Review: Wildstar

I have this idea in my head that at some point I’ll play an MMORPG that changes something significant. Not a new combat feature or new way of interacting with other players but something a bit more fundamental. Wildstar looks like it could be that MMO. So I eagerly jump into the world of Nexus searching for my white whale.

Initial character creation is the usual case of ‘who the hell is that?’ and ‘what the hell are those?’ but cutting through Wildstar’s take on a sci-fi world helps you get your character set up, although the lore of Wildstar is full and well written so it’s only worth avoiding if necessary. It’s Rebels vs The Empire with the rough and ready ‘Exiles’ playing the part of The Rebels and ‘The Dominion’ donning the stomping boots of The Empire. There’s a decent back-story to each faction so everything feels fleshed out and central to Wildstar’s world. The character styles are noticeably different too and together with the different classes there’s loads of choice.

And further down the road after a good few hours of playing and levelling up you won’t be disappointed no matter what class you pick. You never feel particularly ‘locked in’ by a class or character and each has more than enough abilities to let you create the character you want. It doesn’t matter if you want a damage carry, tank, support or medic class. It’s all possible and allows for you to be free and creative with your build.

One of the most important things in Wildstar is its impressive lore. Characters, factions, locations, weapons and just about everything has a story. Think codex from Mass Effect except the information is used to help present the game rather than just something to read when you’re bored. Although you can do that too. It’s all these little nuggets of information that make Wildstar what it is and stop its missions and quest lines from becoming supremely mediocre. Or nearly anyway.

Sadly cutting through the fun, but unnecessary, lore reveals that the quests are just what we’ve come to expect from any MMORPG. Unfortunately Wildstar doesn’t try and move away from the tradition of fetch quests and reused objectives that plague the genre. Very early in the game you’ll be killing enemies, collecting items and sometimes even returning those items to a quest giver. Wildstar’s comedy is genuinely funny and does a good job of keeping things from becoming dull but given how deep quest design is cemented at the core of any MMORPG it’s not quite enough.

But it’s nice to see some jokes in a game and that humour is present in more than just the things characters say and the objectives they give. For instance earning yourself a double kill (or more) will earn you an overly enthusiastic announcer booming out your accolade. Its all very Unreal Tornament. And the same goes for levelling up too. The on screen text looks like something straight out of Brutal Legend. Wildstar certainly doesn’t get bogged down with trying to be serious. I don’t think it’s possible to have a deep voice loudly announce ‘triple-kill’ without smiling just a little. It certainly reminded me of a time when games could concentrate on just being entertaining.

A fair amount of the questing will rely on combat. The bar at the bottom of the screen will get a vast majority of your attention. Even your basic attacks will come from the hot bar. When your character starts his/her attack a target box will appear on the ground that indicates where the attack will hit and also conveniently fills up as you charge the attack thus doubling up as an indication of cast time. It’s methodical but entertaining and strangely didn’t find myself getting sick of the combat even some hours into the game.

And as the objectives are more often than not location specific random players that appear alongside you usually share a common goal. Almost every time I went looking to kill mobs of enemies for an objective people would join in, be it on purpose or just incidental it didn’t matter, it helped make WIldstar feel connected.

What keeps the combat interesting are the markings on the floor created by performing a move. The key is that you can also see your friend’s and foe’s cast boxes which means you know when, and where, an action will happen. This is were Wildstar’s tactics come from. In some fights its a case of simply moving out of range of an attack. Or making sure the timing is right so that you go first and hopefully kill the creature. But when more enemies show up that isn’t so easy. And if you add a healer into the equation you now have several boxes to time and/or avoid and even an area you need to aim for. It’s simple but adds a strategic layer to fights and I’m a big fan.

Wildstar’s visual style is that of a very stylised, cell shaded sci-fi world. It doesn’t just seem like ‘style for the sake of style’ but everything has a bubbly cartoonish look. It goes hand in hand with the humour to create a very inviting world. The sci-fi setting allows for some extravagant creativity and each area is rich and full. I never got bored looking at my surroundings in any of Wildstar’s environments.

Wildstar is a very solid MMORPG. It takes lessons and ideas from games that came before it and improves and builds on them. The mechanics are solid and there’s a lot to do and see. The humour adds a Borderlands feel to the characters and quests and the art style somehow makes Wildstar seem like it was personal to Carbine Studios and not just ‘MMO 0138’.

But it’s still ‘just another MMO’ for me. It’s funny, it looks good and the lore is fantastic but ultimately it’s various fetch quests with some 3rd person combat. And if that’s what you’re after Wildstar does a fantastic job of being the next great MMO. And I imagine there are a lot of people that do want that. But Wildstar remains a solid MMO based on already overused foundations.