The Free MMO Part 2: Shadowbane
Posted by Lockergnome
This review is a transcript from my daily gaming podcast: The Daily PWN
Download The Daily PWN 67: Shadowbane
Today we are taking a look at a once pay-to-play MMORPG that has managed to create a boost in its player base by removing payment requirements and embracing ad supported revenue. I’m talking about none other than Shadowbane. Shadowbane was originally released in 2003 under the care and development of text-MUD veterans J. Todd Coleman, James Nance, Josef Hall, Patrick Blanton and Robert Marsa along with a team of 45 other programmers, designers, and artists. The idea was simple, bring a game that promotes PVP, offers players the chance to own real property within the game, and give players the ability to create characters in unconventional races.
Shadowbane downloaded quickly, and consisted of a ZIP file 891MB in size. Once installed, signing up and creating an account was simple and direct, with minimal advertising interruptions. It should be noted here that advertising is how Shadowbane is currently paying for itself, so you should expect to see an ad when logging in and doing several key tasks. I didn’t find them altogether annoying or disruptive, and they do appear to be easy to forget about as you are preparing to enter the world of Shadowbane.
Character creation was very simple and to the point, though you quickly realize that graphics are not going to be anything spectacular. You are able to customize the look, class, race, name, and attributes of your character. The options for your characters looks are pretty much limited to their skin tone, hair, and beard. The graphics are not worth worrying about how much detail you can put in to your character’s appearance, so the lack of abundance of options isn’t surprising.
The classes you can pick from during character creation are fighter, healer, mage, and rogue. Each class has a list of disciplines that your character can develop towards as they gain experience. These disciplines are limited to four out of a list of thirty possible options. There are some reasonable limitations on which classes a certain race can work with. For example, a vampire could not be a healer. Nor could a healer master the assassin discipline.
This brings us to the selection of races. You have an impressive list of twelve different races to chose from. Each race has its own pros and cons about it, and if you chose to play on a server that restricts certain races from going to certain locations, you may want to take care in who and what you decide to play. You can choose:
Aelfborn (Half-Elf)
Aracoix (Flying Birdman)
Centaur (Half man, half horse)
Dwarf
Elf
Half Giant
Human
Irekei (Desert-dwelling Devilmen)
Minotaur
Nephilim (Flying demon-like creature)
Shade (A Pale, ghoulish person)
Vampire
Controls and game play are not intuitive, and there is no tutorial to help you. This was a grave disappointment, especially considering the game has been around for five years. There are some helpful bubbles that you can click on, but they only appear after you manage to accomplish what you were set out to do. I’m sure the boxed version of the game had a good manual, though you won’t be able to find a copy now without actively seeking one out.
Shadowbane relies heavily on PvP, especially when the world is pretty much owned by and managed by the players. PvP is open and you can be attacked or attack others practically anywhere. This is great if you like PvP. I have read another review that described the feel of combat in Shadowbane as a mix between Ultima Online and Dark Ages of Camelot. I found this to be the best description yet, as much as Shadowbane is unique in its interaction, it does appear to borrow greatly from those two popular MMORPGs.
I’d have to say that overall, Shadowbane is worth a look at simply because it does have appeal as a player versus player game. It has its obvious drawbacks, and I wouldn’t recommend anyone pay a monthly fee for this experience, though as a free game it is worth the price of enforced advertising.
Link: Official Shadowbane Website
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