Legend of Edda is a 3D, fantasy MMORPG with “chibi” anime-inspired graphics. Legend of Edda has sharp visuals and an in-depth class system that offers players tons of options. The game has instanced dungeons, realm vs realm PvP features, and fast-paced combat.
Looking for a cute, but sleek MMORPG? Legend of Edda fits the bill. With extensive customization options and a bevy of class choices, Legend of Edda offers a very in depth but accessible MMORPG experience. Legend of Edda makes use of instanced dungeons and action-oriented combat. Players can form groups and guilds to clear these instances, or fight each other in varied PvP modes. Join the Titan or Olympian faction and explore the chibi-styled world of Legend of Edda.
style="text-decoration: underline;">Fighters
/> Warrior - Primary tanking class. Equipped with a sword and shield. They can taunt opponents to keep aggro.
Swordsman - Fighters who use two-handed swords. They deal heavy damage and have a high critical hit rate.
style="text-decoration: underline;">Rogues
/> Assassin - Stealthy melee class that can deal powerful deathblows.
Archer - Ranged class with high agility and skills that slow and snare opponents.
style="text-decoration: underline;">Mages
/> Cleric - Supportive class that can heal and buff allies. Clerics also have offensive spells.
Wizard - Powerful casters who can cast spells that deal heavy damage. They also have AoE (area of effect) spells.
GamesCampus is best known for its sports-themed MMOs, but has recently branched out into other genres. While Legend of Edda isn’t the first fantasy themed MMORPG they’ve published, it’s their best one yet. Many of the gamepaly mechanics, character progression, and environments are standard MMORPG stock, but the anime-inspired, chibi art style helps Legend of Edda Online. The chibi characters manage to make the game feel distinct without drowning it in cuteness.
Legend of Edda has a relatively small client size, but that’s mainly because the modest graphics. The visuals are attractive, but this game won’t be pushing your computer to its limits. The chibi character models are similar to those in Luna Online, but the overall visuals look as though they were inspired by Ragnarok Online. Before character creation, players must choose which faction to align themselves with. Edda has a backstory loosely based on Greek mythology, where the gods of Olympus are at war with the Titans. Based on the selection menu, Olympus is represented by a blonde woman that looks like an angel, while the Titans are represented by an evil, red-haired fellow. Choose wisely, as all characters created on a particular account will be associated with the same faction. Members of each faction start in Gaiyan Town, but in two separate instances of it. In the Olympus version it is day time, while the Titan version is in perpetual night. The regions outside town for each side are identical, but are two copies of each. This means new players won’t be able to interact with members of the rival faction. If you’re planning to play with friends, make sure you all choose the same faction.
Each server provides players with four character slots. There are a total of six starting classes available, broken into three categories. Warriors and Swordsmen are fighters, Assassins and Archers are rogues, and Clerics and Wizards are mages. Each class has its own strengths which are highlighted in the character creation window. There are several style and color options for hair available to each gender. There’s also an appearance option labeled ‘face’, but it actually controls the appearance of the character’s eyes. All the character models look like young children, which is what chibi is all about. This may annoy some gamers, since it makes Legend of Edda look less serious. My advice to these gamers is to wait until they play for a few minutes. After entering the game and using the mouse wheel to zoom out, the characters look just fine. The rest of the world, including buildings, roads, vegetation, and NPCs are well-rendered and look more realistic.
After a brief, cinematic introduction, players are transported to Gaiyan Town, where they’ll be able to grab a few quests and start progressing. The interface in Legend of Edda is functional, but appears a bit dated. Movement can be done with either the mouse (point and click) or W,A,S,D. While both work well, point-and-click just feels more natural given the isometric camera view. Players can zoom in and out using the mouse wheel, and for all practical purposes players will want to keep the view as zoomed out as possible. Zooming in to take a look at your character is fun, but makes the game much more difficult to play. My largest complaint with Legend of Edda is the inability to pan the camera left or right. This means players are locked into the default camera view. Almost every 3D MMORPG allows a free panning camera, so the absence of one here is felt. At times your character will end up in awkward positions, but it shouldn’t hinder gameplay too much. Another interface oddity is the ability to interact with NPCs by hitting the spacebar when standing near one. It’s still possible to talk to NPCs by double clicking on them, but a quick tap on the spacebar makes the process a bit more fluid. Hitting the spacebar when not near an NPC will cause your character to jump. There’s no benefit to jumping when it comes to navigating the world, but its nice that the option is there. On a final note about the interface, the background music is catchy and well composed.
The very first quest in Legend of Edda that asks players to leave town and fight involves killing rats. This cliche quest serves as a good indicator for what players can expect from Legend of Edda going forward. It is very much a traditional fantasy MMORPG. The experience rate is moderate, and players earn a single skill point per level. Stats increase automatically, though equipment that raises stats can be acquired in a number of ways. Players will have to head back to town and find their NPC trainer to learn new skills, which come in two forms: active or passive. Each class has its own set of skills. At first, players can simply learn every skill they meet the level requirement for, but they’ll eventually have to ration their points and pick the ones they prefer. Progression in Legend of Edda is very linear. Even the world map is organized in a way where one zone leads to another. There’s no alternative paths to take. Luckily there are instanced dungeons for groups to tackle, and a PvP system to keep competitive players interested.
Besides consensual duels, Legend of Edda allows player killing in the higher level zones. There’s also guild and group battles, but the most interesting PvP feature is the Sacred Treasure Battle. These are large-scale fights between players aligned with the Olympians and the Titans that take place on special maps. The winning side receives a number of rewards, including points towards unlocking Demi-God skills. Each class has its own set of demi-god skills, such as the Assassin’s stealth strike. Organized PvE isn’t neglected either. The various dungeons can be run on multiple difficulty settings, making them more challenging to veteran players. As players progress, they’ll be able to upgrade to more advanced versions of their starting class. Besides unlocking new skills, job advancements change the appearance of avatars. There’s also a simple crafting and pet system included in Legend of Edda that allows players to upgrade their gear, but with in increasing risk of breaking it. Oddly, the game feels the need to announce to the whole world every time a player successfully upgrades their sword to +7. Players can get their first mount at level 20, but they can get a combat pet much earlier, starting at level 10.
Final Verdict: Good
Legend of Edda is a traditional MMORPG with very linear progression. It’s got a nice variety of classes, and manages to incorporate some newer MMO features like instanced dungeons. Despite the chibi graphics, Legend of Edda has a strong PvP element that allows for open PKing on certain maps. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but offers a solid MMORPG experience.
FreeJack is a 3D parkour racing MMO where players race on foot. Overcome urban obstacles like walls and cars. The game includes a single player mission mode, player housing, and more. Leap from rooftop to rooftop in the exciting and original FreeJack!
In FreeJack, players race on foot through the urban environments of New Jack City. Getting from point A to point B requires jumping from rooftops, over cars, walls, and overcoming other obstacles. FreeJack mixes the odd but interesting ‘parkour’ concept with the crazy and casual friendly gameplay found in kart racers. Players will be able to chose from many modes, use items on one another, and create clans to face off against each other. Single player missions and the ability to decorate an instanced home add variety to FreeJack.
style="text-decoration: underline;">Characters:
Jin (M) - The leader of the Andro Bob-omb, Jin turned to free racing to get back at the man who stole his lobster pie. Special: Agility
Nadia (F) - A former gold medal gymnast, Nadia is now a private detective who is undercover as a runner. Special: Technique
Goodspeed (M) - The most famous quarterback in New Jack City. Saul Goodspeed turned to running after a stint in dentistry. Special: Toughness.
Tina (F) - Despite her size, Tina is a master of Judo and physics. She turned to racing to help find her former sensei. Special: Speed
FreeJack is a highly stylised racing MMO. Rather than race on cars or karts, players must rely on their own two feet. FreeJack is officially a parkour, or freeracing game. This mean players race across urban environments and must overcome obstacles like railing, walls, fences, cars, and even pedestrians.
FreeJack is the second free to play game published by GamerKraft with their first being the European version of Priston Tale 2. The client size is around 700 mb which means it won’t take long to get started. The graphic quality is impressive considering the filesize, but there are only two supported resolutions. Each account is limited to a single character so choose wisely among the four available characters. Appearance customization allows players to chose from a few hair styles, face styles, and clothing colors. There are also several beginner clubs (guilds/clans) to chose from, but players will be able to create or join player-made clubs later on. Many more clothing and accessory options are available in the in-game shop.
The parkour concept originated in France and quickly spread across the world. It’s still a niche, but an interesting one. Parkour, or freerunning, was never limited to urban environments but the city environment provided the ideal obstacles and courses for the fledgling sport. Besides simply running, players must master special techniques to overcome obstacles. An in-depth tutorial is available to provide step-by-step guidance. The tutorial is a bit on the long side, but it does provide in-game currency (called jacks), and furniture that can be used to decorate private homes. The tutorial is optional, and player who skip it can go back and finish it later. What drags the tutorial out is the fact that players must watch an NPC perform each technique before getting a chance to do it themselves. The controls in FreeJack are very simple. Players move with the arrow keys, and jump with the space bar. The space bar is also used to trigger the animation to get over obstacles. Timing plays a large role since each obstacle requires different timing. Besides jumping over stuff, players must slide across rails, use spring boards, and tumble as they fall. The tutorial also teaches players how to dash and use items. As players successfully overcome obstacles, their two item gauges fill. Clicking ‘a’ unleashes these items which either provide boosts or hinder opponents.
After completing the tutorial, players are free to explore New Jack City. The persistent world environment of the city is just one of the differences between FreeJack and Tales Runner, another foot racing game. Both games have anime inspired graphics, but Tales Runner is more ‘chibi’ while FreeJack is more stylised. Its difficult to explain, but the visuals remind me of Viewtiful Joe, a console platformer. There’s not a whole lot to do in the city, but it does connect the various zones including the item shop, player house zone, and leaderboard. If running from one location to another doesn’t fit your fancy, a toolbar on the lefthand side of the screen provides shortcuts for more instant transportation. Each player has their own instanced apartment which they can customize using various wall papers and furniture. It is from their home that players can purchase and switch between other characters. Besides the four starting characters, there are many special characters that can be unlocked. Each has its own distribution of four key stats: speed, agility, tough, and technic. To customzie their character’s apperance, players can head to the store where there is a large variety of shirts, pants, shoes, hairstyles, and accessories for sale. Most items are priced in the in-game currency of jacks, but don’t provide any stat bonuses. During the beta there were no expiration dates for these items so that’s a positive sign.
The city, player housing, and shopping aspects of FreeJack are reminiscent of many dancing MMOs like ShowUp, but the main gameplay aspect is much different. There are two primary gameplay modes, mission and versus. In Mission mode, players play solo and must complete a given task. These missions are available in three difficulties, can be repeated, and come with a story that includes dialogue and cutscenes. The story isn’t all too serious, in the first few missions players are tasked with chasing down a punk who didn’t pay for the tattoo work he had done. For some reason, players must run through traffic and perform other tasks to hunt him down. Many of the stages in the mission mode are used in versus, so playing a few missions to familiarize yourself with the maps is not such a bad idea. Missions also provide experience and cash upon completion, but are not as exciting as versus matches that involve other players.
The versus mode is set up using a simple lobby. There are three supported game modes, item race, speed race, and flag mode. Players focused on pure skill will want to stick with speed race. Items do add excitement to racing games, but can also prove frustrating. There are usually plenty of players playing both modes, but item race seems to be the most popular. All three modes can be played as either individual, team, or club matches. In individual matches, players race against everyone else and the game ends a few seconds after one participant passes the finish line. This can be discouraging for new players as they constantly find them selves ‘retiring.’ Failure to finish the race means players earn less experience and jacks. This can be remedied by trying a team match where players are split into two teams and their individual performances are averaged. Its not as popular, but should be a viable option as FreeJack moves from beta to release. Club battles are clan matches and are geared more for veteran players.
One of FreeJack’s greatest strengths is its varied course designs. There are a variety of shortcuts and alternative paths on each map. Players must chose to take an underpass, or to jump from roof top to roof top. Do you want to climb over a series of walls or take a more direct method? Sometimes the path a player takes depends on whether they make a mistake on a previous obstacle. Many of the feats accomplished in FreeJack may not be physically possible, but they help spice up gameplay. A good example is wall running where players must continuously tap forward while running horizontally across certain walls. Item designs are also worth mentioning. Some summon a group of ninjas or assassins that hunt down the nearest opponent and slow him down. Another small but nicely done aspect are the waiting rooms in FreeJack. The game supports 2-8 players but while waiting for additional users, players can placed in the hosts private home where they can walk around and chat.
Final Verdict: Great
FreeJack is an original racing game with stylish animated graphics. Varied courses, a single player mission mode, and a persistent world area make FreeJack an indepth MMO experience. The ability to purchase additional characters, customize their appearance, and even decorate a private apartment serve as icing on the cake.
Zone 4: Fight District is a 3D, fighting MMO with varied game modes and plenty of martial arts styles to master. Zone 4 offers a story mode where players can work together to clear stages in classic brawler fashion. Fight your way to the top, form gangs, and battle it out with up to 32 players per match.
Zone 4: Fighting District is an upcoming free-to-play brawler MMORPG. Players will be able to choose from six characters and several fighting styles, each of which contains hundreds of special moves. Zone 4 includes a persistent central hub, competitive PvP modes, and a cooperative story mode wherein up to four players can work together to clear instanced stages. Zone 4 has the same Arcade brawler feel as Dungeon Fighter Online ,but boasts 3D graphics and ditches the fantasy theme in favor of a modern feel.
Fighting Styles - Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Boxing, Capoeira, Pro Wrestling, Judo, Hapkido, Sambo, Kung Fu, and many more!
style="text-decoration: underline;">Zone 4 Features
An Arcade Story Mode – Fight through hordes of enemies alone or up to four players, with new stories, levels, and episodes added via monthly content updates.
Challenge Mode – See how many thugs you can defeat at once as you fight your way through waves of enemies and boss fights for high scores, achievements and prizes. Can you fight through all fifty stages to dominate the Zone?
Team Deathmatch – Join up with your friends and take on other players.
Free-for-all Deathmatch – Take on all comers in a free-for-all brawl held in massive arenas.
Item Mode – Beat up rival players or AI controlled enemies with randomly generated items and power-ups.
16vs16 Turf Wars – Guilds face off against each other for bragging rights and supremacy as up to 32 players brawl to defend their turf.
With Rumble Fighter and Lost Saga, OGPlanet established itself as the go-to place for fighting MMOs. Zone 4: Fight District is their latest brawler, but it manages to do enough differently to stand out. The game offers instanced co-op missions, and lobby-based PvP. Add to that the wide range of supported fighting styles and Zone 4 stands out as an in-depth MMO that’s easy to play, but difficult to master.
The Zone 4 client is around 500 MB, which makes it easy to download and play. While the graphics aren’t spectacular, the animated style helps smooth over some of the rough edges. The visuals and gameplay in Zone 4 are more ‘realistic’ when compared to more anime-inspired fighters like Lost Saga or GetAmped 2. There are six characters to choose from; three male and three female. Each varies in age and appearance. Some are bulkier than others, but all have the same small selection of appearance customization options. Players can choose from three hair, shirt, pants, and shoe colors. Zone 4 also allows players to chose either black or white as their skin tone. Appearance customization isn’t very in-depth during character creation, but there are plenty of hair styles, clothes, and other accessories available in-game. More importantly, players have to decide whether they want their character to be a Street fighter or Rush fighter. Street fighters focus on crushing attacks and can specialize into Tae Kwon Do, Boxing, or Muay Thai when they hit level 10. Alternatively, Rush fighters specialize in hold attacks and can master Wrestling, Judo, or Hapgido. Each account is given two free character slots per server so players can experiment with both variates. Addtional character slots are available.
An optional tutorial explains the game’s controls, and rewards experience and zen (the in-game currency) each step of the way. New players are encouraged to run through the tutorial, but it can be revisited at any. All gameplay aspects are controlled with the keyboard. The arrow keys control movement, and double tapping in one direction will cause characters to dash. The three most important abilities are standard attack (D), grab attack (S), and dodge (A). In addition to these, there are three special attacks: basic (Q), combo (W), and extreme (E). Special attacks consume SP and excel at different situations, which the tutorial explains. Next, players are taught how to attack two enemies at once using a double attack (S) and how to work with an ally to team up against an opponent. Items can be enabled or disabled in Zone 4, but its important to know how to use them. Brown crates containing power-ups spawn across the map and can be picked up and used by hitting the ‘F’ key. Even in games without items enabled, stages will contain various weapons that can be picked up. The final step in the tutorial is to fight a practice round against the AI-controlled ‘Speak Man.’ Completing the tutorial brings a new character up to level three.
The game world in Zone 4 is made up of several districts, each with over a dozen channels. Players are free to move between channels and districts, which are persistent environments. It is from these environments that players access the PvP arena and the instanced cooperative stages called ‘arcades.’ Also scattered around these areas are merchants, storage boxes, ranking boards, slot machines, and other objects to interactive with. The first place new players should head to is the Hunting Zone, marked by a blue icon on the zone map. The Hunting Zone is composed of several large areas filled with AI controlled enemies to grind off of. There’s no real objective in the hunting zones, and it is much easier to gain experience and zen in them than it is to clear arcade stages. It is entirely possible to grind in the hunting zone by spamming D, D, D, D, D, but players should resist that urge. Instead, they should take the time to try out different combos and get a feel for the game. By combining arrow key strokes with different attacks, players can widely expand their available moves. Players can see a full list of available skills in their room which is accessed by hitting F6 or the appropriate button on the bottom right of the screen.
When players are ready to tackle a co-op arcade stage, they must form a party and enter one of the teleporters marked on the map. Up to four players can work together on a stage, and its best to go as a full team. It is possible to play arcade mode alone, but the enemies are actually difficult. Players will find themselves dying often, even on the early stages. Contrast this with Dungeon Fighter Online or Divine Souls where the first half a dozen (or more) stages are a cake walk. Each arcade has its own theme with some of the earlier ones including a hotel, a park, and an inner city district. Each arcade area has a boss and comes with rewards upon completion. As players progress through the game, they will acquire or be able to purchase new clothes and hairstyles. New skills can also be acquired and upgraded using zen. There are a bevy of stats to keep track of in Zone 4, but luckily the game does it for you. There’s no need to manually allocate stat points.
There’s a lot to do in Zone 4: Fight District, but the most important gameplay aspect is still the lobby-based brawler mode. Players can host or join matches that support from 2-8 players. There are two basic gameplay modes, deathmatch and survival. In deathmatch, individuals or teams compete to see who can get the most kills in the given amount of time. Survival is a last man (or team) standing affair. Either mode can be set to single (FFA) or team-based. The room host also chooses whether to allow items, equipment, or neither. While the controls in Zone 4 are simple to understand, getting a hang of things will take a few rounds. The community tends to favor team matches by a large margin, so at least new players will have allies to fall back on. The flip side to this is that two or more players working together will be able to kill an inexperienced player without him or her barely noticing. Luckily, players respawn after a few seconds in deathmatch mode. A larger problem seems to be level imbalances. The game does allow hosts to tick off an auto-balance box, but this doesn’t solve the problem. The guy who is 10 levels higher than you will still pound you to the ground while the high level player on your team is busy harassing someone else.
Zone 4: Fight District is still a new game – at least here in the US. The Korean developed fighting MMO has a few rough edges that need polishing. As it moves from beta to final release, many of these problems will undoubtedly be remedied. Firstly, there is no good reason for a notice screen to pop up every time someone joins the gang (clan) you’re in. Level-based match channels should be introduced, and some of the English translations need work. The gameplay in Zone 4 requires more technique and team work than other fighters, which can be seen as either a strength or a weakness. The fact that there is more to do than just fight other people is a plus, but some of the PvE areas, especially the Hunting Ground, feel mechanical. Who wants to ‘grind’ in a fighting game? Overall, Zone 4 could use a little more direction. Admittedly, these are minor issues and they shouldn’t stop fans of the fighting genre from enjoying an excellent title.
Final Verdict: Good
Zone 4: Fight District is a versatile fighting MMO with both PvE and PvP game modes. Work together to clear stages in beat ‘em up fashion, or take the action to the arena in team-based and FFA brawls. Zone 4 is easy to learn but difficult to master.
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