Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning E3 Preview

Eurogamer has gotten around to posting their impressions of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning after seeing the game firsthand and chatting with the Mythic folks at E3.

There’s been a top-notch overhaul of the user interface as well. It’s perhaps a shade too busy – even though the starting combat options are minimal, WAR bombards you with information, buttons and progress bars – but the layout is logical, the finish superb, and the implementation fast and intuitive. The Tome of Knowledge – Mythic’s brilliant combination of quest log, achievement system and encyclopaedia – is a joy to behold and navigate.

All of this is nice to see. A relief, even. Months from release, Warhammer Online can already confidently stand alongside WOW and LOTRO in an MMO beauty pageant, and impress the judges with its grace and deportment. But what is there that sets it apart?

That’s easy. In fact, after a scant three levels and thirty minutes of play, it’s blindingly obvious. It’s public quests.

These rolling multiplayer scenarios take place in the open world. When you get near, live objectives pop up on the screen telling you what needs to be done to get to the next of the public quest’s three stages. You can join in at any time, and at the end, a combination of contribution and blind luck will determine whether you get any loot. Participating in public quests also adds to your “influence” within that zone, which in turn grants access to three tiers of rewards, from potions to fine armour.