, similar to an AoE attack but applied to practically every faction in the game. Telegraphs come in different colours, the game, however, introduces them gently so that players aren’t too confused.
So initially, players will see a lot of red telegraphs, which signify an enemy attack area, blue telegraphs for the players' own attack, orange for a friendly attack and then later green for a friendly heal and purple for an enemy heal (so stopping enemies reaching these zones is always a good tactic) and later orange, which is a friendly attack. Telegraphs come in all crazy shapes and sizes, some even change shape as they are performed whilst others move around the ground, forcing us to keep dodging them and some enemies even throw down multiple telegraphs as they perform super attacks.
The starting zones help players make an easy transition into the game, giving them plenty of lore to take in, as the story of your chosen faction is slowly revealed whilst simultaneously teaching you game mechanics and unlocking new features as you go.
From a launch perspective, things were relatively smooth for the most part; an overwhelming number of players joining the game at launch for a while built up some long queue times which were resolved by adding new servers already. The proactive support team have managed to iron out a lot of the issues and have already "banned over the last few days 7200 botters and hackers", which is always encouraging. The biggest highlight since launch is that even though the game is already an extremely content and feature rich MMORPG the developers have already added extra content with their newest patch expansion: the Strain.
The Strain is a huge content update that adds two new zones, the new level 50 Blighthaven and Northern wastes, which open up new areas, enemies and missions to discover that revolve around a twisted, mutated infection that has run rampant in an Eldan laboratory, creating an "environment biological anomaly" (complete with teeth and eyes ...) that is slowly spreading across the planet and has the unfortunate ability to mutate the inhabitants of Nexus.
Aside from the expected quest content, players also get a selection of new housing decor items made up of puss-filled boils, spores, swelling tumours that pulsate and crank up your gross renovations to the max. New gear, hover boards and even a mutated dragon-esque mount have all been added with the new patch and even going so far as to include a new remote that, when triggered has a huge mutated jabbering head burst from the player’s chest...
If you want to know more about WildStar, just click onto the INFO button below. And if you want to see the game in action, check out this video:
This game is not worth the money you pay. Soon will be free-to-play or pay-to-win. Game for child. Disgusting and piece of shit.