By Danny
"Ralsu" Gourley
ESTsoft's
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style="font-style: italic;">CABAL Online
combines the romanticism of Wild Wild West stories with the action of a
kung fu movie and adds them to a massively-muliplayer online game
(MMOG). The result is a visceral combat experience that fits well in a
game set in a very cruel world.
Download and Installation
Before downloading any game, it's always best to check out the system
requirements. CABAL
Online has modest system requirements, which are listed
below.
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Higher
or
better
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Note the
spikes on the armor. CABAL Online features a
tough world.
Gamers can download CABAL
Online from a
number of mirror sites. The download is 837MB.The install size on my
hard drive is around 2.2GB.
Installation was pretty fast despite the size of the game. The
installer does everything for you. Just double-click it and select an
installation path.
WARNING:
CABAL Online uses Xtrap, an anti-hacking
program free-to-play games often use. My antivirus, like many others,
detects Xtrap as a trojan horse. It's an invasive tool at the very
least.
Character Creation
From the
first moments of character
creation, CABAL Online clues players in on the brutal natural
of the world. A graphic that resembles a a vault closing and
opening--complete with the sound of hydraulics--transitions gamers into
the
character creation screen. Players are human, and the choices of
classes include Warrior, Blader, Wizard, Force Archer, Force Shielder,
and Force Blader. Warriors and Force Shielders somewhat--bot not
exactly--fit the tank archetype. Bladers and Force Bladers work a bit
like melee damage-per second (DPS). Finally, Wizards and Force Archers
are ranged DPS.
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Don't
expect to
customize your jet ski at character creation.
MMOG veterans will note the distinct lack of a class with
heals. ESTsoft wants players to be dealing damage all the time. Players
use potions on their hotbar to heal instead of relying on a healer
class. The results are that every class has a little bit better
capability to solo, fights feel more fast-paced, and combat greatly
resembles that of an action game.
The melee-oriented classes sport armor with massive spikes and
gleaming plates, a look that points to an almost futuristic world but
hints at the harsh reality of survival. As usual, I rolled a Wizard to
see what kind of graphic effects the game had to offer. Because the
female models looked pretty good, I made my avatar a female.
Interface and
Controls
CABAL online isn't breaking any new ground with its interface.
Character data is displayed in the upper left of the screen. Targeted
enemies and non-player characters appear at the center of the top of
the screen. A mini-map sits in the top right. The hotbar and quick menu
bar line the bottom of the screen. Above it on the left is the chat
window. On the right above the hotbar is the system chat window.
As for controls, players can move with WASD keys or by
left-clicking on the screen. Spells and items on the hotbar are
activating by pressing the 1 through = keys as usual. If auto-attack is
turned
on, your character will attack in rapid succession and the game feels
more hands off. With auto-attack enabled, players can initiate melee
attacks (bound to the hotbar) pretty much as fast as they can press the
key. This gives the feeling of more active combat early on but feels
more like button mashing later. Additionally, the manual attacks--if
they are capable of exceeding the rate of auto-attack--could never be
faster than a bot or macro (assuming a player could get it past Xtrap).
There's
more to CABAL Online.
Continue
to page 2.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Cabal Online Game Page.
