Tabula Rasa Reviews

GameTap, Cheat Code Central, and WarCry have all cranked out new reviews of Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa. GameTap doesn’t seem to be too impressed, giving it a 7/10 and noting it really isn’t that innovative of a game.

As much as I appreciate the whole alien warfare aesthetic and the tweaks it brings to the genre, much of Tabula Rasa is held back by standard or sub-standard MMORPG conventions. Sure, it’s war, killing the Bane is the point, and the whole “attack squads coming in to take a base” feel is cool–but man, being asked to kill 200 Thrax soldiers is essentially the same grind as killing endlessly to gain reputation points for the Timbermaw Hold faction in WOW. In a fast-paced war setting, you get the same sort of resurrection penalty/downtime as in a normal, slower-paced MMO. Crafting uses the same skill points as combat skills (as opposed to a separate skill chain), so the economy isn’t booming since people would rather shoot things than make things–the fact that there’s no auction house hampers the economy even more. The first few areas feel a lot like a standard fantasy/WoW-like setting, and it takes a while before you get to the more interesting environments. And man, those Bane soldiers look quite uniform and lack variety.

Rather than take a bold step forward with a massive fumble, Tabula Rasa plays it a lot safer by introducing several smaller concepts. Its MMO nature means that maybe stuff like the economy or the grind can be changed later on. But at the moment, it’s a solid MMO that shows that Garriott, when it comes to MMOs, takes either too bold a step with disastrous results, or a bit too conservative a step with minor trappings.

Cheat Code Central seems more impressed in their review, giving it a 4.2/5.

There is a moral/reputation element involved in the game, but the consequences are immediate, not far reaching. You’ll be given different options at various junctions in the game, mostly to do with your behavior and reaction to other characters situations. You can choose to be less-than-scrupulous or altruistically virtuous. Your choices will have virtually no impact on the outcome of the game, but merely open a few new areas in the immediate quest.

There are some minor glitches such as collision detection issues, points failing to be awarded or distributed properly, and some slowdown. But compared to a lot of online games, that’s not much to complain about. Overall the game is solid, fun, and action-packed. The production values are great with excellent graphics, animation, voicework, music, and sound effects. The game itself is almost as impressive as the cutscenes. It incorporates a lot of gameplay variety but the main focus is on combat. The kitchen-sink approach to including various gameplay elements does not make me want to wash my hands of this game.

And WarCry weighs in with no score but a somewhat mediocre tone throughout:

Tabula Rasa is fun, but frustrating. The game was launched far too early and it shows. With fundamental changes being made after launch, broken missions and mechanics, and a crafting system that seemed to be tacked on as an afterthought, you can see where having another 4-6 months to make the game a more enjoyable experience would have benefited everyone. If you’re an experienced MMO player that is used to dealing with bugs and sweeping changes from patch to patch you’re the right person to be playing Tabula Rasa right now.