Came across a new game which will be going online later this month. This is a free game and we can expect a large enough community join with this. How big it will grow will greatly depend in the quality of the game and the continues improvements. This comes under Snail USA.
The MMORPG Age of Wushu recreates an ancient Chinese world of Kung Fu. If words like Wushu are new to you, fear not. In such martial arts movies as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragonor Hero, heroes leap from rooftops and display death-defying feats of martial prowess. In Age of Wushu, you can perform all these unbelievably powerful skills and become a legendary Wushu master.
This martial arts MMO inevitably uses many of the conventions we’re familiar with, but presents it in a unique way with new combat styles, unorthodox professions, and a gorgeous and authentic Oriental backdrop. Not everything is a Zen experience, but it’s enough of a twist to the formula that it’s at least worth a trial run.
Unlike most fantasy MMORPGs, in Age of Wushu there is only one race—human—and no classes. You choose one of four storylines to pursue during character creation, customize the appearance of your avatar, and are then whisked away to a village for your training.
Since there are no classes, every player has the freedom to choose their own path, tailoring combat skills to weapons of preference and their own play style, whether it be melee, ranged, supplemental, and so on. In fact, Snail Games believes so strongly in a singularly fulfilling experience that players are only allowed one character slot in the game. This was designed to accentuate the idea of choice and consequence, but will likely turn away gamers who prefer multiple experiences.
Another prominent element that separates Age of Wushu from the rest of the pack is that there are no character levels in the game. Instead, experience that you gain from completing tasks can be converted into cultivation points, the essence of gaining strength. As your cultivation pool grows, you spend these points to improve your combat powers. There are different methods of leveling up these skills. Internal Cultivation works on a skill in the background so you can continue with other tasks, though higher tiers can take many hours to upgrade, and the progress bar only fills while online. Practice Martial Arts allows you to quickly build your progress meter by spending coin on training. Of course, the higher the skill level, the more silver it will cost you. The best way to improve your skills is with Team Practice, where you play a minigame and must accurately input the button prompts to gain cultivation. It’s a time-consuming process, but the more players that join the practice, the more cultivation points you will reap. Overall, the cultivation system is a welcome improvement on the standard leveling up process. It engages you into actively tracking your progress and making customization choices, rather than simply gaining experience points and having attributes raised automatically when you “ding” a new level.
Every combat move has an affiliation with martial arts, either with bare hands or wielding a weapon. Choosing from the many powers is ultimately what makes your character unique. Although you have the option to remain independent, joining a school has many benefits, such as granting exclusive combat powers, gaining repute, and partaking in special spy and kidnap missions.
There are six good factions and two evil, each promoting a different combat style and favoring certain weapons. Some schools have specific requirement—one accepts only females and another requires you to choose the path of a beggar. Most also follow a specific credo, so choosing you ideal training grounds is about personal doctrines as well combat preferences. When you’ve developed a full range of moves and trained sufficiently, you are ready to tackle the hazards of the open world.
Journeying through the land of Jianghu will be more tranquil than imposing. Instead of evenly spaced hostiles dotted throughout the area, enemies are concentrated into a cluster that remains neutral until you initiate combat. Though you’re bound to find enemies beyond your strength, those that are evenly matched aren’t exactly exciting to engage. Age of Wushu instead favors the PvP concept, with duels and guild rivalries aplenty.
Combat follows a rock, paper, scissors logic. Overt (straightforward) attacks overpower feints. Feints break through parries. And parries reduce the damage from overt moves. As the battle continues, a rage meter builds, which can used to release devastating combos. Finally there are flying moves, where you literally defy gravity itself and gain abilities such as running across water. When two skilled players intertwine in combat, the flying skills mixed with perfectly timed attacks could allow the action to persist for several minutes. In the end, the player who flinches is the one who falls. It’s a simple combat system in principle, but incredibly tough to master, and certainly more of a challenge than simply spamming axe slashes or magic missiles like in other fantasy MMOs.
Game Background – ageofwushu.com
Age of Wushu is based on early Ming Dynasty China, a time when the central plains were relatively stable. It was during this period the Jianghu martial arts were allowed to flourish, and the great schools were formed and began recruiting members. This precipitated great change across the land.
Compared with the thriving, bustling nature of Jianghu, the central government grew increasingly autocratic, with the emperor’s power increasingly consolidated. The Eastern Chamber and the Royal Guards were formed, each growing into formidable forces that influenced Jianghu. The founder of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, grew increasingly suspicious and began purging those he distrusted. He began dispatching the newly powerful Royal Guard throughout Jianghu to bend the people to his will.
After the emperor’s death and the ensuing power struggle, the Nin Yin Manual, a secret martial arts tract, was rumored to be circulating through Jianghu. That set off violent tremors as factions of every stripe struggled to obtain this coveted work. The traditional martial arts began to evolve and grow more sophisticated, as did the newer fighting styles of the western regions, and so the story of Age of Wushu began…
I’ll get to you with more updates on AoW..