It took me 20 hours to download the approx. 1.6GB preview of Forge at a friend’s house, but it was worth it since after playing the game has piqued my interest immensely. Dark Vale Games’ Forge is something that cannot be termed as a big budget title, however, it puts many such games to shame.
It’s an MMO, which is PvP based, where the action is intense and you have a lot of characters to choose from, and a lot of abilities to use.
First things first, this game looks absolutely phenomenal. Kind of like Capcom’s Dragon’s Dogma but with increased visual fidelity and detail density. That is expected since it is a PC game of course, but it makes the entire thing so pleasing to look at. Presentation can make or break a game, especially for gamers who lack patience, to sit through the fluff stuff and get to the good part.
Here the visuals will actually encourage you to play more, and considering a stable netcode – which was my one fear while playing this game – Forge has a huge potential.
The action is fast paced and you need to traverse the map fast and have a good ability to sense your surroundings. The graphics are solid and it does look like a 2012 PC game, which is something that the developers should be commended for.
You can see their passion with this game. When it comes to classes and abilities, it does get a bit basic, but the main thing here is that, it’s completely balanced. Of course trying them all out would take a while but from what I’ve seen there’s no overpowered class which will completely destroy you if the person knows how to exploit it.
The classes such as Pyromancer, Warden. Assassin, Pathfinder, and Shaman each have their own unique abilities. It’s quite straightforward if you have played such games before how these classes will work. Five may seem low at this stage but the game is still in development with more to come. However, I don’t really see the big deal as these classes are more than enough and provide some exciting battles.
Not only does the environment look good but almost everything does, with the fire effects to spell effects, and even the general character design. There is a slight learning curve here but which MMO does not? I think Forge is quite accessible when you compare it to similar MMORPGs around, and that in a way, might guarantee its chances for a good userbase which is so vital for games like these.
It’s quite satisfying play something as good and simple as Forge and hopefully bugs if any should be fixed before the game is complete.
Dark Vale Games have crafted a wonderful fantasy-ish setting along with a good netcode and a game that provides good fast-paced action if you know what you’re doing. You should keep an eye on this title as this is shaping up to be something great.
Stay tuned to GB for more news and information on Forge.
