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2006 Mar 02

Silk Road Online

Posted at 9:37 am by Barron | Computing & Gaming

A couple of us downloaded Silk Road Online for the PC and tried it out, and it is surprisingly good! It's a typical RPG, but it is set in Asia (Silk Road, get it?) and the model sets are all Chinese. You can choose from about 25 different character models, and then in the game there are different combat skills and magic skills you can learn. Of course, you gain XP by killing monsters and collecting their loot. One of the best things about the game is that it is totally free!!! The ~500MB client is downloadable from their website, or fileplanet, and there is no subscription fee. I don't know what their business model is, but I'm not gonna spend too much time worrying about it.

The graphics are very well done, the overall atmosphere is immersive and the animation is for the most part smooth. I chose to use the "Zombie" character model above. She's pretty cool because she floats around instead of running. She reminds me of my favorite HK actress Joey Wong in "A Chinese Ghost Story". The game does get a bit laggy at times, especially at the start point, which is where the game begins and where your character is resurrected after he dies. Naturally, there are tons of people at that location, and many player vendors have set up shop there. The sound effects are pretty repetitive, and the volume controls are buggy, so I turned off the bg music. Overall, I am pretty impressed with this game. Oh, did I mention that it is free? :)

Comments...

Mr_PeaCH: Have you/Do you play a lot of MMOGs? I have played a bunch over the years and I've just come round and discovered EVE-Online (mmo-in-spaaaace). Anyways, the skinny on Silk Road as I understand it is that it is a big grind (lots and lots of foozle-whacking to level up to be able to whack bigger foozles ad nauseum) but that it is to be commended for being brighter and shinier than most and with the all important player-vs-player element going for it. Plus, as you say, free is good. l8r n00bler

Posted on Mar 08, 2006 | 2:16 pm

Barron: Yeah, it is kind of a grind. What MMO's did you play? I played EQ, SW:G, EQ2 for a bit. Need to fire up Guildwars again... have not tried WoW, though. Kind of scared to.

Posted on Mar 09, 2006 | 1:27 pm

Mr_PeaCH: re: WoW Heheh, I hear ya; haven't played that one either. I hear both that the game is really very fun and easy to get into but also that there isn't a lot to keep you going after a while unless you really like raids or re-rolling alts and that the PvP is teh suck.

I was a big Diablo I and II player (Blizzard products) which while they weren't strictly MMO games served as my gateway drugs into it. The clan I was in got into DAoC right when it came out and I was totally amazed and hooked. (Never played UO or EQ before this.) Burned out on DAoC after a couple years (when they introduced Trials of Atlantis) and dabbled in games like Shadowbane, SW:G, FFXI, did the free beta period in GW actually.

Got off the MMO horse altogether for the last year or so and then got caught up in a group of people who were giving Eve a try (game has been out for 2 or 3 years at this point) and I'm really very, very impressed by it. Like the Sci-Fi theme, love the huge world (5000+ star systems each with multiple planets, moons, asteroid belts, bases, etc.) and that it's all one game and not separate servers or shards.

Another game I'm looking at maybe getting is D&D Online but I hear a lot of mixed reactions to that as well. I hear they did the combat really well though.

Since we're on the topic I'll put a link in to a guy's (unfinished) blog where he wrote up a review of Eve you might be interested in. He has some other links on there to the F13.net website which is where I hang out a lot and who are the people I'm playing Eve with.

http://www.razorfield.com/games/eve.htm

Posted on Mar 09, 2006 | 1:59 pm

Barron: I heard mixed reactions about D&D Online as well... But man that brings back memories. Hey, my bro, TB and I played Neverwinter Nights a while back. Even d/l the Keep on the Borderlands mod. Was fun. Remember White Plume Mountain? That was kick ass!!! You were a great DM. BL's popcorn was awesome too.

TB and I have been talking about Oblivion, which looks great, but it's not MMO or even multiplayer. Comes out later this month.

Posted on Mar 09, 2006 | 2:05 pm

Barron: Mr_PeaCH, send me your email address... click on the About link to the right and send it!

Posted on Mar 09, 2006 | 3:03 pm