Regnum Online

http://www.regnumonline.com.ar/

Introduction

RO, as I will refer to it now, is a free to play MMORPG from NGD Studios.  You can purchase things for real money in this game, such as mounts, paints, and dyes, but it isn't necessary and those who do pay have no advantage over non-playing characters.  In RO, war and chaos have fallen over the land as three realms (or factions) struggle for power.  These realms include Alsius, a mountainous region, Ignis, a desert region, and Syrtis a forest region.  Other than scenery and city culture, the side you choose to fight on doesn't matter, you wont recieve bonuses or anything like that, but be sure to be in the same realm with whatever friends you are playing with as you can not switch realms once your character starts the game.

Charge!

You start out as one of three classes: warrior, mage, and archer.  Since you wont be familiar with your choices at the beginning, NGD did a good job of giving you sub-classes and the ability to change attributes once you figure the game out and what you want to do with your character.  Each class has three sub-classes that focus on offense or defense.  The warrior can choose to be a barbarian with heavy attack or a knight with defense and protection spells, the mage can choose between a offensive warlock and a healing conjurer (a must for large groups), and the archer can choose between a marksman and a hunter (which has the handy skill of tracking enemy factions in the war zone, which I will get to later).

An Ignis hunting party preparing to raid in the war zone, or a bunch of noobs trying to figure out the skill system?

As you level your character, many more attacks and spells will open up to your character, depending which path you took.  For instance, a warrior starts out with the skills of slashing (swords), blunt (axes and maces), piercing (spears), and tactics.  As you progress and decide on a sub-class, more skills and powers will open up that you can upgrade further.  NGD wont let you screw yourself over, whichever skill path you take has plenty of weapons that are compatiable with your other skills.  Want a two handed weapon but already choose your main weapon type?  Dont worry there are two handed swords, axes, and spears.

There are tons of weapons, armor, enchanted jewelry, and the like in stores, loot drops from creatures in your environment, or from trades with other players.  If your looking for a sword you'll have to choose between long swords, broad swords, short swords, claymores, rapiers, etc., all of which have different characteristics (speed, attack power, durabilty) to better suit your playing style.  If your a mage, you may want to carry different types of staffs and spells with you, fire doesnt do so well against a giant fire-breating dragon.

Graphics are great for a free MMORPG that was made with lower end computers and possibly a dial-up connection.  The game runs smoothly, and the only bug I've encountered is a jitter when I jump from a two story house and the game tries to figure out my exact position.  (All images here are from google)

An Alsius city sits on a hill top.

Gameplay

RO is a mix of player verse environment and player verse player.  PvP is the heart of the game, the three realms are in constant war in the war zone, which is situated between protected regions of each realm.  Armies of over thirty allies assaulting forts and castles in the war zone as well as small hunting parties preying on weaker enemies and scouting for their realm are common place.  Remember the hunter I mentioned before?  Thats where the tracking ability comes in handy.

The War Zone surrounded by walled off regions of each realm, where your weaker allies are safe from enemy realms.

You'll need to be level 30ish before you even think about venturing in the warzone, unless you have an affinity for dying or enjoy having the role of cannon fodder.  As you prepare to defend your realm and assault enemy castles, you'll be doing a lot of questing.  There are hundreds of quests in the game, and you'll easily bypass many of them as you journey from village to village.  These quests usually involve killing respawning creatures in your environment, although there many other types of quests that involve tasks such as taking supplies from town to town, investigating citizens for your realm's government, and seeking information.

Conclusion

If you like MMORPGS and you like free stuff, Regnum Online is definately worth a look.  Its pays to have friends though, so be prepared to join a well organized (or well populated) clan if you want the best experience RO has to offer.  This game is heavy on the fighting and teamwork, so loners and those who prefer the more artisan side of MMORPGs beware.  The economy could be a better, you'll have to shout to buy and sell weapons on the global chat when putting items on auction or 'for sale' in a communal store would be nice.  The graphics should also be considered, but keep in mind its a free to play game.

9.5/10 with free to play in consideration.  Other games this reviewer has played include Runescape, Maple Story, World of Warcraft, and Vanguard.

Sounds good. Were there any problems downloading it?

Nice review, the game needs all the advertisement it can get ^^

Myself and two other friends that downloaded it didnt have any problems.  I have Vista and my friends have Windows XP.

I like it. Except for the use of RO as an abbreviation. That's reserved for Ragnarok Online. ^_^

Thank you.

lol, I see how that can be confusing.