Pardus - Game Review

Pardus is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG). If you are looking for a free, graphics based on-line game in which to participate with your friends and other games, I highly recommend this one.

You play by taking control of a spaceship in the far future, flying among the stars. You are free to do pretty much whatever you want to do, from fighting, ambushing, trading, building, forming alliances, or even controlling all of space, you can do it.

Players start out with a small ship and some cash, but it's nothing compared to what you will need at one point. After all, games aren't supposed to let you become all-powerful in a day, are they? The leading element of the game is experience points. These allow you to get more powerful ships and weaponry. Experience is generated from pretty much anything, from trading, mining resources, fighting, and building. The monetary unit in the game is the credit. You start out with 5,000 credits, but that won't get you far: your best bet would be to mine some resources. This is a unique feature, since you can collect resources, such as energy and hydrogen fuel, right out of space, be able to sell it for cash; 100% profit!

You may choose between several career paths, but fear not; should you decide that you want to switch what you do, simply exchange ships! This is an awesome part of Pardus that is lacking in some other games: You do not have to stick to one type of playing.

Should you decide to be a trader, you can easily make lots of money, provided, of course, that you know what to buy, where the best place to but it is, and a good place to sell it. This forces you to plan ahead, something else not found in other MMORPG's.

If you decide that rather than collect yourself, you would rather have someone else do it, simply build a building! Buildings are a unique factor in Pardus, since they usually collect or produce resources. Of course, they need upkeep, but the products they produce usually allow you to make a profit. The buildings can be upgraded to allow for more area to store goods, an increased production, or weapons to defend your building with.

If, however, you are more courageous (or foolish), or simply don't enjoy trading, you may choose to be a fighter. You can fight some of the diverse and interesting Non-Player Characters (NPC's) around the galaxy, or you can even fight your fellow players. You can set up an ambush and steal other player's goods, or even raid their buildings. It's all up to you.

Diplomacy is an important aspect of the game. You can join three separate factions: the Empire, the Federation, and the Union. Each offers unique benefits and missions. Completing these missions increases your rank, as well as your credit account. When your rank is high enough, you can get better ships and equipment unique to that faction, and even become your faction leader. Of course, players can also join up in alliances, which allow them to work together towards a common goal. Alliances sometimes have entire sectors all to themselves, protected by Military Outposts. These areas are usually off-limits to all who are not part of the alliance, and allow the alliance to have a safe environment to build and leave their ships when they log off.

So, no matter what you do, anything and everything is open to a player in Pardus, which makes it highly entertaining, engaging, and fun.