My Abundantly Boring Life

Vindictus, a Modern Diablo

Vindictus, a recently released free-to-play, free-to-download, MMORPG has hit me like a a sour biscuit (and yes, that makes no sense). It is, in almost every sense of the phrase, a modernized Diablo.

Centralized town users get quests from? Check. Dungeon crawling for tons of loot? Check. Character customization through talents? Check. It may not have been intended as a Diablo-esque game, but I sure as hell consider it one. However, what does the game have that not only separates it from Diablo, but other MMORPGs/Online Action RPGs? Without further adieu, here is my review for Vindictus.

Story/Setting

Vindictus is a set in a Celtic-like period. Clothing, town layout, and building structures are all modeled off of historical references from this period. Users pick from one of three characters to play as (with two more on the way). They are Lann, Fiona, and Evie.

Lann is a dual-sword (and later pole) wielding user who acts as the primary DPS character in the game. He doesn’t have a ton of defense, but he can spin-to-win against virtually any mob. Fiona is a tank glass. She wields a sword (later a hammer) and a shield. She does sizeable amounts of DPS, but he biggest aspect is the fact hat she can take boss hits and not have to run away. Evie is the magic user who primarily wields staves, and uses magic to keep a distance from the battle – though later she gets a scythe which turns her into a melee class. She also can act as support with he healing spell and resurrection spell.

While the users do pick characters to play as, they can fully customize them from hair style, to eye color. Even chest size. Though some of these options don’t seem to fit with the established time period (for instance, females get an afro as an option).

Upon choosing a character the player can opt to view the beginning tutorial (which does have story elements), or skip it. Once they make it to town, they are slowly introduced to it and its inhabitants. Then the journey begins…

Graphics

Vindictus is built on the Source engine, which was, and still is, developed by Valve Software. devCat, the developers of Vindictus, have a long relationship with Valve. They brought Counter-Strike to South Korea under a free-to-play model, as well as published another MMORPG built on the goldsrc engine (Mabinogi), which was used to power Half-Life 1.

The result of Vindictus using the Source engine is stunning visuals. Most free-to-play MMOs use their own custom engine. As a result, the graphics almost always look very mundane and, generally, similar to World of Warcraft. So the advantage of using a licensed version of the Source engine to develop an MMO allowed devCat to not focus so much on implementing graphical features, and more so in creating awesome art for the game. Speaking of the art, Vindictus has a very rich look to it. The town feels like it’s just a little cottage village. As you’d expect from a Celtic town (as that is the setting for the game).

Likewise the dungeons are varied. You’ll go to a monastery, ice cavern, and a previously abandoned town (which is adequately set aflame). Currently these three areas make up the bulk of the content for the game, but two other dungeons, at the very least, are in the works. Vindictus screams visuals from the moment you first set eyes upon it. I have yet to find something that didn’t blend so utterly well into the world.

Sound/Music

I’ll be brief here. The sound, while very well done, is only “okay,” to say the least. The music is fitting and sounds pleasant. The weapons sound right, as do the enemies death sounds. But nothing is really outstanding. Certainly not as much when compared to the visuals.

I really wish more was done in this area of the game, but I have certainly heard far worse. I have very mixed feelings about this are of the game. Certain things sound absolutely fantastic, while others… not so much. I guess the best thing I can say is that devCat did a very good job in not making the sounds sound repetitive. Which is more than what can be said about most MMOs.

Gameplay

I mentioned that Vindictus is an Action Only RPG/MMORPG. In reality, I feel that Vindictus is the former. However, it is marketed as the latter. Why? Well, probably because a free-to-play MMORPG has better Search Engine Optimization (SEO) than a free-to-play Action Online RPG does. So, when going into Vindictus, I’d go into it with a mindset of it being a modern Diablo blended with the gameplay mechanics of God of War.

Fighting in the game primarily consists of using a combination of your right and left mouse buttons. These form various combos which the character can eventually learn over time. For instance, Fiona (a gladiator-like character) has a powerful comb she can do that involves pressing the left mouse button four times, followed by one right mouse button click. The result is that she swings her sword in four different ways, then ends with a strong kick to the enemy.

Every character fights like this. They then have their own additions to the system. Fiona has her shield for instance. When standing still and holding the space bar, she brings up her shield to block. Evie is vastly different however, as she has the standard hotkey bar which is bound to her skills.  Each skill or combo will burn the characters stamina, which acts as both traditional stamina and as a replacement for mana (in cases like Evie). The moment a character runs out of stamina, he/she will be unable to do anything for a second or two, while it builds back up. It’s an interesting system that makes the game more than just a “spam buttons to win” gameplay.

Another nice thing about the combat is the use of the scenic props as weapons. Due to the physics engine in Source, most objects in the game are physics-based. This means you can either move them in some way, or pick them up and wield them as powerful weapons that break after a certain number of hits. Almost anything can become a weapon. See a pillar? Destroy it and use its debris as weaponry against a boss.

Vindictus also makes use of a secondary “expendable” weapon slot. They can range from spears, to hand-grenades, to even this harpoon-like gun that, when used on an enemy, allows the player to drag them around. It’s exceedingly fun to see this used on a boss.

The general controls for the game are basic. I’ve mentioned the combat, but the movement is traditional WASD and the like. Interestingly, though, the game offers the player the ability to not use a mouse in the game and go either full keyboard or full gamepad. So it offers something for virtually every gamer. The keys are also pretty customizable.

Finally I’ll mention the token system. The token system was meant as a means of making a profit. Users are given 50 tokens, which reset on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. After the first beginner’s dungeon, doing missions will start to cost two tokens. After doing seven dungeon runs in a single day, it begins to cost the user three tokens. Then four tokens after around 14 runs. It can be pretty annoying, but if you ration out your tokens (or if you’re willing to dish out some cash), it isn’t a very bad system. You could even go an level up an alt if you really need to.

The only really annoying thing about the gameplay is the lag that is currently present. When you go into a dungeon an instance is formed, with the party leader as the server host. So if the party leader has a bad internet connection, the lag will be pretty awful. Though since official release of Vindictus, this issue has been improved quite a bit.

Real Money Transactions

Ah, RMT, how we hate thee. Most free-to-play MMOs aren’t judged on their content (well, at least not entirely). They’re judged on the cash shop. A lot of free-to-play MMOs implement cash shops which almost force players to use them. Whether they need them to unlock content, or just to simply get the best gear in the game. Cash shops are often the bane of players existences.

So, how does Vindictus fair up? Really, really good to be honest. The cash shop contains two types of items: 30-day accessories, and Platinum Tokens. The former option  basically just includes hair styles, undergarments, and belts. They’re primarily for looks, but do give some basic stat boosts. Nothing too overwhelming however. The latter is simply for players who have blown through their normal Silver Tokens and which to keep playing. The difference between the two is that it only ever costs one Platinum Token to go into a dungeon, plus it gives you a 50% EXP boost. That may sound really game-breaking, but it’s not. The max level, at the time of this writing, is 38. You can get to 20 in a single day without any EXP boost. So this really only benefits the more casual players. Overall, the cash shop is one of the best I’ve seen out of any free-to-play MMO.

Conclusion

Vindictus is a great game. I have been extremely addicted to it for a little over a week now, and I’ don’t plan to stop anytime soon. I urge everyone who has read this review to download and play Vindictus right now. You won’t regret it.

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