We tested Albion Online (PC, Linux, Mac, Android). Albion Online is the new sandbox MMORPG from Sandbox Interactive GmbH from Germany. It aims to offer you complete freedom. What awaits you in the game, you will learn in our review.
At the beginning of Albion Online, you can create your own character. The editor, however, is quite simple and plain. Unfortunately, we can only customize a few aspects of our likeness: gender, skin and hair color, hairstyle, underwear, and that’s it.
With nothing but underwear, the adventure begins. You may be wondering how it looks with the class selection – the answer is: there isn’t one. Albion Online does away with a typical class system. Your weapon defines who you are. You can act as a great warrior, farmer, or even a merchant. It’s up to you which path you want to take.
The Start: Build what you want to be!
At the beginning, you can play a tutorial in the form of a quest series, where you learn all the important basics of the game. This tutorial is quite well done, although there could be more information about the possible activities in PvE and PvP. In the tutorial, you choose your first weapon and your first armor that you want to build. This will turn you into a mage, hunter, or warrior.
Whether melee or ranged combat, whether tank or healer – it is solely the weapon that decides what you are. The choice of “class” is also important for merchants or gatherers since you will need to defend yourself in the open world against other players or against giants, bandits, nasty wolves, and the like.
The Heart of the Game: The Destiny Board
The most important feature of Albion Online is the so-called Destiny Board. This is your constant companion and gives you paths to follow. In principle, it is a substitute for the lack of quests in the game. The board is quite large and can overwhelm you at first with its possibilities. Those familiar with Path of Exile will find their way around quite quickly. The various paths on the Destiny Board show you what you can achieve through different activities.
It is possible to get better by collecting resources and to gather and process increasingly valuable resources. The board has levels, each bringing bonuses. You reach the individual levels by gaining fame for the respective activity, which is assigned to a specific path. In the interface of Albion Online, the current paths you are pursuing through activities are displayed on the right. In other MMOs, you would find active quests here.
It is possible to unlock everything on this Destiny Board. However, just individual paths can be relatively time-consuming and can only be completed through constant repetition. Those who do not mind grinding will have fun with the Destiny Board.
Buying or Selling – that is the question
As is common in MMOs, Albion Online also offers an auction house: the marketplace. You can find the marketplace in every city or in larger villages. Here you can sell your built weapons, armor, furniture, or buy missing parts and resources. The auction house functions similarly to the one in Guild Wars 2.
Items can be put up for bidding or sold directly. Additionally, you can set up buy orders if you want something that isn’t available or if you want to buy an item at a specific price.
The entire economy system of Albion Online is determined and influenced by the players. Therefore, it is currently impossible to assess how well it will function in the long run. Positively, even simpler materials are still needed in the higher-tier area, and the professions are interdependent.
The Gameplay of Albion Online
Albion Online is played in an isometric perspective and is controlled with the mouse. You might know this from games like Diablo.
You obtain abilities from the weapon, with which you can also choose a position between several abilities.
You often have the choice of whether you want an AoE or a single-target ability of your weapon in the bar. There are also abilities to choose from through the armor. These can generate more “aggro” or provide “more protection against magical damage” and similar effects. Additionally, you determine which role you take in the game. As a tank, you want to be able to take a lot of damage with your armor.
The combats are kept simple. There are clear damage and health indicators, so you can directly see how abilities affect each other. Abilities that the opponent uses and that you can dodge are also displayed through a type of telegraph system. Those who know WildStar will find it instantly familiar.
The Endgame: Expeditions, Dungeons, World Bosses, PvP and more
On the Destiny Board, there are paths that you can only pursue through activities in PvE or PvP. Killing creatures to be able to wear better armor is one of those paths. This can be particularly easily accomplished at the start through expeditions. The expeditions are instanced, and you can complete them alone or in a group. There is even a group tool for the group. However, the expeditions are not particularly difficult to master.
In addition, there are dungeons referred to as Hell Gates. Large groups can challenge world bosses.
In PvP, battles in the open world await you, which are divided into specific zones. Some zones are free from PvP, while others can be captured by guilds in “guild vs. guild” battles. In the conquered zones, guilds can then build their own settlements.
However, without high-tier equipment and without a guild or a fixed group, you are destined to die. At first, it is still possible to tackle the activities in Albion Online alone, but the further you progress on the Destiny Board, the more reliant you become on a guild.
Who dies, loses everything
Death in Albion Online is particularly interesting. You have the choice to wait for a respawn time of up to three minutes in PvP or up to 30 seconds in PvE, or you can give up and die. When respawning, your equipment loses durability and must be repaired. If you get stuck in a group of enemies, it may happen that you have no choice but to die directly.
When you die, you are quickly revived at another location but lose everything you were carrying at that moment. Thus, you may have to run back to your corpse in your underwear, provided no other player has looted it.
Your Own Island – Housing in Albion Online
The dream of homeownership plays a large role in Albion Online. You can acquire a plot of land in every city and place a building of your choice on it. For the buildings, you can choose, for example, between a house and a forge. The problem is, however, as in real life: there is a shortage of housing. There are simply not enough plots of land. Therefore, you can bid on the plots in auctions every 30 days and purchase them with your hard-earned silver. If that seems too complicated, you can buy your own island.
For the purchase, you must have had the premium status in the game at least once. Only then are you entitled to buy an island. The first two upgrade levels of the island are relatively inexpensive, while the further ones become expensive.
However, the first two levels are sufficient to build buildings such as a forge, workbench, house, and so on. These buildings are not simply purchased with silver and placed; they must really be built. Each requires different materials that you must acquire. In your house, you can place furniture, which will give bonuses like higher satisfaction to your NPC workers, who, for example, work for you in the forge.
The Premium Status
Albion Online is a buy-to-play game. The cheapest package costs you around 25 euros, while the most expensive costs 100 euros. After the one-time purchase, the game can be played without further fees. Optionally, you can purchase the premium status. This is a classic subscription, and thus monthly fees apply. The downside here, however, is that the bonuses are so good that they provide a real and significant advantage in the game.
As a subscriber, you move significantly faster across the Destiny Board, generally receive more resources, and have a higher chance of better quality when crafting equipment. To avoid it becoming pay-to-win, the developer has included the possibility to finance the subscription through silver earned in the game. However, the effort for the subscription is still high.
With your real money, you can also purchase in-game gold. You can exchange this for in-game silver, allowing you to buy what you want. Fortunately, there are specific requirements for wearing equipment, so a fresh character cannot be overly upgraded. Additionally, the exchange rate between gold and silver, like in Guild Wars 2, is constantly changing.
- You can find information about purchasing Albion Online (from about 25€) here.
- For information and news about the game, visit our “Albion Online” overview page.