..RaiderZ..

HANDS-ON PREVIEW | ? Comments |

There are plenty of MMOs out there in development which are trying to be the next big thing. With free-to-play turning into the new movement in the genre and more and more quality niche MMOs coming out, Perfect World is working to capture a particular audience with their newest MMO, RaiderZ. 

RaiderZ is an MMO based on the Eastern-style monster hunting genre. Monster hunting games have their fan base in the Western world, but they're typically reserved for J-Gamers. With RaiderZ, Perfect World has taken this monster hunting genre and geared it more towards a Western audience, without losing too much of the Eastern charm. This action-based, hack 'n' slash fantasy MMO is about a few things: hunting down particular monsters, making friends to help you hunt down said monsters, killing said monsters and looting them, and then finding your next monsters to hunt. 

While playing RaiderZ at E3, I got to see how all of this comes together with a handful of unique design choices. Gamers will first have to assemble a party of players to help them hunt down a particular boss. As I stated before, this boss will be carrying loot. For those who remember the Everquest days, where waiting for a boss to respawn took half your day, do not fear. We were assured that there are plenty of mechanics in place to keep gamers from waiting around all day for a boss to spawn, only to be killed by another party of players. Once you do have your group and are out exploring the world of RaiderZ, searching down your monster, a few unique social group mechanics help make things interesting.

When you set up camp, players can make food, break out instruments (all different types), and craft things. All of this helps in recharging your stamina, health, and whatnot, while crafting of course gets you new items. RaiderZ's music system is actually quite involved, as one individual can make music, while others can join in and essentially create a campfire symphony. This campfire set up of cooking, sharing meals, playing music both adds to the game and brings out a wonderful social aspect to the gameplay. It will make the fantasy world more real, as players chat about their next big fights while relaxing in the wilderness together. 

RaiderZ doesn't skimp on great-looking environments and wonderful boss designs either. Perfect World is trying to make Westerners see that free-to-play games can be not only high-quality, but amazing pieces of work just like any other fully priced game. With both their releases of RaiderZ and Neverwinter action MMORPGs, I am looking for some good things to come from Perfect World. As of right now, RaiderZ is available for Beta.

Rando Evans   Followtinydinosaurs Three things describe Rando: Good beer, good food, and video games. On occasion, Rando flies a zeppelin through time seeking power crystals.

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