Skyforge (Open Beta)

Skyforge is a free-to-play MMORPG, a sort of sci-fi/fantasy hybrid developed by Russian Studios Allods Team (formerly Astrum Nival). The game has been in open beta since July of 2015, after a closed beta period earlier that spring/summer (Read our preview here). This review is based on the open beta.

Death as a New Beginning

Luckily, you don’t stay dead for very long in Skyforge. After being thrown atop a fresh pile of corpses, it doesn’t take long for you to reawaken, your strength fully restored and revenge in your heart. From a third-person perspective, you follow your character through some ancient ruins, using the mouse to rotate the camera and the mouse buttons to cut a path through your tormentors. After you finish your first boss battle, that’s where Herida’s story ends. Herida then informs you that since you have died and come back to life, you are now one of the “Immortals”, an elite group of warriors sworn to fight for the good of mankind and to drive any and all foes from the planet Aelion. But if you want to succeed in battle, you’re first going to have to learn how to fight properly. To that end, Herida sends you to see Flavius, god of science and wisdom.

When you get there, you can take a transport capsule to the training room, where you can finally give your character a name and determine their sex and outward appearance using the extensive character editor. This is also where you’re asked to choose from several available classes for your character. Lightbinders use their pommel to harness the power of light in order to attack their enemies from afar or use it to throw up shields and defend their allies in combat. Paladins, on the other hand, enter the fray wielding sword and shield to slaughter their foes in close combat. Then there are Cryomancers, masters of cold magic, who use ice and frost to rain death and destruction upon their enemies.

Later in the game, you can unlock additional classes, including Archers, Kinetic, Berserkers, and Necromancers – 13 distinct classes in all. Fortunately, they don’t hold you to any one class, and you are free to switch classes at any time. This doesn’t just provide a good deal of variety in gameplay; it also gives you a chance to try out different tactical approaches in combat.

After you’re done with Flavius in the training room, he gives you some practical combat tips before sending you back to Herida. She takes you to the Divine Observatory, which is where most players will gather before setting off on adventures. In the middle of the room, the huge globe of Aelion shines brightly, showing the locations around the world where the enemy might be found. Each of these spots represents a unique setting, with certain creatures and a certain number of individual quests. Before setting off, you can decide whether you want to go it alone or go on a team adventure. If you take the team route, you can invite up to two friends to go with you, or you can use an online search to find suitable comrades.

The Path of the Immortals

The real-time combat system, with fast-paced battles that can easily compare with those in Dragon Age II, is action-packed and full of excitement. You use the left and right mouse buttons to carry out standard attacks – which can include both melee attacks that deal damage to the nearest enemy as well as area attacks that strike several enemies at once within a certain radius. The attacks can be strung together to unleash devastating combos that cost your enemies even more HP. When an enemy’s health is near the end, you can perform a finishing move to take them out once and for all. For each different character class, there are a variety of different special attacks to choose from, which are performed using the number keys. Most of these moves have a cooldown time before you can use them again, the length of which will vary depending on how powerful the attack is.

Typical for the genre, every time you complete a mission you receive not only Credits, but also weapons and useful items, which you can use to increase your character's stats and abilities. On top of that, when you complete missions, you can earn powerful crystals known as "Sparks", which are extremely useful for developing your character’s skills. Using the “Ascension Atlas”, a skill tree in the form of a star chart, you can use these Sparks to improve your character’s defensive capabilities, strength, and knowledge. You can also use Sparks to unlock new character classes.

To the Limit

But there’s another place where the developers seem to have exercised questionable judgment – In Skyforge, there are hard limits on progress for all players, even the ones who pay real money for a premium account. Each week, you can only earn a certain amount of Credits and Sparks, which are critical in developing your character. If you reach the weekly limit, you have to settle for less valuable rewards, leaving your character progress to stagnate. Players who pony up real money get a progress bonus, but they’re still stuck adhering to the weekly limit. This isn’t going to be such a huge problem for casual players, but it’s bound to be a major source of frustration for those looking to immerse themselves in Skyforge for hours on end.

In the meantime, you can visit different PvP arenas and go head to head with other players in various game modes. In Free for All, it’s every player for themselves; Team Deathmatch is three on three; and in Control Points, each team has to capture and hold several spots on the map. Then there’s Payload mode, where the object for the game for one team is to move some cargo from one side of an industrial map to another, while the other team tries to prevent this from happening. And last but not least is Capture the Flag, which of course involves stealing the enemy team’s flag and bringing it back to your own team’s base.

Extraordinary Views

Each of the worlds in Skyforge are full of unique, imaginative enemies, and combat itself is a feast for the eyes, with exceptionally smooth animations, awesome particle effects, rapid pacing, and dynamic action sequences. The missions are accompanied by almost film-quality cut scenes, often filmed in slow motion or from unusual perspectives; the dialogue sequences alone are a bit stale – usually just conversations from a single camera angle.

The audio elements fit in well with the game’s overall fantasy style, and the soundtrack in particular is impressive, with a nice blend of orchestral and electronic music, resulting in a multi-faceted sound design. Unfortunately, in comparison to the game music, the sound effects are a bit too restrained – I was really hoping they’d changed things since the closed beta. Though, Skyforge does now feature full English localization including voiceovers where the previous version was all in Russian. The game also feature subtitles in other languages.