Many People Will attack ArchLord for one thing before they even look at it - mainly, that it's not World of Warcraft. While it's weaker but with similar ideas, it's also fun, rewarding and not half pretty for a game thats been out for more than a year overseas.
Like RF Online, ArchLord is a Korean MMO localised for our fair seas, entering a rich canon of inaccessible grindfests built to steal your waking hours and push you to malnutrition and social isolation. Plus, what you actually get for your money has a somewhat milder learning curve mixed with newbie-friendly quests that will ease in even the most unseasoned of gamers.
With an appeal similar to the National Lottery, you'll seek to defy the awful odds and rise to the top of each server through a series of events to become the one and only 'ArchLord', a PvP goliath who rains fire on other players, rides a dragon to work and always has a bird on his arm. Regardless of this heavy emphasis on PvP gameplay, there's a generous amount of questing to be had around a varied and expansive landscape, and while the classes and combat don't do a lot new for the MMO industry, they're familiar, intuitive and a laugh to play.
Rappelz is a classic dark-fantasy MMO, combining a striking fantasy art style with deep character customization, tactical pet training and PVP/PVE gameplay. A Unique Pet System. An incredible number of pets are available to tame and level up along with your character. Escape form paradise lyrics clean. Take note: This is not a side feature. ArchLord was a 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by NHN Corporation and Codemasters Online Gaming (COG). The game was released in March 2005 in South Korea and October 2006 in North America and Europe, receiving poor reviews from the gaming press.In August 2007, ArchLord became free-to-play to coincide with the release of the first episodic expansion pack, Season of Siege.
Lording It Up
The PvP atmosphere is what brings ArchLord down, though. The current model of player-on-player combat in MMOs is a hurricane of half-skill and the ability to circle your opponent endlessly, and there can only be one ArchLord per server. What's more, the actual odds of reaching it are so remote that it's hard to justify a great investment of your time -and even if you do make it, your 15 minutes of fame will be that of an empty PvP god-mode.While not a WOW-beater, ArchLord is definitely a viable alternative. It's a mishmash of unoriginality behind slick, gorgeous graphics, with a fair bit of content to plough through to get to level 99 and potential to expand. It ends up being a fun MMO romp for casual players and a rich PvP hamster wheel if you're sitting out there with an axe to grind.
ArchLord is a 3D fantasy MMORPG developed by NHN Corporation and Codemasters Online Gaming (COG). The game was released in March 2005 in South Korea and October 2006 inNorth America and Europe , receiving poor reviews from the gaming press. In August 2007, ArchLord became free-to-play to coincide with the release of the first episodic expansion pack,Season of Siege . The second expansion, Spirits Awakening , was released in August 2008. From August 2009, Webzenpublished Archlord in additional countries where Codemasters did not have rights to distribute the game. From October 3, 2009, Webzhen maintained Archlord globally, offering the seventh expansion, called Heaven & Hell . On December 6, 2013, Webzen announced the closing of ArchLord , the game has been shut down since January 1, 2014. [1]
Gameplay
ArchLord uses a crafting system, which allows players to upgrade to a different type of carve, skin and ransack any defeated monster. The materials achieved using carving, skinning and ransacking skills are used in Alchemy and Cooking to create powerup items. Alchemy creates metamorphosis potions which allows a player to transform into monsters, while cooking allows a player to create food which gives statistic bonuses, eg defense buff.
There is an advanced market system employed in this game for ease of trading between players.
One of the features of ArchLord is the ability to compete with the ArchLord, the ruler of the game world. Only one ArchLord can exist on each server, reigning for four weeks before it is challenged by other players for the position. The ArchLord has access to a castle, a unique dragon mount, a control of the weather and other features.
Plot
ArchLord is set on the continent of Chantra and features four playable breeds; Orcs , Humans , Moon Elves and the new DragonScion. Orcs begin their quests in the Golunndo, Humans begin in Anchorville, Moon Elves begin in Norine, and DragonScions in Cien. They all have access to three classes except for the DragonScion that from level 20 evolves to one of the three races.
The Humans first appeared in Chantra 1000 years after the Orcs had settled. Following the dramatic sinking of their land, key pioneers in a human society established in the Western part of the continent known as Chantra. History suggests they were able to do so to their ability to handle fire. In the early stages, Humans lived in relative peace. However, they have begun to realize that they have been landed on the eastern side of the continent and before long tensions have been raised as the Humans became protective of their territory. Humans have a relatively short lifespan, with 80 years considered to be long. Humans also have an inferior breeding ability when compared to Orcs, with the average number of offspring being three.
Humans can be Archers, Knights, and Mages.
The Orcs have occupied the land of Chantra for a 1000 years longer than the Humans. For this reason, the Orcs held themselves in higher regard than their human counterparts and enslaved them for 500 years. Over time the Humans rebelled against their Orc Masters and eventually won their freedom. 500 years later the continent was struck by a huge earthquake, which caused much of it to sink into the ocean. Humans and Orcs were forced to flee the western continent of Chantra. Under the leadership of Ugdrasil, the Orcs colonized a small part of the continent where they began the re-building process.
Orcs can be Berserkers, Sorcerers and Hunters.
The Moon Elves are a race that was once considered Elves, but different. Once in the past few years, they have been in the Nordenland during the second period, they were first in the Great War. As a result of this devastating conflict most of the population was annihilated. A few males were able to escape together with the women; they hid themselves in the shadows of those in the outside world. As time went on, the women took it upon themselves to replace the male roles in their society, and thus learned to master the fine arts of hunting and craftsmanship. The few remaining men were forbidden to enter combat, as they were too precious a commodity. Through a cruel twist of fate This forced the Moon Elsewhere in the United States. This is how they came to be known by the Orcs and Humans. They were sohamed of this action that they were in the dark for centuries, only to reveal themselves when they were invaded by the Orcs and Humans.
Moon Elves can be Swashbucklers, Rangers, and Elementalists.
The Dragon Scion was the last of the four races to arrive at the continent of Chantra. They were created from the skin of the great dragon ‘Mightthesis’ 2000 years ago, after their creation they roamed the world for 1000 years, searching for a place to settle down, finally reaching the continent of Chantra.
DragonScions can evolve to Slayers, Orbiters and Summoners.
Transition Service
Due to failure to reach agreement with NHN, Codemasters is unable to renew their license for ArchLord, no longer able to provide services to European and North American customers. As of September 1, 2009, CM reports to the new provider and the game servers shut down on October 2, 2009. [2] On October 3, 2009, the game was turned over to Webzen , a Korean publisher. [3]
Critical reception
ArchLord received poor ratings; GameSpot criticized the repetitive and tedious gameplay, blurry graphics and lackluster audio, shallow quest and crafting system, and the hours of repetitive combat required to get to Player versus player and high-level content. The reviewer’s only positive how was that ArchLord offered a role-playing gameplay of “kill, loot, buy stuff”, overall awarding a “terrible” rating of 2.7 out of 10. [4]Eurogamer awarded 4 out of 10, criticizing the lack of visual distinction between the power levels of monsters, with trial and error required to progress; a lack of other players, with those present not atrocious controls that cause the reviewer’s character to get stuck on scenery; interesting-sounding features (castle sieges, for example) being restricted to higher levels; and a user interface that’s “like using Windows 95 with a migraine.” [5]
Manhwa
ArchLord | |
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Cover of the Tokyopop edition of ArchLord vol. 1 (2007). Art by Park Jin-hwan . | |
Kind |
|
Author | Park Jin-hwan |
Publisher | Daiwon CI |
English publisher | Tokyopop |
Original run | 2005 – 2008 |
volumes | 6 |
An ancillary manhwa created by the Korean author Park Jin-hwan goes by the same name. The ArchLord manhwa was first released in South Korea on September 30, 2005. Tokyopop released an English version in 2007.
The manhwa follows the adventures of a named human and their friend, a half-orc named Ugdrasil, who find themselves in the midst of a thousand year old.
Popular culture
The game plays a fairly significant role in the Belgian-Dutch film drama Ben X (2007).
External links
- Official Archlord Homepage
References
- Jump up^ “[AL] Notice – Termination of Service” . Webzen. December 6, 2013.
- Jump up^ “ArchLord European and North American Service Transition” . September 1, 2009. Archived from the original on September 8, 2009 . Retrieved September 1, 2009 .
- Jump up^Fahey, Mike (September 1, 2009). “Codemasters Says Goodbye To ArchLord” . Kotaku . Archived from the original on September 26, 2009 . Retrieved September 1, 2009 .
- Jump up^Park, Andrew (November 22, 2006). “ArchLord Review” . GameSpot . Archived from the original on February 9, 2009 . Retrieved February 7, 2009 . What you’re left with when playing ArchLord is a set of grinding away, repeatedly fighting both monsters and the urge to stop playing ArchLord. There are already plenty of other decent massively multiplayer games out there that offer you a better experience, and you’re probably better off right now.
- Jump up^Meer, Alec (November 2, 2006). “ArchLord Review” . Eurogamer.net . Archived from the original on July 27, 2009 . Retrieved February 7, 2009 . Regardless of it being very difficult to see how it’s done, it could be a tricky thing to do, and it’s a good thing to have a chance of something worthwhile (. .) is a failure.