Vindictus: The Future of MMORPG’s?

In the months that led up to the official release of the f2p ( Free to Play ) massive multiplayer online role playing game ( MMORPG ) Vindictus, developed by Nexon games, a Seoul; South Korea video game developer, released a series of previews and promo's showing a high action, " Real Combat " , game with stunning graphics, and a destructible environment. The hype surrounding the game was closely followed by fans of MMORPG's with much anticipation, waiting for the final release. The question is; is this the direction that MMORPG developers should be going.

Let me start with some of the basics as far as features go in Vindictus. The first thing most players will find out is that the game supports only four classes. Karok, which is your typical offensive " tank " type character, Fiona which is the defensive " tank " character, Lann your rogue type character, and Evie your caster. The lack of originality or choice in class types is not something new to the free to play MMORPG genre, and the character creation screen is on the whole better than average. The classes are Gender locked; Fiona and Evie will always be female, and Karok and Lann always male, which does cause some problems for players that wish to be a male caster, or a female rogue, though each class does have a choice between two weapon types which adds to a slight addition to the customization of the character. However this is not something uncommon in the free to play MMORPG world either. On all the end result is neutral, nothing extraordinary, however also no variation from what already exists. For a game that was released under the premise that it would be different than other games in the genre, it remains a disappointment that this particular issue was not addressed in the creation of the game.

After signing up and entering the game, there is a short tutorial which is a nice surprise from the typical MMORPG. It shows the beginning of one thing that truly is something that Vindictus has done well, their storyline is more linear, clear, and makes more sense, than the average MMORPG. Where other MMORPG's mostly have you running around taking X number of pig spleen ( or whatever ) to a new non-player character, in Vindictus there is a reason that makes sense for you to follow the quest line, as well as rewards past gold and experience, in the form of titles that give permanent buff's and access to better equipment. Overall with the storyline of Vindictus I have to give them a gold star, if the story of the game is something that matters to you, then this game delivers.

Unfortunately it delivers mostly just for you. Most people who play MMORPG's are familiar with a part of the game referred to as an " instance ". Instances are maps separated from the open area that make up the rest of the game. These maps provide high adventure, teamwork, and social interaction between a small group of people. The problem with Vindictus is that every single aspect of combat in the game takes place in an instance. There is no outside world that provides opportunity for exploration and combat, when moving from one safe area to another you get the feeling that all the rumors and dangers being faced by the in game characters are exaggerations. It is only when you sign up for an instance do you encounter danger, which takes away some of the suspense from the game leaving a feeling of playing a network multiplayer game, like the Diablo or Fate series. On the whole this aspect of the game was the most disappointing, especially since a good nine times out of ten you'll be doing that instance alone. In the hundred or so times that I have played an instance in Vindictus, only four times have I done so in a party.

This brings us to another disappointment about this game, the lack of social interaction. With no real need to communicate with anyone to play the game, not even your party members should you find yourself in one, one of the most crucial and successful elements of RPG's since the beginning of their existence has been ignored, namely the social aspect. There are many games out there that do not require any sort of social interaction at all, but they are not MMORPG's, the most chat you see in town are the illegal gold vendors advertising illegal sites where you can buy in game gold with real life money, aside from that I've seen people talking perhaps a dozen times. In my opinion this is one of the greatest flaws the game has, partially forced on it by its " all instance " fighting system.

The fighting system itself does live up to the promises advertised pre-release. Combat is fast and fierce; you have to be facing your enemy to attack him and cannot select him out of a group with either mouse or keyboard, creating fast paced combat. Vindictus doesn't fail on special skills and moves that can be used either, combinations of mouse buttons and keyboard keys cause your character to react in different ways or perform different combinations. You can destroy barrels, pottery, pillars, essentially anything but a few trees and the walls themselves, you can pick up pieces of rubble, barrels, tree branches, even enemy weapons and use them to attack or just throw them at the oncoming enemies. You can engage in hand to hand combat, grabbing, punching, kicking, a list of wrestling moves, even tossing them in to other monsters. Characters can use secondary weapons, such as bombs, spears, and hooks all of which adds another strategic dimension in combat, as a player must choose beforehand what secondary weapons to bring. All of these features create an atmosphere in which combat never becomes boring. It is worth noting that the one thing that Vindictus most promised to deliver, they delivered.

Vindictus also has graphics that are second to none in the MMORPG world, the game is undeniably violent, with copious amounts of blood, and some very skimpy outfits can be bought by the game's item shop, however at least the second part is so common in MMORPG's these days that it isn't only not shocking, but rarely even gets a second glance. All and all though this is a game that caters to mature players, and not for children.

Overall Vindictus is a ground breaking game, and it's fighting system is truly unique and should be emulated by other MMORPG's in the future, already a game being released by Perfect World International called " Raiderz " is advertising their " Real Combat " system, however it remains to be seen if the game itself will improve upon the weaknesses of Vindictus. Aside from the combat system however every aspect of Vindictus lacks the qualities and environment that MMORPG players have come to expect over the years.

I personally give Vindictus a poor rating, while it's combat system is well done, unique, and could even be called " the standard " for any MMORPG to follow it, everything else about the game fails to meet what players have come to expect from the genre. The largest fault in my opinion of the game is the lack of social interaction, which ironically is the part that in my mind would have been the easiest to fix. The all instance fighting system becomes repetitive after a time, and no matter how cool the combat system there will come a time where you get sick of seeing the same boss over and over. Vindictus delivered what it promised, but it didn't deliver what has come to be expected in MMORPG's, vast environments to explore, other players to easily party with, and a social system which brings players closer to one another the longer you play. I find it a great disappointment that a game with such promise failed to meet so many of the reasons that people play MMORPG's in the first place.

If you like fast paced combat, skip Vindictus and load up your copy of Diablo 2, call or message some friends, and set up a game. You'll have much more fun and social interaction.