Ratboy’s “Rant”icles #3

“World of Warhamm... Er… Warhammer Online”

Warhammer Online IS NOT WoW!

With the buzz of E3 leaving my system, I have finally put fingers to keyboard in this article. Two things really set me off to write this article, the first of which, was upon returning from my trip to E3, I started reading the various online Warhammer Forums and found continual references to World of Warcraft in comparison to Warhammer Online. The second thing that pushed me to write about this topic was a comment made by Messiah at our interview with Mythic in which he referred to WAR as “World of Warhammer” (bad mistake and I still find myself wanting to send apology emails)… So without further ado “why Warhammer Online is NOT World of Warcraft”.

As a staunch fan of the Warhammer Universe, I would like to point out that unlike Warcraft, Warhammer has a feel that War is everywhere. Unlike the monotony of Horde VS Alliance, Warhammer Online emphasizes the various different battles in the old world. Battles like Orcs VS Dwarves, High Elves VS Dark Elves, and even the Empire VS Chaos, are the core of the Warhammer World and a perfect example of what makes Warhammer Online different is the sense that no matter where you go there will be fighting involved. Unlike Warcraft, which centers primarily on battles taking place in confined battlegrounds, Warhammer divides the world into sections and each instanced location is a battleground to be fought over. Mythic has taken the motto of “War is everywhere” to the fullest extreme, where it took Blizzard almost a year to get over “War is in Hillsbrad only”.

To continue on with the differences between the two storylines, Warhammer is defiantly a darker world, filled with the horrible realities of war. To emphasize this point, take a look at the starting zone for the Orcs of WoW; a zone filled with cute tiny little boars and cartoonish imp demons. The Warhammer starting zone for the Orcs immediately begins with the player fighting the vultures pecking at the dead bodies of nearby Dwarves. It would seem evident that the people at Mythic are taking Warhammer into a very dark direction, a direction that is certainly fitting to the world that Games-Workshop has established.

Going into a bit more of a stylistic approach, Warhammer Online has distinguished itself from other MMO’s by the sheer “grittiness” of the graphics engine, and that everything seems realistic. Unlike the cartoony look of WoW, or the super real approach of Everquest II, Warhammer Online is something new, and yet matches the artwork set forth in the previous Warhammer books exactly. There’s nothing quite like walking out of an Orc encampment taking a look at all the nearby wildlife to have your viewing interrupted by the wandering Giant coming close. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that fellow walk by… ask Messiah he was there to catch me!

What sets the two games apart right away is the stress of PvP in Warhammer Online. In a market where several MMORPG’s are not even launching with in-game PvP elements (ex: D&D Online) Warhammer seems to be factoring in the PvP aspects of their game immediately as it is the basis for play. Unlike WoW, PvP battles do not seem like a “second thought” in terms of implementation, each Class brings something to the table when it comes to the Realm VS Realm battles of Warhammer Online. The solidifying factor in the Warhammer PvP thus far seems to be the Morale system, almost a universal “mana” that allows players to commit special actions that range in four different levels (the usual… minor, moderate, major, INSANE). Morale is earned by performing class specific actions (attacking for melee classes, healing for healers, etc, etc). Just as long as I don’t get a “Needs more Morale” message flashing on my screen I’ll be one happy Rat.

The obvious difference between Warhammer Online and WoW would be their completely separate histories. Warhammer started off as a Pen & Paper RPG game and was later developed by Game-Workshop into the largest tabletop miniature game on the market. As Warhammer continued to grow in popularity, other games popped up afterwards such as another successful rendition of the Warhammer Pen & Paper RPG and the new Collectible Card Game. Warcraft sprung from the RTS computer game developed by Blizzard Entertainment, the same company that has been accused of stealing Games-Workshop’s own ideas when it came to their development of Starcraft and its similarities to Warhammer 40k.

I could go on and on about why Warhammer is not WoW, but I think it important to stop myself somewhere and here seems a good a place as any. However next time you hear someone comparing Warhammer to WoW, or discussing how Warhammer has “obviously just copied WoW” can you please direct them to this article, or baring any sort of logical response just nod and leave them to continue playing WoW. I’m sure Warhammer Online won’t need the influx of kiddies.

-Ratboy

Don't agree with this article? Have your own views on "The Game" that you think should be expressed? Feel free to post your own views on our Forums or even sending me an email: [email protected]