Preview: TERA

It’s been over a year since I last saw TERA. Since then a lot has changed in the MMO market, more and more are going free to play, some of which are going the action RPG route such as Rusty Hearts and Spiral Knights. But still no-one has come even close to knocking World of Warcraft off as king. This hasn’t stopped Bluehole Studio from doing what they can to differentiate themselves from this very crowded market.

At last year’s E3, I was left impressed but I had doubts if it’s action RPG nature will be enough to break the mould and stand out. Now things have expanded upon, adding some very interesting aspects which MMO fans will want to check out.

This time we ditched the lush grassy mountains for a gritty dungeon. Our mission was to make our way to the and I quote “Big-ass monster” Kaidun in the Necromancy Cell. I played as a slayer, the damage dealer wielding a two-handed sword. The other 4 players on my party included a Berserker who wield a giant axe and also deal high damage only they have more finesse to them. A Warrior who are fast and nimble, sorcerer with magic and the most important class a Priest, who is the healer. This level was quite a high level dungeon, so enemies took a lot of damage to take down, even with 5 people in a party. I would dread to think how it will be on your own. It’s obvious TERA is best to be played in a party, and just like any RPG you will need a healer.

One thing I noticed this time around is how frantic and chaotic combat is. TERA’s main hook in combat is completely in real time, you can attack, dodge or block at will, add in more players and you have yourself a high octane battle. It was no surprise that the healer had to be controlled by one of the developers. I see the healer being one of the harder classes to master, but if you have a competent healer then your party will feel invincible. One new feature in combat I noticed was the combo-ing of skills. After using an attack skill you are given the option to press space bar to add another attack to deal even more damage. It’s only a little addition but it was something I abused.

However, there are 2 other main hooks to TERA that may get MMO fans interested. The first is the political system. The world is split into provinces and players themselves will govern them. Guilds will need to fight their way to the top and the leader of that guild will govern that area. They will be able to spend guild policy points that will change the area, whenever it’s financial changes or even how NPC’s will change. This will theoretically means the world of TERA will be constantly changing and always moving. I can see many great stories coming out of it when a certain guild overrules the other. The other hook under TERA’s sleeve is Server v Server battles. At the moment they are being low of details but later down the road more will be revealed and how this will work out. But at this time that idea has me rather excited. The games frantic enough in a 5 player party, just imagine how things will turn out when servers are facing each other.

TERA has bumped up my list of MMO’s to look out for. In an age where MMO’s are as common as Starbucks in a city I believe TERA is doing enough to stand itself out from the ground, if it’s ambitious ideas deliver. It may not be the first Action MMO RPG but it is definitely the most robust and is a title to look out for if you are getting bored of WoW or the countless Free to Play MMO’s. TERA is set for release in Spring 2012 for PC.