Tabula Rasa

[Minotaur]

www.rgtr.com/index.html

An MMO. A very good MMO.

Really, what sets it apart from other games in the genre, I think, is the combat system. No more Whack-a-Hack. It is like they took Star Wars Galaxies (before SOE destroyed it) and mixed it in with PlanetSide (before SOE destroyed it), and what you come up with is Tabula Rasa.

The combat has an intense shooter vibe, but without the "twitch".

There is a form of "magic", but it is very "techno-magic" to me. I like it, though....it is called Logos. It is a form of an "ancient" language made up of symbols. As you gain more abilities, those abilities may need certain Logos to be known. You get these Logos throughout the world, finding the Logos shrines.

When you start out, everyone is a Recruit. The basic trooper. At level 4.9, you choose either Soldier or Specialist. Soldiers are the gunners, while Specialists are the support guys.

Still, a little basic, as Specialist will have skills all around the support area. They have Decay (damage over time), they use Hazmat Body Armor (protects them from Energy, Virulent, Incendiary, and Cryogenic damage), they specialize in the Leech Gun (sucks health from the enemy, transferring it to them), Cipher (ability to unlock locked chests and doors, but basic skill), and Tools (Healing Discs, Armor Augmentaion, Field Repair, and the Cipher Tool). Soldiers, on the other hand, has Shrapnel (an area attack), Rage (buff to the soldier and squad-mates), Reflective body Armor (reflects a percentage of Physical and Sonic damage) and Machine Guns (I have both a physical chain gun and a laser chain gun....very high rate of fire, but uses lots of ammo).

Tier 3 gives the both the Specialist and the Soldier 2 choices each, to further specialize your character.

Specialist choices:

1. Sapper - Hack skill (effective against mechanical units), Crab Mines (independent mines that seek out targets to destroy), Shield Extender (somehow extends the shields to all squad mates), Mech body armor (greatly enhanced rate of Power regeneration), Polarity Gun (deliver lots of damage to single targets, but overheats quickly)

2. Biotechnician (kinda along the medic line) - Frighten (causes 10 seconds of chaos in nearby enemy troops), Lifeforce Funnel (the healing skill), Bio Augmentation (increases Body, Mind, and Spirit, Health and Power, depending on the level of the skill), Bio Body Armor (improves the health regen rate of both the wearer and nearby squadmates), Injection Gun (germ warfare....but EM and Incendiary variants are found)


Soldier choices:

1. Commando (aggressive attack options) - Launchers (grenade launchers and rocket launchers), Force Bolt (uses Logos to call upon individual damage types to directly harm the enemy), Graviton Body Armor (resistance to knockback and stun effects), Rushing Blow (charge the enemy, inflicting heavy damage and closing the distance for melee attack), Scourge (similar to shrapnel, but does not require scrap metal to use)

2. Ranger (Scouting and Single Target Elimination) - Reinforcements (uses the waypoint network to call in AFS support troops....troops able to bring in: Medics, Grenadiers, or Chaingunners), Polarity Field (can nullify a targets resistance against a given damage type, making it a weakness instead), Carpet Bombing (delivers a massive amount of explosives in the target area), Stealth Body Armor (reduces the distance that enemies can detect you), Net Gun (roots a single target in place and inflicts impact and damage over time).

[Minotaur]

At Tier 4 (Level 30), you choose your final class. Each of the 4 listed above have 2 options each.

The Commando has these two choices:

1. Grenadier (big-time damage) - Concussive Wave (knocks all ememies in a wide radius to the ground with damage), Sacrifice (greatly increases the damage of the Grenadier in exchange for a toll on health), Scatterbombs (produces a number of bombs, dependent on training in this skill, acoss the battlefield), Tectonic Strike (creates a short-range shohckwave in front of the player), Propellant Guns (bad ass shotguns with attitude)

2. Guardian (the big guy defender of the squad) - Shield Wave (shields the Guardian and all group members for one full minute, or until each shield reaches a given damage threshold), Reflection (raises a reflective damage shield around a target), Vortex (Draws nearby enemies to the Guardian for melee range fighting), Conversion (Can heal group members at the expense of their own health), Staff (can use staffs)

For Rangers:

Sniper - Crit Wave (adds 40% bonus to the chance of making critical hits, lasts for one minute), Target Painting (used against powerful enemies to undermine their defense and survival techniques, and limits enemy ground cover, improves beading times, and can interfere wtih the enemy's armor regen and movement), Shredder Ammo (adds Logos power to each shot fired, contributing a second damage type to the ammo), Called Shot (possible effects: lowered attack rate, damage over time, double damage), Torqueshell guns (high range weapons)

Spy - Invisibility Wave (provides stealth to the spy and nearby allies for one minute), Magnesium Flash (blinds enemies within a specified radius), Traitor (makes a target appear to be a traitor, causing friendly fire on the target), Blade (increases damage using blades), Polymorph (the spy assumes various forms depending on the level trained)

Sappers have these 2 choices:

Demolitionist - Explosive Wave (delivers extreme energy damage over a wide area, knocking the enemy away), Reality Ripper (deploys a bomb that draws enemies into a tight area), Self Destruct (the Demoman runs into a target group, and explodes, teleporting back to their starting position), Controlled Fission (after a 10-second delay, causes an explosion that inflicts massive damage...extremely deadly)

Engineer - Base Wave (supports nearby allies by improving their armor regen and damage resistance for one minute), Turret (deploys a turrent that fires at enemies), Temporary Wormhole (creates a temporary waypoint on the battlefield, useful for quick escapes and gathering your squadmates), Bot Construction (assembles robots of various functions on the battlefield), Trap (a "fake" turret that explodes with destructive force when attacked)

The Biotechnician chooses from:

Medic - Regeneration Wave (massively heals the health and power regen rates of all squad members for one minute), Resuscitate (brings fallen allies back to life), Insanity (attempts to disorient the target , causing it to attack its allies), Immunity (grants the medic or a single target immunity to a given damge type for 30 seconds), Leech (damages a target whle a the same time increasing the power and health of allies)

Exobiologist (the necromancer of the game): Reanimation Wave (reanimates all enemy corpses in an area for one full minute), Create Clone (creates a battle-capable, but temporary clone of the Exobiologist on the battlefield), Cadaver Immolation (detonates a fallen enemy, inflicting very high damage on nearby foes), Hortimonculus (creates a stationary healing plan that can also grant bonus resistance to varying damage types), Reanimation (turns a corpse into a temporary ally)

[Minotaur]

Last post describing the game....

There are several types of weapons and armor...

1. Pistols - useful for single targets with low health and those that attack in waves (anyone can use)

2. Rifles - long range sniping weapon (anyone can use)

3. Shotguns - short range (less than 20 meters), and very strong against clustered enemies (anyone can use)

4. Machine Guns - strong against very heavy targets, but costly in ammo (soldiers can use)

5. Leech Guns - damages target whle healing the user (Specialists can use)

6. Rocket Launchers - very high damage against groups or high survivablilty singe targets (Commandos can use)

7. Grenade/RPG Launchers - effective for area of effect combat vs. enemy clusters (Commandos can use)

8. Net Guns - rooting the enemy troops, very good vs. enemies that rely on melee fighting (Rangers can use)

9. Polarity Guns - used by Sappers....difficult to master, but strong weapons if used under the right conditions (Sappers can use)

10. Injection Guns - bypasses enemy armor and is deadly against biological enemies (Biotechnicians can use)

11. Propellant Guns - nearly unsurpassed for clearing groups of enemies at close range (Grenadiers can use)

12. Staffs - melee weapon, but can be used for range attacks as well...and does not use ammo (Guardians can use)

13. Torqueshell Guns - (Pistol) good for medium range combat, (Rifle) effective for long range combat (Snipers can use)

14. Blades - when trained properly, can cause "catastrophic damage" (Spies can use)

There are also several types of armor (but I won't go into detail about them).

Some interesting things in the game....

- when you get the killing shot via a critical hit, you can move in for melee attack, and get double xp for the kill

- there are several different types of ammo. Many creatures/enemies are resistant or immune to certain ammo types

- at each tier (lvl 5, 15, and 30), you can "clone" yourself, with all attributes points available to be redistributed). With this system, you can clone yourself at lvl 15, going from soldier to Commando. But with the clone, you can go the Ranger route also. Can do alts without going from the very beginning.

- Base attacks/defenses are INCREDIBLE. All kinds of fighting going on all at the same time. The battlefied is dynamic

- if the enemy takes control of a base, you lose access to quests and stores at that base (obviously). But this makes taking control of the bases and keeping them important. (i.e. You have a quest to turn in, but that base is now under Bane control....gotta get that base back to turn that quest back in. OR....you are retreating from a fight gone bad, and heading to the Landing Zone and safety...but, when you get there, the Bane have taken control of the LZ, and now....you have nowhere really to go)

- very little downtime. There is usually always a fight taking place somewhere

- take advantage of the terrain. Fallen trees, sandbags, walls....crouching....all of this effects the amount of damage you will take from enemy fire. Crouching in a melee fight is BAD. Crouching while taking range fire is GOOD.

- there is an indigenous creature that swoops down and "steals" loot from a battlefield (the creature is a flyer called a Filcher)

Upcoming things they are working on:

1. Clan controlled bases.....basically for PvP, I think....
2. Personal mechs and vehicles at lvl 40
3. Command Control....you can have your own squad of AI troops that you can equip and upgrade

Is this game perfect? no....but I feel that they show that an MMO can be exciting combat. They have, in my mind, revolutionized hwo combat is done. I am really enjoying this game.

so, saying that....and after this long briefing and "review", if anyone wants a trial, let me know....I can get you a free 3-day trial (yes, this is a "pay-to-play" game).

Chris

[Minotaur]

Here is a little example of what happened a little bit ago....this kind of stuff happens all the time.

I was making my way across a meadow, on my way to a mission location point. I get into a fire fight with something called Forean Machina's, a squad of 3 of them. Not much later, a Bane dropship flies in, and drops off a squad (of 4) Thrax soldiers. A few moments later, an AFS (Allied Free Sentients....my side) brings in a squad of troops. Now we have a skirmish, with both sides dropping off troops. The fire fight lasted quite awhile, with me and the good guys clearing out the enemy infestation.

A little bit later...after several more shoot out skirmishes, I was making my way to safety, when I noticed that the Landing Zone in Concordia was held by the Bane. So, I show up there...and there is currently an assault on the base. So, I join in. We nearly had the base, as we made it to the shield field, and began trying to disable it....when the Bane bring out a large amount of reinforcements, including 2 Kael (these are very large gorilla like creatures that the Bane have turned into weapons, takes a lot of firepower to take down). I managed to take down one of them (wtih some help from an AFS mech). The 2nd nearly died, but he retreated back into the safety of the base (he later came back out, and I was able to take him out. He cornered me near some rocks and nearly killed me, but I managed to take him out....he was 2 levels lower than me). We fight our way back to the doors again, but our AI troopers were taking heavy casualties....finally, our AI mech unit was destroyed, and the assault crumbled, with me barely escaping to the Lower Eloh Creek position (an allied held position near the River).

That is the kind of gameplay that happens nearly, if not every, time I log in.

Oh...and do you remember me mentioning the Forean Machinas? Well, on the planet you start out on, there is a race there, that have allied with us Humans, called the Foreans. They are strong in the force, er, I mean, Logos. Anyways, the Bane has units that are basically dead foreans, reanimated via machines. Thus, Forean Machina. The thing about them....when you kill them, you gotta run up and get their Machina Control Chip (loot from their bodies), or they will "revive" and rejoin the fight against you. Interesting, I think....

Chris

[Minotaur]

I am kinda surprised that there is nobody interested in this game, since there are quite a few that like MMO's.

Anyways, my first character went Soldier, and just reached lvl 15 and became a Commando. After 25.5 hours (some awesome playing in those 25 hours too), I am leaving the first zone and heading to The Divide....

Again, if anyone is interested, I can get you a free 3-day trial....let me know, though....

Chris