Has anyone played this yet? I received a Beta Code, but having just started up EVE, I don’t know if I have time to try another MMOG or not. I’ve been interested in Auto Assault for a while, so I may still give it a try, but I wanted to hear if any of you faithful readers have given it a try.
Since I have EVE on the Lappy, I could always put AA on the main PC. Whoa. Two MMOGs playing at once. That may go way beyond nerdcore. That’s uncharted territory.
(PS – That shirt? I want that!)
AA is actually pretty solid and the game has come a long way in the last three months. There are still a few gaps here and there but the game is a blast although there are still a lot of little things to work out here and there.
NCSoft has sent me the AA Beta Code like six different times now. I keep getting beta code e-mails from them. Maybe they really want me to try it out?
I haven’t tried it out. It looks interesting, but I’m dividing my MMO time between CoHV and WoW at the moment (and DDO… what a waste of time). I’m not sure if another MMO would fit in.
Charles – thanks for the heads up, I’ll probably give it a quick try this weekend.
Will – Holy smokes, 3 MMOs at the same time? You, sir, are a gamer.
Actually, contrary to what was said above, I wouldn’t bother.
Auto Assault is extremely boring. If anything, it’s wasted potential of an incredible setting.
You can read my impressions on it if you like – though this was based on the beta I played over a weekend back in January. It could have changed a lot since then, but somehow I doubt it. The previous poster’s description of the game in its current state sounds like a message board post I read in January comparing the game to its state last summer.
gatmog – Looks like I had a much better experience than you did. They’ve done quite a bit since January but it looks like you didn’t quite get as far as I did (which is reflected in your preview). The vehicle customization is actually pretty deep but you don’t get to it until you reach the second town for each race. There you can add all kinds of things to your vehicle (you do have to find these items as they are loot that is scattered around the country side) such as wheel bars, air dams, and other little things.
BTW, there are four different classes not three and there’s a bit of diference between them in terms of their skills and capabilities.
Charles – you are exactly right, there are indeed four classes. A trip to the official site confirms that 🙂 I must have been hung up on the limit of three races.
I was actually able to do some vehicle customization based on the loot I picked up, but most of the good stuff was unusable due to my character level. There are significant options for vehicle customization, but…then what? The game just seems kind of dull. I didn’t pay attention to any of the quests after a while, because they just seemed like the usual FedEx/Kill Ten Rats variety. The typical MMORPG model doesn’t seem right for a game in this setting.
Did you have the chance to experiment with the crafting system? I’m wondering what the in-game economy is like, because the item drops are pretty awesome for low level quests. It makes me question if the services of crafters are even required.
The crafting system is very deep as there are a ton of different items at three levels of quality – salvage, functional, and one that I forget but it is the top level. On top of that you have several crafting diciplines (power plants, various weapons, armor, etc) that really add a bit of meat to the puzzle. You can fix the broken stuff you find on the battlefield as well as buying broken items from vendors that you can repair to increase your skill. As you progress you can experiment with items and try new recipies. I haven’t gotten really deeply into it but there seems to be a lot there. Drops do seem to vary by race as I got a lot more with my mutant character than I did with my human character. Not sure if this is a balance thing or not.
The PVP arenas also look pretty good but I really haven’t had a chance to play through any of them yet in this version (these were the demos they had at E3 though and they were a lot of fun then).
The quests missions are fairly atypical of the genre. Some of them are a bit odd but there are afew interesting ones (like stopping a suicide truck) that are a bit engaging.
I’ve been primarily playing the human side and there does seem to be a bit of a content at the 20-25 level where you are probably going to have to do a bit of grinding to be able to compete in the bigger missions.
If you haven’t played in a while you should give it another go, the last big patch (which I think was at the end of February) added a ton of new content including new cars and levels. The new cars do handle a bit better and are a smidge more realistic.
I’m going to try and crank out a preview this weekend if GRAW doesn’t take up too much of my time 🙂
all – Thanks for the information. I didn’t have a chance to download the game this past weekend, so I’ll probably give it a looksie this weekend. The crafting sounds interesting, which is always a deal breaker for me with MMOs. I’m currently really enjoying EVE-Online, but I’m always willing to give something new a chance.
I agree that the quests feel repetitive, but the real joy in them comes from reading the stories. Some of them, especially the mutant ones, are really well written. There’s one about a dying bandit you find on the road in the mutant area that is downright emotional. Easily the best writing I’ve seen in any MMO, period.
Yeah, I checked out this game too and it looks pretty good. I’ve heard it can be a bit confusing but is simple enough. Also, does anyone know if you HAVE to pay to play? A few websites say its free, but the only way i’ve found out how 2 play is by buying those CDs.
Betmonty – I’m impressed that the put time into an actual story. Have they made it so the world events are effected by player actins?
Pat – As far as I know, you have to pay a monthly fee, like most MMOs. I’m not sure if you can download the client for free or not.