Windows

Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle

Well, Lineage II isn’t a particularly ground breaking game. You’ll find the tried and tested Tolkien-esque classes and a pretty generic levelling system, but large-scale castle sieges and co-ordinated boss battles are what help set it apart. What the game offers is a beautiful land full of quests, monsters and thriving clans, and it could well end up being your new online home.

Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicles has been in retail play for just over a week, but any one new to the game may think that for a player to reach level 35 in a week, the game must be pretty easy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Loin d'être au niveau des monstres que sont Ryzom ou encore Everquest 2, Lineage 2 fait aisément jeu égal avec FF11, pas dans le fond, mais dans l'ambiance et le design. Un jeu n'est pas simplement une somme de contraintes techniques. C'est aussi la construction d'un univers dans lequel le joueur se sent plus ou moins à son aise et dont certaines influences lui parlent. Ceux qui cherchent la compétition technologique se rueront sur les deux chefs d'oeuvres précités, et ceux privilégiant un design typiquement asiatique et une plongée dans une ambiance choisiront un Lineage 2 moins probant mais tout aussi agréable. A essayer avant d'acquérir.

Lineage II voi siis tarjota pelaamisen vakavasti ottaville ainutlaatuisen mahdollisuuden osoittaa omaa loistavuuttaan. Valtaosa pelaajista ei kuitenkaan löydä pelin taikamaailmasta muuta kuin turhautumista ja sekaannusta, minkä jälkeen he palaavat sujuvampien ja ainakin minun mielestäni parempien pelien pariin. Lineage II sopii vain todelliselle hardcore-väelle ja heillekin vain varauksin.

Whether or not you enjoy PvP combat should be determining factor in any decision to purchase Lineage II. Its only distinguishing feature is the PvP content, which in itself makes for a unique experience which some gamers will no doubt fall in love with. Be warned, though - the level 63 Orc Fighter standing outside the town gates probably isn't there to group up for some casual hunting.

Believe it or not, the most popular and lucrative massively multiplayer online role-playing game of all time isn't Star Wars: Galaxies, Ultima Online, or even the mighty EverQuest. It's a little game from Korea called Lineage. An Internet cafe obsession on that peninsula for years, NCSoft tried to put a spit-shine on it for American audiences, but failed. Even with Ultima creator and RPG legend Richard Garriott behind its promotion, they couldn't stop the game from tanking over here.

I would not give a second thought to saying Lineage II isn’t a game for everyone. Sure it starts to build up interest when you reach level 40 but it takes forever just to get to level 20. Some dedicated player’s with a lot time on their hands might find something in the game worth paying the monthly fee ($$$), but I doubt the average player will find that something before they get bored of the tedious game play. Lineage II might be a very pretty game to look at, but it doesn’t play as good as its looks. Castle Sieges prove it has potential so maybe NCsoft will learn from their mistakes and fix things up with further updates.

Lineage 2 richtet sich vor allem an Spieler-gegen-Spieler-Freaks. Durch den extrem zähen Einstieg und die viel zu wenigen Aufträge eignet sich der Titel nicht für Einsteiger. Diese legen sich lieber World of Warcraft zu. Wer aber den Drang verspürt, sämtliche Online-Rollenspiele einmal auszuprobieren und monatlich 12,99 Euro verschmerzen kann, stattet der asiatisch angehauchten Welt Aden einen Besuch ab. Denn hübsch aussehen tut sie ja und Tiefgang bietet sie auch, wenn man sich drauf einlässt.

De traagheid waarmee je personage zich ontwikkelt en de eentonigheid in de gevechten zal de gemiddelde speler snel tegen gaan staan.

Mit Lineage 2 verbindet mich eine Hassliebe. Ich habe mich sofort in die Optik verliebt - so schön war noch kein Online-Rollenspiel! Meine Charaktere sehen aus wie echte Helden: groß, stolz, stark. Blöd aber, dass alle anderen fast genau so aussehen. Ein bisschen mehr Abwechslung wäre wirklich drin gewesen. Und sei es nur bei der Hautfarbe. Zum Haareraufen ist jedoch das mühselige Leveln.

It seems like every time I turn around there's a new MMO on the market. Most are caught between a rock and a hard place: in order to succeed these games have to cultivate a following by giving gamers something they can't get anywhere else but in order to get lots of players to buy into the idea, the developers have to adhere to proven models. Lineage 2 is in the same predicament, hoping to distinguish itself by PVP elements but presenting them in world that follows most of the conventions of the genre.

Here we go yet again with another massively multi-player wallet sucker, Lineage II. The title implies there was a prequel but don't ask me I've never heard of it. You heard this story before, you are some guy who decides to pick up a sword and defend his country from some big-headed goblin thing, a wolf, a rabbit, and some other random woodland creatures. For all you out there looking for a MMO with a story you are in the wrong place, there is nothing telling you why you are killing all those cute bunnies and wolves, no cinematics, no disembodied voice, you just appear in a temple with a lot of gremlins, and you have a sword; you can do the math.

Lineage II ziet er mooi uit, streelt oog en oor, maar is geen blijvertje. Als je niet valt voor het eindeloos klikken op monsters, en als je daarbij geen massa’s tijd vrij hebt om dit spel te spelen, ben je beter af bij Star Wars Galaxies of binnenkort: World of Warcraft. Hopelijk zullen de geplande uitbreidingen waarbij je kastelen kan houden of bestormen, daar verandering in brengen. Maar op dit moment kan je er enkel maar je muis in verslijten, en tandenknarsend toekijken hoe traag je karakter vooruitgaat.

Le rythme de jeu particulièrement lent et les actions répétitives risquent de rebuter bon nombre de joueurs. Mais il faut avouer que les changements annoncés par NC Soft dans un futur proche sont alléchants. Wait & See !

NCsoft's fantasy-themed massively multiplayer game, Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle, definitely isn't for everyone. While it's certainly pretty to look at, the game focuses primarily on fighting monsters repeatedly to earn enough funds to purchase the exorbitantly priced weapons and armor you need to survive--a decidedly different approach than that of most other recent online role-playing games, which have attempted to alleviate these very issues. This differing emphasis is likely due to the fact that Lineage II was originally developed for the Asian market--so a few things may have been lost in translation.

It's become almost axiomatic that the launch of any massively multiplayer online (MMO) game is going to be a disastrous affair filled with bugs and broken gameplay. Anarchy Online, World War II Online, and even Star Wars: Galaxies have all become infamous for these problems. Perhaps it's a sign of the genre's growing maturity that NCSoft's launch of not one but two MMOs in the same week of April 2004 went off so smoothly. While both games weren't without problems, what technical issues they had were fixed remarkably quickly, giving the players of both City of Heroes and Lineage II: The Chaotic Chronicle a smooth MMO experience. Kudos for that.

At the moment, Lineage II offers a fairly basic monster killing spree, which will hopefully change when the Chronicle I expansion comes out. The foundation of a solid clan structure and fully implemented PvP is here, though, and leads to an overall experience that stands in contrast to more lighthearted romps like City of Heroes. However, the monotonous gameplay, unrealistic economy and slow leveling keep it from ultimately adding much to this ever-crowding genre.

Any more historical fanfare aside, it goes without saying that there's strong potential for culture shock should a game originating in South Korea be marketed to North Americans. The mindset just isn't the same. It's the basic casual vs. serious analogy; it's like marketing aged wine from historically significant vineyards to scary, unshaven drunkards who hang out at corner stores. The results could be financially disastrous, assuming much was invested.