Game Review: Perfect World International
Japanese MMORPGs typically have trouble making the transition to American audiences, but Perfect World: International is changing that. Not only that, but Perfect World is completely free-to-play letting players buy weapons, clothing and other items.
I can honestly say that this is very enjoyable and wildly imaginative game. I couldn’t imagine wasting 2 hours a day any other way. The world is large and full of many active players. Quests are decently varied with decent back story. Player classes are well designed to compliment each other, yet allow solo play. Overall, its a very cool free-to-play experience that we recommend you check out.
Perfect World’s game client is right around 2.4 gigs so prepare to setup the download to run while you are away. I tried to download the Perfect World game client using firefox’s download manager and ended up with a corrupt file, so I recommend using the Torrent Download or the optional 4 part download at a little over 500 megabytes each. Be aware that the first update can be a bit of a pain for certain users so I suggest you use the manual update and not the auto update on the first time. The auto updater seams to pause after each file for a few users so I suggest avoiding it all together the first time.
At the start, there are 3 races with 2 choices per race. Humans have Blademasters and Wizards. Untamed have Barbarians and Venomancers. Elves have archers and Clerics. Becareful who you choose because Perfect World stays true to its classes, especially in difficult situations and boss battles. Typically Untamed Barbarians and Blademasters will “tank” the enemy using thier high defense and health to absorb damage for the rest of the squad. Archers, Wizards and Clerics usually back them up with healing, spells and distanced attacks. The only seamingly wildcard is the Untamed Venomancers who can also aquire pets, the larger of which can tank the emenies for thier masters. This is especially common among high level venomancer players in Perfect World. I suggest picking a character that fits your personality and you will undoubtably have an enjoyable time.
One great thing this game offers is Flight. Elves are the only race that start with wings, but at level 30 all races gain access to the skies. Humans ride Aerocraft Swords. Untamed ride a stingray-like flating beast and elves fly using thier wings without a cost of using mana. My one complaint is that the level 30 Aerocraft Sword gained by the human Blademaster is very very slow. I soon found that it travels at the same speed of walking, rendering it useless short of traveling long distances without being attacked by ground enemies and reaching high areas like Heavens Tear. Why is the sword so slow, well this leads me to the next and most important thing about Perfect World: International.
Free-to-play is the buzz word with many of the latest only games, especially mmorpgs. Yes, you can play Perfect World Completely free without spending a dime…but…there will be times where you will be tempted to purchase items from the Perfect World Boutique which allows you to buy items with real money. As a fan of free, as much as I hate to admit it, this works really well. Spending lots of time traveling across the vast land of PW, I found myself eye-balling an Aerocraft Sword in the Boutique that travels over twice as fast as mine…and looks twice cooler. And it only costs 20 gold, about $20 us. Ah, I am truly ashamed of my modern consumerist instinct just waiting to be exploited. This works very well and if it keeps the game alive and well for free and paying players then well done. Other Botique items include clothing, items, and other riding mounts such as bears, antelope and small dinosaurs.
Graphically, i was rather impressed with Perfect World. Particle effects from magic and combat are very vivid. Character models, while simplistic, have a vast diversity of hairstyles, facial structure, skin tone and body shape. I must admit, while the character customization could easily be taken for granted, this is one of the deepest character creations I have ever seen. As you progress through the game, you will instantly notice much variety in other players’ appearance. However, Perfect World is not quit as colorful and stylized as World of Warcraft. Even though characters are varied, towns are dull and dark. Even though Etherblade, the human starting city is bright and vibrant, most smaller towns feature very little creativity and diversity. Get used to wooden buildings and low-resolution ground textures. This is not that big of a deal as enemy characters, key structures and landscapes tend to be vibrant enough to hold your attention. However, much can be said for 30+ high level areas such as mountains, lakes and the home cities of the other two races.
While fun, its difficult to criticize the gameplay for MMORPG’s because of their very nature. The goal is to grind towards a goal, be inspired to grind more, …repeat. And in that respect Perfect World continues this tradition with style. After a few levels I found myself able to play battle and grind without the keyboard entirely. Running, rotating and zooming the camera, attacks and magic are all accessible through the mouse click and side menus. This is great for multi-taskers who can fight monsters, watch MTV and eat a sandwich at once. Also, you can create combat chains and assign them to your actions menu. Menus are fully adjustable and shelf in and out. 1040 resolution seems to work best as it gives you plenty of menu room and a clear image of the game. A decent PC will run the game, while high end PC’s will be able to take advantage of lighting, shadows, refraction and high detailed terrain. It seems as though most PCs have trouble in crowded towns so prepare to adjust your settings there, which are easily accessible above your character info panel.
Overall, Perfect World International is a very good game with endless hours of enjoyment. Hopefully, if more is more success in the free-to-play genre, we might be playing more games for free in the years to come if large companies adopt this ideology.
