Wartune

Unlike practically every other massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) on the market today, Wartune — as the saying goes — is a horse of a different color. And believe us when we tell you that said color is extremely intriguing, entertaining and — perhaps most of all — refreshing.

It’s quite unlike anything you’ve likely played before — whether online or otherwise. But before we delve into the specifics regarding the gameplay and graphics, let us first take a look at the basics!

Publisher: Reality Squared Games (R2 Games)

Number of players: Medium

Type of MMO: MMORPG

EXP Rate: Medium

PvP: World/Arena

Filesize: N/A (see also: browser based)

Worth Your Time: Definitely

Pros: Fast-paced, flashy, old-school-esque combat; entertaining, deep city-building mechanic; numerous staff-run player events frequently held; excellent tutorial.

Cons: Sub-par, run-of-the-mill story; not very many player classes; relatively straightforward, oft repetitive gameplay; extremely, maddeningly annoying loading screens.

>> GAMEPLAY

As stated in the cons section above, Wartune only contains three main player classes. Yes, seriously. Thankfully, though, these classes are extremely deep and highly customizable. The classes consist of the knight, the archer and the mage.

The Knight:

The Knight class, just as you’d expect, is capable of wielding extremely powerful two-handed weapons and wear very durable iron-clad armor. They’re exceptionally adept at stunning and slicing enemies regardless of their defensive levels while conversely being able to use their shields to help protect both themselves and their allies.

The Archer:

The Archer class is known for its exceptional combination of both speed and stealth and, because of this, are essentially Wartune’s “rogue” class. Utilizing their lightweight bows, Archers can make great use of range attacks — including specializing in sniping-esque abilities. When coupled with their other specialized attacking methods, this class is certainly one not to be trifled with, even if their defensive skills and statistics leave a bit to be desired.

The Mage:

The Mage class — unsurprisingly — is extremely adept at anything and everything magic-related. In addition to being able to dish out both offensive, defensive and support spells, they’re also able to summon powerful creatures to deal even more (often) catastrophic damage.

In addition to the three classes basic skills and stats, Wartune also features an innovative, intuitive Astral System. This system essentially sees you collecting and then subsequently synthesizing stars into thousands upon thousands of different combinations in order to effectively give your player character the unique, personalized edge they deserve.

Although Wartune runs on a basic, seemingly run-of-the-mill turn-based combat system, the infusion of quick time events (QTE) effectively serves to keep you constantly on your toes. In essence, it does a great job of avoiding what would otherwise have been a fairly mundane, repetitive and simple clicking battle system. Instead, once you choose your characters action in battle, you’re then tasked with inputting a random series of keys within a relatively short timeframe in order to give your attacks an always welcome boost. Perhaps the best comparison to make is the extra gunblade attack in Final Fantasy VIII in which you pressed the R1 button at the exact moment of your strikes impact in order to do additional damage. All in all, it’s a gameplay and combat mechanic that R2 Games should certainly be commended and it works on practically every level you’d imagine.

In addition to all of this, Wartune also gives the player nearly 20 different daily quests as well as 20 what are known as bounty quests — each of which can be undertaken to obtain experience, gold and other rare weapons and loot. It certainly helps to spike the replayability and overall entertainment level while also ensuring things don’t ever get too repetitive when it comes to leveling up and grinding.

Wartune also features two different player vs. player (PvP) battles: one-on-one battles and group arena fights. Just as you’d expect, you can either choose to go toe-to-toe with other players mano-e-mano or in a massive group (or guild-focused) battle royale/melee. Both types of battles are extremely exciting, fast-paced and feel just as PvP should feel (at least in our opinion).

As if all this weren’t enough, Wartune also boasts up to thousand-player boss battles that are just as epic and enjoyable as they sound like they would be. ‘Nuff said!

>> GRAPHICS

Despite only being 2D, Wartune takes full advantage of this and contains zero slowdown whatsoever. Thankfully, the character, enemy, world design and atmosphere settings are all deliciously vibrant and colorful. Spell and other battle effects are also well-designed, seemingly popping off the screen and excellently combining with unique and setting-specific sound effects to truly bring the world of Wartune to life.

True, if you’re a graphics snob and demand only the most cutting edge, lifelike graphics in any and all games that you play, well… you need not apply. If you can overlook the fact that the game isn’t in 3D then you’ll soon forget about it all completely and become fully immersed in the finely designed world that the R2 Games team has so lovingly created.

>> THE BOTTOM LINE

If you can get over the fact that the game isn’t in 2D and really appreciate everything that R2 Games has done in going above and beyond what’s possible in a 2D MMORPG, then you’re going to have an excellent, long-lasting adventure that can stand toe-to-toe with any 3D games on the market today.