The upcoming sci-fi MMO Skyforge (we played the Beta) takes you and your initially nameless character on a journey to the imposing and futuristic city of Aelinar, capital of the planet Aelion and the main setting for the storyline and gameplay. From the dialogue you pick up on early in the game, you quickly learn that you possess extraordinary powers and belong to a class of beings known as the "Immortals".
Once you arrive in Aelinar and step out of your transport, you're immediately sent to a woman by the name of Herida, who serves as a sort of mentor for the Immortals. Luckily, Herida happens to be really close by, and it doesn't take to long to find her and strike up a conversation. Right away, she starts talking about your special abilities, which you've apparently only had for a short time. At her behest, the main character (you) begins to tell her about what has happened in the recent past, specifically since a routine military operation three days ago.
He (or she) was an ordinary soldier sent on a mission to a settlement called Iannor, where the residents had reported several attacks. The soliders were supposed to evacuate the people and bring them to safety, in addition to eliminating the threat. While fighting against Iannor's mechanical attackers, your solider suddenly finds himself in a dream world of sorts, where he comes face to face with a dark creature known as a Death Reaper. Although the creature appeared to be nigh on invincible, he managed to defeat it somehow, and ever since then he's been in possession of these special powers that mark him as an Immortal.
This flashback is not a cut scene, but is actually playable. Once it's over and you're back in the here and now with Herida, she promptly sends you to Flavius, "master of science", who is supposed to help you learn how to control your new abilities. Once you're there, you can finally give your character a name, and also choose their class and/or sex. The character design system in Skyforge is one of the game's major highlights, in my opinion. The wide selection of different design options almost reminds me of the earlier Sims games, allowing you to adjust your appearance right down to the smallest detail. When your character finally looks how you imagine they should, Flavius gives you some practical combat tips before sending you back to Herida. By the way, I should mention here that you can change your character's appearance and even their class at any time.
This is where the actual game begins, which will send you to different locations all over the planet protecting civilians from a wide variety of threats. To show their gratitude for what you've done for them, the people begin to shower you with gifts and even worship you as a god.
Action-packed combat and a lots of quest diversity (Gameplay)
As far as gameplay is concerned, Skyforge borrows many common elements from other MMORPGs, but also adds some innovations of its own, which is something unusual for this kind of game. Like in other games, you have several different special attacks at your disposal, depending on the class you choose. You can set them to the number keys and select them in combat, using them whenever they're fully charged. You also have two primary attacks, controlled using the left and right mouse buttons. In addition to melee attacks, there are also area attacks that are somewhat weaker, but cause damage to multiple enemies at once. Different attack sequences allow you to get special combos, like in fighting games, which deal additional damage to your enemies. One more very helpful move is a sort of final coup de grâce that you can give to an enemy who's already taken a lot of damage. This attack has its own special animation, and pretty much always kills your foe in one hit. Overall, the combat system is highly-action oriented, and consequently very impressive.The world map and mini-map are both well arranged and the most important markers for quests and other things are easy to make out. Unfortunately, it doesn't show enemies, even the ones who are currently attacking you. This means you'll sometimes get attacked out of the blue by a creature that's been following you for some time already. However, one thing that's really nice, especially early in the game, is that it's pretty easy to avoid enemies if you have to. And when you walk by, you practically have to touch them to get them to follow you. Battles are such that you can win most of them without too much trouble, even when you're alone, and even more powerful enemies can be taken out with a bit of tactical skill. If things do end up getting too hot for you in battle, "healing spheres" will appear nearby, helping you to recoup some of your HP. Be careful not to wait too long, however, as they disappear again after a short time.
The quests you get at the beginning of the game (mostly from Herida) consists of classic MMORPG tasks like killing a certain number of a particular kind of enemy in a specific area. Since the main quests, also called "Adventures" in this game, are mostly composed of various mini-quests, even here you can expect a lot of variety. Every time you complete a mission, you receive not only Credits, but also weapons and useful items, which you can use to increase your character's stats. On top of that, when you complete Adventures, you can earn powerful crystals known as "Sparks", which you can use to help you unlock new abilities. This happens at the Ascension Atlas, where you can redeem Sparks in three different colors: red Sparks of Destruction, blue Sparks of Balance, and green Sparks of Creation. These are used offensive stats and abilities, secondary stats and new talents, and defensive stats, respectively, which your Immortal can increase on two different levels: a lower level for learning new skills and talents, and an upper level where you can unlock new classes and special perks.
In terms of localization, the game does have a few minor flaws, but remember that it's still in Beta. I played the German version, which, like the others, is incomplete. At the time I tested the game, the subtitles were all over the place. Quest subtitles were available in English only, though the German translation of the Russian voiceovers in the in-game dialogue worked really well. Also, quest descriptions could be highly inconsistent, with random shreds of English text popping up from time to time. I imagine these problems exist not just for German, but for all languages, except perhaps English. It's not like it's the end of the world though, and it doesn't detract in any way from how much fun the game is, but it can be a little confusing in some places. Another drawback of Skyforge in its current form is that load times can sometimes be really, really long, especially when you're traveling from one area to another. But again, the game is still in Beta, and this is one of those things I'm sure the developers are going to get under control by the time the finished product is released. And I do have to say that when you enter an area, the game runs really smoothly, even at the highest graphics settings.
A colorful journey through gigantic cities and meditation gardens (Graphics) The various locations you can discover and explore in Skyforge are beautifully designed and highly immersive. The capital city of Aelinar, made up of several different areas, kind of reminded me of the city-planet of Coruscant in the Star Wars universe. Along with the interior chambers of the Divine Observatory, which is kind of like a huge library, there's also a vast park-like area, whose excellent lighting and meditative atmopshere make it a very impressive setting. In the course of the game, the main character will get to explore other gorgeous areas like the island of Dankit, which mainly consists of extremely realistic-looking forests and lakes, brought to life by excellent lighting and water effects. But there are also lots of different industrial structures you'll have to explore that are brimming with robots that will need to be cleared away. The cut scenes fit well into Skyforge's overall design concept, adding to its immersive atmosphere, which already comes off as very refined despite the fac that the game is still in Beta.
An imposing film score (Sound)
The background music in Skyforge fits the various locations in the game amazingly well, enhancing the previaling atmosphere in each place. Alongside extravagant orchestral music that sometimes reminded me of grandiose sci-fi productions like the Star Trek movies, there are also futuristic electronic pieces to round out a soundtrack that is as colorful as it is diverse. During combat, the music increases in volume and intensity to add to the exciting action sequences.
