First impressions from the first closed beta test
I remember when the first closed beta started, I was a bit taken aback and wrote this text. Perhaps someone will find it interesting, especially since I never published it anywhere else.
The astral ship slowly approaches the dock. The gangway is already prepared, and one by one we disembark onto the land. Orcs, elves, risen – everyone turns into humans. There are no more Kanians or Hadagans. No wizards, stalkers, or necromancers. We have once again become who we were always meant to be. Only now we endlessly gaze at the sky and dream of seeing the astral realm once more...
Although the beta test shows quite a bit of interesting content, and the game is unlikely to change significantly after it, it's still too early to discuss some aspects of "Allods Online." For instance, the races do not differ from each other at all. Against logic, I created an orc archer who shot just as well as elves. Picture this: a huge blue giant (yes, orcs here are not quite green) tiptoeing past tiny enemies.
Content for high-level characters has not been implemented yet. More precisely, it is not fully available. Many entertainments, territories, and NPCs are missing. In general, what you see here is not a review; it is merely an overview of the beta test. However, no one will stop us from pondering what the project will ultimately become.
White Birches
When Nival announced that "Allods" would be strictly styled in a Russian manner, we grew concerned. Our developers often crudely and poorly awaken patriotic feelings (let’s remember "Coercion to Peace" and Saakashvili chewing on a tie). We wondered whether the project would turn into "Birches Online," where the entire Russian spirit would be encapsulated in black-and-white trees scattered throughout the world. Additionally, the love for the homeland is often invoked just to mask blatant shortcomings of the project. Thus, we first decided to figure out what the local birch hides.
In "Allods," there are two warring factions. The first is the League. It is somewhat like the Novgorod Principality. A democratic state where the lower classes have negotiated with the upper classes, and together they can and want to proceed. Before us stands a true legendary Rus’. Large cities are a rarity here. Inhabitants prefer small villages far from ports and civilization. A few huts, a green meadow – it is quiet and calm in Kania. The wind sways the birches, and the residents stand by their homes. When you rush in here, you forget that astral ships fly nearby, wars are raging, and the totalitarian Empire dreams of subjugating even such small villages.
An empty oak forest, a birch grove, a large city, or a tiny settlement – Rus’ can be felt everywhere. However, Nival does not work crudely; they do not drop a thousand birches on us, nor do they hang an Orthodox cross at every corner. The developers do not operate on the principle that more is better. A low bow to the designers – they managed to create graphics in a cartoonish style on an outdated engine that raises no complaints. Externally, "Allods" does not yield to Warhammer Online and sometimes even exceeds it.
But let’s leave Kania and head to Hadagan. Small huts and neat churches give way to faceless high-rises and factories. There are no forests, no groves, no paths – only asphalt, concrete, and stones. One-type scientific centers, factories, and party headquarters are the local temples, birches, and huts.
In Hadagan, everything is gray and dull. You feel like some screw, senselessly rolling along the asphalt road. Kania emphasized individuality: you just wanted to run through the forest, take a look around, live in that little world. Here, however, you feel as if you are being pushed from behind – complete tasks, level up, become the strongest, level up, conquer, conquer, CONQUER! The streets are not filled with passersby – everyone is at work. The mob is created by stupid orcs in police uniforms.
Once again, the designers deserve applause. They didn’t create a surrealist state to mock. This is not a mockery, not a caricature of the USSR. This is the real, actual Soviet Union. With its facelessness, brutality, and grayness. But we are shown not an era of stagnation; on the contrary, this is the very zenith of a totalitarian state. And right here is the best place for PvP players to start. The entire state leads them to victories, chanting in unison: tear, swords, kill!
When I entered "Allods," I did not expect such a serious approach to depicting the opposing sides. For us, the collision of totalitarianism and democracy, Russia and the USSR, orthodoxy and disbelief – is genuinely real. Therefore, the choice of sides and the struggle against the opponent feel significant; they are not just "Orcs are bad, humans are good; if I love scoundrels, I will be green-skinned."
People need to be fed
But after all, we are facing a game. And a game aimed at a mass audience. This is where, alongside the magnificent ideological conflict, "astral Cthulhu" appears, reaching out to a younger audience with flat and silly jokes.
To our great joy, there aren’t too many of them. However, even one foolishness can ruin the atmosphere. The developers have treated the narrative content strangely. They have an excellent prelude, a magnificent world, but the story along which the player moves (the main quest, side quests) is rather silly.
Most quests are something like: "I’ve been wronged by bandits – beat them" or "I need to feed the animals – kill ten crows." We comply, return, and they ask us to repeat the task but with an increased number of dead bodies. Quests like "Kill them all!" abound from the very first levels. As soon as we complete the tutorial (which takes place in Single mode), NPCs immediately demand banalities from us.
Perhaps the developers did not want to mislead us and thus promptly revealed what we would actually be doing throughout the game? Unlikely. More likely, they simply lacked imagination, as intriguing quests do exist. For example, in the CHAVO SCI lab location (there are countless references to Strugatsky and Bulgakov in the game), we are tasked to find a clone... who has gained consciousness. He realized himself and immediately left to wander and think. We carry out all of his work, then find the clone and start a conversation. The dialogue itself is very interesting (a robot gaining self-awareness – how can that not be captivating!), but, alas, it is linear – just like all the quests in "Allods."
And yet another oversight. The game's world is very contradictory and ambiguous. The developers have clashed two worldviews characteristic of us, yet there is never a banal moral choice. If we play for the League and share its values, we would do well to save the clone, even if it takes time. However, if we play a fervent imperialist, we must return the "clone" or kill him on the spot! Imagine if you chose Hadagan as your faction, and you cannot stand the cruelty and heartlessness of this country – how would you feel? It is simply magnificent for role-playing! True role-players will be delighted. As of now, players in the Empire and the League complete common quests in the same way. There is not even a choice at the initial stage. If you have decided to play as Hadagan, you must do only what your motherland tells you to.
A blister on a stick
Non-standard quests, like finding the clone, are still rare. This is further problematic because the combat system in the game is rather simple. I remember, leveling up in AoC did not bother anyone much since it was innovative and dynamic. All those shields, combos – there was no time to get bored.
In "Allods," there is none of this. At the start of the game, we have three or four skills that we constantly use to kill opponents. Two arrows from the bow, then two blows with a club – take out the enemy. Again two shots, two blows – another hundred experience points. Over and over again.
New levels, of course, bring new abilities, but the combat scheme changes little. Instead of a standard bow shot, my orc does a more powerful one, while the blow with the club to the head is replaced by a dagger thrust. We always act according to an algorithm – N times one skill, then N times another. This applies to mages, tanks, and archers alike.
And it is precisely now that old schemes are failing. If in World of Warcraft and Lineage II, it was normal to just press one button endlessly, in 2009 that isn’t enough. Tabula Rasa taught us to fight with guns, and the gameplay there was very lively. Age of Conan, with its shields and several-key techniques, made MMORPGs much more dynamic. PotBS created entirely different battles - more complex ones. "Allods" invented nothing new. It is merely mindless sword-swinging and routine casting of spells.
On the forums, many comment that in "Allods" one can only level up through quests, thus gaining new levels is very easy. Yes, senselessly wiping out thousands of monsters may not be in vogue here, but the quests themselves force players again and again to decrease the population of a certain type of enemies. However, it remains unclear what will happen at release. It may just get worse. After all, the game model is still Asian, and in that realm, grinding is quite a normal phenomenon (especially since in the f2p system, a significant income comes from selling experience boosters – if leveling can be done quickly, the developers won’t make much). But PvE is only one part of the game. What’s going on with the other aspect of an MMO – PvP?
Harm your neighbor
The division into two opposing sides implies constant warfare between them. Nival knows this well and bets on PvP. Yes, according to the developers, "Allods" is not a WoW-type project, where the foundation of the world is love for your neighbor. Here, PvP plays a key role.
As in many other games, "Allods" has group battles and classic duels. These modes introduce nothing new to the genre – everything is standard. In mass battles, mages and archers deal damage, healers restore health, necromancers cast curses, while tanks often fail to understand what they should be doing. Since the combat system is unremarkable, I would not advise waiting for anything fundamentally new.
This is, by the way, quite sad. I've already mentioned that innovative games are required now. Even in the f2p system, there are projects that make fighting each other interesting. Let’s recall Granado Espada, where three heroes are controlled by one player – that’s fresh. In "Allods," fighting monsters and brawling with other players is routine.
But like it or not, you’ll have to participate in PvP, as the League and the Empire are constantly at war. And they are not nominally at war, not just “on paper.” Battles are waged for significant territories, and the side holding certain allods grows stronger. There are also just neutral territories where medium and high-level players will have to level up. Spot an ideological opponent, take them out, and keep moving.
All this has become a bit stale. That’s why the developers invented a fundamentally new type of PvP – battles on astral ships.
Above the blue skies
Now we come to the main feature of "Allods Online." In many MMORPGs, we open the map, search for a dungeon for our level, gather allies, and go heroically. Time and time again, we attempt to extract the needed armor from the boss, and if that doesn’t work out, we try again the next day.
This approach eliminates the sense of adventure. The first time is unusual, but already in a week... A tank can easily guide tourists into the lair of a terrifying dragon. He knows the shortest paths, how to pass certain monsters, and how to kill others. Any expedition becomes routine.
In "Allods," the process is entirely different. To embark on an adventure, you need a ship. You gather your guildmates and fly into the unknown. There will be maps of the astral, of course, but this world is constantly changing, and it is infinite. On the site of today’s excellent allod, tomorrow there could be a nasty gigantic monster. All instances float through the world, and we need to search for them.
What’s also interesting is that you will never know what’s waiting for you. You boarded a ship, and what happens next is a question. You might stumble upon that mysterious little island everyone was whispering about in the square, or, if the navigator is lazy and isn’t interested in plotting a long course, you may find yourself at an allod that everyone on the server has already visited. If you are daring and brave, you can experiment. Board a ship and fly to distant corners, but danger is always nearby. Found a great allod, acquired many elite items and collected loads of money? Great! But until you land at the port, you can’t share your treasures. And on the way back, you might be attacked by an astral monster or, even more dangerously, by player-pirates.
Piracy is the third, unique type of PvP. Battles on ships are what set "Allods" apart from other games. During the beta, I managed to participate in complete duels several times.
Let’s start with the fact that each player has their role on board. One steers the ship (speed, angle, turn – everything is on their shoulders) – that’s the helmsman. The second role is the navigator. They cannot move the ship, but they are the only ones who view it from above, as in an RTS. The navigator has a clear view of their ship, the enemy, and obstacles. Their task is to give orders to the helmsman. There are also gunners and repairers in the game. The first shoot, while the second fix damaged parts.
In the beta, there were very few well-coordinated teams, resulting in chaotic battles. While the navigator was instructing where to turn, the helmsman often made mistakes and positioned the ship stern to the enemy.
Eventually, I tried both the navigator and helmsman roles myself. If you get in sync with the team, battles can become even more interesting than in PotBS. However, for now, ships lack any special abilities. Consequently, battles tend to be pretty monotonous. In the future, the developers will probably come up with something that makes the gameplay more "long-lasting." But even now, I can say that the sensations from such a battle are simply fantastic. For the first time, we feel like we are not the ship, but just part of its crew. When the enemy scores a great hit, we feel the jolt, and a group of players rushes to repair the damaged part. I, along with two gunners, fire cannons, shells fly towards the enemy ship, it attempts to escape... another second... two shots miss, but mine hits the mark. A true naval battle. Even if it’s not on the sea.
Once, we even donned the pirate mantle, flying through the astral, and then encountered an enemy ship. A few salvos and a rapid approach. The opponents, apparently, were quite inexperienced on the ship and had no real chance. We got in close and boarded their vessel. During this encounter, all players find themselves on the enemy’s deck and rush towards the treasure room. If they reach it, the fight is declared over. And while my comrades are actively cutting down the enemy at the helm, I (invisibility) sneak towards the treasure and, with a sinister laugh, snatch it all. In a second, we were back on our ship – a bit tired, but satisfied.
Ship for Rent
Every clan can buy their own expensive astral ship. And this is not a useless little village from AoC. The ship allows traveling through instances and enables piracy. You can also simply board it alone, get behind the helm, and fly around the astral for fifteen minutes. It’s beautiful there, it feels magical in some way. It calms...
However, if you just started the game and do not yet have a clan, you can still fly. Movement between allods occurs on ships, and renting a vessel is also an option. The main thing is to reach the needed portal.
Traveling between allods allowed the developers to create a lot of diverse, unique locations. They are not supposed to be similar or borrow styles from one another. In AoC, all of Cimmeria was in forests, and Stygia was purely a desert. We will visit CHAVO SCI lab, where there are dozens of puzzles and unusual characters. We will also be in a soldiers’ camp decorated with slogans, stars, and busts of the leader. The world is large and diverse. And even if the graphics are far from next-generation quality, exploring the game even in beta was genuinely exciting.