Runescape Complete Impressions
Runescape
Runescape is well known as being one of the best online massively multiplayer games available, so for the few of you who have not yet played this game, here are some impressions of the gameplay.
The graphics of Runescape are not that robust. In fact, they are pretty lack luster, to say the least. Since this game is a browser mmorpg, it can not have the advanced graphics that many retail and downloadable online multiplayer games have. When you first enter the game, you will see that you play from a sort of top down view. Your characters lack detail such as distinct faces , or textures at all. It is mainly solid colors placed on 3D objects to create a lush environment. For the obstacles that Jagex, the creator of this game, is going through, they have done pretty well with the graphics I would say. A great thing about the lacking graphics is that it can work on virtually any computer or laptop (or even netbook and umpc) as long as it supports Java.
While the game can not brag about having greatly detailed graphical capabilities, it can boast about its immense content. There are over 150+ quests available for you to do, and a large world for you to explore. One thing about this game that you may not have a good reaction to is how you have a chance of losing what ever equipment that you are wearing. That is a pretty annoying feature to me as well, and it is disliked by many of the players in this game. But think of it this way, if you are around a high leveled player and they die, you can loot all of their items. Likewise, if you are in a party with your friends, they can pick up your items and save it for you.
One cool thing I found out about the game is how one time I was traveling by a field of cows and sheep, and I was attacked by a robber. That is a pretty interesting thing to happen, and it has never happened to me before in any mmorpg. So that is what makes this game unique in some ways, because no other game will really have an npc that is not a monster commit such an action towards you. Another thing is how you can kill guards and other npcs if you are strong enough. You can walk into a mans house, kill him, take his money and simply leave. It is quite a lot of freedom, and they respawn, so you can do it again, though it does not really benefit you much because they do not carry much items.
The random events in Runescape is what makes it shine, and most likely why it is still one of the most popular online massively multiplayer games. When I first played it, I was immediately given a great impression of it due to these exclusive features that I have not seen in another game before. There was one occasion when I was coming out of the bank and a genie literally spawned next to me and questioned me. You have the option to ignore it (even though he will follow you) or answer it. If you ignore it, he may get insulted and will teleport you to a land far far away. If you answer it, you may be graced with a reward depending on the answer. It is the little yet luxurious features like this that make the game stand out.
There are also light player vs player features. There is a specific land dedicated towards player vs player fights. The deeper you travel into the land, the more high leveled and dangerous players you will come to face. It is smart to travel in groups while out in the pvp lands, mainly because you never know how many people you will run into or how high leveled they would be. Also, if you are killed, your friend may be able to save your items, which is always a good thing. It is advised that you have top tier equipment and well leveled stats before entering the land. The robust leveling system that Runescape offers is a very great thing for pvp, because you will able to be completely unique to your enemy. Such as having priest qualities so you can buff yourself, as well as high defense and attack so you will be able to take damage and dish it out as well.
There is a pay feature to this game as well. If you subscribe to Runescape, you will be able to access the member servers which come with a variety of exclusive features. If you pay for membership, you will be able to get housing which is not allowed in the free servers. You will also have your own exclusive servers that offer little to no lag or downtime, and it will be less populated which is ideal when you are trying to level. You will be given extra quests to do, 9 more skills that you will be able to train, full screen mode, and a new beta high definition mode coupled with a larger world to explore. The cost is a measly 5 dollars a month, though some people consider that to be too much. If you are worried that you are not able to afford it and you think that this features should be released for free, you are simply wrong. Jagex has to make money some how off of this game, or else it would be shut down. So this is their way of being able to monetize the game so they would be able to update it and keep it running.
The community of the game is fairly friendly and out going. You will find that you are able to strike up conversations with many random players, because everyone is playing for the same reason. This game is so insanely popular that you will not have a problem actually finding someone to play with, and this is vital to a new players first impression. In online games, if there is a small community, the game will often fail due to its lack of popularity. Runescape, however, is insanely popular and widely known, so there are literally thousands of players per day, with many joining every month. This game can not be compared to other browser games, simply because it is that good for its genre. This game is probably the best browser game available to date.
This game does have a bit of room for improvement, however. The game should make the switch from a browser game to being a PC game of the same scope. If this game improved its graphics while keeping the same content, it would be a ridiculously popular game that could most likely compete with the likes of World of Warcraft. The only problem with this is that the game would take up an enormous amount of space, and most likely take quite a bit of processing power to run it.
All in all, my complete impression of Runescape would have to be a great one. It is the perfect game to introduce a new player into the mmorpg genre. Runescape game has been out and supported for quite a long time, and will most likely still be around for a long time to come. I would personally give this game a score of 4/5 due to the sheer amount of content it has and the large community it has. For those of you who managed to read all of this, tell me of your complete impressions of Runescape in the comments section.
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