MMORPGs About to get a Whole Lot Bloodier

Requiem: Bloodymare is rated M for bloody Mutilation.

The last thing I expected from Gravity Interactive, the makers of the charming MMORPG Ragnarok Online, was such a complete about-face with Requiem. The characters look sleek and ruthless, the monsters look terrifying, and the whole thing is, without saying a lot, bloody. The Havok physics engine has been put to good use in Requiem, allowing bits of slain monsters to twitch and bounce around a bit before finally lying still. This is definitely not an online game for the kiddies.

I had the chance to try out the beta last week. There are three races from which to chose, each offering their own class tree that largely splits along melee and magic-user type classes. Since the game was so violent, I thought I'd go with a more hands-on approach and picked Kruxena, a race of lithe and wicked warriors, reminiscent of dark elves. You begin the game as a sort of basic catch-all class, then promote to your actual class after completing some tutorial quests. At level 10, Kruxena can either become Rogues or Soul Hunters (I went Rogue) and at some later level which I did not attain, you promote again to your final class. With three races in total and four classes per race, there's a total of 12 classes for players to try out.

The game is very much a point and click, hack and slash MMO, much like most of what comes out of Asia. It follows the basic formula so closely, in fact, that aside from the graphics it could have been any of dozens of Asian MMOs I've tried out over the years. Hopefully though, Requiem will prove itself to be different in the long run, with two features that I never got to see but both sound very interesting: the DNA system, which is supposed to allow a very deep level of character customization, and the Beast Possession system, allowing players of any class to transform into powerful monsters.

Requiem's strongest feature, the mature and horrific violence to the game, may also be a great problem in North American markets unless greater efforts are taken to prevent minors from playing the game. The regional chatter was filled with inane blather that could only originate from minors, broken only by the constant pronouncements of how young they all are. Moreover, here I was looking forward to getting away from the kiddies and play some serious game. I sincerely hope that this is just an artifact of the free nature of the open beta and that, once the game is released, there will be separate servers for premium subscribers and the free players.

Requiem: Bloodymare will feature three levels of access, including a free-to-play mode and basic and premium subscriptions. Find out all the details, try out the beta, and make your pre-order at their website: http://www.playrequiem.com/