Tera

I think the first time I saw a trailer for TERA was back at the very end of the Lich King era of WoW. There are still a lot of questions about the game but fortunately I was able to get a seat in the beta and per-order the game so maybe I can answer some of them. Tera is a Korean MMO, which I'm sure everyone can already tell. Its the first and thus far only release of Bluehole Studios/En Masse Entertainment and its made a mark in the world of MMORPG's, for good reason. First, leave ALL expectations and everything you know about MMO's at the door. TERA stands alone and it stands tall. The game is unique in every sense of the word and you can't really compare it to any other MMO's which I think is why it has such a grasping effect on people. The story is rich and new, and the play style will grab you and wont let go.

-STORY-

TERA takes place on the world of Arborea, consisting of two giant landmasses called Shara and Arune which are actually giant sleeping Titans that came to the world ages ago to escape a war that had ravaged their own kind. Tired, they entered an eternal slept and dreamt into existence all the races and gods that live on Arborea. After thousands of years of conflict in which most of the Gods wound up dead or lost their Godhood, a semblance of peace had fallen onto the world. This peace, however, was short lived as the seven player races soon came under attack from a powerful new enemy called the Argon who seek to wake the Titans Shara and Arune from their slumber, effectively ending the existence of everything on Arborea. The races formed a coalition called The Federation to unite against the common alien threat. Thrust into a conflict that is quickly consuming your entire world in death and chaos, you must become a Hero of the Federation or die trying. Enter YOU! The story involving you is fairly linear and follows a point A to B to C format, but the lore in this game is MASSIVE. If you ever do side quest a bit and read conversations, you will find some really enjoyable characters, allies you want to protect and villains you love to hate.

-GAME PLAY-

TERA is unique in that there are not factions like in most games, despite PvP being a very important part of the game. There are seven distinct races for you to choose from with their own racials, and eight classes to choose with their own pro's and cons. Racial traits have a small effect on game play but not anywhere near as massive as, say, human racials in WoW breaking PvP. You move around with the keyboard and Jump, but you look around with your mouse 100% of the time. You can't target anything, you have to actually aim your sword swings and your spells with a few lock on exceptions. The combat emphasis is on quick reactions to what you think you can dodge and what you think you can block, and what you think will happen if the giant monster's fist happens to connect with your face. And when I say you, I mean your character. Gear is pretty simple, you have boots, gloves, chest, and weapons. Earrings, rings and necklace for a few extra stats. There isn't an auto attack either, your basic swing is a combo attack activated with a mouse click. Collision physics are actually an important part of the game, one of the great things about the Lancer (arguably the obvious tank class in the game) is that you can hide behind him and he can block giant lasers that would otherwise kill you, as long as hes big enough. With two classes capable of tanking and two capable of healing, your dungeon groups can vary to extremes and are less about having the right stats and gear as much as literally fighting your enemies. Almost any combination of classes can down a dungeon if the players behind them are smart and skilled. Forget standing in the fire, now you have to worry about dodging projectile laser blasts, charging monsters, AND dealing some nice damage to the things. There are a few annoying things, collision detection is not the greatest so from time to time you will find yourself stuck on an invisible rock and some classes excel in certain fields to the point of putting all others to shame *Cough Archers Cough* but for the most part TERA's combat system is simple, enjoyable and engaging.

-MUSIC AND SOUND-

The music scores really sound like they came from a Orchestra. They aren't quite up to par with the epic wow music people have grown used to, but it sets the pace of the game quite nicely. The sounds are all believable and fit in rather well and you even get to choose your character's voice. The video is still clearly synced for Korean audio, which can be a small annoyance if you pay attention to it, but the voice actors make up for it.

-VISUALS-

The game looks positively beautiful. The world your in is literally the manifestation of two dreaming Titans, and Bluehole took full advantage of that knowledge. From mountains to pastures to the open sea, haunted forests to unicorn meadows (I'm not joshing you, there is a unicorn field with fairies) everything is detailed to the absolute limit. The one downside to this is that you do need a pretty good PC to run the game. If you can't run it with the highest graphic settings, then your missing out on so much.

-REPLAY ABILITY-

Right now, this is the one big issue I have with the game. There just isn't enough content to satisfy hard core players. The game was released in Korea for a period of time before it came to the US, so we got a mix of patches that came later in Korea right on our starting release. One of the biggest factors in a successful MMO is the ability to kill a dungeon or a boss and come back a few hours later to do it again because you enjoy it. There aren't currently BattleGrounds in the game and there are no real goals associated with Guild versus Guild battles (Which is really the only good way to PvP at this time) and endgame is very limited. For people who rush straight to endgame content, you are better off waiting for TERA to really get some content. For everyone else, exploring the world and seeing the characters is part of the fun and any fights you get in will be memorable. There are some functions such as the Nexus, which is essentially ground zero of the argon invasion and an upcoming BIG patch, but until it all arrives TERA is somewhat limited in what it can truly deliver.

-FINALE-

TERA, the Exiled Realm of Arborea, gets a solid 3 and a half stars out of 5. The story is unique and engaging and the combat system is amazing. There really aren't many griping points beyond lack of sizable content and high PC specs being needed to play. It isn't quite the WoW Killer, yet, but this MMO isn't going anywhere anytime soon and can only get better.