When you’re actually playing the game, you
can’t help but notice the speed of the gameplay. Guys and
gals with swords, clubs, staffs, and scimitars will be flying around
you, often with the intent of pulverizing your body to a bloody pulp.
Often, you find that two players are ganging up against the rest of you
– even in the “free-for-all” of bloodbath
– but the momentum will suddenly turn when all the other
players realize their strategy and game up against the two of them.
At first, you may feel a bit overwhelmed, as you might
continually die due to a poor strategy or an excessively skilled rival.
However, at the end of the seven-minute bloodbath – and it
could be appropriately titled for your first go –
you’ll find that you’ve received a couple pieces of
loot and a decent amount of silver and copper for your efforts. No
matter how many times you die, or how poorly you do, you’ll
always receive some sort of reward for your efforts. The best rewards
do come for the best players, but the more loot you collect, the more
abilities you’ll be able to buy and the better you will
become.
alt="The initial tutorial area is still quite pretty"
title="The initial tutorial area is still quite pretty"
name="photo_j" border="0" height="113" width="150">
The tutorial area is pretty, but I found that I got
lost very easily in the "main" portion of the game's central hub.
Despite your personal need for quality gear and more money,
gear and monetary goods are a relatively small part of the entire Fury
equation. Player skill – both inside the arena and in
selecting a quality stratagem – will be at the forefront of
Fury. As you progress through the levels, you’ll notice that
some of your abilities simply aren’t as effective as others
(why choose to include a Growth School ability when you’re so
Life focused?), but you’ll also come to learn that there are
some high-quality combos out there for players who learn to use their
abilities right.
Using these abilities is also the key to unlocking other
abilities that are available to your character. Although many of the
abilities in Fury can be purchased from vendors, you can save money and
advance your character progression by completing certain
“Trials” that NPCs will give you. Like quests,
Trials require you to generate a certain amount of
“Essence” from whatever school they are from
– Death, Life, Decay, or Growth. Gaining Essence is possible
by simply using your abilities in the game. For example, my Champion is
very Life School focused and when I use his “Frost
Strike” ability, I gain Life essence. If you’re
trying to complete certain trials available to your character, simple
use that ability more in combat.
Though the gameplay itself revolves around combat,
I’ve heard a few resignations about the
“tutorial” portion of the game not giving enough
prompts to players who are interested in exploring other schools. For
example, if you’re a Champion and want to attain some
different abilities or complete different trials, you have to find the
abilities vendor on your own. The tutorial doesn’t point you
in the right direction. In fact, with so many players operating on the
Fury servers, it was hard to find the “Warmasters”
that allowed you to enter the queue for your various arena challenges.
I completely missed them the first time through, and it took a restart
of the game client for me to find them again.
By completing trials, your character will gain higher ranks or
“level up”. Once a certain number of trials are
completed, your character gains his new rank, which allows him to use
more abilities and equip more pieces of armor or weapons from his
inventory. It’s a fairly sleek system, and you’ll
rarely find yourself conversing with NPCs to simply “deliver
a message” or “give them some items”. All
of your abilities, rewards, and monetary funds are earned through
combat.
Although I rarely ventured out of the Bloodbath scenario, the
other options – Vortex and Elimination – were as
compelling if not more so for those gamers that are looking for a
different selection than the simple, “Kill’em
all!” arena contest. Every portion of the game, however, is
going to have player versus player combat as a crucial part of the
gameplay. Fury isn’t for the weak-hearted.
alt="Preparing for battle!" title="Preparing for battle!"
name="photo_j" border="0" height="113" width="150">
Here I am waiting to do my first battleground
encounter. I haven't even dropped my abilities into my hotkey bar yet!
As a player, I found that most of my success came by closing
to melee range. Despite some early losses to spell-tossing ranged
attackers, once I learned to use my “Raid” ability
in conjunction with a few Frost Strikes, I was quickly cutting down my
enemies before me. Every player will have to find their own strategies,
but mine focused around a quick slice and dice with whatever weapon I
happened to be holding at the time.
The C.O.O. of Ten Ton Hammer, John
“Boomjack” Hoskin, was also playing the game this
weekend and echoed my sentiment about closing in to melee combat range,
albeit from the opposite standpoint. After choosing the Defiler class
as his pick, John stated, “The ranged attacks that do 100
damage a pop don't hold a candle to that guy mashing 500 points off my
face with his sword.”
That was me, John. I’m sorry. Please don’t
fire me.
Where it stands now, Fury looks like it could be an incredibly
impressive game, one that will garner the attention of many PvP and FPS
fans throughout the world. The quick gameplay, social features, and
team-based killing modes will attract gamers from all different genres,
lending credence to its potential to succeed in the general gaming
marketplace.
Ten Ton Hammer is your
unofficial source for Fury
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