Will To Live is a standard post-apocalyptic MMORPG that may and will get better in the future, but right now it’s no different from any other game in the genre.
Will To Live Online is, as mentioned earlier, a post-apocalyptic MMORPG set in a world destroyed by mysterious and catastrophic events. The environment of the game was based on the classic post-apocalyptic games, one of them is Stalker. Will To Live even has the same settings. The player is one of many survivors whose main goal is to stay alive in the harsh conditions of the wasteland, fighting mutants, animals and other players. The RPG part of the game makes itself felt with many different quests, a damage bar, leveling up and an ability tree.
Gameplay analysis
The gameplay of Will To Live Online consists of classic MMORPG mechanics. At the beginning, the character talks to various NPCs in various cities and locations, takes a task from them, which most likely consists of collecting some things, exploring locations, or killing certain types of enemies (at the same time, some kind of boss is often encountered in such missions). After that, you return to your customer and receive a reward (experience or things) for completing. This system, proven over the years, may not bring surprises, but everyone will definitely like it.
In addition to quests in the game, of course, there is also character leveling. After a few levels, you get skill points to upgrade your abilities. Each of the four available characters has their own skill tree and attributes to improve their skills with different weapons. The game world is completely open, with the exception of safe cities. An example of such a city is the starting one, which is fenced off from the rest of the world.
The game also has many useful features. For example, creating a clan to see the location of your friends on the map, or make them various notes, if necessary. Particular attention was paid to weapons and calibers. Different types of ammunition, such as FMJ or HP, will work more or less effectively depending on the type of objects being attacked.
You can ignore quests just by exploring the world. But soon you will encounter enemies above your level, and you can only earn experience through completing tasks, just like in any other MMORPG. There are also shops in the game to buy and sell equipment. Players can find rare and expensive resources as soon as they explore the place where these things appear.
The game also features a faction system where players can join different clans to become allies or enemies of other players. Here you get clan quests, rewards and equipment from clan creators.
Will To Live Online has a significant amount of dialogue and text for missions with the main NPCs. It is quite interesting to read and learn something new about the Zone and its history. But the translation of all these texts is simply terrible. A few sentences are enough to understand this. It remains to be hoped that in the future the game will acquire high-quality localization.
Battle system
Combat in this game mostly takes place with ranged weapons, even when it would be better to switch to hand-to-hand combat. Will To Live Online has a huge number of different types of weapons: pistols, assault rifles, DMRs, sniper rifles and even explosives. To use most of them, you need not only money, but a certain minimum level. Shooting a weapon is pretty typical and doesn’t feel good. The weapon looks a little strange, although this is not always the case.
Given that this is an MMORPG, the outcome of the battle will largely depend on the level of pumping and equipment of the player (especially in PVP). However, the weapon deals quite a lot of damage to players, as sometimes you can see a situation where a lower level player kills an enemy with a higher one, while using a simple pistol and his sniper skills. But with players with even higher levels, this will not work, since they have much more protection and damage.
The fight against monsters and wild animals is quite straightforward, as they are divided into certain zones. By attacking one, you do not attract all the other mutants. Works pretty interesting. But there are also special mobs that gather in groups to deal damage to you. Be careful! Using weapons with a long range is the best idea against PVE enemies, as they will most likely be already dead before they get close (although the situation is slightly different with bosses).
If you die in combat, you will then lose a few random items from your inventory that were not used in combat. Story items may also be on this list, so dying is definitely a bad idea! You can return to the place of death to recover the lost items, unless some other player takes them, which happens quite often. It is worth noting that death does not affect experience.
The player also has the option to play on a PVE server if they are not interested in PVP, which appeals to many types of gamers.
Content
There are currently 35 levels in the game, which will take about… 100-125 hours to complete. In Will To Live, you can also upgrade different classes and different characters, join different factions. All this lengthens the transit time. In general, the game has a huge amount of content, unless of course you get bored with the monotonous gameplay that is common to all games of the MMORPG genre.
Balance
There are no critical balance problems in the game, except for the safe zones mentioned in the part about the battle system. However, it would be better if the plot items did not disappear after the death of the character.
Complexity
Like all MMORPGs, the game is quite difficult. Leveling and equipment affect the outcome in PVE mode, while aiming and skill are important in PVP. The difference in modes may even be a little more than in most other MMORPGs, and it’s even better.
Analysis of technical characteristics
Graphic arts
Despite the fact that the game runs on a modern and powerful Unreal Engine 4, the graphics are still inferior and look a bit dated. Some elements, like shadows and other textures, are displayed in good quality. But cells and inventory, as well as the world around them, are usually reproduced in low quality. Models of enemies and characters are nothing. Such a discrepancy in the image makes it difficult to enjoy the atmosphere of the Zone.
Sound
The sound system in the game is standard. In general, it is not impressive, with the exception of one moment. The sounds change depending on the position of the character (in the open air, a shot in the open is slightly different from a shot in a building). As for everything else, but the game has nothing special in this regard.
AI
AI enemies in the game are the same as in all MMORPGs. Catch up and attack – that’s the whole mechanics.
Verdict
Will To Live Online is a typical MMORPG that has a lot of different features, but still does not stand out from the crowd of competitors. There are many elements and ideas that appeal to a large number of players. But the design and specifications leave much to be desired. Will the game develop in the future? Nobody knows. As they say, wait and see.
