Vindictus Review

Vindictus

The Review

First Impressions

Once you elect to create a new player, you are allowed to select your player’s class.    The four player classes are gender locked, which is a little frustrating.  Two classes are female and two classes are male.  You are then taken through a skippable tutorial mission to kill a giant spider.  After that you are given an opportunity to begin the creation of your character.  I would prefer that I be able to create my character prior to completing any tutorial. 

Graphics

The graphics in Vindictus are intense. However, The graphics settings are set to high by default.  You may want to consider adjusting these settings, if your PC isn’t top of the line.  If you have an older PC, and you don’t adjust the settings in advance of creating your character, all you will get when you start playing is a frustrating slide show.  Then the game will crash.

If, on the other hand, your PC is capable of at least 30 FPS on high settings you are in for a treat.  The blood that you spill goes everywhere.  It will look as if it is dripping from your screen as you move from one enemy to the next.

Vindictus does allow you to take screenshots by pressing the  PrntSrcn button.  It also includes something else that I have never seen, a built-in video capture option.

 Storyline

Vindictus is very light on story. If you are content with inexplicable and liberal violence, without a lot of reasons for why you are doing what you are doing, then I think that you will love this game.

Starting out, I wasn’t really sure what was going on. I was doing missions and dungeons hoping that the story would reveal itself. There is a story, but as the game progressed, I lost interest in the storyline.  I just wanted to see what the next Boss, or piece of gear would look like. I wanted to level so that I could see what else my character was capable of.  In Vindictus your player kicks ass, and in the end that is all that I wanted to do.

If you are actually interested in the story behind the game, this is the story lifted directly from the Vindictus website:

Erinn the Land of Paradise

“In this world, there is but one moon, and it shines upon a wasteland where Fomors and beasts roam, hungry to tear flesh from bone. Not so in Erinn. In Erinn, there will be two moons, Eweca and Lateka, and they will shine with the brightness of the gods. There, no one will age or fall ill, and the land will be rich with bountiful resources.  It is the dream of Erinn, the paradise promised in the Legend, which fuels humanity in these dark times. The people wait, as they have for countless generations, for the black-winged goddess to come and save them. They wait. Because the Legend is truth. It must be, for it is all they have. “

Looks like the beginning to a great story, but for now, that  is all there is.

Character Creation

I like the character generator, with a few exceptions: 

• I didn't see an option for adjusting the face. I guess that we will all look alike with the exception of hairstyle and skin/hair color.
• The four player classes are gender locked.  Magicians and  Warriors that carry a sword & shield are female. Warriors that dual-wield swords and Giants are male. 

You can zoom in and out to focus in on different areas of your character.  You can also adjust the size of your players chest and height.  Here’s a screenshot to give you an idea of what the character creator looks like.

Combat

The combat system in Vindictus is completely different than any other game that I have played. I am used to standing in front of my opponent and clicking on different icons that activate different spells and abilities. The game usually decides whether or not I dodge an attack based on my agility or other similar stat. In Vindictus, the decision of when - or if - I dodge an attack is mine. 

Vindictus is more like an arcade game. You are, for the most part, going to use your left and right mouse buttons. The left button activates your strong attack, and the right button activates your weak attack. Using both buttons allows you to grab your enemies. You can also interact with your environment: You can destroy things in your environment by simply attacking them, or you can pick things up and throw them.

PVP 

Vindictus does not offer PVP at this time.

Crafting

 Vindictus has a crafting system.  The mobs occasionally drop things that are used in crafting items or crafting item enhancements.  Crafting is obviously not the main focus of the game, it is almost more an after thought.  You may start trying to create your own items but you will find that it’s a waste of time.  Most most of the gear you need will drop from monsters.  What doesn't drop can be purchased from the market.

Economy

There is a Market/Auction system in Vindictus, enabling you  to buy & sell weapons, armor, and other useful items.  It is very easy to use and can be found in the players’ starting city.

Social Interaction

This game isn’t as social as some other MMORPGs.  As things are now when you begin the game you are pretty much on your own.  As you start getting into the higher levels you will become more dependent on player interaction.  The dungeons that will become available have adjustable difficulty levels.  requiring between two and four players to complete.  The higher the difficulty, the greater the prize.  The developers of Vindictus are still working on improving and expanding game content so I am sure that things are going to change.

Final Thoughts

The player movement controls are a little squirrelly at first.  Fortunately you do get used to them over time.  By the time you reach level ten, it is no longer a problem.  Experiment with new abilities as soon as you get them, it will make combat a lot more interesting.  Vindictus is a free to play MMORPG, so you have no excuse for not giving it a try.

Game Details

Publisher:  Nexon

Developer:  devCAT

Release Date:  Early 2010

Game Website:  http://vindictus.nexon.net/

Subscription:  Free to play

Demo / Trial :  None

 

 

Copyright 2011