Dec 3 2007
The aliens have landed and forced humanity to take refuge on a distant planet. The future for our species looks grim, but we're not about to go down without a fight, and we have found some friends out there. Alien invasions are a common premise for sci-fi games, and Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (TR) has adapted the theme to a massively multiplayer RPG with an ample helping of shooter-like running and gunning. Garriott is a renowned game developer who is greatly admired for his work on the Ultima series, so as you can imagine, expectations were running high when his latest project launched.
Graphics and Interface
TR is a fine looking MMORPG, especially on a system beefy enough to turn the graphics settings up. You're not fighting on Earth, but rather on Foreas, which is the planet of an ally, and Arieki, a prison colony. The outdoor zones are scenic, large, and mostly seamless, so you don't spend a lot of time with loading screens. You're free to jump and fall, as you should be in an action-oriented game. Different areas are nicely varied, although there are some shortcomings, such as unsightly, impassable walls of trees.
The control scheme comes largely from FPS conventions, so movement is done with WASD keys and mouse buttons are used to deliver your attacks. The screen isn't cluttered with all sorts of shortcuts, and despite the availability of a combat log, the game does a good job of keeping you focused on the action. A robust map system will have you moving in the right direction for most of your mission objectives.
Character Creation
Taking a slightly different approach to character creation, TR leaves the heavy decision making until later on. Rather than picking a career first thing, everyone starts out as a recruit, and class choices are made as you progress through the game. The upper tiers of the career tree do have things in common with the tanks, healers, and ranged classes of other MMORPGs. Thoughtfully, they've made the entire tree visible right from the start so you know what you're getting into.
You have a few ways to tweak your character's appearance, but it will change a lot as you acquire new gear anyway. Dyes are readily available in the game so it's never difficult to adjust your colors.
TR periodically gives you tokens with which you can clone your character at the login screen. This makes it possible to pursue different skill sets in the game without having to spend tons of time repeating the low-level content. It's a slick addition that has a lot in common with a save game function.
You are given plenty of inventory space, which is a pleasant change that allows you to sort through your loot at your leisure. Footlockers, TR's version of banks, are shared between all your characters, which makes it a breeze to move equipment from one character to another.
Hybrid Combat
TR is one of several recent titles that attempts to blend RPG and FPS elements. Shooter-like controls with sticky crosshairs are used to select targets, but the outcome is determined by the underlying statistics. The stickiness of the crosshairs varies depending on what weapon is being used. The shotgun, for example, does not stick to targets at all, instead causing a spread of damage that affects any enemy (or enemies) caught in front of it.
Because your mouse is dedicated to aiming, you need an alternative method of selecting which weapons and skills you want to use. You're given two 5-slot shortcut bars, one for the left mouse button and one for the right mouse button. The 'Q' and 'E' keys allow you to cycle through these shortcut bars, changing which actions are mapped to your mouse buttons. Fortunately, you can also select weapons and skills with the number keys, because cycling through skills takes way too long in the heat of battle. I'm not sure why they decided to limit weapons to the left shortcut bar and other skills to the right, rather than just letting us mix them up anyway we prefer.
Another aspect to combat in TR is that you have the option to crouch and use cover to protect yourself, which is something you don't see in every RPG. It definitely helps to make use of this, although it's lacking in comparison to the crouch and prone functions found in most shooters.
Generally speaking, it's an engaging combat system with a nice variety of weapons and skills to round out your character. It has more of an action-game feel to it than the typical MMORPG, and it also retains a bit of the tank/healer dynamic so common in these games. I'll admit I've been a little spoiled by Hellgate: London's approach to mixing RPG with FPS, which is very similar, but feels more comfortable and responsive.
Missions and Logos
If you're into collecting alien parts and making deliveries for the Allied Free Sentients, you'll have plenty to keep you busy. At certain points in Tabula Rasa, however, you're faced with missions that branch out depending on ethical decisions your character makes. Do you turn that drug dealer you just spoke with in to your commanding officer, or do you help him out and make some extra cash for yourself on the side? Similar things have been done in games before, but missions are always that much more believable when you have choices that effect the outcome.
You'll also be tasked with learning the powerful language of Logos by discovering numerous shrines scattered around Foreas. Although they compliment the storyline, their main purpose is simply to unlock certain skills that cannot be used without them.
The War Zone
An ongoing battle between different factions of NPCs in the game is constantly underway, which is a significant departure from the norm for MMORPGs. Many of the game's command posts can actually be taken over by the Bane, depriving players of their use until they recapture them. This is one of TR's strongest features, because it does create a sense of camaraderie when players have to band together to take an outpost.
