WildStar, the squeaky science fiction MMORPG from Carbine, impresses with hardcore gameplay and intricate game mechanics. The release is on June 3. We played the closed beta for you and can now report on it.
What appears at first glance to be a colorful surprise is for our tester Schuhmann a masterstroke aimed at one goal: to captivate former World of Warcraft players.
Sweet on the Outside, Biting on the Inside
WildStar is somehow different and not at all as it appears at first glance.
In the trailers, the game is marketed as a quirky science fiction story, somewhere between Futurama and Borderlands, with a timeless comic aesthetic reminiscent of the wild gunplay of Team Fortress 2 . But after a few hours it became clear to me: This is not Angry Birds or any bubbly three-euro Japanese title, but WildStar is made with sense and skill by professionals. The quirky presentation and the comedy style serve, like every other part of the game, a purpose:
You want to take exactly the path in WildStar that World of Warcraft has left.
It’s a kind of bizarre experiment: What if Blizzard had taken the blue pill instead of the red one? What would have happened if they had delved deeper into the matrix, if there were still 40-man raids today? If they had opted for action gameplay and demanded more from the players?
And what if today you took all the strong aspects of well-known MMORPGs and eliminated the weaknesses – as much as possible: What kind of game would come out?
No idea. But I think: It would look damn like WildStar.
Target Audience is EX-MMORPG Players
The target audience for the title is not newcomers or fans of single-player titles who want to give this MMORPG thing a try, which all the kids on the street are talking about. WildStar wants MMORPG veterans. Preferably ex-WoW players, of which there are also the most.
But WildStar also gladly welcomes Everquest players or former players of Warhammer Online. Those who are disappointed by The Elder Scrolls Online can also come by. Star Wars players are welcome anyway.
Hype, Hyper, Hyper-Hyper – WildStar!
WildStar is a bit like Skynet, that computer monster from Terminator. At some point, it also stopped sending killer machines that looked like Schwarzenegger because it figured out that a really hot twenty-year-old who is a killer machine underneath the tanned skin works much better.
What presents itself as a poppy game is an MMORPG titan. A calculated monster and a stroke of genius.
I’ve read somewhere: One shouldn’t stir up the hype, WildStar also cooks only with water and there are also quests here that are a bit boring and so. To this I would like to say at this point: HA! You clueless!
WildStar is Calculated: The Combat System
The combat system differs significantly in WildStar from World of Warcraft. That’s because WildStar does not use a classic combat system like World of Warcraft, but a action combat system with so-called telegraphs: Opponent mobs announce their attacks with a red circle or arrow or some other geometric pattern that appears on the ground. This geometric shape slowly fills up and either deals damage during that time or only when the shape is fully filled.
The combat system is known from The Secret World, Guild Wars 2 or Tera. But WildStar has thought it through to the end and constantly finds new ways to apply it.
Another feature is the various crowd-control abilities. If you get dirt in your eyes in another game, the hit probability decreases by a third. In WildStar, the screen turns black. And at that moment, the mobs begin with particularly nasty combinations. As a player, you have to guess which part of the ground is about to turn to lava.
Never before has the advice “Don’t stand in the fire!” been so appropriate as in the combat system of WildStar.
Crunchy Difficulty Level
While in World of Warcraft and other titles such combat sequences are reserved only for the toughest raid bosses, it’s an adventure in WildStar after a certain level just to step outside. Quest mobs have complex combinations of abilities. In instances and Adventures, the mobs really ramp up.
The game is finely tuned; the final boss of the first 5-man instance has roughly the difficulty level of a medium raid boss in World of Warcraft!
Speaking of raids.
WildStar Starts with End Content!
You can tell WildStar is clearly targeting a specific audience: former dedicated WoW players who are disappointed by Blizzard’s decisions to make the game increasingly accessible for casual players.
Therefore, there will again be 40-man raids in WildStar. And 20-man raids for warm-ups.
Carbine has a simple philosophy: Anyone who raids in an MMORPG is more or less a “hardcore” player. For casual players, there are other areas in the game, such as crafting, house setup, or simply various achievements in the world. But raiding should not be watered down, as it has happened in World of Warcraft in recent years.
The 20-man raids will take place in the Gen Archives. The difficulty is supposed to be crunchy and the items sparkling. From the 20-man raid, you then go directly into a 40-man raid.
In the 40-man raid, an Eldan computer will run amok and summon increasingly difficult digital monsters until the supercomputer is finally freed from its virus (*cough* Skynet, I tell you! *cough*). In the 40-man raid Datascape, 6 bosses, 16 mini-bosses, and 2 space events will await the players.
Here, too, one can see Blizzard’s design idea: Even the supposed trash mobs should anticipate abilities that the bosses will use later. Carbine wants to make every single pull a challenge that requires a special tactic.
One can also see the cleverness of Carbine here: While in World of Warcraft it has never been possible, and never will be, to form a functioning 25-man raid from two or three 10-man raids because there are too many tanks left over and damage dealers are missing, this is precisely possible in WildStar. Two 20-man raids can handle the 40-man. This is already in the game.
Variable Content … just like in Cube
Raids in games have so far suffered mainly from becoming boring over time. WildStar aims to tackle this by making the raids variable. Each week there will be a different combination of bosses, different patterns, and different possibilities. The combination of the individual rooms should change a bit with each rotation, similar to Skynet …, excuse me, just like the death cube in the Cube films.
This shows the nature of WildStar: By opting for 20-man and 40-man raids, a target audience is clearly addressed that played World of Warcraft years ago and longs for those times. But it would not be useful to simply design an encounter like Ragnaros from 10 years ago or resurrect the Four Horsemen from Naxxramas, even though Blizzard prefers this strategy of reheated content.
MMORPGs are much further along than they were back then. So WildStar provides a new player experience with the variable raids. The active combat style with the telegraph system ensures a different gaming feeling.
Classes and Races and Such
Many players are put off by a science fiction scenario for fear of too much ranged combat and not enough action that takes place toe to toe. For those, here is immediate reassurance:
While WildStar is set in a science fiction universe, it feels like fantasy.
Even with the classes, no crazy risks are taken. There is a warrior that works like a warrior. Then we have a rogue with Wolverine claws. Instead of an archer with a wolf as a companion, there is a technician with a drone … but the game feels very classic in the classes and the combinations of abilities.
The individual races only offer cosmetic advantages and cover a spectrum from cute, stocky, and cunning to heroic, sweet, and steadfast.
However, in the skills and in the orientations of the classes, there are fine distinctions compared to rigid roles like in the early days of MMORPGs.
Here WildStar remains true to the established successful recipe. If something isn’t broken, why fix it?
WildStar Picks the Best from Current Titles
WildStar is far ahead in terms of features that players desperately request in other games. And they bring what other games do well fully into their own game.
Warplots are designed for coordinated PvP groups wishing to battle together – in their own flying fortress.
For PvP, there will be battlegrounds and arenas with a special twist. Not just boring capture the flag, but a capture the flag with three different flags. Additionally, they borrow from WoW the concept of rated BGs, taking it to the next level and allowing 40 players to compete against 40 others in their own warplots, their flying fortresses.
A relatively free skill system, where the class can take on different roles depending on the build, looks like an evolution of WoW. Inspired by Guild Wars 2, it appears that you can only pull a few skills and abilities onto the quick bar from numerous options. Character skill progression in WildStar leads to difficult decisions for the player.
Then WildStar also boasts a fantastic housing system similar to The Lord of the Rings Online and a clever crafting system! From EVE Online, they adopted the possibility to pay for game time with in-game money. Half-legal online trading, goodbye!
Of course, one heavily draws from the genre leader World of Warcraft when it comes to item hunting. The player always has a task in sight, there is always something to do and improve in the world.
But it would also be unfair to WildStar if one did not attribute any creativity to it. With the paths, for example, the game follows its own path. Every player can choose one of four paths as a secondary profession and thus increasingly play the type of quest they are interested in.
The supposedly Twitter message-like short quest texts also follow a certain plan. This makes it possible to quickly deliver high-quality content. One is not forced to wait for hard-to-find voice actors.
We will surely go into more detail about specific areas of WildStar in the future; in a few days, Cortyn will comprehensively tell you about housing (already done and here available).
I am absolutely thrilled with WildStar at the moment. For me, the game is much better than I expected. And what particularly pleases me: Behind every design decision, a truly clever mind shines through. Everything in WildStar is coherent. It is contemporary, clever, and absolutely addictive.
There will now still be four opportunities to participate in a closed beta during the weekends. And it will probably lead to an open beta shortly before launch. Or you simply secure the game in the pre-order right now.
I will definitely do it. Carbine has already converted me in the closed beta. Not because I find the ears of the Aurins cute or have fallen in love with the wink of the game’s humor, but because the design decisions behind the game and the gameplay have truly convinced me.
WildStar is a game for MMORPG veterans, it is a game for me.
*Affiliate-Links. Wir erhalten bei einem Kauf eine kleine Provision von Amazon. Vielen Dank für Eure Unterstützung!
If you pre-order WildStar, you will receive various additional contents at launch, such as an exclusive accommodation, and the opportunity to participate in the 4 upcoming beta weekends.
With the Sci-Fi MMORPG WildStar from Carbine Studios and NCSoft, you can expect action-packed gameplay with tons of content and a completely new story in the wa...
![WildStar - [PC]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RT4pexrxL._SL160_.jpg)
