It's not hard to get the impression that fantasy MMORPGs where you can play as an elf, a dwarf, or some very similar mythical creature, have been done to death, and then some. By comparison, the possibilities for online games set in historical or science fiction worlds seems to have only begun to be explored. You can tell that Auto Assault is going to be a little different just from the title. I recently jumped at an opportunity to test drive the beta.
Cars and Characters
In the post-apocalyptic world of Auto Assault, it's all about your ride. You do have a standard avatar, but the only time you aren't in your car is when you enter a town. You can't just get out of your car anywhere, and you'll be spending the vast majority of your game time behind the wheel because that's where the action is. Oddly, however, when you're creating a character there seems to be more emphasis on what your avatar looks like than what your vehicle looks like. Perhaps this is because your character can acquire several different cars over the course of the game.
Havoc Physics
One of the first thing you'll notice after firing up your engine is that Auto Assault has destructible environments. I'm sure I'm not the only one annoyed by the fact that, in most games, you hit a wire fence at 120 MPH and come to a complete stop. Not so in Auto Assault. In this game you take out lamp posts, signs, guard rails, and all sorts of other obstacles just for the joy of watching them go flying.
Auto Assault is not a driving simulator, but the physics make driving remarkably fun, even using a keyboard. Traction is affected by different surfaces and you'll find plenty of opportunities for air time. Mouse and keyboard controls worked well for me, but there are also joystick options. I imagine that a gamepad would be a natural fit for this title. There is definitely potential in Auto Assault for some interesting races, although I'm not sure how much racing content they have planned.
Combat
Like most MMORPGs, there are hostile, computer-controlled critters occupying the tormented lands of Auto Assault. Fortunately, your car has weaponry that allows you to thin their numbers, earn some experience, and gather loot.
Because your car is relatively fast, combat diverges noticeably from the norm for RPGs. Standing in one place will typically get you killed, so the best approach seems to be to keep moving and firing at the same time. While hits and damage are still decided statistically, it all happens so quickly that it has an action-game feel to it.
Locking onto a target is one option, but you can also use the aiming reticle that follows your gun rotation to blast enemies that are within range. At the lower levels there isn't a lot of strategy involved: drive in circles and keep shooting. You can almost always speed off to safety if you get into trouble. Hopefully there will be more tactics and teamwork involved at the game's higher levels.
There isn't a lot of time to type during these fast-paced battles, so Auto Assault will have integrated voice communication.
An ambitious PvP combat system is also being implemented, which will include both PvP instances and persistent zones. Apparently PvP combat has been reworked a great deal over the course of the beta, and is more twitch-based than the PvE side of the game.
I haven't delved into the game's PvP features yet, but it looks like they aren't afraid to try something different here as well. Players will be able to move between PvP and PvE versions of the same zone. PvP instances will accept players from different servers to reduce waiting times, and there will be a robust ranking and tournament system available.
Crafting
There appears to be ample substance to the crafting system, so those that are determined to pimp their ride shouldn't be disappointed. Rather than throw the whole thing at you right from the start, it is introduced a few levels in, which is just as well given that the core gameplay takes a while to get used to.
Bottom Line
Auto Assault has certainly gone in a direction that makes it easily distinguishable from the bulk of MMORPGs on the market, which will be fresh air to a lot of gamers. The ability to smash objects in the world and trigger spectacular explosions will be enough to entice some people. The crafting looks like a good diversion from shooting, and the PvP elements seem reasonably well thought out. I'm not so sure the combat has enough complexity to keep it engaging in the long run, but Auto Assault has been more fun than I expected in the short time I've played and I'm looking forward to spending more time with it.
