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Episode Guide

Browse by Game Title (A-Z)

Browse by Episode Number

Episode 1: LUNA Online (07/23/2011)
A decent beginner’s 3D MMORPG with an easy-to-grasp style, but becoming more frustrating at later levels, often relying on the grind to advance. (Unique Features: Dating system and Date Dungeons) (SHUT DOWN MARCH 27TH, 2012)

Episode 2: Pangya (08/04/2011)
A fun and quirky fantasy golf MMO with great graphics, a quiet community, and a steep learning curve. (Unique Features: Special physics-warping shots)

Episode 3: Maple Story (08/23/2011)
A colorful and cute beginner’s 2D MMORPG unfortunately hampered by annoying gameplay issues and an obnoxious community. (Unique Features: Platforming elements and “Jump Quests”)

Episode 4: Lord of the Rings Online (09/07/2011)
A greatly immersive, but slow leveling WoW clone with nice graphics and fantastic music, but relying on some sort of Cash Shop investment to alleviate some of the bigger inconveniences. (Unique Features: Musical instruments and truly different Day/Night system)

Episode 5: Dungeon Fighter Online (09/20/2011)
A fast-paced action 2D beat-em-up MMO with classic 90′s arcade graphics, hampered only by repetitive gameplay and a lack of personal customization. (Unique Features: Complex, in-depth combo system and special move input.)

Episode 6: Myst Online Uru (10/03/2011)
An immersive and beautiful environmental puzzle based title and part of the Myst series of games. Hampered by age and awkward controls. (Unique features: Truly free to play. No combat element.)

Episode 7: Eden Eternal (10/18/2011)
A very well animated an colorful MMORPG/WoW Clone that has several ingenious features to make for a simpler MMO experience. Only hampered slightly by a younger, and mildly obnoxious community. (Unique Features: Fully interchangeable class system. One-Player dungeons. Automatic quest router.)

Episode 8: Hellgate: London (10/31/2011)
A formerly failed FPS/3PS MMO made by the original developers of Diablo. A great atmosphere, with decent action, but mired by muddy graphics, overly repetitive gameplay and a complex inventory system. (Unique Features: First or Third Person play modes. Slightly randomized dungeons.)

Episode 9: Rusty Hearts (11/14/2011)
A 3D brawler/beat-em-up/hack-’n-slash with a gorgeous cel-shaded, gothic horror style. Lends to the repetitive gameplay of the genre. (Unique Features: Heavy story, cutscenes, and voice acting.)

Episode 10: League of Legends (11/29/2011) (Backtrack 04/2012)
Technically not an MMO by my ideal, this free to play MOBA, RTS, or whatever you want to call it, features a colorful cast of characters, both in the champions, and the seriously jerkish community members. (Unique Features: Consistent content. Large cast of characters.)

Episode 11: Fantasy Tennis (12/11/2011)
Another sports MMO, with similar layout to Pangya, despite being made by an entirely different company. An excellent and amusing battle mode, hampered by a silent, uncooperative, and “noob unfriendly” community. (Unique Features: Wacky skill shots, and attack items.)

Episode 12: City of Heroes (12/28/2011)
The winner of the Superhero MMO poll. A highly involved character customization system and friendly community held back by major chat restrictions for free accounts, requiring some form of purchase. (Unique Features: Highly customizable characters and powers. Ability to create missions.) (SHUT DOWN NOVEMBER 30TH, 2012)

Episode 13: Doctor Who: Worlds in Time (01/18/2012) (Backtrack 12/2012)
My first browser-based MMO as well as my first Puzzle MMO (Unless you count Myst). The games reliance on Flash seems to bog down a lot of connections, but the game has a strangely addictive charm if you’re in the right mindset for it. (Unique Features: First official MMO Doctor Who game. Interesting balance of strategy and puzzle.)

Episode 14: Lineage II (02/02/2012)
A basic, and aged Sword and Sorcery MMO that recently underwent a free-to-play conversion. Large amount of races and class paths, but limited character creator. Painfully trollish community, hampered further by highly outdated game mechanics. (Unique Features: Extremely PK/PvP centered gameplay.  Castle Sieges.)

Episode 15: Star Trek Online (02/18/2012)
Another former subscription game turned F2P/Sub hybrid made by Cryptic, this time based on the beloved Star Trek franchise. Deeper then expected character creator, but highly limited “class structure”. Features combat in both ground and space. (Unique features: Engaging and complex space combat. “RPG” and “Shooter” ground combat modes.)

Episode 16: World of Tanks (03/02/2012) (Backtrack 02/2013)
An Arena combat shooter based entirely around tank warfare. Surprisingly deep and involving system, despite the simple premise. Progression slows greatly at higher “tiers” but an excellent game for casual players. (Unique Features: Historically accurate tank designs.)

Episode 17: La Tale (03/15/2012)
A 2D MMORPG Platformer in the same vein as Maple Story. A great community and interesting, well animated graphics mired only by a slow start and terrible translation. (Unique Features: Quiz feature. Complex 2D MMO control allowing for more combat and movement options.)

Episode 18: Champions Online (03/29/2012)
Cryptic’s other 3D Superhero MMORPG. Cel-shaded, but intense graphic requirements featured in this more lighthearted but generally less loved Superhero MMO. (Unique Features:  Dozens of travel powers. “Freeform” class creator only available as paid content.)

Episode 19: Elsword (04/14/2012)
A 2.5D cel-shaded beat-em-up with very flashy gameplay, mired slightly by an immature, but unintrusive community, and the typical issue of excessive repetition. Also contains a Stamina system that limits gameplay time. (Unique Features: Heavy Manga-style influence. 2D gameplay in a 3D world.)

Episode 20: World of Warcraft (04/26/2012)
Current reigning champion of the 3D Fantasy MMOs, and the go-to reference point for MMOs and the media in general. Reviewed as its limited “Free-to-Try” model. One of the oldest and most polished games on the market with many race and class choices, but dragged down by its age and overly robotic community. (Unique Features: Vehicle system)

Episode 21: Project Powder (05/09/2012)
A snowboarding racer MMO that’s highly similar to SSX. Despite developer shutdown, the publisher continues to run it, although no new content is being produced. (Unique features: Mario Kart style “Battle Mode” with SSX gameplay.)

Episode 22: Brick-Force (05/26/2012) (Backtrack 10/2012)
A hybrid Minecraft/FPS arena shooter previously looked at in my “Sidequest” series. A fun, casual shooter with an intuitive build mode, marred heavily by balance issues and a downright horrific community. Still early in development, so there’s room for improvement. (Unique features: Fully customizible build mode with destructible bricks.)

Episode 23: Aion (06/12/2012)
Another former free-to-play game by NCSoft converted to “Truly Free-to-Play”, Aion is a fairly standard, but fun, fantasy MMO grinder, with faction PvP. Graphics intensive, and hard to run, also plagued with the typical “F2P” community. (Unique features: Wing and flight system. VERY deep and complex character customization.)

Episode 24: Spiral Knights (06/21/2012)
Developer Three Rings delves into the action market with this SEGA published Zelda-Inspired dungeon crawler. Fun for casuals but limited by “energy” based gameplay and a generally repetitive nature.  (Unique Features: Dungeons “customized” by community. Multiple weapons systems.)

Episode 25: Vindictus (07/06/2012)
Nexon’s 3rd person hack and slash MMO, and the prequel to Mabinogi of all things. Intense action, and amazing music, mired by a very taxing graphics requirement and genre specific repetitive gameplay… also, Nexon. (Unique Features: Combo-based combat skills without the need of hotkeys. Massive raid bosses.)

Episode 26: Fiesta (07/19/2012)
Outspark’s most famous MMO, and one of the most simple. Crisp, but dated graphics, and easy gameplay held back by its age and a serious grinding feel. (Unique Features: Non-regenerating health. Scheduled “Kingdom Quest” instances.)

Episode 27: Shin Megami Tensei: IMAGINE (08/08/2012)
Atlus’s most famous franchise’s MMO recently placed back in their hands. A 3d MMORPG fitting on the SMT universe, hampered by dated graphics, and a very confusing newbie experience. (Unique Features: Demon recruitment and summoning system. Slow, but deep combat and customization system.)

Episode 28: Hunter Blade (08/22/2012)
A Chinese company takes everything from the popular Monster Hunter franchise to create a localized Monster Hunter Clone MMO. A 3D dungeon based action MMO, with a hilariously bad translation and generally sloppy execution. (Unique Features: Weapon based classes and fighting styles.) (SHUT DOWN OCTOBER 25TH, 2012)

Episode 29: Audition (09/04/2012)
A massive amalgamation of music games, Audition is a dance MMO based of the gameplay of Bust-A-Groove, with a dash of Guitar Hero, and Parappa for extra flavor. Originally published by Nexon globally until overtaken by hackers, now under the control of Redbana in the NA, and Alaplaya in the EU. (Unique Features: Numerous music game modes. massive tracklist.)

Episode 30: DC Universe Online (09/19/2012)
The third and final option on the “Superhero MMO Poll”, DCUO is a 3dMMORPG with action and Third-person elements, taking place and based upon the DC Universe. A simple, fun action packed title, marred slightly by its unfriendly Keyboard/Mouse control scheme, and the “less than a hero” status of your character, often taking a backseat to the more “important” heroes. (Unique Features: Tons of classic DC cartoon voice actors. Mission challenges based on Travel power movement.) 

Episode 31: Tribes: Ascend (10/03/2012)
A fast paced shooter (and that’s a bit of an understatement), Tribes: Ascend continues the classic Tribes games legacy, keeping the signature jetpacks and “ski” mechanics while adding a few new twists of its own. Marred only by a bit of a learning curve, and the occasionally mouthy player. (Unique features: Speed based gameplay. “Ski” mechanic. “VGS” simplified chat system.)

Episode 32: DarkBlood (11/13/2012)
A violent and occasionally perverted 2D beat em-up with a dark medieval theme. Fun and intense combo-based fighting system and DFO styled skill system, marred only by the indicative repetitiveness of the genre and a real lack of varied locations. (Unique features: Expansive crafting options. Terrifyingly hilarious dance emote. Strangest breast physics ever. ) (SHUT DOWN JANUARY 15TH, 2013)

Episode 33: Star Wars: The Old Republic (11/27/2012)
The “WoW killer” that didn’t come close. Despite the pedigree of BioWare at the helm, this now “Free”-to-Play title failed to latch on to the market and is now chained to heavily draconian restrictions for free players, locking them out of even some of the most inconsequential and innocuous features, like displaying titles, and hiding helmets. Despite a deeply story based and heavily voice acted quest system, it’s basically upside down WoW in space. (Unique Features: Star Wars MMO in the KOTOR universe. Rail shooter “space missions”.  Companion system.)

Episode 34: RaiderZ (12/11/2012)
Called a Monster Hunter clone, a Vindictus clone, and a TERA clone by people of various knowledge, RaiderZ is a 3D action fantasy MMO that combines the battle system of Vindictus with the open world setting of WoW…. so yeah, it’s a TERA clone. A decent amount of fun for a free to play title, mired slightly by a sporadically sloppy visuals, bad voice acting, and a gold spammer infested community. (Unique Features: 3rd person combat and camera movement. Crafting focused equipment system.)

Episode 35: Mechwarrior Online (12/25/2012)
The long-running “Walking Tank” series is in the hands of a new developer and makes its way into the Free-to-Play market. Realistic, and complex mech combat that might prove challenging for new players to understand, made more difficult by some rather underwhelming and difficult to use “trial mechs”. (Unique Features: Involved combat. Customizable mechs and playstyles.)

Episode 36: Dungeons and Dragons Online (01/22/2013)
A niche market title and MMO translation of the Tabletop RPG that started it all, DDO is well loved among it’s players, but polarized by those expecting a more open and usual take on the fantasy MMO. Mired by outdated graphics, and a fairly difficult learning curve when delving deep into the game’s systems. (Unique Features: Near fully customizable character classes using the D&D 3.5 Edition ruleset.)

Episode 37: Path of Exile (02/06/2013)
When Diablo 3 isn’t Diablo enough, enter Grinding Gear Games with their take on the loot based dungeon grinding action RPG, Path of Exile. A solid indie title with a lot of potential, mired by the repetitiveness of the genre. (Unique Features: Massive customizable “skill web” and character builds.)

Episode 38: TERA (03/06/2013)
The former subscription title that totes a “True Action Combat” system, TERA take the World MMO staple and revolves it around a more action-fan-friendly reticle combat system. Graphically stunning and well built, but mired by an mediocre, unimaginative questing system, a tendency to never take itself seriously, and unapologetically abhorrent community and fanbase.

Episode 39: SMITE (03/20/2013)
Hi-Rez takes a stab at the MOBA genre by changing the basic gameplay style, but keeping the mechanics in tact, this time having gods of polytheistic pantheons meet on the field of battle for dominance. A simple to understand MOBA game with a fun action system, but bogged by the general sort of rude players and community these kind of games tend to attract. (Unique Features: 3D “Third Person Shooter” perspective in the MOBA formula. “Try before you buy” solo practice mode.)

Episode 40: Age of Conan (04/05/2013)
Funcom’s “WoW killer” that wasn’t, Age of Conan offers a mature take on the fantasy MMO experience, but drowned in its own hype. An interesting take on standard “Target and Click” combat, held back by it’s confusing systems and general layout. (Unique features: Multiple attack angle combat and Shield system.)

Episode 41: Hawken (04/16/2013)
An indie developer takes a shot at the Mech genre by combining the massive metal monstrosities with fast twitch-shooter FPS gameplay. Fun and casual gameplay held back by typical arena shooter repetitiveness and a lack of any real variety. (Unique Features: Interesting multi-phased “Siege mode”.)

Special Episodes:

Sometimes I review a game that isn’t free, or doesn’t fit my specification. These non-numbered episodes can be found here:

April Fools Episode (4/1/2012)
In which I review the most painful experience out there. My own show. (Unique features: Structured review format. Not a glorified commentary/LP.)

Guild Wars 2 (10/17/2012)
Due not to special requests, but to the fact I wanted an excuse to play it for a while, ArenaNet’s feverishly anticipated sequel to its original “pay, but not subscribe” MMO. A casual friendly MMO, with a collection of great ideas, mired by an overtly zealous fanbase, some annoying and unaddressed bugs, and an outright infestation of botters. (Unique features:  No subscription fee. Customizable ”personal story”. Massive emphasis on player cooperation. No set class roles.)

The Secret World (10/31/2012) (Backtrack: 02/2013)
Done as the 2012 Halloween special, this formerly (as of 12-12-12) subscription-based (now Buy-To-Play) modern day MMO has been lambasted and dismissed by critics for issues Guild Wars 2 was given a free pass for. One of the most unique MMOs on the market, and my personal favorite, The Secret World features a massive emphasis on story and atmosphere. (Unique features: No levels. No class system. Stealth-focused “Sabotage” missions and puzzle-heavy “Investigation” missions.) 

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