RaiderZ Preview

Raiderz is a new PC MMORPG from Perfect World Entertainment, the developers behind the free-to-play MMOs Rusty Hearts, Star Trek Online, Champions Online, the Diablo-esque Torchlight and many other lesser-known titles, and Raiderz is the latest on the list of Perfect World Entertainment’s free MMOs. As a gamer who has hopped from free game to free game, finding that the majority are disappointing, whereas others have short lifespans die out because of a small playerbase or require payment for extra content, I know the feeling of apprehension when approaching a new free-to-play title. But having played Rusty Hearts, I also know that Perfect World knows how to produce an enjoyable game.

Always more fun in a party

Raiderz is a game that makes some big promises, and as I read up on the game as the game client downloaded, I found myself hoping for a western version of Monster Hunter: Frontier (the PC/X360 version of Capcom’s Monster Hunter series), with the website boasting hunting parties chasing colossal beasts that knock players flying and can even eat them alive, and needless to say, I was excited. The game currently has four player classes: The Defender, a standard tank class, the Berserker and Sorcerer, the melee and magic damage dealer classes, and the Cleric, the healer/support class. These classes are fairly barebones for an MMORPG, but bear in mind Raiderz is still in alpha, so more classes are likely to emerge.

A female sorcerer, in-game

Although in the alpha stages of development and therefore a little buggy, RaiderZ is shaping up pretty well. After downloading the alpha and questing a little with some strangers online, I discovered that players won’t be disappointed, as graphics are beautiful, animations are smooth and look realistic and the combat itself is fun, if a bit of a clickfest. The creatures in RaiderZ are also part of the experience, with me facing lizardmen bigger than me from the start, and less than two hours in fighting a massive creature wielding what appeared to be a stone column, and later facing off against what looked to me like a giant frog. These creatures didn’t just knock me back or slap my character around a little, either, whilst fighting a lizardman my character was picked up with ease and slammed into the ground, and needless to say, I was a bit more careful from that point onward.

The bigger they are…

RaiderZ looks like it’ll be one of the better free-to-play titles available, so if you’ve got the free time and the PC to run it, I’d recommend keeping an eye out for its release.