Hands-On Preview: Skyforge – Going Beserk

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Last month, we delved into The Order System, demonstrating how The Allods Team and Obsidian Entertainment‘s ambitious free-to-play MMORPG planned to create a world that revolved around the players’ godly status. Recently, however, we were lucky enough to get the chance to get our hands on Skyforge in the flesh, courtesy of My.com.

Eager as always, we loitered outside, fidgeting excitedly until being ushered inside. Descending into the somewhat mysterious depths of the venue in Piccadilly Circus where we were met by our enthusiastic hosts and, after an obligatory trip to the bar, headed to the game area. And here is where the fun began. Preamble aside, the genuine air of excitement was palpable – for a free-to-play title, the developers are setting their sights high. We live in a world where the ‘F2P’ label has lost much of its stigma and rather outputting some quality titles across the board, and the atmosphere here and the hype that has been building alongside Skyforge‘s development journey is evidence of that.

Let me start by saying Skyforge is beautiful. Sure, graphics aren’t everything, but Obsidian’s proprietary game engine has certainly achieved what they set out for it to do, bringing to life the sweeping vistas and explosive combat that the game brings to the table. It’s a truly breathtaking world, where magic, technology and fantasy come together in glorious harmony, and truly benefits from the power under the hood of the game, with our test machines standing up easily to the vast amount of activity going on on-screen.

Before leaping into the action, we took a little time to explore the customisation system. Whilst not complete yet and purely cosmetic, what struck me, even from the limited options available at this stage, was the variety – a hat tip to the developers for clearly having a little fun by exploring a whole swathe of looks and feels to the classes, from regal armour to three-piece suits, befitting the mixed style of the game’s setting. The section of game that we were to be sampling was an instance-based dungeon crawl of sorts, which would strike a familiar chord with players of titles like Guild Wars or those who got their hands on the EGX multiplayer demo of Dragon Age: Inquisition, with myself and my noble compatriot, Barry, gearing up and carving our way through legions of beasties, with mini-boss victories unlocking the path to the next zone. So far, so typical MMO, I hear you say. But what set Skyforge apart for me from the offset was its fluidity – from the smooth, real-time combat to the dynamic class system, it all oozes polish and promise.

I started out as the Cryomancer we’d seen demoed in some of the game’s early video material, whilst Barry led from the front with the all-aggro Beserker, wielding what can only be described as a mechanical sword/chainsaw-hybrid with a very Final Fantasy vibe – that’s right, the sci-fi styling’s leave their mark on even the most traditional of classes. The animations are wonderfully fluid, with even the Cryomancer’s dodge initiating a slide that leaves behind a trail of ice and crystalline spikes (yes, I spent far too much time playing with this feature…), and it’s in many ways these touches that give a great sense of meaning to the combat. Just as shooter fans value that feeling of impact to the gunplay, the staggering impact of sword slashes and the sweeping wall of ice flooding over enemies, leaving them frozen in place and hanging with icicles, exudes a sense of power (and that’s before you’ve even entered your God form).

Speaking to Oleg Khazinskiy (Brand Director, Allods Team), it’s no wonder the combat feels so alive. He cited such titles as Devil May Cry and Darksiders as inspiration and it certainly shows – from huge combos, sweeping AoE attacks, devastating finishers or ultimate’s, there’s a range of options on offer, with the capability to deliver these attacks through mouse-direction or direct targeting. In our brief playthrough, there were plenty of moments of over-enthusiastic bellowing to each other, frantic regrouping, and coordinated finishers – the moments that make a great MMORPG experience.

What’s one of the more unique features found in Skyforge is the delivery of the class system. Unlike most games of its genre, Skyforge sheds the shackles of fixed classes in favour of a dynamic system of switchable classes, giving players the option to switch between unlocked classes at literally any moment, provided they’re not in the heat of battle. There were a range of classes available in the demo we were playing, from the familiar tanking Paladin class, to the merciful Lightbinder, to the aforementioned Cryomancer. It’s worth noting that Skyforge features no direct healer class; instead, players aid allies through one of the support classes. In addition to these three classes (which will be available to players when they start out), we had access to the long-range Gunner, capable of switching two a deployable mortar-like weapon, and even a handful of – “wait, don’t click that” – pre-build classes, which gave us a sneaky insight into some of the more innovative weapon setups, from proud spears to acid-spurting Doc Ock-style mechanised tentacles. And its further testament to the developers that they have already moved past several further iterations since the build we had our hands-on.

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It’s a format that might not sit well with die-hard role-players, perhaps feeling their immersion breaking by the sudden switch between their character’s build, but it does open up a lot of options. A group lacking its regular tank or having just lost a raid member to some dire calling IRL can easily adapt to their situation, trying out new combinations of classes to tackle their foes. (Additionally, with all players hosted on a single server, they’re definitely conscious of players being always able to find the right people to play with). Skyforge takes its inspiration here from the rise in popularity of MOBA titles and the ability to leap into a gaming session with the freedom to play as you want to in that instance, without being locked down by the decision you make before you’ve even got a feel for the world or how the various classes play. That’s not to say there isn’t progression.

The Ascension Atlas (think Final Fantasy‘s Sphere Grid and you’re somewhere along the way) is Skyforge‘s answer to skills, talents and class unlocks. Here too, the look and feel is a lush blend of sci-fi and fantasy, with the runelike Atlas spread out across swirling galaxies. It’s made up of two levels: a lower level for class development and an upper level for global development across your character. As players play, they will unlock not only new abilities, but also the range of new classes to play as – focusing on a specific class will unlock additional ways to utilise that class, but your character’s base stats and perks will carry across the switch. (As an aside, whilst Ascension Atlas progression is driven by several resources, I noticed a refreshing absence of gold around post-battle; with the studio having insisted the game will absolutely avoid a pay-to-win model, it will be interesting to see how the final release implements loot equipment – features close to most RPG-gamers’ hearts).

The taste we got was only brief, and didn’t even touch upon upcoming staples such as PvP and the much-hyped Order System, but it certainly left us impressed and itching for more. Stay tuned to PushStartPlay for the latest news! Skyforge is being developed for PC by the Mail.ru Group’s Allods Team in collaboration with Obsidian Entertainment and will be published by My.com. No fixed release date has been set yet, but the game is scheduled to enter closed beta in Europe and North America in Q4 2014. Visit the official website for more details.