Best MMORPGs of 2010

MMORPGs offer the most in-depth gaming experiences, and the year 2010 has seen the release of some truly spectacular games. Vindictus, by Nexon, is a highly polished MMORPG that makes great use of instanced stages, and persistent world cities. The Celtic theme adds to the immersion, and the fluid gameplay and graphics, powered by the Source engine all add up to give Vindictus high production value all around.

Players looking for a more traditional MMORPG experience can look towards either Legend of Edda or Iris Online. Both games are developed by the same Korean studio, buy published by different portals here in the US. Legend of Edda has a ‘chibi’ theme and is published by GamesCampus. Iris Online has a Gypsy theme and is published by gPotato. Both games have anime style graphics, and fairly traditional gameplay mechanics. Iris Online is a bit more original, and has a more complex class system. The game is also more fully 3D, allowing for more exploration. Legend of Edda is much simpler, and has a pretty linear progression path both in terms of class progression and world exploration. Play one, or try both since they’re free to play! Unfortunately Iris Online shut down, but Legend of Edda is still around through GamenGame.

Moving on, lets talk about Battle of the Immortals. It is published by Perfect World Entertainment and is perhaps their most original MMORPG. Many of their previous games look and play like one another, but Battle of the Immortals was built on a totally different engine. It plays more like an action RPG. It has an isometric camera angle, and point-and-click movement. The game is easy to get into, and great for casual players.

Another interesting MMORPG from 2010 is Allods Online. This game combines the familiar graphic style and interface found in the popular World of Warcraft, but adds plenty of new features. Like Neo Steam and ARGO, it has a steampunk MMO Theme. That means air ships, rifles, and other fancy technologies are present. Allods Online has a very steady pacing, similar to high quality MMORPGs rather than the grind based gameplay found in many Asian MMORPGs.

Now lets get to some of the previously pay to play MMORPGs that required a monthly subscription that have been converted to free to play this year. Let’s start with EverQuest 2. It is a very well known game by Sony Online Entertainment. SOE got their feet wet in this f2p market with Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures, both of which were aimed at a younger audience. Now that they’ve learned a bit about free to play, they’ve released EverQuest 2: Extended. Its free to play with several restrictions. Players can purchase access to additional races and classes via a cash shop. SOE also converted Pirates of the Burning Sea to f2p this year. Pirates of the Burning Sea is now perhaps the most in depth free to play game available. It has deep economic features that make it ideal for players looking for a game they can spend months or even years with.

There they are, some of the best MMORPGs of 2010. There were plenty of others but this should be enough to keep you busy over the holiday break!

MMORPGs on the Horizon – August, 2010

There are a bunch of cool free to play games on the horizon that I’m looking forward to trying. I don’t know if I’ll stick to any of these games, but August is starting to look like an awesome month for MMORPGs! The first game on my list to try in August, 2010 is the elephant in the room – Vindictus from Nexon. The game is scheduled to begin its closed beta in mid-August and I was lucky enough to get into the closed beta. I’ve been a fan of Nexon’s games since the release of MapleStory back in like 2004. I’ve also played Mabinogi quite a bit and still play Combat Arms regularly. I think it’s actually safe to say Combat Arms is the most successful free MMOFPS game in the U.S. I know Sudden Attack is super popular in Asia, but not so much in the U.S. In fact, Sudden Attack is considered the “Counter-Strike of Asia”. There are so many tournaments for it!

Anyway, I’m getting a bit distracted. I also plan on trying Divine Souls and Fists of Fu from Outspark. Both games went into closed beta in mid to late July, but I suspect they will both begin their open betas in August. I didn’t want to play either game too much in closed beta, as there will almost certainly be a wipe before open beta. Another upcoming MMORPG that looks awesome is King of Kings 3 from Gamigo. I actually made sure King of Kings 3 would be available to U.S. Users before I got excited over it, as Martial Empires from Gamigo announced they would ban U.S. Ips when it launched. So I wanted to make sure King of Kings 3 would be playable from the U.S. And it will be. I’m looking forward to playing it because it apparently has excellent PvP. The game’s guild system is awesome and it player housing as well, something most games just don’t have.

On the “MMO” front I plan on trying MicroVolts when its closed beta begins on August 12. A lot of sites are giving away closed betas keys for it, and I got mine a few days ago. I’ve always been a fan of shooting games, so I suspect I’ll like MicroVolts, especially since it has the whole Team Fortress 2 cartoony look to it. I also played a bit of FreeJack last month when it began its closed beta, but I’m hoping it fully releases this month, so I can play it some more. FreeJack is cool because it’s one of the only racing MMOs on foot. Think Tales Runner, but with more awesome graphics. The tracks are awesome and there are a bunch of little features in the game that make it fun.

I think I covered just about everything that’s coming out in August, 2010. If I missed anything let me know in the comments.

Playing MMORPGs in Korea

One of my buddies here in the U.S. Is moving to Korea later this year. Sorta sucks, but at least I can still talk to him via skype and play MMOs like Dragon Oath and Neo Steam with him. Internet 4tw I guess. Korea is pretty awesome considering all of these free to play MMORPGs originate there. Well not all of them, but most, as Electronic Arts recently entered the free to play arena with FIFA Online and Battleforge. Even Sony Online Entertainment began embracing free to play with Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures. Some of my favorite free to play MMORPG companies though are Korean. Companies like NCSoft and Netgame for example are high quality MMO developers. NCSoft is probably best known for Guild Wars and Aion while Netgame is better known for Hero Online, Scions of Fate and Cloud Nine.

Come to think of it… a lot of the MMORPGs I play are developed in China. I used to think 99% of free to play MMOs came from Korea, but chinese developers like Perfect World Entertainment (Ether Saga Online, Jade Dynasty, Etc) and ChangYou (Dragon Oath and blade Wars) are pretty big companies. Perfect World Entertainment is huge in China and probably one of the biggest MMO companies in the U.S as well with their American division. So I guess its sort of a misconception that free to play MMOs are exclusively from Korea! Chinese MMORPGs are big too!

Anyway. I bet there are a lot of awesome MMOs available in Korea that aren’t out in the U.S. Yet. I know Netmarble (Korean MMO company) launched a global English portal, but they only have one game available at the moment – Mini Fighter Online. The Korean portal on the other hand has games like Koongya Adventure, Wego and numerous other titles that haven’t even been announced in the U.S. Yet. Vindictus is already available in Open Beta in Korea through Nexon as well. That game is highly anticipated here in the States, but it won’t be released until Fall, 2010. So North American and European users will have to wait. I guess one of the perks of living in Korea is that there are a lot more free to play games available. I wonder if pay to play games in the U.S. Like Lineage 2 and Aion are free to play in Korea? I think they actually might be.

Anyway. Yeah. Living in Korea sounds pretty interesting, but it would sorta be impossible for me, as I don’t even know the language. My buddy who’s moving there is Korean so it makes sense for him. Anyway, I’m about to go play some League of Legends with my Korean buddy.

So Many New MMORPGs On The Way

There are so many awesome new free to play MMORPGs launching soon. Out of all of them though, I’m most excited about Vindictus, which is a 3D action MMORPG published by Nexon. Vindictus, for those that don’t, is actually just Mabinogi Heroes with a different name. Nexon changed the name for the North American release for some odd reason. I’m a bit surprised that a company like Nexon would publish Vindictus, as unlike Nexon’s other games, Vindictus is extremely bloody and ’sexy’. The game is supposed to play a bit like Warrior Epic, in that players must join games through a lobby and each game is a mission in the game. Vindictus is supposed to come out into open beta sometime in Q4 2010, so it’s not THAT far off.

Another MMO i’m really looking forward to is Genesis A.D, which is an awesome new sci-fi themed MMOFPS by ijji. For some reason ijji seems to have some sort of obsession with FPS games, as it seems like half the games on their portal is an FPS. Aside from Genesis A.D ijji is also launching numerous other MMOFPS games, the most popular being Karma: Operation Barbarossa and Huxley: The Dystopia. I don’t think Huxley will come out anytime soon though, as it seems to be one of those MMOs that’s never going to come out, along with Priston Tale 2. I think Genesis A.D is awesome because the game’s name was determined through a ‘name our game’ contest ijji hosted. It’s awesome that a game publisher would do that!

I’m also looking forward to play Forsaken World. It’s an upcoming 3D fantasy MMORPG by the same guys behind Perfect World, Jade Dynasty, Ether Saga Online and Battle of the Immortals. Perfect World Entertainment has been a top notch publisher ever since they launched their first game in North America. The company is based in China and their games are much more popular over there, but I think they’ve done a great job as all of their games are high quality. Heck their games are better than most korean MMORPGs out there in my opinion.

Anyway guys, with all the new upcoming MMORPGs, which one do you look forward to the most? Leave your answer below!