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by iGames
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You can think of
Savage as a multiplayer FPS, and 95% of the time you would be correct.
The other 5% would be made up by people who play as the Team Commander,
in which case you can think of Savage as an RTS. Am I starting to make
sense to you? This is not a new approach to gaming; BattleZone 3D tried
to implement many of the same concepts while allowing the commander to
still play through a traditional FPS interface, while a Half Life
modification carried the concept further, giving the team commander an
RTS type interface.
Played as an FPS,
Savage plays an awful lot like Team Fortress with a medieval fantasy
setting, although more teamwork is required: many obstacles require a
huge amount of damage to destroy, and people have to be willing to spend
some of their time helping to build structures (done by clicking on them
repeatedly whee) and gather resources. There are NPC bots available to
do some of the idiot labor, but players have to help. At the beginning
of each match, either team is fighting only with their fisticuffs (or
equivalent; the nonhuman characters have rather bizarre appendages),
only gaining access to new weapons as a result of structures being
built. There is a tech-tree structure employed, as in, say, Starcraft,
so weapons become available in a linear fashion, with the most powerful
bows and spells (as well as special items and giant monsters that can be
summoned to smash walls and generally kill stuff) available only later
in the game.
The levels are
somewhat diverse geographically, but most of them look fairly similar
from a scenery point of view. There's also the problem of distance
between enemy bases: it's substantial enough to make it a time consuming
effort to cross the map, but still so insignificant compared to the
distances you'd see between enemy camps in a real conflict as to seem
silly.
The different needs
of a team do allow for specialization by players, and some people prefer
to spend time killing NPC animals (which earns you the Biggest MMORPG
Fan award at the end of the game) while others run fruitless repeat
attacks against enemy structures. However, for the most part, the
success of a team is based on its ability to adequately defend itself as
it expands its tech tree, and then work together as a strike force to
descend upon the enemy in a coordinated, directed attack. Structures can
be repaired, as in an RTS, and so doing limited damage to them is of
little value, and destroying them in one attempt generally involves the
coordinated effort of many people. Savage allows for up to 32 players on
either team.
Savage's box boasts
No Monthly Fee, which is indeed true, and also a bonus. However, it
seems like an odd statement to make on the box, as this game is and is
being marketed as an FPS, and does not have a persistent world. In
general, online games feature monthly fees to cover the continuing
expense of server maintenance, so when you pawn the responsibility of
running the servers off onto the gamers, I think you give up the right
to charge a monthly fee. I suppose they could have defended it because
they do maintain official servers, as well as an Everquest-like patch
system (in that patches are systematically downloaded whenever the game
is launched, not in that patches take forever and usually crash the
game, your computer, and your car if you get unlucky).
The graphics, though
a bit repetitive, are fairly pretty: in fact, the first word that comes
to mind is whimsical. The in-game music likewise brings to mind images
of fairies and forests, which is somewhat appropriate, although feels
much less so during moments of battle. Sadly, the spoken vocals are
pretty annoying, and don't fit in too well with the game. They sound
like they were a last minute afterthought, and one I could do just as
well without.
If you elect to
play the game as Commander, you see the world through the same engine,
but from the familiar 3/4s overhead view RTS games favor. From here you
can order structures built, tell NPCs to gather resources, and direct
your team as to what to do if you can get them to listen. And if you're
doing a good job, for the most part, people will.
All in all, Savage
may not be a game for everyone, but anyone looking for a more
team-oriented approach to online murder should defiantly check out the
demo.
Tristan Mayshark (10/23/2003) |
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Snapshot
Ups:
Innovative concept, decent graphics, "no monthly fee"
Downs:
Fiercely demands teamwork, lackluster sound,
boring at times
Platform:
PC
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