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Tabula Rasa

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8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 34 critic reviews
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Based on 97 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: NCsoft

Developer: Destination Games

Genre(s): Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

Players: Thousands

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: October 30, 2007

Summary

Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes the player into lush forest planets, volcanic moons, and exotic alien civilizations. Face off against powerful alien soldiers, armored mechanoids, and vicious creatures! Use a wide range of weapons and unique alien powers to help the Allied Free Sentients (AFS) in their desperate fight against extinction. Tabula Rasa combines a vast, persistent game world and ongoing storyline with fast-paced action, resulting in a new approach to the design of multiplayer online games. Richard Garriott’s Signature Creative Vision – Features a rich storyline with culminating experiences, immersive tactile environments and a persistent plot. Take Role-playing to the Battlefield – Fast-paced action involving skill, stealth, and strategy combines with character growth and development (RPG) on a massive multiplayer scale. Unleash the Power of Logos – Alien technology allows you to harness the very fabric of the cosmos for healing, attacks, and more. Ethical Parables – Encounter ethical decisions while attempting to complete goals or missions that affect the people and environments around them. Battlefield Control Points – Entrenched positions on a given battlefield can change hands over the course of a battle and affect spawn points of both enemy and friendly characters. Character Cloning System – Innovative class system allows you to explore different character classes without leveling up a new character. Crafting & Economy – Participate in crafting and selling items. Player-vs-Player – Challenge other players in voluntary PvP mode. Integrated Voice Chat – Allows hands-free communication on the battlefield. [NCSoft]

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Game Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Strategy Informer

This is a game that's worth immersing yourself in. There may be a few bugs now, but they'll inevitably be fixed in a patch soon, and there's more than enough here to keep you coming back for more Thrax-spanking action.

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GameZone

Whether running with a group of warriors, or trekking alone, TR has a very nice pace that will keep players on their toes and checking their ammo supply.

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Cheat Code Central

Overall the game is solid, fun, and action-packed. The production values are great with excellent graphics, animation, voicework, music, and sound effects. The game itself is almost as impressive as the cutscenes.

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Games Master UK

An action-orientated MMORPG, with tons of great ideas. [Feb 2008, p.82]

Pelit (Finland)

A promising FPS-flavoured MMORPG, which suffers from some bad lag and minor design flaws, such as lack of proper auction house and a bit useless crafting. [Jan 2008]

PC Gamer UK

While it's an MMO, it managed to make me forget it was, and I started treating it just as a wonderful place to explore, full of monsters to shoot, friends to defend and stuff to pick up. In other words, a world. Which was always the idea of this genre, but I'd lost the ability to see it in a fog of numbers and impeccably managed levelling curves.

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GameShark

Tabula Rasa has some flaws, but ultimately the deep and engaging combat is what makes the title shine.

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Play.tm

Despite the strong competition of World of Warcraft and Everquest 2, Tabula Rasa manages to add some unique and innovative features to the genre such as the cloning system, and hopefully with a few more patches under its belt (adding extra features); it will be guaranteed a strong player base for many years to come.

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PC Zone UK

It has a fantastic atmosphere, a good backstory, and a combat system that, when stable, is more fun than other MMOs'. It fails to break the MMO Quest/mission structure though. [Jan 2008, p.70]

Game Chronicles

Yet hope for new patches springs eternal, and Garriott's crew promise to release player housing, new planets to explore, vehicles, and a more robust PVP system in the near future. How the developers capitalize on those promises will determine whether Tabula Rasa becomes a true sensation, or just a cult classic.

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Boomtown

Despite all of the points I’ve raised, however, the only true measure of a MMORPG is whether you are still enjoying and paying to play at the end of your ‘free’ 30 days, and as of the time of this writing, I am doing precisely that.

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AtomicGamer

Tabula Rasa does a lot of things right and only a few things really wrong, but I still find it tough to recommend this one except to those anti-fantasy RPG fans who feel they must be holding a gun rather than a sword in their games.

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Gamers' Temple

Tabula Rasa evolves the MMORPG formula just far enough to make things interesting.

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PC Format

Deliver on your promises, Mr. Garriott, and it'll be a winner. [Feb 2008, p.100]

GamingExcellence

Overall, Tabula Rasa is a very fun MMORPG.

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GameStar

The outstanding feature of Tabula Rasa isn't it's futuristic setting, but it's fighting system. Instead of the usual clicking on symbols, it offers real time battles. Richard Garriott's latest creation may have its weaknesses, but it's a MMO with personality.

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Game Almighty

After all, if the creator of many popular videogames can’t stop playing his own titles, that’s probably the best statement that they are worth your time as well.

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2404.org

A surprisingly solid product, and gamers that have waited long for a decent sci-fi MMO should check it out. If you’re already into another MMO, however, I don’t see this pulling you away from it unless you’re a big Garriott fan (Ultima fans will find nothing here of interest). On the other hand, there is no harm in spending at least a month or two in the world of Tabula Rasa because this game will likely influence others for years to come.

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Eurogamer

Massively multiplayer games are all evolving things, and we're very, very keen to watch Tabula Rasa's evolution. The initial launch is incredibly promising, more than anything else.

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GameDaily

It will appeal to both hardcore gamers who want to spend hours exploring every square centimeter of this immense world, as well as the casual gamer who only wishes to play for 20 minutes at a time yet feels like they accomplished something.

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GameSpy

While the lack of an auction house hurts the game, the awesome combat, intense battlefield action, fun missions and interesting character progression is more than enough to keep players coming back for a good long while. A well-realized science fiction setting in a genre overflowing with elves and orcs doesn't hurt either.

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Games Radar (in-house)

If this genre has intimidated you in the past, Tabula Rasa is the perfect entry point with its user-friendliness and swift tempo. Calling it a clean slate may be a bit of a stretch, but Richard Garriott has certainly provided gamers with something unique.

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Total Video Games

A definite attempt at evolving the MMO genre after a decade of gameplay clones and the unmitigated success of WoW in the last three years, Tabula Rasa feels like the baby steps towards the next stage. It doesn't have the same 'wow' factor of Blizzard's mighty MMO, but it's a pretty solid foundation from which Destination Games (and Richard Garriott) can build upon.

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Game Informer

Should you cancel your WoW sub and pick it up? Perhaps not, but blowing away aliens with a laser chaingun sure beats the pants off of farming old content that got stale months ago.

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IC-Games

Overall Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa is not your average Massively Multiplayer title, although the basis is firmly planted in that genre, whether it will appeal to everyone and have the same clout as the likes of EVE or any of the other sword and sorcery MMO's is debatable.

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YouGamers

Not a complete disaster, but lacks in scope and ambition, and fails to keep the interest up as the quality of available content falls as you level up, and the high end game is just promises at this point - while the newbie experience is fine, the "meat" of the game that would keep you playing for months seems to be still under development.

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IGN

The original sci-fi story also helps distinguish it from others of the genre, but rather than obliterating the old dirt road and starting entirely from scratch, Tabula Rasa takes what has been laid out and travels a little further.

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GameSpot

Richard Garriott's newest online creation has its problems, but it's still a good amount of fun.

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PC Gamer

With its fast-paced combat, Tabbula Rasa offers a fantastic change from the usual elvish offerings in the MMO landscape. However, its lack of community-building tools and single-path progression may hinder its long-term appeal. [Feb 2008, p.78]

GameTap

If Ultima Online was essentially "immerse yourself in an alternate universe and live," then Tabula Rasa is a much more focused "jump into an alien world and fight."

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GamePro

Tabula Rasa is a fun game, but frustrating enough that you are left with a feeling that the fun parts are mocking you from their inaccessible tower guarded by the lag monsters, poorly designed controls and the never ending kill-or-be-killed pacing.

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games(TM)

It’s an original and fun game that will influence the scene, it just lacks the expected Garriott magic. [Chrismas 2007, p.130]

1UP

My chief concern is TR's longevity. At present, the game offers maybe three or four months of content. With little in the way of engaging PVP, useful item crafting, or other distractions for veterans who've hit the level cap and cleared out all their quests, the game could easily fade away.

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Game Revolution

A slightly better than average example of the MMO's out there, and brings a lot of the breadth of play from World of Warcraft along with some gameplay that is similar to City of Heroes. Despite my general disdain for chewing on my feet, I have to give this game two detached toes up.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 97 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

[Anonymous] gave it a0:
V poor game that I'd hoped would be a nice sci fi alternative to WOW. In particular graphics are poor and I see no signs of the promised MMORG revolution in gameplay

Brandon gave it a4:
aimless and boring grind. The entire thing is basically Richard Garriot glorifying himself like the whackjob he is, he tromps around in a fantasy persona called "General British" and just about every event is centered around him. The game has a weak story overall and it has a few graphical bugs that are pretty annoying. Overall I was disappointed, especially the repetitive combat and limited customization.

Mark M. gave it a9:
Excellent game, does lack some polish, though. it's 1/28/2008, and my biggest worry is, no updates in the last 35+ days. Some updates are occuring on the server, looks like, but still some bugs I wish they would fix. Still, i've fallen hard for this game, i HOPE they keep improving it, it has huge potential

Eric E. gave it a6:
If you enjoy killing waves upon waves of about 5 different mobs with virtual no difference between the levels then you will enjoy this game. I really did enjoy it but after 3-4 weeks of killing the same mobs every single level by the thousands it got old. The Control Points (CP) in the game are a interesting and fun object of the game. However even this gets boring because 2-3 players can take or defend almost any CP. This game is very shallow and has no depth. If there wasn't a monthly fee then a lot of my complaints I wouldn't mind but I expect more for my $15 a month. However I will be keeping my eye on this game and see how it develops and will probably pop in and out of the game 1-2 months a year or whenever they release an expansion because it has potential. Just not realized yet.

Mike B. gave it a10:
Despite what a lot of the nay sayers may be posting i had more fun in this game than i have had in any game to come out in the past 10 years. Sure there are some bugs but those will surely be addressed. The new gameplay style is awesome compared to the boring old MMO style found in every single MMO. Now if you liked the way the older games played then this new system might not be for you, but that doesnt mean it sucks. It just means you like things the old way and this game isn't for you. But for those players that are looking for something more real-time and different then this game probably has something to make you happy. The graphics aren't the greatest in the world, but at least they used great colors and environmental effects to keep the world from looking bland. Overall I think this game was just super amazing to play. Any game that can get me back into video gaming (hardcore style) is worth a 10. I almost completely swore off games because of all the crap coming out (on the PC anyway.)

N K gave it a3:
This simply won't cut it as an MMO--an MMO's interface must be intuitive and dead simple for it to truly succeed. This game is a chore to play. The constant gunshot sounds grind on your brain.

John gave it a6:
Worth having a poke at if you're bored, but nothing really long term. Good looking game, nice people, let down by questing (You're still grinding mobs/collecting items from grinding mobs) some weapons feel completely useless (easier to just melee enemies) Crafting system isn't too good and the game makes you feel every class is like a Hunter/Ranger (Shooting game would make you feel like that. You know, minus pets.) Healing system is somewhat horrible and the instances/dungeons are okay, like a scripted encounter/battle rather than mash everything until loot drops. It's still the same tedious grind and the same tedious quest giving with a new makeover and an interesting class progression system. Not going to tear you away from WoW/FFXI/EQ2. Average at best.

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Tabula Rasa

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