Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Preview

Not technically a preview, but Rock, Paper, Shotgun looks at some of the feedback they got on their beta impressions and addresses some of the discussion points concerning WAR.

It’s without a doubt true that dismissing WAR as a WOW clone would be wrong and stupid – there are important differences, and with its perma-war theme and PvP foundations it’s genuinely aimed at achieving a different overall atmosphere than WoW’s cartoon high-jinx.

There are also important similarities. Huge similarities. It’s bizarre that so many people won’t allow this observation to be made. WoW was not the first of its kind, and no-one is saying it is. It is, however, the biggest, and as a result of that it’s the grandest inspiration for any current MMO developer. WAR exists because of World of Warcraft. It also exists because of an awful lot of other factors, and it’s true to say that World of Warcraft might not exist without the Warhammer tabletop game. The reason we don’t say Everquest did it first and Blizzard borrowed from Games Workshop every time we talk about Warhammer Online is not because we don’t know it – of course we know it – but because it doesn’t alter the simple truth that EA’s interest in making and funding WAR is, I have no doubt, because they want a piece of Warcraft’s pie.

I think it’s going to work, too – I’m expecting an awful lot of dispossessed WoW players to head WAR’s way. It evolves and streamlines certain core WoW/Everquest concepts that have, over time, proven themselves a little tired, and that’s enough to make the game seem more new and exciting than it perhaps ultimately is.