Reviews

It's been a few months since we took a peek at DDO and in that time, based on community feedback and the server merges Turbine are doing, we've decided it was time for a second look at Dungeons and Dragons Online. JR Sutich re-reviews the game in this new article.

First off, I stopped using Auto-Attack. I can see where taking a more active role in fighting improves results and makes it more interesting. The next step to making the game more fun was joining a guild. Having others online who are willing to do quests or answer questions made a lot of the difference. Getting run one time through Waterworks on Elite got me Level 3 and I had easy access to The Marketplace.

I had gotten to Level 4 when I noticed something interesting. That total Favor (not Faction, Favor) number that I had been obsessing over wasn't as big a problem as I had believed. Sure, I still think that the whole idea of making Drow and 32-point builds unlockables is a poor one, but I had managed to get 270 out of 400 necessary for the extra race without much trouble at all. I hadn't even completed all of the quests listed for Level 2. The only chain quests I had done were Catacombs and Tangleroot on Normal, and the Waterworks run on Elite. Getting 400 Favor is nothing to worry about. I should have it by the time I hit Level 6 or 7. Now, working on getting 1750 Favor might take a bit more effort, but I no longer see it as a horrible grind. It's still poor design, but not game breaking.

Read more after the click.

Harry Potter WarCry has released their reviews of the 7th and final book in the series: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Lumina offers us two versions, one that is free of spoilers and one that has quite a few.

This is the non-spoiler review.

Spoilers, spoilers, spoilers ahead.
Spoiler review, click at risk!

Since it launched on April 24th, we've had a writer on the ground exploring Lord of the Rings Online. MMORPGs are huge things and we believe it is important to give it much more time than say a single player before we release a review. Now, after several weeks of playing, JR Sutich has given us his opinion of the game.

Player characters can enter The Ettenmoors once they reach Level 40 and engage the monsters for control of several strongholds in the area. The more strongholds you control, the more quests are available, allowing you to gain even more Destiny Points. Player characters can use the Destiny Points to purchase enhancements that work like timed buffs. Gaining more armor, health, or even increased XP for periods of time can greatly improve chances of survival and rate of leveling. I plan to spend a majority of my time doing Monster Play on the side of the monsters. Evil is good.

Read more after the click.

When the first anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach ticked by in February, our own JR Sutich decided to take a second look at the game. While it had launched originally to less than rave reviews, after a year, many MMOs hit their stride. Find out if DDO is one of them in our review.

One of the detractions from DDO that I found was the necessity of repeating quests. The quests are fun and interesting the first time, but after the fifth or sixth time I ran through them, I began to lose my sense of fun. It became even more evident when I found groups and they were just running straight through them without pause and I didn't get a chance to really enjoy much of the discovery elements from being in them for the first time.

Read his full review after the click.

If you sit down to list all the teams or designers responsible for modern MMOGs, you won't even need to use your toes. But, with Vanguard's release, another team enters the pantheon, led by EverQuest designer Brad McQuaid. And in many ways, Vanguard can be considered the spiritual successor to EverQuest, providing an interesting design comparison to EverQuest II.

But that's not really the point. There are lots of players out there looking for the next big thing, or just looking for something new. Sure, the game has a great pedigree, but it also has a lot to live up to. In the end, the question should be how the game plays, what's new and different, and whether or not it's worth investing precious time and money into playing.

Take a look our impressions of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes in our Vanguard Review.

In recent years, The WarCry Network has not been a site for reviews. Today, we hope to begin a new tradition by reviewing the biggest expansion of them all: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

We've opted to stay away from grading the games we review, as the numbers are too subjective and usually, over time, become wildly inconsistent. Instead, we're going to give you our heart-felt opinion, some pros and cons, and then let you make your own choice.

John Funk took the time to pen this review. So read on to find out what WarCry thinks of The Burning Crusade.

It's taken them two years, but the Blue Crew in Irvine has finally launched the first expansion pack to their proverbial 800-pound gorilla, 'World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.' With two new races to play, a brand-new crafting profession, and a slew of new lands filled with dangerous and deadly beasties that all hunger for your demise, 'Burning Crusade' has rapidly become one of the fastest-selling games of all time.

It is said that "the apple does not fall far from the tree," and the statement holds true for the WoW expansion. Much of what is good about 'Burning Crusade' was good in 'World of Warcraft,' and many of its flaws are from the parent game as well. Even so, Blizzard has jam-packed a whole mess of content into their first expansion pack, and the vast majority of what is there is excellent.

Click read more to find out what he thinks.

The playable demo of Ninety-Nine Nights, a collaborative effort between Q Entertainment and Phantagram, recently went live for download via Xbox Live. Having been wowed by the various movies released over the past year or so, it was something I was eager to get my hands on. As soon as the demo finished downloading here on the office's Xbox 360, I plugged in, closed the door, and prepared to watch numbers on the screen scroll up to ludicrous levels. I was not disappointed.