Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Warhammer Online is a new rvr game for the pc. From the makers of Dark Age of Camelot, this game has a lot of great features. Just like DAOC, Warhammer's focus is on player versus player action. There is a ton of battles going on between the different races, so if you're looking for a game with tons of wars, then this game has it. The bad thing about this game is that for people who are looking for solo gameplay and questing, this game doesn't have it. It's completely focused on pvp.

The maps are huge, which is good and bad. The good is that players have a great expanse of land to explore which is great for people who want to explore different areas. The bad is that since the maps are so big, the population is really spread out, so wars will only be happening in certain spots. The rest of the map will be laid bare.

First, you choose a faction: Order or Destruction (guess which is good and which is evil). From there, choose an army (Dark Elves, Empire, and so on) and a career. Both sides offer the usual suspects, such as healers and tanks, but there are some nice additions for each class. Engineers can summon a turret to aid them from a distance; Disciples of Khaine siphon health from enemies to heal allies; and sorcerers are capable of dealing heavy damage--at the risk of killing themselves. Physical customization isn't particularly deep, but various tattoos and other options help distinguish you from the hordes, even if the simple options and visual similarities of various armor sets can sometimes make all players of a particular profession look eerily alike.

From the moment you join, a quest encourages you to join in on the pvp action. You then sign up for the appropriate level pvp and when a spot is open, you are instantly transported to the battlefield. There are many game modes such as capture the flag, deathmatch, King of the Hill, and many more!

Stand-alone scenarios are just one PVP option. The more impactful alternative is to take battlefield objectives and fight through enemy keeps, which in turn earns victory points for your faction; once you have enough points, the opposing faction's main city is vulnerable to attack. Open objectives make for a chaotic good time, whether you and your warband are chasing down a roaming group of marauders or getting behind a turret to bombard foes as they creep closer to the warcamp. You and your buddies can also participate in keep captures, which are essentially multitiered minidungeons in which you fight enemy players and defending mobs on your way to the keep boss. Keep battles are a ton of fun; teams can build siege weapons at specified points outside of the keep, and the resulting encounters are frenzied and intense, especially if a battering ram is involved.

There are many rewards for killing. Killing other players earns you renown points which you can trade in for equipment and also experience. There is a lvl cap of 40 but even when you get to 40 you will still be earning renown points.

Overall this is a great game. It adds on a lot of new features from Dark Age of Camelot and improves on them. This is a must have game for people who love pvp and player wars. Even though there is a monthly fee of $15, this game is great and totally worth it.