The big Fantasy MMORPG Roundup

When a gamer is looking for a hardcore MMORPG fix, there is a lot to choose from. From Star Wars to Everquest, just a stop by a local electronics store will reveal to you how many constantly running worlds there are in the universe. Every day, millions of people get on their computers and pay their monthly dues to play games that they believe to be entertaining- and will do so for years to come.

So when it comes to the big name MMORPGs, one can expect them to deliver quite a punch. But which ones to choose from? So, back in the back rooms of the Gametrash office, we have sat back and revisited three MMORPG worlds- Azeroth, Vana'Diel, and Norrath- and tried to weigh out the benefits and the hurts thererof, and decide the big question that everyone has on their minds: Which is better, Everquest 2, World of Warcraft, or Final Fantasy XI?

This is going to be done in a completely fair and balanced way- taking all games through a test of different faculties (Graphics, gameplay, replayability, etc), we will break down each game and attempt to discover their weak and strong points, and then come to a conclusion. And hopefully we won't choke each other doing it.

Part 1: Graphics and Sound

When it comes to graphic and sound quality, MMORPGs are always at a loss. Let's face it- when a game is expected to balance hundreds of players at once, one cannot expect the cutting edge of graphics. With that in mind, this test is going to have to break down two things- the quality of the graphics and sound themselves, and how well they fare in a system-intensive environment.



FINAL FANTASY XI -> C+

Final Fantasy XI has everything it SHOULD have, but unfortunately fails in some small ways, and then resoundingly excels in others. Being a game that was simultaneously launched on the PC and PS2, one cannot expect the greatest quality on the PS2 version- but admittedly, the PC version has a lot of upgrades to fix it. That being said, nothing can fix the fact that the graphics and models, being as they cannot change fully, are going to be restricted across the board. PC gamers only get the benefit of turning off the intensive texture compression featured in the game, which is a blessing (to make the game much less muddy)- but that still does not hide some unoriginal character models (All 20 of them or so- the game has absolutely no customization capabilities).

Let me also add that Final Fantasy XI features the worst GUI graphics of them all, using super-compressed graphic textures for the GUIs that look blurry, undefined, and generally ugly. This is not helped by the insanely disgusting fonts, which look smudged and almost unreadable. Definitely a bad point for FFXI.

Sound wise, Final Fantasy XI beats the other games, especially musically. While the music tends to be short, the quality is of Square-Enix lineage and thus is absolutely phenomenal, and catchy to boot. The battle, town, and exploration themes all fit the style very well and sound beautifully orchestrated, and really become one of Final Fantasy XI's definite purchasing points.

And on the issue of loading times and system ability, I can say that PC users will find no issue with the MMORPG aspect, as the game always chugs along happily with no issue technologically, due to the extreme cutback for the PS2 rendition. XBOX 360 users will be happy to know that they are in the same boat as the PC users, speedy load times for all.

WORLD OF WARCRAFT -> B+

While the GUI system in World of Warcraft does not suffer the anguish of Final Fantasy XI, one cannot simply ignore the gratuitously simplified models in World of Warcraft. Because the game was made by Blizzard, a long time player in the online field, it was generally made with optimization in mind, which generally means that the game is not that complex polygonally or texture wise, but does feature some unique graphics. Unlike Final Fantasy XI, however, the textures are sharp and defined enough to look decent, and are not offensive to the eye- so the graphics somewhat make themselves up, especially for those able to turn up the rendering distances.

Sound-wise is where World of Warcraft can get painful at times. Much like any MMORPG, the sounds tend to get old and repetitive, and generally just rack on your nerves. There is not much bonus in having the sound on, as no voice overs or the like are provided, but all the necessities are there to provide an experience worthy of the Warcraft genre.

Load time wise, as I said above, is the high point of the World of Warcraft series. Amazingly, due to some very well streamed levels, there are virtually no lag points in the game graphically, and the world seamlessly transitions without load times or extraneous work. This falls right smack dab in the category of a high point for the game, because even people on slower computers will feel the speed- and that's a very good thing.

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