I wrote a really long review of the game and some summary of my first hands-on experience with it. Hopefully it helps someone who is considering purchasing it, or leads to answering some questions!
So, I want to give the most accurate review I can for everyone that may be considering purchasing this game and giving it a shot.
I'll review it on two things; Its current state, and where I see it headed.
I purchased it today for $40, kind of as the sacrificial lamb for the KUTT clan to see if it is worth everyone purchasing. At first, I thought it was shit. There is literally no direction, and the learning curve is VERY high, so playing it solo at first really really sucked. I gave it about 2 hours of playing on my own before I was damn near ready to say "This can't be enjoyably played." Well, I decided to give it another shot.
I randomly joined a server named "New King's Landing" and was meandering through the woods when I stumbled upon Negga and Booty Buddy (I was thoroughly surprised to find them there). Quickly, Negga and Booty started showing me the ropes of everything and teaching me how to terraform, build, and otherwise work as a team to accomplish a singular goal. That's when I realized, holy shit, this game is going to be a HUGE team-effort.
Then, I invited Artyem and his friend to come join us, and we started grouping together and playing. The current map isn't very large, it's about a 15 minute run from the southern tip of the island to the North, and there is a map in place to easily find one another--but there is not a lot of distinguishable characteristics on the map so I ended up taking a screenshot and uploading it so everyone could see my exact map location. Anyway, once we grouped together, we quickly started organizing a game plan to set up our first Hut and attempt to progress as a group, instead of solo, as most people were doing.
Shortly after getting together, we were attacked by a would-be-crusader, and we had our first test of using very primitive weapons against an attacking force. Some of us attacked with wooden shovels, others attacked with stone blades, and after about 5-10 minutes we finally killed our attacker. It was pretty Janky. The combat system is odd, and very clunky at the moment, with attacks often not connecting with the actual model of the opponent, or at least not registering. However, it is Alpha, and I was otherwise not disturbed by this.
What I found most interesting was the amount of interaction you have with the environment around you. Simply clicking a piece of land gives you about 10-20 different interactions, all of which lead to a different result and a different reward. I focused my sole efforts primarily on scouting out Copper Veins and eventually Iron Veins as well. Since your first set of tools and weapons are made from sticks and flint stones, they are weak, and take a while to get going with. However, once you find a copper vein and dig down to it and hit it (from the sides, not the top..that doesn't work for some reason) you start to receive lots of Copper. With gradual game play we learned a LOT about everything, since there was no real direction, you were left with trial and error most times!
Finally, after about 2-3 hours, we flattened out an area and placed our first hut, seemingly being one of the first people on this server to accomplish this feat! We also started to stock a surplus of crafting items and everyone was moving fluently toward getting our next few huts and crafting stations up and running. Then, it grew late, so most of us had to retire for the evening.
The Good:
This is one of the most polished Alpha games I have ever played. It really has a LOT of interaction. It is largely dependent upon group-success instead of solo-success, though at this stage in the game and with combat being largely ball-breaking (until people start stockpiling iron weapons) most groups are very welcoming and most players want to work with a group. The community at this time is very curious and very open about finding and sharing new secrets or mechanics that otherwise you can't find information about. Playing solo makes you feel like everything will take a long time, but once you band together with a group and specialize, you progress much faster and feel much more efficient. I like the leveling system, I don't feel it's too big of a pain in the ass, and I feel like I can learn it relatively easy.
The Bad:
As others have mentioned, they haven't optimized graphics or the engine much to handle a lot of CPUs and GPUs, so, expect to have lower frames and some intermittent stutters. The combat system I mentioned above is shit at the moment, but I highly doubt they are going to let it sit that way and I'm assuming it's just a place-holder. Don't expect Warband level mechanics just yet, but I have a feeling it will get there fairly soon, or at least a close resemblance. Also, be prepared for game freezes that require you to close the game and re-launch, and also periodic server crashes. That, however, may be dependent on the fact that we were playing in a Non-Official server, and it was not dedicated afaik.
I see a HUGE future for this game. It is not going to be for everyone, though. It will take time. Right now, you start as a caveman, and with evolution of your tools and a lot of labor hours, you will gradually get to the level of being a Knight and so on and so forth. I really can see the roleplay element of this game. Right now, we were planning on becoming one of the first semi-large groups to have Iron weaponry and armor, and then employing new players to our claim to work the land and build for us while we teach them how to play. Maybe even threaten them with slavery just for jokes and such, but otherwise offer them citizenship while we build a settlement.
I know this was long winded, but hopefully someone takes the time to read it that wants an honest review and some insight. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Thanks.
