Sell me Fallen Earth!

[slothmonster]

Yeah, it's lifted.

I only played the game for a total of about 10 hours over the past few months, so I certainly didn't experience all the game had to offer. I'll just give you my impression of the game (and why I only played for 10 hours).

The story is kind of interesting but I won't go into that here. I suggest reading all the material on the website if you're at all interested in the game.

The tutorial is enough to get you moving and killing things, but it doesn't cover everything. There isn't as much hand-holding in the game as there is in other games. The intro stage does a fair job of telling the story and getting you ready to play, though. The combat is lackluster. Responsive but not that interesting. AI isn't particularly smart.

The quests were the same as always. Go kill 10 blah-blahs or whatever. The graphics look a bit dated to me but they aren't terrible. During my time of play I only saw a few desert-type apocalypse towns and wastelands. They all pretty much look the same, although I suppose the apocalypse would leave Nevada looking the same as it looks now.

I tried to get higher up in level so that I could experience something different but I got bored too quickly to keep playing. From what I understand the game is a big faction grind. There's five factions and whenever you go up with one, you always go down with two. I think you get your abilities from the factions too. Obviously I don't know much about the games long term prospects. I asked around on the region chat to see if the game changes at all and gets fun, and the only response I got was someone pm'ing to tell me that it's the same at higher levels and doesn't ever change. That's when I uninstalled it.

I wouldn't take my thoughts at face value. If it looks interesting to you, get into the open beta. Just be aware that it moves a little slow.

[Sepharious]

It is here's the link from their forums stating so.

http://forums.fallenearth.com/fallen...ad.php?t=16504

I can't agree with slothmonster more. To me it sort of felt like a MMO version of Half-Life 2.

[Beerkeg]

Meh, played it for half an hour. Did not enjoy the combat system at all. Uninstalled. Kthxbai!

In FPS games (Yeah I know you can zoom out for a third person view, but that detracts from the feeling) I like my combat to be all about nano second reaction times, too slow and that sniper will find out what your thinking by reading the pattern your brains leave on the wall behind you. Combat in this just seems too slow and tedious (oh and to scope a rifle press tab then B? what the hell? what happened to the good old right click?). Looting seems to be lacking luster, have to put your weapons away before you can loot anything.

And as everyone has stated, graphics are kind of dated (try faces of mankind outdated), and I'm practically a graphics whore.

Oh well, Modern Warfare 2 in a few months time! Pew pew with my L85A2!

[Beerkeg]

Originally Posted by Sepharious

To me it sort of felt like a MMO version of Half-Life 2.

Seems more like Half Life than Half Life 2 to me.

[Aerynne]

I officially love this game.

DISCLAIMER: This is a wall of text, originally posted on my multigame guild forum. I apologize for the length, read at your own risk. I also note that, imo, this is a niche game and I predict that it will develop a small, but very dedicated, player base. It is definitely NOT for everyone. Oh, and I do not believe that you need to holster your weapon before looting - at least, I have not had to. Maybe that was fixed?

So OK, FE has its share of new game bugs and some chat chatter best left unread. The graphics are not stunning, but not nearly as bad as some have suggested here (I mean, if you only played a few hours, you only saw Sector One - a wasteland. How good is that going to look? :P) But I am having a blast playing this game - really, more fun in an MMO than I have had in a long time. Some reasons why:

Totally open game play. There are no classes - you earn Advancement Points which you can spend on skill however you like. Want to be a medic/melee type? You can. Want to be a rifleman/sweettalker/businessman - invest your points accordingly. But be careful - there is no respeccing, yet anyway. AP is awarded automatically upon level advancement and upon completion of quests, as well as upon killing certain mobs, etc. From what I have read, though, it is not possible to get enough AP to master ALL skills/stats/mutations, so some picking and choosing is required.

Crafting is actually fun and takes some work - finding the right books and scribing them, harvesting your resources, making subcomponents, etc. There are special quests you can take to collect sets of crafting books, with some nice rewards. Plus, crafted goods are as good as or better than the stuff you loot/buy. AND you can, if you are so inclined, master all the crafting types, though that would take a serious time commitment. But the really sweet thing is that you can craft WHILE you do other things. Just start the crafting process and do your thing. You will continue to craft even as you quest, explore or even log off.

Mounts - I love the horses, personally. I like the riding animation, the fact that you have to feed them, either by pasturing them (a slow process) or buying/crafting horsefeed for them. I LOVE that you can fight on horseback (well, ranged, anyway). I like my ATV, too, but the horse is really fun. Of course, one I can make my dune buggy, complete with machine guns, my horse may see some serious stable time. I also like that once you call your mount, it stays called until you return to a stable or garage and store it there. No stuffing your horse in your packback.

Quests - lots of quests. Some of the usual stuff, but many are fun (if you follow the storyline) and the rewards are generally good. I have not grinded once in my steady ascension to level 9 and I have seen claims made in region chat that folks have reached cap without EVER being forced to grind. That said, if you hate questing, you get xp for everything you do, including harvesting and crafting, so if you are inclined to grind, have at it.

No hand-holding. This is no WoW, leading you down the cartoony path, pointing you in the right direction at each step of the way. This is a gritty, harsh post-apocalyptic world, and you have to forge your own path. The player base is helpful and there is a GM on 24/7 in game to answer questions, but if you need to be spoon fed, this is not the game for you.

And speaking of GMs, remember Tiggs? I knew her first in Sims Online, then SWG and, correct me if I am wrong, LotRO. She has now settled in the plague-ravaged, cult-ridden, blasted American southwest, post-apocalypse, and damn, but it is good to see her again.

Immersive - this game has a pretty immersive feel and lots of nice touches. I almost fell out of my seat when my avatar unexpectedly dropped the F-bomb when an infected undead snuck up behind her. Profanity filter is available for the more prudish among us. Character creation is so-so, but (forgive me LotRingers) it IS kind of nice to be limited to playing a human. No more elf ears - ever! I am elfed out!

Huge game world - I am only in Sector One, a desert wasteland centered around Hoover Dam, but it is HUGE (with no zone walls). If you want to get from one end of the zone to the other, you ride, baby, ride. No magic stones, no portal gates, no books of porting. Saddle up and get moving! I am told the other Sectors are just a large, with different landscapes (some forests in Sector 2, or so I hear). As soon as I am a few levels higher, I am off the Sector 2!

Meaningful factions and optional PvP (in PvP zones). There are no factional consequences or PvP in Sector One, so this is based largely on what I have read/heard in chat. There are 6 factions in this game - you can join any one of them, or remain neutral. Joining a faction has its benefits (early access to certain skills, faction-specific questlines that immerse you in the over all storyline, etc.) But even as a neutral, you will eventually have access to all skills - it just may take longer. When you join a faction, you will find yourself friendly with two ally factions, enemies with two enemy factions, and at war with your arch nemesis faction. This crosses over into (optional) PvP as well. For example, if you are an Enforcer (think militia), you are friendly with the Lightbringers (dedicated to healing) and the Techs (the scientists), but arch enemies with the CHOTA (Children of the Apocalypse, dedicated to anarchy). You will have earlier access to some of the special group tactics skills (from the Enforcers) or special healing skills (from the Lightbringers), but may have to wait a while for the mutations skills practiced by the CHOTA. I note that there are skills you invest AP points (melee, first aid, ranged combat, etc., available to ALL factions, so no one faction is handicapped by lack of access to combat skills or healing ability, for example) and skill books that you buy to provide special skills (these will differ in availabilty from faction to faction).

There are also special factions - like the Bankers, the Franklin Riders (think The Postman), etc., that you can do work for, with special benefits resulting.

[Wihtgar]

Sounds awesome. I wonder if I could play it with 1500 ping.... Might be worth trying for kicks and grins.

[Kertain]

I also have to give it my thumbs up.
I will say off the bat it isn't everything it "could be", but as far as modern MMO's I find its excellent.

There are some bugs and some basic features are oddly lacking, but its improving with each patch. It definitely has an "out of the box" indi feel to it. The devs care and listen.

I agree with what Aerynne said and cant elaborate much more.

-My first MMO was AO and I loved how as I leveled *I* got to pick what skills to spend point in. Sure there were cookie cutter skills that "Class A" should pick..but you wern't forced to.
FE has that same idea but without any classes at all..and I like that. You spend your AP wherever you want.

-Currently I am focusing on crafting (which is not perfect but far better then most games) and combat. Now I won't be the best "fighter" out there, but in the end I have a solid weapon choice and can hold my own. Since I am spending some AP on skills required for crafting I cant choose to level two types of weapons, I just won't have enough AP to do all three. This limits my tactics at times, it makes me pick one type(pistols) to excel in and stick to it. Makes sense right?

-Crafting higher level stuff takes more time and resources. For example my clan is building some mid level bikes and dune buggies for our event and each member is collaborating by making different components for the vehicles. Not only do you have to craft the base component, if you want a "better" bike you need to improve each component separately(controls sytem, frames, tires..ect) several times before you can assemble the final product. This allowed good community collaboration and turns of easy-mode.

-RP wise the game is good. There is a small but growing RP community with some great ideas. Lots of neat clan ideas and good interplay so far

-Missions are pretty decent, some better then others. They all have a good storyline flavor and if you pay attention you slowly find out information about the lore.

-Combat is not quite FPS but definitely not: target, mash 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...rinse n' repeat...
You have to aim and click the mouse buttons to fire. Head shots grant you a 100% crit chance, but other then that your weapon skill and weapon determine the dice roll for damage/crits. The NPC dodge and weave making it a challenge at times to land a solid shot.
Will FE make pure FPS shooter fans happy, nope. It isn't as "twitchy" as mainstream FPS but there definitely aren't any soft-locks (Tabula Rasa). Takes bit to get use to and was definitely frustrating for the first hour or two.

my 52c