Publisher: Fallen Earth
Developer: Icarus Studios
System requirements: XP sp3/Vista sp1; 9.0c DivX Codec; Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz or Athlon 64X2 2.4 GHz; 2.0 GB RAM for XP/3.0 GB for Vista; nVidia GeForce 6600/ATI Radeon X1300; 10 GB free hard drive space
Genre: MMO
Release date: Available now

If you had the chance to play an MMO that was three parts Mad Max and one part X-Men, would you play it? This is the central question surrounding Fallen Earth, an MMO developed by Icarus Studios. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where both nuclear war and a nasty virus have wiped out civilization, the MMO provides players with a desolate world in which simple firearms are high end weapons, horses compete with ATVs and motorcycles as viable mounts, and mutations give avatars spell-like abilities both in and out of combat. It also presents players with a host of enemies, including mutants, evil NPCs, and six factions to join or fight while wandering the wastelands of the Grand Canyon. It is an ambitious setting, one which I found attractive right at the outset.

In order to adventure in this barren waste, you need an avatar with the right skills and abilities. Fallen Earth utilizes a point-based character creation system, one which uses no classes at all. As your character gains XP, you are granted APs (Advantage points), which are spent on skills, stats, and mutations. There are skills/mutations that cover melee combat, pistols, rifles, buffs, healing, armor, and area effect attacks. All of the classic MMO combat builds are available if you spend your points properly, although players used to fantasy MMOs may want some advice from experienced players as to what skills count towards tanking and the like. Since there are no actual classes, teaming up with other players usually involves a bit more conversation, as you will want to make sure all important skills are covered; still, the system gives players great flexibility.

But fighting and solving missions/quests are only part of the story. The world of Fallen Earth is one where the only advanced technology that really works is the cloning facilities that bring you back to life when you get killed. In all other respects, just wielding a rifle and a baseball cap is enough to make you a well equipped character. To that end, the game supports a robust and flexible crafting system. Any crafting skill can be utilized by any character, and XP is awarded for harvesting materials and building items; the catch is that crafting takes a long time. Just making a simple weapon may take seven minutes or more, while advanced items and vehicles can take several real-time days. Thus, even if a character is completely devoted to crafting and does nothing else, it is impossible for one character to master every profession. Strangely, crafting takes place no matter what your avatar is doing, even while fighting. It even takes place while you are logged out; as such, crafting is something that can get done while you do other things. However, I should point out that the raw materials needed for crafting can be found in both resource nodes and from vendors. As a result, there is no quick money to be made by selling raw materials at the auction house. What money there is to be made from crafting tends to be made from finished products.

MMOs are often easily characterized by their communities and Fallen Earth is no different. I found that the community is one of the most friendly I have come across in a long time; it is as least friendly and helpful to new players as the community of Lord of the Rings Online. I never once found players to be rude in regular chat channels, and since PVP areas are clearly marked, there were few problems relating to noobs being camped for quick kills. The GMs are also very visible and helpful; even when there are no big problems on the server, they periodically speak in the region channels, letting players know which GMs are online and offering their services to players who need them. If Icarus Studios can maintain this level of customer service, it will do wonders for the longevity of their game.

That being said, it is a good thing that the GMs and players are very helpful, because the game was only released in September. Fallen Earth is still experiencing some rather harsh growing pains. There are quests that fail to function properly sprinkled all over the server, as well as some odd glitches in the engine that cause avatars to literally fall through the cracks of the world and get stuck. There are also some serious optimization problems that cause both frame rates and bandwidth to drop to ridiculously low levels in major cities. These kinds of problems are to be expected in a new MMO, but there is one serious flaw that has yet to be addressed. As of now, there is no way to respec an avatar. Once you spend APs, you are stuck permanently with your decision. This is a serious problem because anyone who loves PVP will find themselves with inadequate builds the first few times they start out. While I understand that a classless system, especially one in which APs can be spent on both regular skills and crafting skills, is vulnerable to exploits if respecs are allowed, the current set up is one that causes needless rerolling of characters and time wasted, frustrating newer players.

With these problems noted, is Fallen Earth worth the cost? The game costs $49.99, with subscriptions starting at $14.99 a month (cheaper for multi-month purchases and the first month is currently free). This puts it on par with high end MMOs. While I enjoyed some of my time spent in the game, I am not sure I enjoyed it enough to justify the cost. Maybe in a few months, Fallen Earth’s growing pains will be over. For now, if the setting interests you, wander over to the website and pick up a promotional key and try the game for free.

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