+6/12
Loading...By Rick Charbs, Onrpg writer
Wind Slayer is a 2D sidescroller MMORPG newly brought to the public by Outspark. It recently reached the open beta as of February 4th 2009. Mostly axed towards PvP combat, this MMO is generally overlooked by the gaming population. Most find it odd once they are struck by a sidescroller MMORPG that doesn’t really revolve around fighting monsters. All combat talk aside, Wind Slayer is a very popular game in its foreign counterparts, and seems to lack its fame here in North America. Thanks to Outspark, things are starting to change. With a great deal of events and activities, Outspark has encouraged a portion of their already-large player base to join this title. Having an extremely pleasant closed beta with a great deal of accomplished work, you can now finally play the game without the hassle of searching for beta keys.
General Gameplay
As previously mentioned, Wind Slayer is very PvP oriented. With an extremely simplistic PvE system, your perspective of this title may risk changing. The current amount of content in the game is extremely limited, allowing a player to level just about to the mid-game range without much difficulty… May I remind you that I did not specify that it would not be lengthy? From then on out, there will be no monsters or dungeons for you to train in just yet—please take into consideration it is still in open beta! The non-PvP aspect of the game is quite simple, really. There is a very large array of classes, which I personally really enjoyed (at least their concepts), and a creative selection of monsters that rule over the few areas of the game. The controls are very awkward yet the game is still fast paced enough to make the combat at least enjoyable to a certain extent. Unfortunately, the job classes have few skills in the game, thus diminishing a great potential variety. There certainly is room to grow on that level.
As for the PvP aspect of the game, there is quite a lot to add. Not only can PvP battles hold up to twenty players at a time, but there are even many other perks to this game’s system. Three elaborate PvP modes are currently available in-game, being the level restricted mode, the unlimited mode, and the normalized mode. The level restricted mode consists of battling with players who are the same level as you. Fame points (rewarded for winning battles) can be won according to your overall performance. In the unlimited mode, there are absolutely no level restrictions and no handicaps. Every player battles with their character’s current strength in this mode, so beware. Finally, in the normalized mode, every character in the fight is adjusted to match the ability of a level 40 character, ideally preparing everyone for a completely balanced and fair fight, no matter your character’s current strength. This mode allows for very amusing events, as nobody has a distinctive advantage over you no matter how long you or they have played previously.
To quickly sum up events and activities, Outspark hosts many PvP tournaments with really cool rewards. They also cover every holiday with a unique event, and often hold contests with big prizes up for grabs (a Nintendo Wii, for instance)!
Graphics and Sound
Personally, I found everything related to sound and background music to be under average. Most of it was corny, and the rest was either just alright or downright obnoxious, which is too bad.
Especially during a PvP battle, I was expecting so much more. The graphics, however, seemed unique to me and I didn’t mind them the least bit. However, they lacked serious variety in both monsters and characters. Everyone looked the same, and some monsters were plainly re-colors. There is also a rare distinction between high and low level armor, which seems to me like it could be easily improved. All of that aside, the graphics were very tolerable, and the UI was large but very practical.
Personal Recommendation
Wind Slayer was the first MMORPG in a very long time that completely avoided my expectations. I won’t address this issue for very long, but the lag was just unbearable for the most part. This has to due with the current testing of the server, so don’t expect it to be like so for too long now.
I never would have imagined the PvE aspect of the game to be so dull, and I especially never thought the PvP was going to be so much fun. Being a strict non-PvP player, I was very discouraged by the uninteresting gameplay in that respect. However, after testing out the player versus player myself, I actually found it amusing. It was one of the few times I had fun doing so. I would recommend this game if you are interested in 2D sidescrollers, but hold a particular interest (a strong one) to PvP. If that is the case for you, you will adore this game without a doubt. If you are a fan of PvP but it is not your favourite aspect of a game, you should still try the game out to broaden your perspective. If PvP is just not your cup of tea, I suggest you avoid this game altogether and avoid the disappointment. Enjoy, and happy gaming!
Pros
– Great PvP
– Fun community
– Little to no learning curve
– Lots of room for potential
Cons
– Awkward controls
– Quite laggy
– Lacking in content
