Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning could be the last attempt at challenging the almighty WoW for the online RPG throne. The game does well on all accounts, but does it have a chance to catch up?

World of Warcraft has grown to ridiculous proportions, but it’s definitely starting to show its age by now, even with the “Lich King” release. Although you might think that the games look similar at first glance, Mythic Entertainment has made some drastic changes to revive the online RPG formula, and there is plenty to give WoW a challenge.

A Streamlined but Challenging RPG Experience

Warhammer Online isn’t really a game that encourages adventuring and exploring by yourself, which is sort of unique in itself. From the very beginning you are herded into groups of other players and you won’t even have time to level up for the first time before you’re mixed up in the endless battle between Destruction and Order. The all-encompassing sense of continuous conflict in combination with a streamlined and easy-to-use interface is what sets this RPG apart from its main competitor.

Mythic has managed to remove all the rough edges and created a game with less annoyances and more simplicity. The game isn’t very difficult, but it still provides enough challenges, especially when you face off against other players in PvP battles. The best part is that it’s so easy to manage all of it.

Logging in to a New World

As usual when you fire up a brand new RPG, there will be scratching of heads before you make up your mind on a new character. Picking a side (good vs. bad) might be easy enough for some, but then you have to pick a race and make the character look the way you want – there are three races on each of the sides, and then there’s always the hair-color dilemma.

Once you’re past the character creation screens you are faced with the game’s interface. There are quite a few buttons, and when you start out it might look confusing. But this is where Mythic excels – your befuddlement with the controls is quickly replaced by amazement of how easy everything is to manage.

The answer is spelled “Tome of Knowledge”: just press K to bring up your personal book of wisdom. At first there’s very little in this “tome”, but as you progress you will get increasingly detailed information. in the first few paragraphs you will get to know the Warhammer Online game world, who you’re fighting and to some extent why. Eventually this book will also contain quests as well as detailed information about people and landmarks you come across. It’s also full of fun stuff to unlock, such as defeating a certain number of enemies, advancing in the story and so on.

Your own Warhammer Story

The Warhammer world has more than 30 years of background story to build on, and the developer brings this world to your computer in a very nice-looking fashion. It’s very tempting to get on with exploring this vast RPG world, and thanks to the seamless storytelling through the quests you perform with your fellow players. If you tire of the questing you  can always take a break by playing a battlefield scenario – join a small army and ransack an enemy village.

If you enjoy the storytelling part of an RPG, the Tome of Knowledge gives Warhammer Online a lot of added depth. Rather than being motivated just by leveling up and getting better stats  and equipment, you have a compelling Warhammer saga to build on every time you load up the game.